More enemies appeared, blocking their path, emerging directly from the ground, or jumping from the treetops. Although he had been quite sure a moment ago that there was nothing there. Like shadows that had simply decided to rise, they approached them slowly, encircling them. Vincent took a step forward, gripping his sword with both hands. “Let me show you I’m worth it,” he said. He wasn't much of a knight yet, but in this world, one could get stronger with the experience of each battle won. Even if you were a mere blacksmith, it wasn't like there was some kind of rule prohibiting it. It's just that blacksmiths, tailors, and all that, didn't get into fights. It was a matter of “common sense”.

  “Are you sure?” Ayame asked.

  As sure as I'll ever be, he thought.

  “Of course. Besides, if something goes wrong, you can pull my chestnuts out of the fire, like before.”

  “Very inspiring.” He joked with her with easy naturalness, as if they were already friends. This could be the beginning of the rest of his future, or the abrupt end. But at least, no one could say he hadn't tried. Even though he hadn't even reached the actual starting line, he had come further than anyone had dared to dream. Just saying, not that he was going to settle for the consolation prize.

  Vincent’s smile widened. He would defeat the obstacles in his path and reach the portal. He had no other choice. Returning home with his tail between his legs to one day take over the family business was not an option. If he had a son, he wouldn't want that life for him. Even less for himself.

  Four shadows in total, all undoubtedly as dangerous and fast as the previous ones. Nothing had changed. But being saved, at the last moment, by a vampire of all possibilities, had cooled his head. Besides, now he had a motivation to do things right, which was stronger than the mere desire for survival for a teenager: the fear of looking bad in front of a woman, on top of that. Ha ha! It sounded a bit pathetic, but well, it was true, he didn't want to look bad.

  A firm thrust. His sword reached the body of the first shadow before its tentacles reached his. The weapon sank into that substance, black as tar, up to the hilt, but fortunately came out just as easily. Another attack. Vincent cut off a couple of tentacles, while the blade made its way towards its neck. Yes, decapitation seemed to be the most effective way to control these things. They didn't seem to have organs, didn't make any kind of sound, not even groans of pain. And they didn't bleed, but a good blow to the neck and goodbye, forever. It hadn't been mentioned in the few books he had access to, so he was glad it had occurred to him spontaneously. He supposed his spontaneity was the most violent.

  One down. Three left. No, he shouldn't think of the enemies as a group. It would be easier to get overwhelmed. They were, indeed, three more. He couldn't snap his fingers and change reality. But nothing forced the fight to be one against three. If he didn't screw up, if he did everything right, he could still finish this one by one. Without errors and with precision, like a real knight would. A person who had actually received sword training. Not the poor imitation he had tried to perform. But he would still succeed. He had to. He didn't want her to regret the alliance. Losing his best asset for getting into the school. He would do anything to get into the academy. Admission was the beginning of all dreams. Without it, he wasn't even alive.

  A deep, hoarse, sinister growl. The second shadow lunged at him. Honestly, Vincent was about to be embarrassed and die. He was this close to trying to block the attack with the shield he no longer possessed. He tried to hide the gesture and planted a boot on the shadow's chest, using the blow to push himself back, gain some distance. Nothing the tentacles couldn't cover in a tenth of a second, however. Fuck, he thought. Vincent swung his sword wildly, cutting the tentacles coming for him, then watching them fall limply to the ground, without a drop of blood. A violence that seemed fake. The shadow protected its neck well, so Vincent went for its legs. It fell to the ground legless, but that didn't mean it had lost its energy.

  Whimpering,

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Whimpering, it continued heading towards him. Its thirst for blood and flesh was incomparable.

  That was another small success, but still, the plan was going down the drain. Soon the fight wouldn't be one-on-one, but one against three. Everything depended on finishing each one off quickly enough, but he hadn't been able to with the second one.

  That was it, very simple.

  He killed the legless shadow, quickly crushing its skull with his boot, three or four times. But it didn't matter, the damage was already done. Three against one, two against one, what difference did it make? The point was he was outnumbered and...

