Chapter 48: Examination Day 1
Kage stood at the coast, staring at the vast, seemingly endless forest sprawling before him. From where he stood, Mount Harmony loomed—a majestic peak cloaked in deep green forest at its base, transitioning to grey-brown volcanic rock at higher elevations.
The volcanic cone itself pierced the clouds, impossibly distant. Seven glittering points of light dotted its eastern face—jade roof tiles catching the sun’s radiant glow—while smoke spiraled from somewhere high on the mountain.
Kage stood alone at the coastline, gazing at the mountain’s grandeur. For some reason, he suddenly felt so small.
He had never visited the Mistral Archipelago in his past life. The closest he’d come was through tavern discussions debating its scale and books written by various scholars.
Mount Harmony sat on Shenlonford, the largest island in the Mistral Archipelago.
Staring at the mountain and the vast island itself, Kage couldn’t suppress his awe. He swallowed it down, though, and pressed forward.
Currently, the coastline was deserted. Either the others had left much earlier, or the academy had dropped them individually. Either way, it didn’t matter. What mattered was reaching the Academy Gate.
Kage trudged across the grey sand, his steps sinking and sluggish. Soon he reached solid ground and entered the forest.
The coastal foothills teemed with dense vegetation—tall trees, broad leaves, strange insects, and birds.
When it came to Wild Beasts—or Pure Beasts, as they were often called—they possessed a unique adaptive nature. Over the years, they had evolved alongside humanity in this wicked world of impurity. For example, grey-colored birds hung upside down from the branches of ashen trees.
They clustered together, their grey feathers the result of adaptation to blend into their surroundings. This was common across different terrains throughout the world.
But that wasn’t all about them.
Kage grabbed a stone and hurled it at the birds. Immediately, they all dissolved like ashes to dodge the stone, reforming as they flapped their wings into the air with an ugly wail, scattering from that section of forest.
He climbed the ashen tree that spread wide like arms reaching for an embrace. Then he settled comfortably on a branch, crossed his legs and rested his head.
First, he needed to think about what he knew of the academy entrance examination—according to what his frenemy had told him.
’Since he was younger than me, I doubt he’ll be here. Would’ve been fun to steal first place from him.’
The Academy entrance test had remained unchanged since its creation, though that didn’t make it any easier. The test was simple: reach the gate. The core challenges remained constant—testing the same fundamental values in each candidate—but the locations shifted. Those were never the same.
Kage didn’t know the exact location of anything. He didn’t even know where to go, in fact. But he knew what to watch for because he understood what the tests were designed to assess.
Not what Renzo had mentioned.
He knew things Renzo hadn’t said—things only revealed at the test’s end.
Because of that, he wasn’t particularly worried. Right now, he needed to rest. To sleep until nightfall. Then, when darkness came, he would move.
[The Wolf of the North, confused, tells you that’s a bad decision. It’s better to move by day and rest at night.]
"What do you care?"
[The Wolf of the North says anything worth doing at all is worth doing well. He warns you not to let your menacing nature sabotage this examination. He explains that according to what the strange-eyed instructor said, this is a test you cannot deceive or scheme against.]
"I never planned to."
At that moment, a rustling sound came from below.
"I could’ve sworn I just heard a voice..."
Below Kage stood a boy with dark-purple hair that fell naturally in a carefully maintained bowl cut, longer strands framing his face.
He glanced around, saw no one, and suddenly a stone dropped on his head.
"Owww."
He looked up with a frown, only to see a strange boy in black and grey robes staring down at him with an indifferent expression.
"I... see. Should I expect more of these, or was that a one-time courtesy?"
Kage kept staring at him blankly.
The boy glared again.
"Why am I wasting my time with this..."
He turned to leave when another stone struck his head—harder this time.
Kage narrowed his eyes in that moment. He snapped an outcrop along the branch he sat on and, with flawless aim, hurled it upward. The next instant, something crashed through the leaves at the upper level of the tree.
As it landed, it dropped to all fours—tail curling—and shot into the bushes, vanishing.
The boy, watching what happened, instantly understood.
He gave Kage—who was already resting his head again—a remorseful look. Then he bowed politely.
"I apologize for my behavior."
Kage, eyes closed, waved the boy away.
The boy started to leave but stopped and bowed again.
"My name is Kaito, Kaito from the Hirose clan. What about you?"
Kage, eyes still closed, waved the boy away.
"Ah... I see you don’t want to talk. Still, shouldn’t you be gathering food and water right now? Or have you already?"
Kage sighed, his brows creasing slightly.
’Heavens, all I want is to sleep a bit. Is that too much to ask?’
Kage opened his eyes and sat up.
"I’m nocturnal. I’ll gather all of that at night."
Kaito gave Kage a concerned look.
"But brother, that’s not the wisest decision. Pure beasts are active at night. It’s also much harder to navigate the forest in darkness."
Kage shot him a look of slight disdain.
’What part of nocturnal does he not understand?’
Having spent five years navigating his way through a certain forest in his past life, the logic this boy was desperately trying to impart was complete nonsense—and beginning to irritate him slightly.
But then, he understood. This was what the test was about. To walk past someone without helping them would reduce one’s score. Which was why he’d helped the boy with the grey ape.
Now, he just sincerely wished to sleep.
Kaito, reading the look on Kage’s face, cupped his hands.
"I see you don’t wish to be disturbed, dear brother. I’ll be on my way. I hope to see you at the Academy Gate."
The bowl-cut boy turned away from Kage and continued on his own path.