A Villain's POV
Chapter 28: Survival

Chapter 28: Survival

Raze got dressed, he wore his uniform and walked out of his room. Students were rushing up and down, trying to get ready and to head to the assembly hall.

Raze walked past them, he headed down the stairs and left the dorm building, but even outside, there were tens of students running around trying to get to the assembly hall.

The total amount of first years that would probably be a part of this preliminary would be above two hundred, and only ten would be the ones that were chosen.

Raze already knew who and who would get most of the spots. Alex and his crew of three would already get four, Raze would most definitely get one, and he was securing one for Joel.

That made six, but that was not all, because Raze knew the first years had a good roster, and the competition would be tough for any spot.

There was also Jade, who Raze was most certain would secure the seventh spot, and then the remaining three would become a matter of skill.

Though Raze’s reason for being so eager for this preliminary was not just because he wanted to get a spot, no, it was because he wanted to use this preliminary as a gateway to start the noble versus commoner conflict.

In the main story, the conflict was caused because of his death, and that somehow started things, but since he didn’t die, he wanted to be the one that rooted for it himself.

But he would make sure to do it to his benefit this time, in a way that would allow him to have control over the situation.

And what better opportunity would he have than the preliminary, which he already knew everything about? He knew how to get through every challenge and how to ensure a win.

There was a lot a person could do with such knowledge, and there were a lot of ways he could manipulate that information and knowledge into a devilish weapon.

The human mind was fertile soil, and if you plant a seed, which is creating the scenario you want, and then water it while showing some sort of proof, the seed will immediately sprout.

His plan was simply to use his knowledge to create scenarios and then create the right proof, and when those two combined, the results would be a controlled, manipulated situation.

Raze walked alongside all the students that were heading towards the assembly hall. It was a massive building at the side of the academic building but not connected to the academic building.

It was a large rectangular building, with the academy crest boldly set on top of the space above the large double doors.

Along the sides were windows to allow ventilation when students were inside.

Raze walked along with the other students and walked into the building. He also noticed that it wasn’t only the first years that were here; the second years were also here, and that checked out.

Based on what he recalled from the book, the fourth years that were participating were already selected, and as for the third years, they were in the training grounds about to start their own preliminary.

The first years and the second years had similar competitions, though held at different locations. Raze didn’t bother himself more and just walked in. He found a seat at the back amongst all the pews.

He didn’t need to be careful, as he already knew what they would be doing now. A teacher would come up and give them the details of the preliminaries.

The first competition was one they would use to reduce the number of people in the competition, and it was called survival.

All they had to do was survive in the academy-controlled forest for two days straight. They would go in with no resources whatsoever and would have to live through two days.

The forest was home to many beasts, mostly unranked beasts that even a first year could kill, but then there were also the rank-one beasts; a few of them roamed the forest.

But that wasn’t all, as Alex had fought a rank-one mutated beast in the forest and had nearly lost his life in the story.

Beasts in the story were ranked from unranked all the way to rank-five beasts, and after that, they became demon beasts, bringers of death and destruction.

Each rank of beasts was several folds stronger than the last one. They were subdivided into low, mid, and high levels.

The same way humans grew their magic and grew their strength, so did the beasts, but theirs included evolutions that came as they went up the ranks.

They awakened part of their bloodlines and got even more strength. Most people could take out an unranked beast, depending on what type it was, but a rank-one was an issue, and someone without some sort of training would surely die to it.

Even first years had little chance when it came to the rank-one beasts. Their physical and magical power was something that a first year could only dream of.

As for the mutated rank-one beast, it was a rank-one beast that tried to force an evolution when it had not fully met the criteria. This caused its mana to go haywire.

This forced it into a monstrous state where it lost all reasoning; it became more powerful and very savage.

In the story, a lot of beasts mutated and turned into threats. The strong always stand on top, so it made sense that the beasts wanted to get stronger fast; they also wanted to rise in the food chain.

A few managed to succeed in forced evolution, but for many, they turned into mutants.

Raze recalled where this mutant beast was, and he had a plan that would involve this beast. As he thought about what he could do with that beast, a smile crept onto his face. He stopped paying attention to what was happening here and started thinking about how he would use that beast.