The hunter and the prey

A figure hidden in the shadows watched with its fierce eyes; its body did not move an inch, seeking to go completely unnoticed, watching every slightest movement, and waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack.

A predator

A rabbit with soft white fur was looking for food without being aware of the situation it was in.

A prey

Jumping and sniffing his surroundings, he continued in his search for food, his every move watched by the predator hidden in the darkness, ready to pounce at the slightest opportunity.

* Sniff* *Sniff* *Sniff*

"¡!"

The rabbit paused.

Its pupils shrank and its fur bristled, It quickly tried to turn around and run away.

But it was too late

Voosh-! Splut-!

The predator came out of its hiding place sensing the agitation of its prey, its movements were fast and precise, its sharp fangs pierced its prey's throat, spreading its blood on the ground and leaving it inert.

The predator that turned out to be a wolf, happy with his successful hunt, took the dead rabbit between his jaws and began to walk towards his hiding place, avoiding the unwanted glances of the other predators that could covet his prey.

Crack-

But it stopped

His eyes were guided to the rustling bushes in the distance, his ears sharpened and his fur bristled.

With his keen instincts, the wolf quickly grasped the situation.

He was not the only predator in the area. 

Slash-!

But that realization came too late when its head was cleanly sliced off.

"Alright, we've got meat for dinner now."

Kein sheathed his sword and walked over to the corpse of the wolf he had just decapitated.

"Oh? Well, that's lucky! It looks like he killed a rabbit before he met me." 

Happy for the unexpected gift, Kein loaded the bodies of the decapitated wolf and the rabbit.

"This is perfect for a stew."

The first test of the Level Test is monster hunting, It's a 48-hour-long test in which students have to survive in a forest surrounded by a hostile environment full of monsters while hunting them to earn points

But you can't just fight monsters at random; that would be a careless and unwise move.

If you fight constantly without taking breaks, then exhaustion is inevitable. Students were not allowed to bring artifacts, magical tools or potions, so if you get seriously injured, you will not be able to use a potion to recover.

And while this may seem like a test where points are everything, it's really not.

The professors said that killing monsters gives you points, but what will be evaluated in this test is the students' ability to survive, adapt to hostile environments, track monsters and people, etc.

It could be said that the points for hunting monsters were more of a bait for the more impatient and careless students to be eliminated than anything else.

Spark-

In front of a fire, a pot of boiling water was cooking with rabbit and wolf meat inside.

"Smells good."

Although they banned the use of potions and artifacts, they did allow students to bring in things like tents and cooking tools

With their restrictions, of course

"It's been 18 hours since the test started; most of the students should have been disqualified by now."

This test was not simple at all; not only did you have to watch out for monsters, but also for poisonous plants, unstable terrain, poisonous insects and also the students themselves

"2 groups of students tried to ambush me before, but they weren't that strong so it was easy."

Spark-

With the soothing sound of the fire, Kein poured his rabbit and wolf stew on a wooden plate and, with a spoon of the same material, began to eat

"This reminds me of the days with my grandfather."

His grandfather and he used to camp often by way of training to learn how to survive, hunt, skin animals and identify poisonous plants and mushrooms

They were good times, and although his grandfather might have been a bit harsh with the training he gave him, he still loved him and was really grateful to him for teaching how to wield a sword. The sword that was resting at his side was actually a gift his grandfather gave him.

The sword had a handle decorated with an emblem of a Griffin spreading its wings.

He cherished this sword, not only because it was his grandfather's last gift to him but also because it was the only connection he had to his roots.

The fallen Gryphos family

That's right, Kein was not a commoner but a descendant of a fallen noble family. 

Although he always lived with his grandfather, he used to tell him stories about the past glory of the Gryphos family.

It was a family that was renowned for their impressive swordsmanship; he went so far as to say that they were even comparable to the Pendragons in terms of swordsmanship.

But years ago, when a war broke out against the demons, the Gryphos family was severely affected, losing 80% of their forces and even losing the head of the family.

With their forces reduced and no leader to follow, the Gryphos family was destined for destruction. And so it was when, during a demon attack, the Gryphos family was completely slaughtered.

Leaving only grandfather and me alive.

"But there was always something strange about this."

Although they lived in a village far away from the kingdom, they were not completely disconnected, and if the Gryphos family had been as impressive as his grandfather described, then there should have been information about it

But he never found any information about the Gryphos family.

Not a single mention in the history books, not even in the academy books, with books that only nobles were able to get hold of; in none of them was there any mention of the Gryphos family.

It was as if they had been completely erased from history.

But why would they do that?

When he asked his grandfather, he simply evaded the subject, telling him he wasn't ready to know yet.

"And...there's also that day."

The day his grandfather died.

That day, unknown attackers raided our village, but the strange thing is that they didn't loot or kill the people in the village but headed straight for our house.

My grandfather fought with everything he had, but the attackers seemed to know their techniques perfectly and countered them to perfection.

After a hard battle, my grandfather managed to defeat the attackers, but he was seriously wounded and on the verge of death.

I was still very young and inexperienced, so I could do nothing to help him. 

To this day, I still remember it as if it were yesterday.

