The survival test was practically a walk in the park for Alastor, as he leisurely chewed on an unidentified creatures leg wrapped in some tree bark for crunch.
Cooking it was simply a matter of starting a fire by striking a flint and stone together and burning wood.
The beasts in the area weren't even as bloodthirsty as the infant demons on the First Layer.
'How could anyone possible have trouble with this sort of test?'
'Is there something I'm not getting?'
'Now that I think about it, I haven't met any other examin- Nevermind.'
Alastor corrected his thought as he saw a curled up male human sitting next to a tree with a sword thrown in front of him.
"Hello?"
'Is he dead? If he is, can I have him? Do humans in this world eat their kind for power? Jace's humans didn't. But there was a person who used to eat corpses to get stronger in the novel.'
Unfrotunately, the human raised his head, evidently still alive from his trembling movements.
'Hero, be a Hero. Like the protagonist of the novel.'
"Are you alright?" Alastor asked with the nicest smile he could muster.
'Nevermind, it's too hard. Sorry Amon, I can't keep this act up for years.'
The trembling young man looked up at the person looking down at him with a horrifying smile, and began bawling.
"I was so sure I could do it!! But I haven't bathed in a week!! And I'm so hungry!!"
"I was wrong, and should have just taken over the business from dad!"
"I miss my parentsssss!!"
Alastor's face hardened as he looked down at the pathetic being in front of him.
'How pathetic.'
"Then give up."
"Give up on your dreams and die, you filthy creature."
"A mewling quim like you who that dares to dream, but is not willing to suffer for that dream, will always be liability."
Alastor began walking away, no longer concerned about the crying boy behind him.
Those without talent, were not worthy of his attention.
He didn't even want to eat him anymore.
If he was going to be a Hero without all the positivity bullshit, he needed to surround himself with competent people.
However, the crying boy behind him took his scolding words in a different manner.
'He- Is he trying to tell me that I should pursue my dream as if my life depends on it?'
'To think of giving me advice in such a dire situation, he's a kind person beneath that gruff exterior.'
'This.....is a real Hero.'
'Thank you, spear man! I, Axel, will never forget your advice!'
Meanwhile, Alastor decided it was time to enjoy some delicious worms infesting a tree.
...............................................................................
The silver moon in the sky cast a gentle light against the earth, it's light coming not just from the Sun, but also from it's Spirituality.
Alastor lay against a tree, high up in it's branches, the spear held tightly in his arm.
He wasn't asleep, merely checking his demonic half.
He sighed in relief as he realized he could transform back into an Ohr Jinn whenever he wished.
Everything that made him a demon had been bundled up into a ball and stuffed deep into his Astral Body, not to be confused with his soul.
He knew the moment he drew on even a bit of demonic essence, the barriers surrounding the Academy would activate.
As for what they did after activation?
Alastor did not want to be the one to find that out.
As he meditated, he pondered upon the future, as well as the current Path he was treading.
'Mana Research is too complex to be a short term goal.'
'Perhaps I should focus on my Weapon Mastery.'
He remembered the cryptic hint the old butler of Obelisk had given him when he was retraining his body on balancing.
'Take an interest in music and learn to dance.'
"Dance, huh?"
'How is that going to help in increasing my Spear Mastery to the Knight level?'
'There are so many other things to do.'
'The mystery of the attacks on students. Of course it's a demon.'
'Stopping the attack from Nine during the trip to the Sumerian Ruins. Easy enough, since I can always just ask for the plans.'
'Acquiring the right to go to the Ruins of Kranak in the first place during the midterms.'
'Learning Runes.'
'And yet, the most important task remains to secure that 'seed' from the library.'
'It was such a horrible way to introduce such a powerful object in the novel, since the protagonist just found it lying around.'
'At least, it serves my purposes now.'
Alastor's eyes snapped open, as he felt a gaze on him.
His instinct suddenly screamed at him, and he dodged reflexively, narrowly avoiding a black shadow flitting through the treetops, clawing where his had had once been.
The creature quickly fled after realizing it's attack failed.
'Ah, the creature here are gentle indeed.'
Alastor sighed in bliss as the creature did not stay to fight.
He furrowed his brow as he thought over the skirmish again.
'Was my instinct always this strong?'
'The last time such a situation happened was because my newly born soul was trembling due to the demon stalking me.'
'But this time, it was just a beast, and it didn't even hold too much animosity towards me.'
'Yet, I not only felt it's gaze, but dodged in just the right way to remain on the tree, as well as avoid it perfectly.'
'One of those weird kids who summoned me and then offered themselves for me to devour must have had this budding skill.'
'How fortunate.'
'Good job, Weaver.'
Alastor still didn't like his Fate being toyed with though.
He leapt off the tree as soon as the first rays of the sun appeared.
'I'll get dull from this amount of relaxation.'
"Let's see what the strongest creature around here is then."
Alastor took off running towards the sound of a river.
...............................................................................
In a room far from the forest, the Headmistress lay lounging on a velvet couch, as reports constantly entered her ear.
"Examinee 324# has given up and is requesting to leave."
With a quick flick of her wrist, Examinee 324# disappeared from the forest.
This method of preserving lives wasn't ideal, and casualties still happened.
Some had tried to blame her for not constantly monitoring the entire forest, not being vigilant at all times, and the like.
But her response was the same.
"Why should I?"
If someone dies in just the first stage of the examination, they don't deserve to live anyway.
Besides, nobody except the Gods of the Sixth Heaven could force her to do something she didn't want to, and they did not meddle in human affairs too much.
'Power is the rule of life.'
'The strong get to have their way, and the weak can do naught but fall in line.'
'And right now, I am strong.'
Such was the thought of Illia Maltova, the current greatest Sorceress of humanity, and the Headmistress of the Academy.
She created a leaf in her hand as she lay down on the couch fully, barely paying attention to the reports of the Examinees coming in from her subordinates.
She breathed lightly onto the leaf and it became leaf figure, trying to struggle and escape from her hand.
With an almost gentle squeeze, she ended it's 'life'.
'Hmmm, not there yet.' She thought with a tinge of disappointment.
Suddenly, her attention was drawn to one report.
"Examinee 72# has provoked the Forest Lord!"
"Miss Illia? We should teleport him ou-"
With a flex of will, all soundwaves coming from the subordinate were cancelled out.
Illia extended her senses to the firest, where the little lizard claiming to be a Lord was facing a child that gave her an unsettled feeling.
She saw the smile on his face, and decided that kids should be allowed their fun.
"Let them fight."
Illia wanted to know if the boy having his fun would win or not, and decided to fast forward to the end of the fight.
She promptly fell asleep, the dead leaf creature in her hand turning into mana that was again absorbed by her.