Trial and Adventurers

Carmon was standing in front of a monitor. The monitor displayed the position of all the applicants and various guards were standing behind him.

He said, "Go and protect their lives."

The guards disappeared. They would ensure the lives of the applicants and they haven't failed in doing so for the past few years. This was the reason why the trial had a zero death rate. After all, it was just a trial. There was no need for people to die. But this kind of trial also provides the applicants with a glimpse of the challenges they will encounter as adventurers.

...

Azrid observed his surroundings cautiously as he entered the forest. He placed his right hand on his back and took out a pistol. The pistol in this era was different; the bullets contained a little bit of ether, so the firepower had increased. It would work on a normal Tier 1 demon beast.

His left hand took out a long knife. Its blade was eight inches long and emitting electric sparks. He had bought this knife for five thousand credits.

Azrid took a deep breath to calm his senses. He was stronger than before, so he should be fine.

Suddenly, he turned his head as he heard something from the bushes. He crouched and readied himself for the worst.

He couldn't turn back since his purpose here was to kill three demon beasts. Azrid slowly approached the place where the sound was coming from.

What he saw was a small brown rabbit. It had a pair of emerald eyes and a sharp white horn protruding from its forehead.

Azrid recognized the rabbit and felt lucky, as it was one of the weakest Tier 1 demon beasts.

He smiled and slowly aimed at the rabbit. When he was confident, he pulled the trigger, but the rabbit sensed something. It quickly turned its head and jumped three meters above the ground.

Bang!

It managed to avoid the bullet, but this was exactly what Azrid had envisioned. He also jumped and swung the knife in his hand, having already thought about what would happen in case the rabbit avoided the bullet.

Swoosh!

The rabbit was in midair, so it couldn't avoid the incoming knife. It helplessly watched as the knife struck its precious body. The electric sparks from the knife spread out and electrocuted the rabbit.

Zzz!

The rabbit fell to the ground with a huge knife wound on its chest. It was still alive, so Azrid slashed it once again.

He had killed his first demon beast. Two more to go, and he would be able to finish the trial.

But a sound sprang in his mind.

Huh?

What is this?

Azrid moved his eyes, and an interface appeared in his vision. It was a message.

[You've killed a Tier 1 demon beast!]

[Drink the fresh blood from the demon beast to increase your proficiency in Great Devil Bodies!]"

What?! Azrid opened his eyes widely as knowledge about his [Great Devil Bodies] was poured into his mind once again.

"So, it's about the demon beast... the fresh blood of a demon beast? Devil? Is there some sort of connection here?"

He had also learned that it must come from a demon beast. The knowledge explained that once a demon beast died, some of its vitality would go to its blood. That's why he had to kill the demon beast, and the vitality in the blood would only last for an hour.

"So, it's useless if I drink blood from a live demon beast because the vitality wouldn't leave its body. I needed to kill it first."

The [Great Devil Bodies] had a way to improve by using the vitality from those demon beasts' blood. The knowledge he had about his abilities wasn't complete. It was different from other people's abilities.

"It seems that becoming an adventurer is the right choice for me..." Azrid smiled to himself. He put the gun away before he grabbed the rabbit. He didn't hesitate before he placed his mouth on the wound across its chest.

Ugh!

He felt like throwing up, but he had to endure it. The blood was bad. It would be better if it were sweet, but it was too awful.

...

"What the hell is that kid doing?!" Carmon was shocked when he saw the monitor. The screen played Azrid drinking the blood of the Emerald Rabbit that he had killed.

"Is this his ability? Vampirism?"

Carmon recalled some of the abilities that had characteristics of vampires. The universe was vast, and there were all sorts of abilities in the cosmos. Some humans even had useless abilities like making their hair grow faster or just changing the color of their skin. Most of the abilities were like that, and many weren't suitable for combat.

Carmon was a Tier 2. He only had one ability, which was to enhance his eyesight. He could see a tiny fly two kilometers away from him. Using this ability, he became a sharpshooter on the battlefield.

He was one of the best Tier 2 out there when it came to shooting.