  LEVEL UP!

  Level 9 reached.

  You have acquired 2 attribute points.

  Even so, Vincent concentrated and invested both points into his strength. He wanted to be able to do two things: inflict a lot of damage and take it, naturally. That was the natural disposition of the kind of person he was pretending to be, but he was willing to bet his life. To put his life on the line. And this important day wasn't about enduring, it was a race. So he didn't want to endure whatever the monsters of this forest threw at him, just kill as quickly as possible anything that got in his way, when he had no other choice.

  Without hesitation, he sent a mental command and watched his strength level up, consuming the attribute points. It wasn't going to be such a drastic change. After all, it was only two points. But the difference between 14 and 16 was significant, after all.

  He killed the next shadow in the blink of an eye. It didn't even pose a real threat. It reacted long after he had finished moving. Perhaps the last orders from a dying brain. To the extent that those beings could be said to possess intelligence.

  Immediately after, he faced the last survivor. He didn't have the shield to at least protect his head. And he hadn't had time, nor had he been able to buy a decent helmet. A decent helm. He felt unprotected. But he could do this. He knew he could. And so he did.

  The fight was as short as the previous ones. He had to impale the monster with one of its own tentacles, in the end. He ripped it off with his own hands and then used it like a spear. It left him no other choice when it tore the sword from his hands. That made his pulse race. His pulse, but strangely he didn't feel a shred of fear.

  Maybe because he subconsciously expected Ayame to intervene if things got really bad. Maybe he was just a damn fool. Maybe he was simply becoming an imbecile. That wouldn't surprise him either.

  "See?" Vincent asked. "See that...?"

  "I always knew you were capable," she replied calmly, completely serene. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be here, risking your life. I never doubted it."

  "Well, okay, then... I know you could have wiped them off the map in seconds, but..."

  "Don't apologize. There's nothing to apologize for. In any case, you should save your breath for running."

  "Good point," Vincent said.

  That's exactly what he did. No, what they did. Oh, if only he could now see exactly how much path they had left. See the terrain from a bird's eye view. Then he remembered Ayame could do that. Or should be able to. Not easily, perhaps, but she could.

  Ayame didn't turn to look at him. She didn't even slow her pace. But she was listening. He knew it.

  "Shouldn't you transform into a bat, or whatever you can do, and take a look above the treetops?"

  "I already did," she replied immediately. "The forest isn't that big. Not to the return portal, at least. It's about four or five kilometers of forest and we're doing fine, for now."

  "Okay," Vincent replied, feeling a bit stupid and embarrassed.

  Of course, she had already thought of it. They were her powers, not his. She would have had years to practice and think about that kind of thing. What she could do must be as obvious to her as the hidden tricks of blacksmithing were to him. Of being a blacksmith.

  He hadn't embarrassed himself by making her save his life again, but he had managed to screw up anyway, or well. What did it matter, after all? Maybe it did. Maybe not. In any case...

  "Don't you think this test is too easy? What if 90% of the students...? Well, let's say something more realistic... What if 70% survive and reach the end? What happens? Do they shake our hands and accept us all?"

  Vincent didn't see any problem with that at first, but since she apparently did, he did what he could to keep up with her.

  Without protest. In the end, he realized she was very possibly right. And simply reaching the exit portal wouldn't be enough. It was too easy.

  "It doesn't even have a real process of... elimination," she said. "They can't take us all. But this forest isn't that dangerous, after all. How will they weed us out if necessary?"

  Silence.

  "Do you think it will be a matter of time? Whoever arrived first and nothing more?"

  "That's also a possibility," Ayame admitted. "But I was actually thinking of something much more fun."

  "I don't like the sound of that. But, go on, I'm listening."

  Ayame opened her mouth to answer. She fell silent, pressing her lips into a thin line.

  "Just follow me. It's better if you see it."

  Ah. Whatever this was about, it was probably the real reason she had sought to forge an alliance.