The Messenger of Death

Those with a bloodline class proudly stepped up the podium, amongst them were 3 females and 2 males from the seven people that noticed Alex sizing them up. They looked down on other people that didn't have a bloodline class. There were 11 new people on the podium.

"What are they being smug about? They don't even realize that a prince is standing below them, Hmph." Camron whispered to Alex.

"You shouldn't be jealous of low lives like them Camron. Didn't you say that you were going to get affiliated to at least a class-2 legendary bloodline? You didn't need to be jealous of them." Weirdly and unexpectedly, what Alex said comforted Camron.

['He also doesn't like to be looked down on.'] Alex.

['No one does Alex.'] Lex added. As Lex and Alex knew what it felt like to be looked down on, they knew what Camron was feeling at the moment.

"I know, but I just don't like the feeling," Camron whispered and sighed.

"Now that we have gotten that out of the way the second people that we would be segregating from the mass are the runemasters. If you know that it is what you specialize in, then you should also come up to the podium. Your tests would be different from theirs. And any weapon Dao cultivator at the Dao sprout stage should come up the podium too." Argus announced.

There were only 3 people that went up the stage and they were all runemasters.

"Which one amongst you three is a weapon Dao cultivator?" Argus questioned but none of them spoke up.

"Alright, go stand by the side then."

The audience down the podium started to murmur and speak in hushed tones.

"Wow… look at them….. So young yet talented…." These were what some of the audience was saying.

"Now they feel like they are above us, they are not even good at combat, what is their use." A guy from within the crowd voiced out his displeasure. He caught the attention of many, even the people on the podium. Argus smirked and said;

"If you think that they are useless, then I have to tell you that you are dumber than you look. I hope you would be able to make it to the academy so that at least we can grace your incompetence with some knowledge."

"Hahaha!!" The crowd burst into laughter. "Serves him right.. Jealousy, such a fickle thing.." some of them said.

"They are so few in number. I understand why the bloodline bearers are few in numbers, but why are they…. so little.." Alex whispered to Camron.

"Well, that's because mastering runes is a very hard thing to do. And not everyone is brave enough to sacrifice their life force like that with such low probability of success."

"That's sounds reasonable." Alex understood. The crowd waited a bit, expecting to see a Weapon Dao cultivator step up. But no one came up.

He tugged on Camron's sleeves and whispered; "Why only those at the Dao sprout level?"

"Because that is the true beginning for a weapon cultivator. There should be quite a number of people here that are at the Dao seed level. Even if you are able to have a Dao seed – which is a very difficult thing to do, it doesn't mean that you would be able to reach the Dao sprout level which is even more difficult to do than obtaining the seed. So technically weapon Dao cultivators are only weapon Dao cultivators when they reach the Dao sprout stage." He explained.

-Clap!!!

Argus clapped his hand once to silence the crowd, and soon the whole place turned completely silent.

"Now that all of that has been taken out of the way. We would be going straight into the main test." Argus said...

The crowd was confused. Most of them came with the knowledge of how the screening process is usually done, hearing that it was going to be skipped made a lot of them nervous and scared. What ran through their minds was if the main test had been changed too.

"Don't worry the test is still going to be the same thing. We have changed the way we screen out unwanted people. If you know that you are falsifying your cultivation level leave now, if you don't then you would die once you try to step into the cave."

Some people stepped out and left the vicinity. "Seems like a lot still think they can do it. Well so be it. Let us all head to the foot of that mountain."

…..

They had all arrived at the foot of the mountain, they stopped in front of a huge-dark cave. "Once you have reached the finish line within the given time limit which is 2 hours and 30 minutes, you would see the academy's gates. There would be people watching, so do not attempt to kill anyone. You are only allowed to slow a person down or engage in a bout with them. The first five people of the various cultivation realms to reach the finish line will be awarded 2 blue LD-ECs and a thousand merits points. Good luck everyone." He said as he disappeared from their sights.

The people in red military clothes stayed behind. One of them stepped forward and spoke up. "You may begin. Do not forget, if you are falsifying your realm and it is below the cut-off, you would die whilst attempting to enter the cave. The runemasters and bloodline bearers should please follow me. I will take you to where your tests will be held."

The few that were segregated followed behind the person that spoke up. Another guy in red stepped forward and said;

"Your time has already begun, you can keep on standing here if you choose to." As soon as he was done two shadows quickly flew past everyone. Some people brought out their weapons and ran towards the entrance, while many still hesitated.

"AHHH!!" someone shouted as he caught on fire. He rolled on the ground in pain, after a minute he had burnt into ashes.

"You have already been warned. Do not attempt to cross here if you have met the cut off realm." The person in red said. Those who had not met the cut off realm ran away in fear, while some that still had hope that they could do it ran towards the entrance headstrong. Soon several people were on fire and screaming in agony.

"The time is still ticking. Tick-tock, tick-tock." He added.

