"I don't know exactly where it is, since I wouldn't ever dare to go there, but from what I've heard it's near the south of the Wilderlands. As I said, I'm pretty sure we are close to there."

Hearing this obviously spiked Lyrian's interest.

'The golden-tiered creature... it must be there. Not only will I get a prize and pass the exam guaranteed, but I could also Reap its soul.' He thought to himself as the countless possibilities pondered in his mind.

'But if I were to actually get such a powerful creature's soul, should I only fuse it with the Hobgoblin's?' He doubted, 'If only I had more storage for souls, I wouldn't need to worry so much about saving a soul for future Creature-links...'

After this, Cedric soon awoke from his unconscious state and joined the group, although he wasn't much help as he was injured.

Some of the other kids wanted to go back now that they had collected a tier 4 core worth 20 entire points, but Lyrian denied them.

"If we took down a tier 4 creature, why not continue? What's the point in taking a break just because we got enough points?" He questioned, which seemed reasonable enough for everyone to follow along.

On top of that, they clearly weren't in the safest of areas looking at the beast that just ambushed them, so going alone without the help of their stronger teammates would be way too scary anyways.

The group hunted until sundown and returned to camp where stuff was already being prepared by those assigned to build shelters for everyone to live in. historical

It was right outside of the forest so they had quick access to beasts, but far enough so that the chances of a wild beast attacking them would be much lower than if they were smack-dab in the middle of the forest.

Lyrian deposited the meat he gathered from the hunt to the food stations and returned to his camp that was already set up.

It was a lean-to shelter made of sticks, vines, and large leaves, but for protection from most of the natural elements, it did its job.

Even though this exam seemed unreal, there was no doubt that it was still real life and that he still needed to get proper sleep.

Considering his encounters for the day, Lyrian was at first slightly worried that he might get ambushed in the middle of the night, be it by wild beasts or even by some specific kids, but soon he was reassured by Garmr that he was safe to doze off.

Since they shared the same body, Lyrian could understand Garmr's thoughts directly, so it wasn't hard to understand when Garmr insisted on protecting him.

After all, he didn't sleep within Lyrian's shadow, so there wasn't much of a better job for him anyways.

With that, the moon flew over the base camp that night as Lyrian fell sound asleep, ending day one of the Anaviotis Entrance Exams.

***

Outside of the Tasnan Wilderlands, inside of the academy of Anaviotis in an unknown, dark room, several figures sat around a long table, atop which were multiple orbs that displayed different kids inside of the exam.

Out of all of the seats, two looked to be missing.

Right outside of the room, another figure with a bright expression neared the door to enter.

He wore a white robe with the crest of the Yaltan royal family, holding a large white feather in his right hand.

As his hand touched the doorknob, a sudden voice called from behind him.

"Yesan! Long time no see buddy!" It was Julius who was quickly approaching.

The man addressed as Yesan placed his feather over his mouth as he replied, "Julius! Indeed it has, old friend," He said calmly, his eyes closing slightly.

"Yes, before we enter, I wanted to address something with you."

Hearing this, Yesan removed his hand from the doorknob. "What may that be?"

"About Silvus," Julius said, instantly alerting Yesan.

"What about him?" Yesan asked his tone ever so slightly dismissive sounding.

"Well, let me cut straight to the chase, I don't want to miss out on grading this exam, especially since I have an eye on a certain candidate," Julius smiled.

"I'm sure you know just as much as I that Silvus did not come first in that race. For my exam, this is a bit concerning. I understand that he is the young lord, but you must understand that Anaviotis is a separate organization from the kingdo--" Julius was suddenly cut off before he could continue.

"Silvus? Oh my, I hadn't a clue as to how he performed during the race. Did he come in the first place? How delightfu--" Yesan was also abruptly cut off.

"Yesan," Julius said in a serious tone, his expression sterner than last time.

"Oh my! There is no reason for you to get mad, vice principal!" Yesan grinned behind his feather as he spoke, his eyes closed more than before. "If you were to get mad at me, I wouldn't be able to recover from it..."

"If anyone would examine and look over Silvus' every step, it would be you, chancellor of Yaltas. I take this matter very seriously, Yesan." Julius spoke, his gaze commanding respect.

"You have caught me, vice principal," Yesan closed his eyes and paused for a moment, "If Silvus would have lost the race after losing even the magic potential test, I'm afraid the other nations would mock our heir to blasphemy. Even though it is his own endeavor, you know as much as I that there is no such thing as private for the supreme royal family, the other kingdoms always find out what we are up to."

Julius did not interrupt, allowing Yesan to fully explain himself.

"His accomplishments and failures directly correlate to the supreme royal family, and therefore, to the kingdom itself. I decided that we must save face over other responsibilities."

Hearing this, Julius finally responded, "You have no decision nor say when it comes to my exams." Julius said sharply, before suddenly regaining a vibrant smile on his face.

"Please, try to make sure it does not happen again. After all, our school board would love to keep its ties with the kingdom." He politely said with a warm expression as he entered the room, followed by Yesan who now wasn't so bright.

Although it sounded light, what Julius just said was a direct threat to the kingdom, implying that they would possibly cut ties if anything like this happened again.