*Congratulations, Morthen! Human core found! 5/30 stored. Keep up the great work!*
I quickly collected the cores from the four Ares clansmen corpses while simultaneously keeping an eye on the forest for any odd movement. Then, I dragged the bodies one by one to the island's edge and pushed them off to the sea below.
The elders and leaders of the Nine Great God clans monitored the trial. This led to a problem... my shackle.
I was not angry or disappointed at the handicap my shackle provided me. Without it, I'd be one of the corpses sinking into the cold sea. However, I could not afford to let anyone else know of my shackles' existence. It was peculiar, almost making no logical sense at all. I plunged my katana deep into the gut of the leader, yet it was as if it had missed entirely. He felt the pain, but no damage had been done, nor did any wound present itself.
If the Great Clans found out this anomaly, my future would be in jeopardy—which is why I hid the evidence. But there was little chance I could keep my immortality a secret. I was stabbed through the head, and somehow showed no wound when I woke. The clan leaders were not fools. At best, they'd think I had some regenerative ability.
Boom!
I turned to the forest.
The cannon fire signaled the thirty-second death in the trial. The sun had long set, and darkness fell over the canopy of trees. A slight wind rustled the leaves—the only sound on an otherwise silent island.
I sighed.
The darkness brought back memories of my childhood. Starved and desperate, I often scavenged for food during the night. There I witnessed many horrors—cannibalism, rape, murder. I nearly became a meal myself once.
But that didn't matter anymore. Those nights had long passed and taught me the single truth of the universe: the weak don't have a right to live.
"Time to hunt," I muttered to myself, then walked toward the forest, katana gripped tightly in my palm.
***
About one hour passed. Five more cannons fired—none of them my doing.
I had no clue how these aspirants managed to die. It was impossible to see on the forest floor; there was no source of light or direction. I stumbled about cautiously, sliding my hand from trunk to trunk and tapping my katana on the dirt in front of me.
I thought about resting, but there was no point. I could not die, and outside of the trial, human cores were hard to come by. Unlike monster cores, they are not sold on the market, nor can you unjustly kill your comrades on the islands without gaining suspicion. Right now, I need to slay as many aspirants as possible and absorb their cores.
"Grrr!"
Suddenly, a low growl froze me in my tracks. I slowly turned my head, trying to pinpoint the location, but before I could, a heavy pressure built on my arm, followed by a sharp pain.
I winced and dropped my sword. Blood freely dripped from my arm, mixing with the dirt. Whatever had bitten me scurried away, lurking in the pitch black of night.
I focused mana into my ears, and my hearing ability slightly increased. This was a practice known as mana circulation. I had never attempted it, as I had just awakened earlier today, but the Nyx clan taught me in theory.
In practice, it was difficult; my hearing fluctuated between normal and super-enabled. The wind was louder, and I could hear a faint breath above me. Steady breaths, as if someone was sleeping. Then the crunch of leaves.
And another, and another—the culprit was headed straight for me. I lifted my arm outward and let sharp fangs clamp around it.
I grimaced from the pain, and my other hand wrapped around thick horns. It wrestled and fought as I dragged it to the ground, growling and biting my arm relentlessly. After a moment, I located my katana in the dirt and stabbed it through the skull of the savage monster.
Its wrestling stopped, and it fell limp.
I rolled over on the cold dirt, catching my breath. Then I analyzed the corpse through touch—thick horns, short stature, coarse skin—my eyes widened with realization.
"Shit. High ground," I mumbled.
The administration told us it was a death match between one hundred awakened, and said nothing of goblins. I was foolish not to expect something like this; after all, islands were the monster's home. However, the Nyx clan captured this island and rid it of any threats many years ago.
Islands are crawling with abominations created from the Gods' nightmares. Goblins are just D-rank monsters, but they are special in two ways. They only come out at night, and when one goblin presents itself, more are soon to follow.
Not bothering with the goblin's core, I climbed up the nearest tree. As I climbed higher and higher, I realized the breathing I heard earlier belonged to an aspirant sleeping on a branch. I approached carefully, smiling slightly.
Fools were fools no matter what lineage or clan they belonged to. Falling asleep when your life's on the line was akin to throwing yourself into an erupting volcano. I reached the branch where he slept, and he woke momentarily as cool steel met his skin. Then, a second later, he met everlasting darkness.
Boom!
I pulled myself onto the branch. The aspirant had made a makeshift harness that connected him to the tree, so I didn't have to worry about his corpse falling.
Congratulations, Morthen! Human core found! 6/30 stored. Keep up the great work!
I didn't have to wait long to hear the crunch of leaves below me: loud growls and inaudible noises carried over the wind. The goblins were inspecting their slain brother, trying to figure out what had happened.
They had little chance of finding me. Their sense of smell was not sharp, and they were dull creatures. Still, they had their uses, and as I sat listening to them, an idea began to crystallize on how to use them properly.