Examinee

Vanta walks out of hiding; there was no use running from a thing like this. With each step he took, his mind raced with possibilities.

"Ahh, you can talk. What a remarkable feat for a monstrosity such as yourself, perhaps you're willing to let me go? I'm not one to initiate violence" Vanta spoke, trying to lower its defense.

It gazed straight into his eyes, its own burning furiously. After what felt like an eternity, it broke its gaze. The miasma covering it disappeared. What Vanta saw was not what he had expected.

"You're still staring," she shot at him.

Standing some distance away was a girl. She had long raven black hair, her eyes as black as the night. Her skin was pale but appeared smooth; she was average height. She was nothing but beautiful.

"Ehmm, sorry, I was just surprised."

She ignores him and drinks water from the lake. He notices that she was wearing the same leather getup as himself. She was probably another examinee.

Or a random person.

"Careful, there's a monster in there," Vanta cautioned.

"I saw," she replied nonchalantly.

Vanta walks up to her and squats. He faked drinking some water just so he could hold a conversation with her. He couldn't help but feel drawn to her.

"So, um. How exactly were you able to do that? The thing with the miasma, I mean." Vanta questioned.

"It's part of my ability," she answered.

Vanta was dumbfounded. He wasn't able to use his ability, but how could she? Was she lying?

"Your ability? How's that possible? Isn't the exam restricting our abilities?"

"Who knows. Mine were never restricted," she informed.

'I guess the rules vary for each candidate. That's the only logical conclusion.'

"By the way, my name's Vanta Black. What's yours?"

Vanta could have sworn he saw something ignite in her cold, indifferent eyes; it was some kind of recognition?? He wasn't really sure what it was. But he felt that it was a sign that he'll reunite with his clan members and maybe... just maybe his parents too someday.

"B—Black?? You're from the Black clan?" She asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yeah, why?"

"I don't—I don't really know." She said, holding her head, Asif, trying to remember something. "My name is Ash Black."

"That—can't be true," Vanta replied in shock.

Vanta was aware of Iridia Chroma; the war that happened ten years ago, it was because of this war that the world divided, and he never got to see his parents again.

He felt his heart tighten as all kinds of emotions rushed through like a sudden wave: happiness, joy, and pain from years of search and caution. Yes, he had always wanted to meet one of his people, but her appearing on his first day of school felt wrong.

He had a lot to ask but chose to ask his questions carefully. No one really knew what had caused the war except the higher-ups, who for unknown reasons kept the truth hidden.

" Where have you been all these years?? Do you know what happened to our people?? What caused the war??" Vanta couldn't help but fire at her series of questions.

"I can't remember; all I know is that the war has lasted longer than we're told." By now, she was sweating furiously just trying to answer the questions.

She seemed to be in agonizing pain. Her eyes grew darker and darker, Asif devoid of life, her skin growing paler and paler; if Vanta hadn't known better, he would have mistaken her for a walker corpse.

"Are you okay?? You don't look so good," Vanta said.

"I'm fine," she said in her usual indifferent tone, her expression unreadable.

"Ehm, can I ask one more question?? Why are you in Blueblood? Shouldn't you be resting up in a hospital or something?"

She walked and sat by the base of a tree; he walked to her and sat beside her.

"I don't know, it just feels right."

'Perfect, this girl is hopeless.'

"Well," he continues, "I want to find out the truth about our clan and why what happened is being kept a secret. Why don't you join me? Ahh, it would be easier, and you know, you might get a cure for your memory." Vanta himself wasn't sure of what he was trying to accomplish.

"Suit yourself." She stood up and was walking away.

"Where are you going?"

"There's a cave down; it should provide shelter for some time."

"Oh, umm, no problem."

Vanta had never really been good with people,but knowing Ash was from his clan made him relax a little.

Right from time, each color represents a clan, and the head of each clan is referred to as monarchs. The most powerful clans were nine in number, often referred to as major clans due to their powers. Only seven of them remains.

They got to the small cave which was relatively close to the stream. The air inside oozed of rotten flesh, dried bones littered the place and blood painted it's walls. They were sure that this place once belonged to a hungry abomination.

They were able to get rid of the fowl odor by removing the bones, rotting flesh and cleaning up some of the blood. The created two small beds out of small branches and leave, putting it side by side due to how tiny the cave was.

After their earlier conversation, that did speak to each other except when spoken. Luckily for them, the had some food to eat on their guide book, but as from the nest day, they'll have to hunt since the rations were little. By the time they were finished, it was already night.

"I'll take the first watch" Vanta insisted.

Although Ash could use her abilities, he felt that she wasn't at her best and so, needed to rest. Since fire attracted abominations, they had to face the cold unforgiving night without it.

Vanta mind was preoccupied with thoughts, the exam, his encounter with ash and some more that he didn't realize his guide book had opened till after a little while.

'huh? What's this about?'

He concentrated on the runic language that read

"Exam Guide:

Name: Vanta Black.

Age: 14.

Main objective: Acquire the xue sense.

Abilities: Locked.

Storage: 2 items.

Health: Undying.

Day 1 out of 365

Returning: 0 hours 1 minutes 23 seconds

Xue Sense achieved by students: 3/967"

Vanta didn't know what it meant and just watched as the timer ticked down to zero then it restarted again from 12 hours. He felt a menevolent pressure surge through the area. This couldn't be good.