Many of the students didn't even know how to feel. Many had been planning to leave so the professor wouldn't get paid well. But suddenly, the professor said he rented out test rooms at the Proving Ground.
That's a luxury!
And for a whole week!
The bittersweet feeling came to all of them except Matt.
He felt nice to have such a teacher, so he was in a good mood and spent the rest of the day as he walked around the academy.
Matt did not see Miss Moore for the rest of the day. She seemed worried about passing that test and ran off to practice.
In the evening, Matt returned and rested.
The next morning...
Matt went to where the professor had told them to go, alone, as he could not find Miss Moore anywhere.
When he arrived at the Proving Grounds, he found the professor alone, waiting for the students.
He looked up to see who had arrived and then continued reading.
The students were late in arriving and not punctual, but they still arrived.
"Well, my training will start from today. The training is easy; you must kill 5 beasts inside and bring me the badge left by those to verify it. Also, your hits must not be with your full power. Use a thousand of maximum vampiric power in each hit to kill it." He said and then took a moment to explain several things regarding employing vampiric power to them.
His explanations were easy to understand and short, so in less than 15 minutes, everyone was ready to move in.
There were a total of 50 students, and there were 50 rooms rented. Each would receive their training room.
Matt didn't speak to anyone else, walked to the one designated for him, and went inside...
Matt felt a significant change in his perspective as soon as he walked in.
The room he expected it to be was not before his eyes. There was a vast open field with nearby mountains and pastures.
But...
'Is this fake? Is this a virtual reality?' He thought in shock after noticing this.
'How the hell do they have such high technology?' He thought in shock and touched his body; when he did, he noticed that his body had an average temperature.
'Wait... It's not a fake virtual reality; my body was moved to this place, but the scenery seems to have been created by advanced technology. What the hell is this place?' He thought, but he didn't have time to think.
Several beasts appeared at that moment, a little away from him.
Matt focused his gaze on them and noticed that they were bloodless, 'Just like the scenery, the beasts are fake. But my body was moved to this place...' He thought and couldn't help but smile at witnessing such a ridiculously high-tech yet effective.
Moreover, he noticed that those beasts were not weak at all.
Their strengths were randomly between 1,500 and 2,000 power, so they would give him a good fight.
'Hehe, this will be exciting to try.' He thought.
As a lover of virtual realities, he naturally wanted to try a virtual reality as unique as this one.
Therefore, he drew the weapon and held it like a dagger.
He pressed his foot against the ground and lunged at the nearest beast, a beast with 2,000 power.
He swung his weapon hard, and a muffled sound rang out as the weapon hit this beast hard, sending it flying for tens of meters, though it did not kill it.
The beast managed to avoid critical damage at the last moment.
'No blood, but... How quick it was to dodge my attack.' Matt thought and had to step back to avoid another beast's scratch, taking advantage of the moment to kick it in the stomach.
This pushed it meters backward, and he leaped through the air to land on top of it, trying to cut its throat in one go.
But the beast managed to dodge it again narrowly, and his weapon only hit the ground hard and sent the beast backward from the impact.
This made Matt frown, but he ran back towards that same beast.
He threw a heavy blow at it with the dagger, but it quickly dodged it. It hit it a bit, but the damage wasn't serious.
Matt then stopped and looked at the beast he had hit earlier.
'Do they heal? Heh, this will be entertaining.' He thought.
Without hesitation, he fought against these beasts again, hitting them with powerful blows with his fists and kicks but failing to land decisive blows with his dagger.
This made him frown, and he stopped again.
'Could it be that they can't be killed with weapons? All my fist attacks have hit and done damage; they don't heal from that damage. But the damage done by the dagger, while noticeable at first, heals quickly.' He thought.
He decided to put away his weapon as soon as he realized this and began to use his fists.
'The teacher said I should hold back at a thousand, but if I do that, I won't be able to train much... Let's hold back the punches at 500 power; I think it's good.' Matt thought and soon started fighting again.
