A few seconds ago;
Mason, a promising brown-haired candidate, was on the hunt for any beast or another candidate.
His luck was bad, as he hadn't found a single beast or any candidate since the start of the exam, and he was getting antsy.
This was his only chance to prove himself.
He was getting anxious when all of a sudden, he heard a bell chiming in the distance.
A candidate.
Being an archer, this exam was almost perfect for him, since he could just snipe others from a distance.
He slowly snuck up to the place where the battle was happening, and a few meters away, he climbed up a nearby tree.
A chill ran down his spine, sensing the sheer power the spirit beast emitted.
It was a strong Adept-class beast.
And that blond guy was fighting it all alone, even winning.
For a moment, he wondered if this was worth it or not.
He could tell that both were strong, stronger than him.
But they were busy.
He decided to take the risk.
He noticed that the blonde-haired guy was about to aim for its neck, so he decided to aim for the place where his hand would land.
He infused his spirit energy into the bow, loaded up an arrow, aimed for the hand, and released the string.
Swish!
The blond-haired guy dodged.
Mason's eyes widened, witnessing the guy stopping his hand at the last moment, barely dodging his arrow.
He panicked.
He had no time to waste anymore.
Immediately, he took out another arrow he aimed at him.
"Who goes there?"
The guy was already on him, looking at his general direction.
Strangely, the guy threw his sword towards him, which he could dodge easily.
'Huh? Dumbass.' Mason thought, releasing the arrow immediately.
But the guy was slicker than that.
Chime!
He dodged the arrow.
Mason also jumped sideways.
But just as he thought that he had dodged it, the guy had vanished.
'Huh!?' He looked around frantically, looking for the blond guy.
"Hand over your bell quietly." His heart nearly stopped, hearing a chilling voice from behind.
A sword slid on his shoulders, threatening to slice off the second he resisted.
He felt warm breath running down his neck, a cold voice whispering, "Never interrupt me again."
The sheer fear he felt nearly made his scalp tingle, but he held on.
Mason gulped, slowly reaching towards his waist, and took out his bell.
He handed the guy his bell, feeling extremely regretful for losing all his points immediately.
"Go away, and don't even dare to look back for 30 seconds." The voice whispered, snatching his bell.
Mason nodded, jumping off the tree and running away instantly, since he didn't have to care about any more bells.
…
'Now, onto the spirit beast.' Lucien thought as he pocketed the candidate's bell.
The injured beast was limping away, trying to escape somehow, but the speed was far too slow now.
Lucien didn't want to teleport anymore, since the skill was quite unoptimized and it cost a solid chunk of his energy reserves.
He climbed down the tree and walked towards the beast.
The beast tried to attack him, but Lucien dodged with ease.
It had already lost most of its blood and was on the verge of losing consciousness.
He finally imbued his sword with his energy and in one clean slice,
Swish!
The mantis-like head rolled on the ground, blood seeping out of the neck.
He pried the spirit beast core out and pocketed it swiftly.
He wasn't content with his loot because he had lost over three dozen points due to the bell chiming.
Nevertheless, he still had decent points for this part of the exam.
Two hours in the exam, and Lucien was moving like a madman in the exam.
Fortunately or unfortunately, he had come across a lot of spirit beasts and candidates.
It was fortunate because he had amassed a large number of points by defeating others and slaying beasts.
But on the other hand, his energy reserves had nearly run out, since he had been against a few Adept-class spirit beasts, and had to use Mirrorstep a lot.
Currently, he was above a tree, resting for a while to recover a bit of his spirit energy.
He didn't have any access to any kind of healing potion or ointment, leaving his wounds open and blood seeping out.
By this point, his entire body was covered in dirt and grime, combined with blood from the shallow cuts he received from the others, and he looked more like a beggar than a prince.
But it didn't matter.
As long as he wins.
Rustle! Rustle!
'Not so soon.' He stood up, taking up his fighting stance.
He looked towards the neighboring tree's canopy, squinting his eyes in wariness.
"Chill! Chill, Lucien." Out of the tree came a familiar face.
William Wilson.
He had his hands in the air like a sign of surrender.
"Didn't we promise to team up together?" William asked with a chuckle, then added, "I was looking for you."
Lucien looked at him, his eyes judging him thoroughly.
He was also full of dirt and grime, albeit a lot less battered or bloodied than him.
If he were to attack right now, Lucien didn't have much confidence that he would come out unscathed.
William wasn't like those he had beaten before.
He was strong.
Strong enough that he did not doubt that he would pass the entrance exam.
"You don't look good, lad." Lucien chuckled, making an ironic quip.
"Lad?" William laughed, "Take a look at yourself in the mirror, buddy."
"Do you think you can still go on?" Lucien asked, wiping the grime out of his face.
"Hahaha!" William just couldn't hold in anymore and just burst out laughing. "I am not the one who got cuts and bruises all over my body."
"So," Lucien stretched his arms to his back, "What's the plan now?"
William's laugh slowly turned into a grin. "What else?
"We gotta make the most out of the 3 hours, shouldn't we?"
"I see." Lucien, low-key agreed, "I agree."
"Let's hunt."