This time many people ran towards the entrance ignoring the burning people. "C'mon Alex, let's hurry." Camron dragged Alex with him to the entrance. Alex didn't put any resistance. As soon as they reached the entrance Camron brought out his sword, and Alex brought his silver spear out too.

Camron looked at the spear and was reminded of the mutilated bandits. He shuddered.

"Alex, if anyone attempts to attack us just leave them to me. I'll take care of them."

"Why would I do that? I can take care of myself." Camron stared at his spear again after hearing Alex reply. He recalled the time the spearhead was red due to the fire that Alex kept on throwing out. He then imagined something worse than what happened to the bandits, he shuddered some more.

"I know that you can take care of yourself, but please just let me do it." He pleaded.

['Why is he looking so afraid? Is there anything strange on my spear?'] Alex asked himself.

['More like he is afraid of what Lex did the first time he saw you wield the spear.'] Al laughed lightly as he pointed out.

['I'm sorry. Ekk!'] Lex apologized timidly as he cried in a weird and embarrassing way. Alex now understood Camron's worries.

"Okay. But I will still attack anyone that specifically comes for me." He put his spear back into the storage ring.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't let them have the chance to. Now let's hurry, I don't think we can make it to the top 5 anymore."

"That was never my intention," Alex said.

-Whoop!!

The two of them shot out and started running. As they entered the cave they realized how big it was, it was like the people around them had disappeared. They couldn't hear their footsteps or see more than 4 meters ahead of them.

['This looks like an illusion.'] Xander uttered.

['You know this how?'] Alex questioned.

['Just a hunch.']

"I don't think we would be able to probe into other people's cultivation levels here. This is tricky, this unnatural darkness. Would you be able to keep up with my speed or should we move at your pace?" Camron asked.

"I don't know how long I can run at my top speed. So let's take it easy for now. We still have 2 hours and 27 minutes. But if you are in a rush you can go ahead and leave me here, I will meet you at the finish line."

"Alright."

Camron reduced his speed a little ran side by side with Alex. He looked at him and smiled. Alex smirked in return. He felt a little bit happy that Camron chose to run side by side with him even after telling him to go ahead.

['The world might walk out on you, but a friend will walk with you.'] Xander solemnly said.

['Will you keep your quotes to yourself? please.'] Al complained.

['Thank you, Xander. If you have any other quotes and you feel like letting us know, then go ahead.'] Alex encouraged. He liked the fact that it pissed Al off.

['Of course I will. It is just wiser to ignore Al when he speaks.'] He reassured.

['You think ignoring me will make me stop. Hahaha. Think of something better.']

['Very true.'] Alex second Xander's thoughts. He ignored Al's comment.

While running in the dark cave, they saw some people on the ground. They looked like they had been knocked out. Whilst running, Alex turned his head and looked at Camron. "Don't worry, if anything pops up I will deal with it."

As soon as he finished speaking, they heard the sounds of metal clashing against each other. "It seems like some people are battling ahead. We should try our best to avoid them." Camron advised.

"Sure thing. It is less stress anyway." As they got closer to where the sound was coming from they felt like something was wrong. The sound they had been hearing since didn't change its rhythm or cadence. Alex and Camron immediately stopped where they were.

-Whoosh!

Two arrows landed right in front of them. If they had taken a step forward they might have gotten hit by the arrows.

"Ohh, some lucky lads." They heard an unfamiliar voice say.

"Since you guys were lucky enough to avoid that I will not make things difficult for you. Leave everything valuable on you on the floor, including your weapons." The unfamiliar voice said. They couldn't see the person speaking but they had an idea of where he was positioned.

['There are bandits here too. kekeke, this should be fun.'] Al exclaimed and Alex ignored his comments.

"If you choose to let us pass then we will forgive your incompetence. Do you want to take this gamble? You don't even know what our cultivation realms are. Although you have a skilled archer with you that seems to be a weapon Dao cultivator, it doesn't mean that you would be able to defeat us." Camron chose to talk some sense into the troublesome individuals that stopped them.

"How do you know that he is a weapon Dao cultivator?" the unfamiliar voice questioned.

"Because he was able to sense us from a distance. I have heard that Long distance Weapon Dao cultivators have a special sensing ability – able to detect people from a distance away."

"You are quite knowledgeable Camron." Alex complimented. "Thank you. I try my best."

"Silence, just because you know all that do not expect us to be wary of you. Now drop all your valuables or we would shoot you two down!!" The unfamiliar voice shouted out.

"Make us." Alex dared. He was about to bring his weapon out when Camron disappeared from his side.

"Ukkh!" He heard the unfamiliar voice utter, then the sound of a weapon hitting the ground echoed.

"Ahh." The sound of another unfamiliar voice reached Alex. Then Camron appeared by his side.

"I figured that the two of them would be close to each other, how else were they going to communicate." He said.

"You sound someone that has the experience and uses his brain." Alex joked.

"Haha, I wouldn't be confident in protecting you if I didn't." The two of them laughed a bit.

"We should continue running, the time is still ticking," Camron said and once more they sprinted deeper into the dark cave.