The smile on his face came soon after when two beasts fell to the ground dead, and their bodies disappeared, leaving only two badges.
'Hehe, so this is the weakness of these things. Makes sense so that we can train better.' He thought, and their combat resumed in force.
His fist was lightly wrapped in vampiric power, but it was so little power it was barely visible. His blows were not strong, but blows with his fists would not heal these beasts.
So even though he had to strike many blows to kill one, they would eventually fall in front of him.
Still...
'The problem is physical exhaustion because the beasts keep attacking with combat power superior to mine. This is why it's control training...' Matt thought, looking at the wounds on his body.
There weren't many, but there certainly were.
Therefore, he noticed that he had to finish the fight quickly.
Five of them had fallen. He could leave now if he wanted to, but seeing those other five beasts in front of him made him want to fight.
He could rarely fight like this, so he must take advantage of it.
So, he got into another fight against the beasts simultaneously. He was dodging deadly blows and striking blows in essential places.
One after another, the beasts were falling. Until finally...
Matt finished grabbing the ten badges on the ground, and although his body was injured, he looked pretty happy.
Without hesitation, he walked out of the testing ground.
Just the professor was walking by, so he was surprised when he looked at him.
"Boy, did you give up so fast on the first day?" he asked resignedly.
Matt looked at him, confused, "Why would I give up? I finished the fight, professor." Matt replied firmly and passed him ten badges.
Professor Reagan looked at the ten badges in shock and then looked at Matt, "You killed all ten beasts in such a short time?" He asked in surprise, and Matt nodded.
"Of course. It took me a while because, at first, I didn't understand the beast's weakness, but it helped me understand my power better. Thank you very much for the opportunity, Professor Reagan." Matt replied gratefully, and Professor Reagan nodded several times.
He was surprised, though, but smiled at him.
"Hahaha, good boy. Well, here's your daily reward. Return to your room, and I'll expect you again tomorrow." Replied the teacher and handed him a small box.
Matt grabbed it, and after saying goodbye, he went back to his room.
When he arrived, he checked the box and noticed several portions of good-quality blood in different vials.
'That much? This surely costs quite a lot; Professor Reagan seems rich.' Matt thought and, without hesitation, began to exercise vampirism to consume this blood.
He had little blood left from what Gray gave him, and that they took from the devourer, so he needed more if he wanted to continue to increase his strength in large portions, but he needed to pass the first test to be able to go to the Academic Trade City, where they sold.
So, for this week, he must make do with what he has.
That night, he spent all night training, and the following day, he was again the first to enter the testing ground.
That day, he had to kill 20 beasts to complete, as he would move up 10 with each passing day. It was a pity he could only do it once a day; otherwise, maybe he could improve a lot more.
But that day, 20 badges were given to Professor Reagan.
And the next day, it was 30.
These were beasts between 1,500 and 2,000 pure power but were not as strong as the mountain beasts. Still, they were good training and helped him assimilate blood into his body, drastically increasing his power.
Thus, six days passed.
It was exactly the same on the sixth day, slaying the 60 beasts before him.
That day, he had made up his mind about something, so the next morning, he went to talk to Professor Reagan before the tests began.
"Boy, you're early today." Professor Reagan said with a smile upon seeing him.
During these days, this had been his favorite student. Not only did he have a good personality, but he was highly talented, and his strength was constantly increasing. But, even better, he was disciplined and responsible!
The perfect student so far!
Matt greeted him back.
"Professor, this time, I want to ask you something." He spoke.
Professor Reagan looked at him curiously, "You can ask for anything, kid. For your good performance, I will grant you anything you want." He replied, and Matt nodded in relief.
"I want to increase the difficulty to a Level 3 Scale on the Proving Ground. I'll pay you whatever it costs, though you'll have to give me some time to raise the money." Matt said firmly, without a trace of hesitation.
Reagan Cooper looked at him in shock upon hearing this...