The Assessment Begins

"Hah—!" A cavalryman clad in light black armor took the lead, spurring ahead onto the road across the open plains, while several carriages followed behind, advancing toward Ditch Town. Inside the carriages, the young students either closed their eyes to rest their minds or checked their weapons and gear. Given how crucial the assessment was, everyone carried a measure of tension and solemnity. At five in the afternoon, the convoy arrived in Ditch Town to rest for the night. The next morning, they would head to a spot about 15 li outside the town to undertake the assessment. In the inn's ground-floor common room. Xilutaiya, Mick, Kemiya, Kailun, and Lei sat together at one table, while the other tables were also filled with students. Everyone ate a hearty dinner and discussed tomorrow's situation. Even students who did not yet know the specific contents of the assessment now had a general idea of the procedure. "Tomorrow's first target will definitely be finding something," Kemiya explained between sips of sweet honeyed water. "The second target will probably be slaying some first-order monster." "As for the third target, it's said to be extremely difficult, and very few people ever manage to complete it." "Doesn't sound that hard," Mick mumbled through a mouthful of bread. "A first-order monster isn't hard?" Kemiya tilted her head at the boy. "Don't you remember that day we were chased all over the forest by that massive wild boar, almost having a disaster?" "Back then, we hadn't stepped into the first order, so of course we couldn't beat it." Mick swallowed his bread, his speech clearing up as he gripped the steel sword on the table to test his strength. "Things are different now." A calm confidence echoed in his voice. "Phew, forget it, no point arguing with you." Kemiya shook her head. She would probably be content just securing the first target. At her current stage, facing a first-order monster was still terribly dangerous. If the Eye of Phantasmal Incantation failed to work, she lacked Tiya's physical constitution to run away. "What about you, Sister Kailun?" "I'll probably try for the second target," Kailun answered after some thought. "That makes sense—Sister Kailun is a hunter, after all." Hunters possessed abundant experience dealing with wild beasts and monsters. Even if they could not overpower a creature head-on, their familiarity with traps, habits, and weaknesses allowed them to find a way to handle it. "Lei." Kemiya glanced at the companion beside them, who had been eating silently the whole time, and realized she would not get an interesting answer from him anyway. "Never mind, just do your best, Lei." "Tiya, what about you?" At last, Xilutaiya, who had been quietly eating, looked up only when her name was called. "Me? First I'll see what the three targets are, and if I can do them, I'll do my best to complete them." She had just been pondering how she would choose if she found herself pitted against Iona. Through their conversations over recent days, she had gradually come to understand just how crucial this assessment was to Iona. If Iona wished to revive her family and rescue her kin, entering the Hidden Woodland offered the greatest possibility, though it was certainly a perilous path as well. Should she yield the opportunity to her? But if she did, where would that leave her own aspirations and hopes? "In my heart, Tiya is the strongest," Kemiya said, raising a finger. Her words reached the neighboring table, however, drawing snickers. The other party did not mock them loudly, but the quiet murmuring and disdainful glances still left them rather displeased. Kemiya immediately wanted to charge over and argue, but Kailun held her back. "Leave it. We'll know the answer tomorrow anyway. Save your energy and strength." "Mm, fine." Kemiya lowered her little fist. She hadn't truly intended to pick a fight with them—after all, she couldn't take them alone—but swallowing her grievance in silence simply went against her nature. As Mick ate, his gaze met Suolin's at the neighboring table. The two locked eyes across the room for a while, communicating without a single spoken word. This would be the time for the two of them to settle who stood higher. At the last table, Iona wore a dark red hunting skirt suit lined with sturdy leather beneath the vibrant fabric—a set of light armor that combined aesthetics and practicality without restricting her agility. In addition, two swords hung at her waist, lending her a crisp, swift demeanor. Tonight, she had no mood to socialize with the students at her table either. After finishing dinner, she held a small glass of red wine, lost in thought as she stared blankly ahead. With their own thoughts occupying their minds, the students finished their last meal before the trial and returned to their rooms to rest. ... The next day, several carriages passed through the morning mist and arrived before a mountainous forest. The carriages pulled to a halt, and people began disembarking one after another. "Is this the place?" Viscount Xuefeng, dressed in a proper silk formal coat today, stood firmly in place, gazing out toward the mist-draped mountain forest. "Yes, my lord," a second-order professional hunter reported, stepping forward. Perched on his shoulder was a sharp-eyed gray falcon. "After you sent word the day before yesterday, I rallied the nearby villagers to temporarily seal off this forest, forbidding outsiders from entering or leaving. However, according to the villagers, an adventuring party entered the forest just a few days ago and hasn't come out yet." "That poses no problem. You have worked hard, Dean." Viscount Xuefeng raised a hand in appreciation. The hunter then stepped back, continuing to monitor the situation from the side. Soon, attendants erected a platform on the grass and arranged tables and chairs for Viscount Xuefeng and Scholar Haide to take their seats. Around eight in the morning, the mountain mist parted slightly. A black stork flew out, circled above the group for a moment, and dropped a scroll. An attendant picked up the scroll and presented it to Viscount Xuefeng. Shortly after, the accompanying instructor assembled the students, first explaining the various rules of the assessment before beginning to announce the targets. "This assessment is of great consequence and extraordinarily dangerous. Anyone who feels timid may withdraw beforehand." The students exchanged glances, but none spoke up or withdrew. Having come this far, they had already resolved their minds long ago. "Very well. Then I shall announce the three targets of this assessment. "For the first target, you must obtain water from a hidden spring within the mountain forest. It is a sweet spring shrouded in mist, possessing a faint Mist Shadow attribute. "For the second target, you must slay an aberrant monster within the forest—at least a first-order beast. "For the third target, atop a cliff on the forest's mountain peak blooms a Blood Anomaly. You are to pluck it and bring it back. Be warned, however: its location is extremely treacherous, it is highly toxic, and it may well be guarded by other aberrant creatures. "Bringing the target back will be considered a completed mission; failing to return halfway will not count as completion. "Completing even one target will earn you an award from the viscount. Act according to your abilities, for there will be no aid of any kind inside the forest. Even if you are wounded and unable to move, you will have to wait until the assessment concludes three days from now before anyone might go in to search for you. "Very well, that concludes the explanation. If you have any questions, you may ask them now." As the instructor's words fell, murmurs broke out among the crowd. "Instructor, are we permitted to form teams to complete the tasks during the assessment?" "You may team up, but your entry locations will be determined by drawing lots, so you won't necessarily start together." "Instructor, does slaying one monster count as completing the target for the whole team?" "No. Slaying one only counts toward one person's completion. Furthermore, I must remind you that this forest is vast and shrouded in mist; managing to locate even one will not be an easy feat." "Instructor, regarding the third target, is it possible to encounter monsters above the first order?" "I make no promises," the instructor replied, shaking his head. "In other words, we might run into exceptionally dangerous enemies," the students whispered among themselves. "One final question, Instructor: what happens if conflict breaks out among us in the forest, or if we even attack each other?" someone asked cautiously. "As long as no one reports it, no one will look into it." The instructor cast them a meaningful glance. "Assessments like this have continued for over a thousand years. The questions you can think of now, and the situations you might encounter, all have countless precedents. I wish to tell you that the world is cruel, and not all environments are as calm and stable as Burnt Stone City. Even if you don't face such things in this assessment, you will encounter them sooner or later in the future. Protect yourselves, make your choices prudently, and find the right path through complex and shifting conditions. This will be a challenge you face for the rest of your lives. "Right. The assessment begins now. Everyone, draw lots for your locations."