"Haha, I seem to have gotten old; I don't think I can hold on for long."

Although he was in a critical state, he always kept a smile, His eyes, although tired, still showed a shine that a person in his condition would not have.

He was always a strong man, even in his last moments.

"Listen to me, Kein."

He still remembers the feel of her hand on his head; the feeling of security they conveyed did not fade even in that situation

"Unfortunately, Grandpa will no longer be able to guide you on your path, but... I know your impatience; I know you have many questions, which unfortunately I can't answer. But if you ever want to find them for yourself, there is something you must do first."

As he handed him his sword, his grandfather told him what would mark his life from then on.

"You must become..." 

"Into the strongest swordsman."

Spark-

"I believe you can do it; I believe in you, son."

And leaving those last words, the hand on his head lost strength, his eyes slowly closed, and his breathing stopped.

My grandfather had died, but he kept smiling all the time.

From that day on, I dedicated myself to improving my skills with the sword, until I heard about the Athena Academy, the best combat academy in the empire.

I thought that if I came here, I would be able to become much stronger and maybe find the answers behind the death of my grandfather and my family.

Spark- 

The fire continued to burn, and its comforting warmth enveloped Kein as he was hypnotized by the flames.

Crack-

"¡!"

But his immersion was interrupted by the sound of a branch crackling in the distance

"..."

Kein sharpened his senses but could hear nothing but the crackling of his campfire and the howling of the wind

"Maybe it was a rabbit?"

He thought about it; it may have just been a rabbit that was passing by and accidentally stepped on a branch.

"I'm going to see."

He couldn't be sure; this forest abounded with monsters of all kinds, and the most dangerous ones always came out at night. If, by chance, the person who stepped on the branch was not a rabbit but a monster, he would be in trouble. 

Taking his sword, he walked slowly towards the place where he had heard the noise. With slow and cautious steps, his senses were at their maximum to anticipate any ambush.

Voosh-!

Pushing aside the bushes in front of him, Kein reached the place where he had heard the noise but found nothing. 

"Looks like it was a rabbit."

Step- Click-

As he was about to turn back, his foot stepped on something

"A thread?"

Voosh-!

The next moment, several daggers flew at Kein from various directions.

"¡!"

Kein quickly unsheathed his sword and defended himself from the flying daggers.

Clank-! Clank-! Clank-!

With his reflexes and swordsmanship, he successfully deflected all the daggers. 

But this was not over yet 

Voosh-!

This time, a dagger flew towards his back, but Kein easily turned his body and parried it.

Clank-!

"¡!"

But at the same time as he blocked the dagger, a figure appeared behind him and attacked him

Clank-!

Kein managed to move fast enough to block the figure's attack, only receiving a light cut on his cheek. 

Swoosh-!

He tried to counterattack but the figure quickly backed away from the reach of his sword.

"Hmm, ambush failed."

A monotone voice echoed through the forest and the moonlight managed to unveil the attacker's appearance 

"It's you!"

With his ash-gray hair and empty black eyes, he was one of the students who managed to get into the special class

"Yes, it's me."

He said this before pulling a string that was tied to his index finger, When he did so, a dagger flew out from Kein's side and he moved to block it 

Clank-!

As he deflected the dagger that was headed towards him, the gray-haired boy quickly approached him, wielding a dagger in his hand.

Clank-! Clank-! Clank-!

After exchanging a few hits, Kein was overwhelmed by the gray-haired boy's advance and retreated several steps. 

Click-

"¡!"

Feeling like he stepped on something, Kein looked down, only to observe a thread under his feet

Voosh-!

"You've got to be kidding me!"

This time, instead of a dagger, what appeared was a tree trunk tied together with several strings 

Crash-!

Enhancing his body with mana, Kein managed to block the trunk and destroy it.

But he didn't know that there was something waiting for him inside the trunk.

Shhhhhh-!

A bomb.

"Shit..."

Boom-!

A huge explosion sent Kein flying several meters before he could stop. He had several burns on his clothes, and his body took some damage, but fortunately he was able to protect his body before the explosion. 

"Hey! That's cheating!"

He shouted angrily as he pointed at the gray-haired boy walking towards him.

"What do you mean?"

He asked, tilting his head and looking legitimately confused.

"What do you mean? What do I mean?! We were forbidden to bring any kind of magical artifact or tool! What about that bomb, huh?!"

"I don't understand your point; that bomb I manufactured myself so it's not cheating."

"You made it yourself?"

Kein was impressed by what the gray-haired boy said.

"When?"

"About 10 minutes ago."

"10 minut- ha~ never mind"

Standing up and getting into position, he looked up at the gray-haired boy with serious eyes.

"My name is Kein; what's yours?"

"Ben"

"Well, here I come!"

Voosh-!

Kein enhanced his body with mana and ran towards Ben at high speed, but when his sword was a few centimeters away from Ben's eye, he suddenly stopped.

"You know, you really shouldn't warn your enemy when you're going to attack."

Blood was dripping from Kein's hand, not just his hand; his neck, arm and legs were bleeding and being pressed by something

"Shit..."

He was trapped by Ben's strings, completely immobile.