"An ability with a characteristic of a vampire? It's pretty interesting... But drinking the blood of a Tier 1 demon beast without purifying it could cause a slight dizziness. If it's from a higher tier then a Tier 1 will directly collapse from drinking the blood. Maybe, his ability had some sort of resistance to that effect."

Carmon smiled before he turned his attention to the other applicants.

...

Azrid drank the blood of the emerald rabbit and felt awful. If it wasn't going to improve him, he wouldn't drink this blood no matter what.

"Argh! It tastes so bad. Damn, I need some chewing gum. I can still taste the blood."

Azrid wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He glanced at his proficiency and noticed that it didn't increase at all. It seemed that he needed to drink more blood.

But he could feel a warm feeling coursing through his body. His ability was fully engaging with the vitality from the blood he had drunk.

"Hmm...? If I'm not wrong, it's here."

Azrid took out a piece of crystal from inside the rabbit's body. It was the demon beast core and it contained a fair amount of ether. The core of a Tier 1 demon beast could be sold for ten thousand credits. As for Tier 2, if he wasn't wrong, the market price of it was one hundred thousand.

He wanted to try eating it, but eventually shook his head as he realized that the knowledge that came to his mind didn't include him eating the core of the demon beast.

"I should continue..."

Azrid took out his gun once again, but this time, he noticed ill intent coming from the north. He looked up and saw a few silhouettes dashing through the shadows of the trees.

This...?

They were Ash Wolves, a Tier 1 demon beast, but they were stronger and faster than the Emerald Rabbit. They must have smelled the blood from the Emerald Rabbit. They were still far away from him.

Azrid kicked the corpse of the rabbit to the side before he hid in the other corner. The corpse was at the front while he was hiding behind. He just hoped that the wolves wouldn't discover him quickly.

Azrid wouldn't run away. He would try to fight these wolves even if he failed the trial. It would become a valuable experience for him even if he got defeated. Win or lose, everything would benefit his growth. Plus, he still had other trump cards that he hasn't used before.

After a few seconds, he got a clearer view of the wolves. He found that there were a total of five ash wolves and each one possessed a height of one and a half meters. If these wolves stood up, they were surely taller than him.

It was a little bit intimidating, but Azrid gritted his teeth.

On the corner, one of the guards was hiding while watching Azrid and the wolves. He was ready to save the kid if something went wrong. With his top-tier 2 strength, he would be able to save Azrid from the hands of five tier 1 demon beasts.

"This kid... I can see that he is nervous, but he is suppressing it." The guard smiled, seeing Azrid's attitude.

The wolves approached the corpses. Seeing this, Azrid didn't hesitate and threw a flash bomb at the group of wolves. He crouched and closed his eyes.

Bang!!

The bomb exploded, and a brilliant light erupted in every direction. The wolves stared at the light and were affected by the strong illumination of the bomb.

Without wasting any time, Azrid threw another bomb. This time it was a true explosion bomb. The bomb landed in the center of the wolves, close to the corpse of the emerald rabbit.

The bomb exploded in an instant, causing a large amount of soil to shoot out everywhere.

Azrid looked over as he pulled out his knife and gun. The area was full of smoke, but a silhouette quickly dashed out of it.

It was a wolf. The wolf quickly opened its mouth as it viciously tried to bite Azrid's neck.

Roar!

Azrid was too late to react. The fangs of the wolf didn't pierce his skin, but instead, a semi-transparent field appeared and protected him from the sharp fangs. The field emitted an electric spark as the wolf jumped away to gain some distance.

Azrid noticed that the other wolves had survived the explosions from the bomb but were injured. Five wolves and only one of them wasn't injured. He assessed his situation and guessed that he could pull this off.

He raised his gun and fired three bullets.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Two wolves managed to dodge the bullets, but the other one failed to do so. The bullet landed on its front limb, causing blood to gush out of it. The remaining two charged at him.

Swoosh!

Azrid quickly aimed at them and fired another two bullets. The bullets landed on the wolves, but they endured it. They were determined to kill the human in front of them.

"Tsk!"

He realized that it was too late to dodge now. He tightened his grip on his knife and stabbed one of the wolves in the neck while the other one bit his shoulder. Just like before, a semi-transparent barrier protected him.

