The five cadets had brought Nero another 600 points.
His total score had climbed close to 2,000, placing him even further ahead of the other participants.
After checking the changes on his bracelet, Nero returned to his resting place and finished his wine. The battle had been a pleasant diversion, and the rewards were more than satisfactory.
Originally, he hadn’t planned on hunting other cadets.
There were plenty of monsters in the trial grounds, and fighting them offered sufficient opportunities to practice his newly acquired Laws. Compared to dealing with other participants, hunting monsters was straightforward. They attacked, he fought back, and the stronger ones provided worthwhile challenges.
There was no need to complicate things.
However, after experiencing the ambush, Nero had changed his mind.
The five cadets had worked together, prepared a plan, and even used a horde of monsters to exhaust him before making their move.
And yet, they had fallen one after another.
It had been fun.
More entertaining than he had expected.
Nero looked at the bracelet on his wrist.
Nearly 2,000 points.
Then he glanced toward the dark forest.
Perhaps he had been too passive.
After all, the trial was a competition. Every participant had entered the grounds hoping to improve their ranking, obtain rewards, and prove their strength. The rules allowed cadets to challenge one another, and their bracelets recorded the points awarded for eliminating opponents.
If someone chose to hunt monsters, that was their decision.
If someone chose to hunt cadets, that was theirs as well.
Nero had no particular interest in bullying the weak. But those who believed they could take advantage of him had made a serious mistake.
And now that he understood how much fun it could be to turn their own strategies against them, he felt no reason to stop.
He rose from beneath the tree.
The last trace of amusement disappeared from his face.
Tonight, he would go hunting.
Not for monsters.
For cadets this time around.
***
The forest had changed after sunset.
During the day, the enormous trees, scattered rocks, and winding streams created a complicated but navigable landscape. At night, however, darkness swallowed the details, leaving only faint silhouettes beneath the canopy.
For most participants, moving through the forest after dark was a considerable disadvantage.
Their vision was limited. Their senses were less reliable, and the possibility of stumbling into a monster’s territory forced them to remain cautious.
Some had already found sheltered locations to spend the night.
Others had gathered in groups, believing safety lay in numbers.
A few particularly confident cadets continued hunting, hoping to accumulate more points before the trial ended.
Nero observed all of them from the shadows.
He stood on a thick branch high above the forest floor, his black clothing blending with the surrounding darkness.
Beneath his feet, a faint current of wind circulated silently.
It supported his weight and carried the smallest disturbances through the surrounding trees. Every movement below him created a subtle change in the air, allowing him to distinguish the presence of living beings from the natural movement of the forest.
His perception extended outward.
A group of monsters several hundred meters away.
Two cadets crossing a narrow ravine.
Another participant resting beside a stream.
Further beyond, four figures moved together through the undergrowth.
Nero’s eyes settled on the last group.
Four cadets.
Their movements were orderly, and their spacing suggested they had trained together. One walked at the front, two stayed close to the center, and the last kept watch behind them.
A reasonable formation.
They were paying attention to their surroundings, checking the trees and occasionally pausing to listen.
But they had overlooked something.
The darkness surrounding them wasn’t merely an obstacle.
It was Nero’s domain of opportunity.
A faint black mist spread from beneath his feet.
It flowed over the branch, descended along the trunk, and disappeared among the roots.
No sound accompanied it.
The darkness beneath the trees deepened.
Nero vanished.
***
The four cadets continued through the forest.
They had accumulated a modest number of points and intended to find a safe place to rest before morning. Their greatest concern was encountering a powerful monster, particularly one capable of attacking without warning.
None of them noticed the shadow moving above them.
It crossed from one branch to another, keeping pace with their formation.
Whenever the wind shifted, it moved with it.
Whenever a leaf fell, the shadow remained still.
The first cadet eventually slowed.
Something felt wrong.
He looked over his shoulder.
Nothing.
