CHAPTER 42: PRACTICAL TEST IN THE FOREST

When she returned, Lindy said they’d be starting their research that night.

"After your afternoon classes, you can come here and continue the translation for me," Lindy said., "but I’ll have some things to do tonight, so you’ll have to be alone."

"No problem. That’s why you gave me the key, right?" Damian replied.

He wasn’t worried about being alone in the research room. What he wasn’t sure about was how to fake progress for Lindy! He couldn’t translate much of the scripture yet, but he needed to show some progress—otherwise, he’d be useless and risk losing his assistant position.

"You’re right," Lindy said with a laugh. "And don’t worry, this boring translation isn’t all we do. We also study artifacts with demonic energy, and we often leave the academy to gather those artifacts or help families dealing with them."

"Really? That’s good to hear," Damian said. "Staring at texts all day would melt my brain."

"I feel you. Anyway, you should get going. Your classes are about to start, and I don’t want to get in trouble with the higher-ups."

Damian nodded and left.

Lindy had gone through a lot to get Damian the position. After all, he was a new recruit—and no new recruit ever got a role like that.

So she had to make sure everything went smoothly. Damian couldn’t be late for his classes, and his time with her couldn’t interfere with the rest of his training. Those were some of the conditions the higher-ups had set for Lindy.

Damian went to grab some lunch. There, he ran into Mitra and Curt, who looked eager to talk. They sat together at one of the many tables.

"How was your first day as Lindy’s new assistant? I heard she pulled you away from Randal, and the guy was kind of pissed," Mitra said.

"Really? That’s actually good to hear," Damian replied. "I never liked him."

"Is he that bad? I’ve only heard about him but never had a class with him—for obvious reasons," Mitra said.

"He is. But for some reason, he had a problem with me, which made things even worse," Damian said.

Anyway, Mitra and Curt asked about the research room and what Lindy was working on.

She hadn’t said much to Damian—he only knew what he’d read in the scripture—so he figured he could share what he’d seen. It didn’t sound or look confidential.

So, he shared it. Mitra and Curt seemed pretty curious about the experiments the teachers were doing underground.

"What the fuck are they doing that they need underground rooms? I don’t know, but it smells shady to me," Curt said.

There was no way to know any of that for sure, so Damian stayed quiet. He didn’t want to get caught up in theories that could bite him in the ass. He wasn’t just a normal recruit anymore—he was an assistant now, and he had to be careful about what he said.

After lunch, they had class. This time, it wasn’t with Lindy but with another teacher, and the subject was survival.

Survival covered a lot. The teacher was an old man who looked like he could barely walk, but his aura was intimidating—strong and commanding.

What he wanted to teach was how to survive in the wilderness, but more importantly, how to track demons—and more.

It was somewhat related to combat. Combat was the main subject, while these were minor but crucial skills connected to it.

For that reason, Randal was there, observing how the recruits performed. Damian was burning inside.

"Is he here because of me? This bastard," Damian thought.

Randal rarely showed up in other classes, yet here he was—right where he could see Damian. Too much of a coincidence.

He kept staring at Damian throughout the class, not even trying to hide it.

The class took place outside the academy, in the surrounding forest. The teacher—Mark—wanted the students to get practical.

In fact, what he planned for the first class shocked all the new recruits.

"Divide into groups of three," Mark said. "Track one of the demons in this forest. Kill it, and bring the body back to me. This is your first assignment. It will grant you points. You have the whole afternoon to do it."

The recruits complained.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? We can’t even fight properly, so how are we supposed to kill a demon?" one of them asked.

Mark expected those questions.

"Most of the demons near the academy are weak. The strong ones are far from here, and I don’t want you venturing that far. Also, three against one demon will make things easier for you. Me and Randal will be watching, protecting you if anything happens."

Mark wanted to create a controlled environment for the recruits to track and fight demons without the risk of dying. In the real world, that wasn’t possible, but here, they were teaching how to handle demons and survive once they graduated.

Damian teamed up with Mitra and Curt. Both looked anxious—more than anxious, actually. They were scared.

"Are you okay?" Damian asked.

"Not at all," Mitra admitted. "This is the first time I’m tracking and killing a demon. Aren’t you scared?"

Damian wasn’t. That was normal to him. But with Randal watching from afar, he had to at least act a little scared.

"Yes, but if we let fear take control, we’ll fail the assignment. How are we supposed to become demon hunters if we can’t even fight demons?" he said.

"We’re in this together," Damian said. "We’ll watch each other’s backs and kill this demon. We only need one demon for all three of us."

The assignment wasn’t that difficult. The only real problem would be if a powerful demon showed up to fight them—but that’s why Randal and Mark were there.

Once the recruits were divided into groups, each took a different direction and moved out.

After walking for a while inside the forest, Mitra asked, "How are we supposed to track a demon? I don’t know how to do it."

Curt didn’t know either. Damian understood this was part of the test.

"Mark knows we don’t know how to track demons yet. He was supposed to teach us. So what’s the point of this test? Is it just to make us suffer until we find a demon to kill? Or is he trying to see who might be naturally good at tracking?" Damian wondered aloud.

Mitra and Curt were deep in thought. They didn’t know what to do. What Damian said made sense, and certainly all the other new recruits were lost just like they were.

Damian, on the other hand, knew what to do, and he was confident in succeeding.

"I know a little about tracking," he said. "Let’s move. Maybe if we return first, they’ll give us a bonus."

They were relieved to have Damian’s help.

Tracking would’ve been much easier if Damian used his demon eye, but he didn’t want to risk it. Randal was a powerful hunter who could definitely spot things others couldn’t.

Still, even without the demon eye, Damian was confident he could track a demon in this forest—and kill it.

Damian had no idea, but Randal was keeping a close watch, observing his every move.