In Front of the House Where the Mirror is Hidden

As mentioned in the last chapter, Grimm had consumed much of his magical force to create the Firebird, so to keep himself from any possible dangers while replenishing his magical force, he buried himself three meters below the ground through the Cylix, a seed of a flower he had received from Sorcerer Elaine.

And Grimm found that if his magical force was at maximum value and when he made no physical movement, his chain mark would vanish temporarily and would no longer be felt by people around him. However, any movement of his body would activate his chain mark, and thus, the signals; when the value of his magical force was full, the scope where these signals could reach was much more limited.

It was the first day of the test and the first batch of mirrors were going to arrive. Knowing that his magical force had been nearly refilled, Grimm tapped a leaf of the flower that he was in, and it moved upwards slowly until the soil overhead loosened and the flower broke out of the ground. When Grimm dripped a drop of potion on it, it immediately constricted back to a seed.

Grimm headed toward a mountain. On his way, he did not bump into anybody because despite the fact that Grimm's magical force was full, whenever he moved, anyone within around 30 meters could feel the signals. The students invariably shunned him.

The mountain was about three kilometers away from Grimm, and the night screen was going to hang down in about an hourglass.

Even from such a long distance, Grimm could see that the mountain was coated in thick trees and bushes. Suddenly, there came a long howl.

"The mirrors have arrived."

Grimm felt a thrill going through him, and he ran full throttle towards the nearest mirror, which was in that mountain. So did the rest of the test-takers.

Grimm did run into a few number of students but they uniformly stayed clear off him, and he was not in the mood of chasing them at the cost consuming his magical force which might be put into better use in the scramble for the mirror.

Everyone in the Bramble Forest had now reached that consensus, and thus, the weaker were in a relatively safe position before arriving at the spot.

In a few moments, Grimm had reached the place where the mirror was hidden.

"A mirror in such a shabby house?" Grimm felt dismayed, fearing that the mirror's power might be overpowered.

At the time, about 30 students had arrived before the house.

What interested Grimm's attention was a big tree, around 30 meters high. The long arms of the tree were waving in the wind as if they were guarding the house by entangling the invading enemies and strangling them.

When Grimm had a closer look at it, he discovered that the tree was alive, and the long flapping arms were in effect arms. It had a large twitching mouth and looking through it, two lines of jagged teeth were shining in the nightfall. It was this tree that had made the roaring howl.

"This is the Colorado Nightmare Tree. What is special about it is that it has to be fed once in a hundred years with human blood," a student in the 30 or so group said.

"And we are so doomed to be here at the time of him in need of food?" Another student echoed.

"That's true. I've seen three students swallowed by the monster, and he seems still hungry." A student exacerbated their frustration.

"Where can we get some food it needs?" A stupid question made all the students present vigilant.

The majority of the group had come single-handedly, but there were two who came together, and both of them had a ten-point chain mark, meaning they had killed some students and absorbed the power of their chain marks.

The male one from the pair said something to the other — a female who was sitting on the back of a lion. The female didn't answer. She had not been prepared to annihilate the students and sent them to the avaricious mouth of that brute.

Grimm watched and kept his body motionless, waiting to see how the situation would unfold.

At that time, a student stepped forward towards the entrance of the house. He had employed invisibility sorcery, but he could still be seen from time to time since that sorcery of his had obviously not been practiced to perfection.

Therefore, the watchers were laughing coldly, waiting for the time when the rash boy would be engulfed.

To their astonishment, that off-grade invisibility sorcery fooled the tree, and the boy succeeded entering the house. When the boy was sent away, a sound of metal colliding with metal broke out from inside the house, as if he had been sent off through a transmission gear.

The students were all enraged. But the house did not disappear.

"So one mirror might serve more than once?" Grimm and the two ten-point mark students speculated.

The male student urged the female. "If you haven't made your mind, I have."

"I have." The girl threw a sneering look at the boy. She then flapped the lion's rump and charged at the students, and the boy followed.

The crowd's ability could, in no manner, match the pair. So, some of them flustered into the house, a considerable number of them were caught by the tree and the others scampered off, no long caring for the sh*tty mirror.

In the distance, Grimm was still watching, assuming an extremely calm expression. Soon, a girl came to him in her desperation.

"Thank God, Grimm, help me. It's Olivia, from the Black Isotta. Please." The girl recognized that Grimm's chain mark belonged to her academy, so she had run to him for help.

Grimm stepped up and guided her to his back.

Olivia was almost stressed out a moment ago and now she was temporarily in a safe haven, but her face was still bleached.

"The boy is cruel, and he is powerful. You be careful, Grimm," Olivia warned Grimm.

Grimm had already sensed the signals sent by the boy's chain mark, and he was sure he would take the boy easily. But he just remained still to trap the boy coming closer to him.

As the boy drew nearer, Grimm revealed a scary look as if he was the hunter, ready to have the prey.

Grimm moved, although he had not wanted it.

As Grimm made a move, his 33-point chain mark erupted and sent in waves of huge power that "flooded" Olivia behind him and the attacking boy who was only a few steps away.

"What the hell?" The boy was almost petrified and in no time he "rerouted" to get clear of Grimm.

But it was too late. The boy and the girl were both consumed by Grimm's Firebird.

"I will come back for you, you masked man!" A student who had escaped a hundred meters away screamed at Grimm.

Grimm ignored the threat. Instead, he was counting the newly collected chain marks. "Good, 18 points of new chain marks."

In the slaughter, Grimm had, in fact, killed another two students besides the pair.

Olivia was the only one left unhurt. She was standing there, terrified by Grimm's brutality and the prospect of being killed by him.

However, Grimm smiled to himself and was about to comfort her when the tree spoke:

"You have more than 30-points of chain marks. You are granted the access to the house."

"Interesting!" Grimm looked up towards the tree.