The forest stretched behind them, its trees standing motionless beneath the night sky.
He turned forward again.
At that instant, a faint disturbance passed through the air.
His instincts reacted.
He began to turn—
A dark shape emerged from the shadow beneath his feet.
A hand covered his mouth.
Before he could activate his ability, a thin blade of Darkness formed against his armor and struck a precise point that triggered the bracelet’s elimination mechanism.
His body stiffened.
A moment later, his bracelet flashed.
**Eliminated.**
Nero lowered the cadet gently into the undergrowth.
The other three continued walking.
They hadn’t heard anything.
They hadn’t noticed their companion disappear.
Nero looked at them briefly before melting into the darkness once more.
He had no need to hurry.
The night was long.
***
Several minutes later, the second cadet stopped.
"Where is he?"
The other two turned.
Only then did they realize their rear guard was missing.
They immediately spread out, scanning the trees and checking the ground for signs of a struggle.
The leader raised his hand, signaling them to remain still.
Their formation tightened.
The wind passed through the branches.
A few leaves drifted across the path.
Nothing else moved.
The leader frowned.
He glanced at the bracelet on his wrist, then toward the direction they had come from.
Their companion’s signal had vanished.
They knew what that meant.
Someone had eliminated him.
But who?
They had encountered no other participants since entering the forest, and no monster capable of using a bracelet-elimination mechanism had appeared nearby.
The leader drew his sword.
The second cadet summoned a thin layer of stone around his arms, while the third gathered mana in his palm.
They began moving again, more cautiously this time.
Nero watched from above.
Their reaction had been sensible.
They had recognized the danger and adjusted their formation instead of panicking.
Unfortunately, caution alone wasn’t enough.
The wind changed direction.
A tiny current passed through the trees, carrying the sound of their footsteps away from the path.
At the same time, Darkness spread beneath the roots, joining the shadows cast by the rocks and bushes.
Nero’s presence disappeared completely.
He moved behind the second cadet.
The boy felt nothing.
A black thread slipped from the darkness and wrapped around his weapon arm.
He reacted immediately, attempting to reinforce his body with mana.
But the thread tightened and pulled his arm aside, ruining his balance.
Nero appeared behind him.
One swift movement.
One precise strike.
The bracelet flashed.
**Eliminated.**
Before the remaining two could turn around, a powerful gust swept through the path.
Leaves and dust rose into the air.
The leader raised his arm to shield his eyes.
His companion stepped back, attempting to establish a defensive barrier.
Both were looking in the wrong direction.
Nero passed between them.
A blade of Darkness struck the leader’s armor, triggering his bracelet. A second formed in Nero’s hand and stopped against the other cadet’s shoulder before a concentrated pulse of mana activated the elimination mechanism.
Two brief flashes illuminated the darkness.
Then the forest became quiet again.
Four cadets had entered the forest together.
Three had now been eliminated.
The last one was gone as well, his bracelet registering the result a moment later.
Nero stood alone on the empty path.
He glanced at the four bracelets lying in the grass.
The entire encounter had taken only a few minutes.
No thunderous explosions.
No blazing fire.
No elaborate exchange of techniques.
Just Darkness, Wind, and precise movements.
His expression remained calm.
He had learned something important.
The Law of Darkness was naturally suited to concealment, but Darkness alone wasn’t enough to make someone a perfect hunter. A careless movement could reveal a hidden presence. An unexpected sound could expose a position. Even a successful ambush could fail if the opponent reacted quickly enough.
Wind removed those weaknesses.
It carried away sound.
It altered the movement of leaves and branches.
It allowed him to sense disturbances and adjust his position before an opponent could react.
Combined with Darkness, the two Laws complemented each other almost perfectly.
One concealed him.
The other ensured that his concealment remained undisturbed.
Nero’s gaze shifted toward the distant forest.
There were still other cadets.
He moved on. The Silent Reaper on the move, it is how he would be called later.