"Die!"

Azrid elbowed the ferocious beast and was about to kill it when another wolf bit his left leg. This time, the semi-transparent barrier shattered, and the sharp fangs tore through his skin.

"Argh!! It broke my protective field! It cost me one hundred thousand credits!" Azrid endured the pain as he hooked his arm around the neck of the wolf that tried to bite his shoulder. Then, he fired the gun in his hand at point-blank range.

Two bullets and the wolf had died. There were only three wolves left.

"I'm not done yet!"

Azrid roared as he tapped his combat boots. His boots emitted some kind of wind that pushed the wolf away. When the wolf was pushed, it tore a huge piece of meat that was on his leg.

With three remaining bullets, he needed to reload. Before he could even move, a figure appeared in front of him.

Azrid was dazed. The figure moved swiftly and killed the remaining wolves in just a few seconds.

The man that appeared was the guard of the trial.

If this guard appears, does that mean...

"D-Did I fail the trial...?" Azrid subconsciously asked.

The guard looked at him and smiled. "No, you already killed three demon beasts, so I appeared to take care of the rest."

His answer gave Azrid a sense of relief. Azrid slumped on the ground and took a deep breath. He wouldn't forget this battle, and he would think over what he should do if he encountered another situation like this.

It was a different feeling than the virtual battle.

"Follow me, you've already passed the trial," the guard said.

At that moment, Azrid remembered something important. He had been so absorbed in the battle that he had forgotten what he needed to do.

"Please wait a minute," he said before hurrying over to the corpses of the wolves. He took a deep breath and then buried his mouth in the wounds of one of the wolves.

"Eh?!" The guard was slightly shocked, but then he remembered that Azrid had also drunk the blood of the emerald rabbit.

"Is this your ability?" the guard asked.

Azrid stopped drinking for a moment to answer the guard's question. "Yes, it gives me a slight power boost when I drink blood. It's called the devil's body."

He didn't elaborate further, instead continuing to drink the wolf's blood. Even if the guard had further questions, Azrid wasn't obligated to disclose all the details of his ability. Knowing the basics was enough.

"That's quite a good ability. Mine is just sharpening my nails to the point where they can rival swords," the guard replied with a smile.

Half an hour later, Azrid finished drinking the blood of the wolves and was feeling bloated. He felt as if he had eaten a few plates of food. He also made sure to take the core of the demon beast that he had killed. The other three cores of the wolves, he gave to the guard, who had killed them.

There was nothing wrong with this, and it would give the others a better impression of him.

Azrid followed the guard to the safe place and glanced at the proficiency of his [Great Devil Bodies]. The blood of the five wolves and one emerald rabbit had increased his proficiency to 0.57%.

The temptation to kill another demon beast and drink its blood to increase his proficiency even further was strong, but he held himself back. He had already finished the trial, so he wasn't allowed to go inside the sanctuary again.

Once he became an adventurer, there would be countless opportunities to hunt demon beasts.

They walked for a while before they arrived at a gate. The guard took out a card and swiped it at the scanner. The gate opened and they entered a large building.

"This is the trial building. You can rest here for a while and recover from your injuries."

The guard pointed to a room and left. Azrid entered the room and found a bed. He lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. He still felt the pain from the wounds but it wasn't as severe as before.

After a few minutes of rest, Azrid got up from the bed. He decided to explore the building since he had some free time. He walked down the hallway and found a large room with a lot of people in it.

It seemed like there was some kind of party going on. People were chatting and laughing while holding glasses of wine. Some people were dancing while others were playing cards. The atmosphere was lively.

Azrid felt out of place in this kind of situation. He decided to leave the room and continue exploring the building. He found a room with a sign that said "Training Room". He entered the room and found a lot of training equipment.

There were weights, punching bags, and even a small arena. Azrid decided to train for a while to improve his skills. He punched the punching bag and lifted weights. He also practiced his knife and gun skills.

After half an hour of training, Azrid left the training room and returned to his trial room. He say down and closed his eyes. He thought about the battle he had earlier and the things he learned from it. He also thought about his future and what he would do next.

Azrid didn't know what the future held for him but he was determined to face it head-on.