"Click", "click", "click", ......

I sat cross-legged on the floor of Hill's bedroom, staring at the clock on the wall, listening to the ticking of the second hand, motionless. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

The clothes that Hill had spent four silver coins on his body had changed, the dagger was tucked behind his waist in its sheath, the great sword was across his legs, and below him was a one-way one-time teleportation array drawn with alchemy materials.

Today is the day of the trial, and Ciel has already set off for the portal in the auditorium, and since students cannot summon minions before entering the Trials, I must wait here for Ciel's "summoning".

"Ha~" Yawned, "It's boring, it's boring...... Xiaoye, let's chat, shall we? ”

"What are you talking about?" I turned my gaze to the brand-new book on the table, Volume 1 of The Complete History of the Continent, but Hill said that he should not be distracted by reading, so he did not let me carry it with him.

…… But...... Sneaking it with you, it shouldn't matter, right? I'll watch it while Hill is sleeping, it should be okay, right?

But just as I was thinking about it, the circle on the ground suddenly emitted a soft white light—and the teleportation began.

…… Forget it. I dismissed the idea of bringing the book with me, and stood obediently with my sword in my hand, watching the white light slowly rise until it completely obscured my vision.

――――――――――

"Dark Elementals, burn what is in sight and turn its existence to ashes! Flame of the Underworld! With a "bang", a purple flame ignited in the palm of Hill's hand, beating silently.

"Dark Spell: Flame of the Underworld, less powerful than Fireball, but very manipulable." Lowering his hand, Ciel chanted the incantation twice, and three flames floated silently beside Ciel.

"Hey, have you had enough?" Hill suddenly looked back at me, his face unkind.

"Huh?" I was stunned for a moment, and then I ...... I heard a "click" sound, and my right palm went into the gray mouth.

"Gray, loosen up." I had to crouch down and poke its head with the fingers of my left hand, but the gray groaned, and the two rows of steel teeth did not move, and there was no intention of letting go of my right hand.

"Well deserved." Ciel walked over with three flames around him and shook his head, "Gray is a wolf, but you tease him like a dog, it's no wonder that it doesn't want to bite you." ”

"Alright, warrior and wolf, let's get to work when we've had enough." Ciel rubbed my hair, "Let's get something to eat for you weak mages first." ”

Food? Gray had already let go of his mouth when he heard this, but I thought of a question and raised my eyes to look at Ciel: "Ciel, the so-called 'exercise of survivability' in your academy...... What exactly is it to exercise? ”

"Well~ If it's a warrior's academy, it's probably going to be a real survival in the wild, right?" Ciel had already sat down cross-legged, "But if that's all there is to it, there's no need for us to sign a pact with the wolves. ”

"In this 'survival trial', the food is all packed and buried, and the wolf can be found by smelling it a little, but it would be nice if it was really that simple."

"The number of students who participate in the trial is about two hundred, and if they want to survive for seven days, the food they need is not very little, but it is not too much. But after each trial, there are only a dozen students left who come out of the trial land, and none of them look like they have enough to eat, do you know why? ”

"Because the total portion of food is only enough for fifty people for seven days, and it is scattered throughout twenty square kilometers of forest, it is only possible to save one's life by killing other students in one's vicinity, and to search again and again for food that will fill one's stomach and intestines so that oneself does not starve to death, and everyone knows this."

"But after killing someone, the chances of finding food are not very high, so you can only eat corpses when necessary, and how many people can put aside their instincts and eat them?"

"That's ...... Is there a difference with us? I spoke...... Big fish eat little fish...... It's easy to say, but even I've almost died a few times in those four words......

"There's no way, only by relying on the regular students selected in this way can they use 'quality' to make up for the gap in 'quantity', and not be left behind by other magic academies on the mainland." Hill sighed, "Although there may be some problems with the personality, the seniors are all the elite of the elite in terms of strength. ”

"Xiaoye, you talk to Gray, and if you find other students, return here immediately." Hill closed his eyes, his face was pale and cold, and purple flames began to fly up and down around Hill's body, especially bewitching and ...... Stately.

"Everyone who comes here has already done a good job of enlightenment, and they must do a good job of this awareness......

