First Bullet

Hey guys, Aidka's back!

Three short days of rest, but enough for now.

I used them to sleep until late and binge watch some series on Netflix and PrimeVideo I wanted to watch since a few days ago.

About the corona... I'm pretty alright, to be honest. My case is surely one of the mildest ones. Besides a few days with fever and headache and a longlasting chest pain, I'm pretty good. At the very least, I don't think I'm going to die for now.

Even so, there are some days when I wake up feeling pretty bad, just like a few days ago. Bad enough that I only want to sleep and read some lighthearted novels. Mainly when it rains. I think the cold wind of the rain affects me a lot.

Thus, expect irregular releases for a while. At the very least, until this virus is gone off my body. I'll try to keep the schedule, but I promise nothing.

Lastly, about the chapters I owe... I'll post them eventually, but please give me a bit of leeway. I'll try to release them in the course of the next two weeks if it's possible... But with the current situation, I'm not sure.

Thank you for your good wishes, enjoy reading, and take care of yourselves...

Aidka :p

...

Bloed thought out three strategies for the hunt.

The first one was to defeat as many enemies as he could while advancing towards the middle of the city.

This strategy was pretty straightforward, but the problem was that he could meet an enemy he could not defeat. Well, Bloed could always escape if something like that happened.

The second strategy was to use his stealth to go towards the middle of the city while avoiding to fight against others.

This strategy was perhaps the most effective, but the problem was that he did not fight, he could not get badges; and according to the rules, accumulating badges was going to be useful later.

The third strategy was to try to team with other candidates.

This strategy was the hardest one, and normally, Bloed would have not considered it.

However, for some reason, Bloed had the feeling he would need the strength of a team during the late parts of the hunt.

When the rules were explained, the rule [Base] said that the number of hunters would be higher closer to the base.

The rules did not explain how much higher it was going to be, though, but Bloed had the feeling it would be much more than he could cope with.

If for example, more than three A-Ranks were protecting the base, Bloed did not have confidence in passing through them even with his stealth.

In other words, if his guess was true, the last part of today's selection would need the cooperation of several candidates to succeed.

Bloed weighed his options for a moment. But after a while, he decided to discard the third option.

Although he wanted to proceed with this route, Bloed was almost one hundred percent certain this strategy would hit a dead end.

After all, the rule of [Badge] put the candidates against each other. In such a situation, no other candidate would trust his words no matter how reasonable they seemed.

Perhaps only Liu Ying would trust him.

And even if someone accepted his proposal to form a team, there was a fifty percept of probability that person would try to backstab him at some point.

In these circumstances, the troublesomeness of this strategy overweighed the merits.

Instead, Bloed decided to adopt a mix between the first and the second strategy.

Using his stealth, he would try to ambush and defeat as many enemies as he could, and when he was tired, he would hide and wait until he was rested.

Bloed closed his eyes and recalled the information the dragonflies drones sent him a few minutes ago. Soon, a map of his surroundings detailing the location of two hunters and thirteen practitioners appeared.

With that information, Bloed planned his course of action.

Then, he moved.

In less than one minute, he arrived at a building. Bloed then jumped and climbed to the building's roof.

Once there, he touched Leto and a part of the wolf turned into a gun.

An Energy Sniper Rifle.

Bloed grinned and lay on the ground. Then, he used his blue eyes and the information coming from Oculus to locate one of the contestants.

It was a male cowkin. The cowkin was moving carefully through the streets of the city while paying attention to his surroundings.

However, he could not know that five hundred meters away, someone was aiming at him.

Then–

*Bam!*

With a muffled sound, the energy projectile flew a great speed and reached the cowkin!

Before he could react, the bullet impacted him, gravely injuring his right leg!

"Agh!" The cowkin collapsed on the ground and held his leg painfully.

Fortunately, Bloed's intention was not to blow his leg off, or the young cowkin would have lost it.

Instead, the attack he received only resulted in a grave injury.

This kind of injury could be easily treated using A-Rank healing magic.

Bloed retrieved the sniper rifle and kicked the roof, moving a great speed through the city and reaching the place where the cowkin collapsed in a few seconds.

Then, he deactivated his stealth and walked towards the cowkin expressionlessly.

"Your badge," Bloed ordered.

The cowkin gritted his teeth in unwillingness, but he knew that in his current circumstances, defeating Bloed was impossible.

Thus, he grabbed his badge and threw it to Bloed brusquely.

Bloed grabbed it and put it in his storage device.

"Thanks."

Then, he turned around and left, disappearing from the place in seconds.

The cowkin stared in Bloed's direction with a complicated expression before sighing.

To think he would be eliminated so soon.

Seconds after Bloed left, a demigod descended from the ground and took the cowkin away.

Before leaving, though, he stared in Bloed's direction and furrowed his brows.

Then, he smiled.

"How interesting."

…

At the same time, outside the city.

Several important people were gathered before a giant screen-like object, observing the progress of the hunt.

The contestant did not know it, but the city ruins had been engraved with a giant magic array that allowed the people outside to see the situation in the city in real-time.

It was a measure put there to avoid cheating and to evaluate the youngsters participating in the selection.

Currently, the screen was showing the moment when Bloed took the badge and left.

King Arlen Firtsmane observed that scene for a few seconds before looking beside him, where Eve and Regina were standing.

"That participant... His name was Bloed, right? He is quite interesting. To think he can attack an enemy from such a long distance."

Eve was also surprised, but she did not show it in her face. Instead, she glanced at Regina to see her reaction.

The Valkyrie was looking at the screen with an expression of pride, completely ignoring the king and the fox saintess.

"By the way, saintess." The king suddenly said. "About the creatures that follow the boy, you know that familiars, golems, and other external sources of strength are forbidden, right?"

Eve nodded. "I know, but don't worry, the boy's wolves are not an external source of strength."

"Oh?"

"Instead of golems or familiars, these creatures are better described as weapons or puppets. The boy uses his soul power and mana to control their movements. In other words, their abilities depend completely on the boy's abilities."

"I see… Just like the fox in your shoulder, huh."

Eve nodded and patted the head of the metallic fox Bloed created for her.

"Yes, just like the fox on my shoulder."