Top Ten Candidates So Far

Back in the present, Nero reverted his gaze away from Annie. He turned his head down. He stayed that way for not long, until he rose from the ground.Annie looked at him. Curiosity wrapped around her face. Nero knew exactly what she could be thinking. But still, she seemed to move the thought aside, seeing as she was not distancing herself from him.At a moment that Nero didn't expect, Annie, already on her feet, asked him: "You're lying, aren't you?"Nero glanced left at her. "It's no help worrying about my past. We might have to stop seeing each other from now on..."Annie squared her shoulders. She appeared so confident and at ease for someone around a proclaimed murderer."And why is that?" Annie asked in a serious manner.Nero raised his brows. He said, his tone not too serious nor too loose, "Why would you still want our friendship to move on? Don't act understanding here...""I know I should have vanished from your side right after you told me that," Annie said, almost immediately. She seemed to have grabbed Nero's attention for some matter that he couldn't help but face her with focus. Yet there was wonder in his countenance—brows raised and lips about to part.'What's she going to say next?' he thought, his eyes waiting for the parting of her lips."... But I have faith in you."Nero finally gaped. Astonishment washed over him. Thrills - whether of relief or anything else - surged through him. Someone... even after hearing such, still said they believed him?He froze in shock. No, it was something different. A feeling akin to that which seemed to tell him he was well-fitted into this world. And there was a chance he could confide in someone about his past. Maybe, just maybe, together, they could work to achieve his goal—to find his second personality.The other side of him that has glowing purple lights. The hungry monster dwelling inside him! An imprisoned rat, yet it has full control over its prisoner!But... Why would he be doing so much to destroy the monster within him if it meant gaining freedom from pain? When the pain of it was probably the punishment for him for the tragedy he caused twelve years ago?Without warning, Annie stepped closer. She grabbed his hand, taking Nero by surprise. He glanced left. Her bright smile almost blurred his vision the moment he locked onto it.She said in a soft voice: "Look here, Nero. My action now isn't because of my hunger for a friendship. But a judgemental action of who really you are to me. You're right; you look like a young boy with those innocent eyes. That makes you cute, and at the same time... a very kind one..."'She isn't judging me?' Nero exclaimed inwardly. He felt tingling in his eyes. And in the next second, tears lined his eyelids, ready for him to shed.Annie held his hand tighter.She smiled with an even brighter expression."... There's nothing as terrible as what you said you did to your parents. But..." she nodded her head, and chuckled with a hint of sourness, "... I don't think I get it. I don't even believe. What I can believe is that... you feel as though it were your fault. You didn't kill them, Nero. They're dear to you, and you scaredy cat always would have wanted to move around with them.You can't deny it - if you're the only child, like me, there must have been a mutual shared love. So... let go of the conflicting thoughts. You're a nice person, and you were never a murderer. That, I know for certain."Unable to hold it anymore, Nero fell into tears. His heart ached. Annie sensed his weight dropping towards her. And she held him in a tight hug. His hands fell by her sides, and his head slung on her right shoulder. Tears streaked non-stop from his face. And all Annie could do... was pat his back.***For the third time after getting to this space, Zmey was at another riverside again.He squatted on the rocky surface, dipping his hands into the water and cleaning blood away from them. Spark, as usual, stood ready behind him.Nonetheless, there was still blood on some parts of his clothes. But it wasn't like he could wash it here. So, he rose from his squat, picked up his sword right away and walked past the tame.Spark moved on behind him.Flashes of his own memory ran through his mind as he stared at his palm raised at eye level. He recalled waking up to an intense fight between Ferox and the Necrot. Strange shivers moved around his fingertips, a hint of magic. He had lost his powers before then. So, Ferox altered that. He definitely fused magic into him, leading to his meridians opening.Everything else was clear to him now. But... one thing remained.'The star. And its potential connection to the spell, Rain of Stars…!'Right after Ferox shattered into thin air, Zmey recalled having seen a glowing star. He could still replay how it felt back then. In the next second, the star vanished; he shivered out of nowhere. That wasn't because of the presence of magic. But something else. The thought of it seemed dark at times. And it presented a shift in the understanding of what humanity was, for real.Zmey analysed everything already. And he found his potential lead.His Soul Land.He clenched his fist.'When I get done with the assessment, I must see for myself what's up in there. I am uneasy and nauseous most of the time for no reason…'At that moment, a voice spoke out with great volume: "Dear students. Please spare me a minute of your time..."Zmey turned around. But he didn't see anyone. Yet, he knew whose voice that was: Magnus Alaric.Through the clearing, the students froze mid-action. A particular guy was fetching his sword from the abdomen of a dead puma when he heard the voice. Another was dragging her butt on the ground as a bear approached. The beast froze when Alaric demanded their attention. She cried, gasping. She must have married luck somewhere along her wild life to gain from such perfect timing.Nero and Annie were still on the field when this came up. Skyler had taken three extra-large cats with a perfect three-arrow attack. This was after she had heard the voice.Everyone stared up at the sky.....Alaric, meanwhile, was standing at his usual spot in the Cultivation Highlands. He crossed his arms behind him.He then began, looking on at each terrain as if the students were back there:"Order has come from the higher-ups, so I will cut it out straight. We have a list of the best ten candidates that have performed the best so far. And unfortunately, only a few out of a thousand will get allowance to proceed to the next and final stage. My apologies... but we have to withdraw all others that aren't on par with them..."....Some students stared around with helplessness. Skyler sat herself atop one of the large cats, rubbing her chin with anticipation. She smiled with ease - she knew there was no way she wouldn't be anywhere near the top three. Zmey looked at Spark. After killing the lynx in the valley, he and Spark had done the same for two other high-threat Elementals.But now, it seemed what he did wasn't enough. He could have killed more to be sure of results. But he didn't know the judging process would be this soon. He suspected that the coordinators were accelerating the process.'Well, let's see how it goes,' he thought.....At the Cultivation Highland, Alaric swept his hand across the air. An azure swirl followed his hand movement. And when he stopped, the terrain immediately got filled with red-jacketed students. They looked around in wonder.Others in the challenge arena found it obvious. They removed the low-graders. As some found their companions disappearing or a random someone vanishing. Now, it remained ten of them. And from this, they would disqualify seven more.Alaric later proceeded, telling something about the final stage. Each one of them should head to a beast dungeon located with a cross sword mark on their maps. He disclosed any other information.And after that, his voice drained from the air.Meanwhile, where Zmey was standing now, the map and manual with him fell on the ground. Spark's serpentine eyes moved from one side to the other, as if it were looking for something or... someone.Skyler, on the cliff of dead cats, jumped up, excited.She smiled as she strode forward. 'Let's see who wins the game.'