"The Shadowhunter Academy will not receive anyone weak. Or unlucky, for that matter."
Recalling the wounded visage of Shire, a sad smile took place on Ciel's face, before the voice in the forest made itself loud and known.
"Now let's see… less than a hundred left! My goodness, surviving the Nightfall first was the most basic of basics! But apparently some of you were apparently a little too basic that they couldn't survive some basic mobs- ouch!"
A tremor lingered in the air, like an impact of someone's head being hit.
Another tremor rippled out, this time when the announcer coughed twice, the very space itself turned into a speaker as her voice echoed again.
The light tone suggested it was the same person, but it now carried a bit of sternness.
"And don't worry if your companions died in the first phase! That slave- I mean, spell binds on your wrists will teleport and heal your way out of death, disqualifying you conveniently in the process!"
Ciel's brows knitted together.
The exam started the moment she left Summer's abode, that much she knew. What she could deduce only now, with more information, was the spires and spellbinds' connections.
It seems that before her departure, the examiners had already purposely gathered the examinees and put the binds on them in some ways, then initiated the exam in secret by employing all examinees in the forest.
'Even better, I think Shire figured out it was a secret exam.'
A purr escaped Ciel's lips, a respectful one like a predator acknowledging another.
'Shire, either through deciphering the spell bind's purpose, or perhaps just suspicious of the examiner's purpose to coincidentally round up the examinees in one specific place, decided to treat it as, well, an early competition.'
'It made sense. Killing competitors early only yielded more benefits than harms, better if the surprise factor was involved.'
'Though… I couldn't figure out why she was so injured. Maybe she was ganged up on before we met?'
The firefly, still a safe green, latched onto Ciel's cheek, the ticklish feel breaking her thoughts.
The Witch continued. "With that, sufficient time has passed to launch straight away to our final phase! Ah, or should I say second? Mmm… nah, final sounds more dramatic-"
Another 'ouch' came again, followed by a low growl of complaint.
"The second phase is plenty straightforward. As you may have guessed by now, the spell binds at your wrists were experimental, unofficial spells that we, the witches, have put all our sweat and blood into."
The voice raised its volume, as if the speaker behind it held immense pride in her effort.
Ciel, who idled away petting the firefly, froze a little. A Witch as an examiner? She didn't know such an influential figure was part of the Academy.
Usually, for the diplomatic and secretive witches, the shadebeasts only encountered them when they caught information about the locations, those being either caves or diplomatic tables.
Throughout millennia, Ciel was only lucky enough to encounter six of them, and that spoke for the rarity of finding a witch, let alone finding one in an academy.
The voice continued. "The heal and teleport aside, it had one distinction that made it very important to this exam."
A chuckle, sweet and almost drawn out for too long, whistled along with the cutting breeze.
"They distinguish who amongst you are ugly, filthy, damnable mimics."
It then seethed. "And we counted ten of you sons of bitches. Having fun possessing younglings, you fuckers?"
A silence, only lasting for a single second, dragged and carried with weight for the nervous Ciel.
'Guests', Summer used to call them. This forest was where her home lay after all, and the Principal must have known all along some mimics would emerge to invade the Entrance Exam, possibly invading the Academy.
But judging from the announcer's speech, it was as if those mimics were still with the examinees in the forest.
Why allow them? Why set up this deliberate trap with the spell binds just to let them in safely anyway?
The instructions, spouted by the now lighter voice that mixed with chuckles and mockeries, answered Ciel's doubt.
"But don't worry! The academy's rules… Ah, I don't remember any of them, but one should state that a hunter must be efficient! Including withpreys that willingly invited themselves unprompted!"
It continued. "So that's what we'll be doing! Welcome to what we call a 'Mimic Hunt'!"
A few claps that no one answered boomed through the forest. A pause again, then the announcer coughed hard twice before continuing.
"The rules are simple: We will erect a
Nightingale Barrier? Ah.
Ciel's lips frowned a little. As a meagre 'non-queen' Monster in the past, she rarely found a chance to admire the barrier.
But from what little she could see, it should be shaped like a dome that surrounded a safezone. Imbued with 'sun' property, it effectively made use of Nightfall's weakness and prevented any shadebeasts from spawning.
Breaking the dome, then, came down to the strength of Queens to invade the cities, an event Ciel never even witnessed once.
The Witch hummed, her tone now mischievous. "Those who successfully hunt one mimic will be granted a point. If they die, that point will be inherited by whoever killed them."
Fire then erupted above the forest. Like a stroke of pen, it traced and ssplitinto two paths, went down vertically, before pivoting as they rejoined each other, forming a tidy rectangle.
Fire then travelled to write the names of the examinees like living letters, all of them with a 'zero' count beside them.
Ciel noticed a mini circular vine attached to her name, a mini symbol above the letter 'L', suggesting it was the shape of her spell binds.
Others were attached with unique shapes of symbols, used to distinguish them if one didn't know their names.
The examiners were very thorough, much to Ciel's dismay.
"With this scoreboard, we will be diligently telling you who hunts the most mimics! Don't feel bad though if you get picked off early. As unfair as we are honest, your positions will also be judged by other merits."
Ciel clutched her chin, her mind racing.
The firefly's wings flapped, her hearing softly wailing with its movement.
An elimination round, with a huge caveat.
'The rule seems simple but very brutal in nature. Killing is the simple part, but the restrictions made it so that killing too many mimics will mark you as a bigger target on the scoreboard.'
'Even worse, if one killed all too many mimics, the exam will end early and yield no score for other examinees, especially those who hunt inactively.'
'So, this put all of us into an immediate dilemma. Do I hunt more to risk putting a bounty on my head? Or do I stand down and risk the exam ending early by another participant?'
'All of that, and you also had to watch for a mimic's deception too.'
Ciel sighed. Her head began to hurt, gaze drifting to her own spell bind.
She had a faint, almost desperate hope.
But it shattered when the Witch simply ended with this:
"Of course, those slimy mimics all wore faulty spellbinds. In other words, feel free to slaughter them! Their corpses will probably thank you for it."
With a gleeful yawn, she muttered. "That's it for now… Ah, and Principal Summer was also here to monitor your safety! So feel even freer to embarrass yourself in front of her and get a lower GPA- ouch! You fuc-"
Before the announcer could embarrass the academy further, the voice cut off in the end, allowing the space itself to breathe with no more occupants speaking.
Ciel, with a sentimental look, clutched onto her own spellbind.
The grip was ghosting at her veins, as if afraid a careless touch would erase the painted connection between her and Summer.
Or did she mistake it as a 'connection'? Perhaps the spellbind was just like the faulty ones?
Her lips pursed with strength, then released to accompany the sharp glint in her eyes.
Survival first.
Summer was never her priority, and whether she could survive had always depended on her.
She has always been alone.
Only by treating it as such could she withstand even the worst of temptations and mockeries.
Her steps then jumped, racing off into the shades of the forest.
Teaming up. Ambushes. Betrayals. Ciel would do all of them.
There was no reason. She just felt like she had to.
Even if her hollow heartbeat denied her the resolve.
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