"Eating, and the consciousness of being eaten!"

――――――――――

“…… I prepare ...... Three ......" watched a man and a wolf slowly walk towards the tree I was in, and the breath of the girl whispering in my ear made me subconsciously tilt my head.

“…… Two ...... "Three meters, two meters, the embarrassedly dressed mage held a dark bullet in one hand, and while carefully moving his steps forward, he kept looking around.

"Dark Elementals, bind your enemies and plunge them into a quagmire of despair! Netherworld Entanglement! "The moment the purple elemental vines wrapped around the wolf's limbs, I lunged downward, knocking the mage to the ground.

"Zi-" The two uncontrolled bombs flew towards the surrounding trees, and the sound of corroded branches was incessant.

"Stun him, kill the wolf." Hill jumped lightly from the branch and commanded.

"Hmm." I signaled that I had received the message, grabbed the mage by the hair, and threw a fist into his stomach with my right hand. Watching him roll his eyes slowly from the blow, and making sure he had fainted, he tossed him aside, drew his great sword and cut off the wolf's head, and then looked at Ciel.

"Eat." Ciel nodded, then grabbed the mage by the collar and dragged him to the side of the tree, tying him up with vines.

As a precautionary soldier, Grey was already feasting, and I cut off a piece of meat with a dagger and reached out to Hill, "Won't you eat it?" ”

"Nope." Ciel patted the ash on his hands, "I don't need to eat the human way right now, thanks to you." ”

"But the thirst for non-human ways of eating...... Ciel's right eye was covered, and dark red energy quickly poured out from his left eye, slowly turning into a pair of large, one-man tall giant teeth in the air, "It's much more urgent......"

The teeth flasped out a little more, and then bit down the mage along with the trunk behind him, and then the teeth clenched, slowly retracting into Ciel's eyes. The whole thing was silent, I didn't even notice the movement of air when I closed my teeth, and the person who was bitten was unharmed, and if it weren't for the strange pattern next to Hill's left eye, I would have thought nothing had happened.

Could it be that Hill has failed? Just when I was wondering, a vision suddenly appeared!

I saw that the mage's body was rapidly aging and shrinking, and a teenager had gradually turned into a hundred-year-old man in just half a minute, and the surrounding ravines on his face and body were very terrifying. The vines that bound the mage shrummed directly into several gray-yellow fibers, and behind him, there was a strange sound from the thick trunk, and the main trunk five or six meters high broke from the middle, slowly tilting and falling. In the process, the originally lush tree gradually dried up and crumbled, and finally quietly fell to the ground, turning into debris all over the ground!

"Whew~" Hill exhaled lightly, and when he turned around, his face was a little ruddy, and he looked radiant and radiant, and he didn't have the sickness of a few days.

"What's wrong? Freak out? Seeing my surprised expression, Hill smiled, "This is a trick you gave me, 'Eclipse', you forgot?" ”

"No......," I came back to my senses, "just a little surprised." "After all, this ability to directly take the other party's life......

"Actually, it's normal to be surprised." Hill stroked his hair, and the pattern on his face disappeared completely, "Even I didn't know at the beginning that this move was so domineering, directly devouring other people's life force and turning it into my own use...... But now I have to rely on this trick to maintain the balance of strength in my body, and I can't help it if I don't want to. ”

"Now, Xiaoye." Hill suddenly leaned over and pinched my face again with both hands, "I became a non-human because of you, you have to be responsible for me~"

"Oh." I didn't quite understand why Hill said that suddenly, and there was something strange in her eyes, but I nodded, "Got it." ”

“…… Alas...... I knew you definitely didn't understand what that meant......" looked at Ciel, who turned his back for some reason to cover his mouth and laugh, and sighed.

…… Could it be that there is some special meaning in that sentence just now? I was a little puzzled and tilted my head.

"Well~ forget it." Turning back, Ciel smiled and straightened my collar, "Originally, the surname Gerost was not very popular, and the half-undead constitution was just a sin plus one. ”

"But—" With the elongation of the coda, Ciel rubbed my hair vigorously.

"With your promise, I'm relieved."

;