Dark Moon Era

An exaggerated chewing noise echoed in the group.

The short fellow beside Tang Ling could not help but swallow his saliva.

An apple! Not even a noble could easily get their hands on one of those.

Tons of effort was required to plant an apple tree similar to the old civilization.

Nonetheless, Tang Ling was not moved by the apple at all. He glanced at the young man at the front of the line. His blonde hair was straight while his features were pronounced and a sense of malevolence enveloped him.

Since the young man did not do anything, his Precise Instinct could not detect his battle power which concerned Tang Ling.

Right when the blonde young man, who surprised everyone in the square by riding a blue-striped mega rhinoceros to the venue, was feeling delighted, an unusual calm and cold voice spoke up, “Orston, are ya standing in the front?”

It sounded like it was strenuous for the owner of the voice to even speak. Although it was a few short words, it almost sounded like he had to squeeze every single word out from his lips.

No one was able to locate the person who spoke until the crowd shifted a little, and a squat and scrawny figure walked out. Everyone was surprised when they realized that this short figure might have been the one who spoke and probably was the last reserved warrior to enter the reexamination.

Unlike the flamboyant entrance of the blonde young man, this shorter one appeared very calm to the point that his existence was barely noticeable like a shadow behind the sun.

Nonetheless, no one dared to neglect him because he reeked of blood. The black reserved warrior uniform that he wore was badly torn.

His long coffee-brown hair had dried blood stains at the edges while his black boots were stained with pieces of meat of some beings other than mud.

“The front spot… doesn’t belong to you,” said the gloomy young man after he walked to the front of the line. As he spoke, he single-handedly put the backpack that he had been carrying down.

The zipper was half-opened and a bloody huge beast claw was showing. Tang Ling had no idea what claw that was.

The long-haired young man suddenly looked up as though his glare was a brandishing sharp blade. A ferocious and cold gleam shone from his eyes that curled up at the corners slightly as if he was a wolf.

“Orston, move,” he instructed.

The blond young man named Orston, who took the front spot started to turn solemn in expression. He curled his fingers up and crushed the apple in his hand with a pop.

The pride of such a young man like him would never allow him to give in easily. “Yu, aren’t you being a little too arrogant? Do you think I’ll let you take the spot?”

“Then, why not we decide after a fight?” The young long-haired man known as Yu did not care at all, but when a fight was mentioned, an excited gleam flashed in his eyes.

Right before a fight between Yu and Orston broke out in the examination venue, Larf walked over and said, “Yu, stand in front. Little Orston, judging from your strength, you haven’t convinced us that you’re stronger than Yu.”

Unlike the cold and harsh expression he displayed earlier, Larf showed a kind smile on his face as if he was talking to his juniors.

Of course, as a captain of the Purple Moon Warriors, his words held weight and were very convincing.

Even though Orston was disgruntled, he still moved away in grievance and let Yu stand in front.

The short fellow beside Tang Ling seemed to be a talkative one. He whispered softly and then lowered his head as though he was muttering to himself, “Ranks are everywhere.”

Tang Ling heard him. Even though his abdomen still hurt, his heart was not moved.

That rainy night, three outrageous circles formed three different worlds before his eyes. The bits and pieces of his circumstances had taught him to see through the harshness of reality.

The little commotion was settled after Larf’s intervention.

The sinister-looking instructor regained his senses and sized up the reserved warriors who were waiting for the exam to begin.

“The reexamination will start in two minutes. Little fellas, if you guys make it, I’ll be your combat coach in the future, but before that happens, try not to get overexcited. The exam isn’t a game. I’m saying that in this exam, I cannot guarantee…”

Up until this point, the instructor seemed a little pleased. However, he paused and a gloomy smile appeared on his face.

Until he scanned all the faces of the reserved warriors, he continued, “That every one of you can walk out of the exam alive.”

Was there a life-threatening danger in the exam?

Some people in the group paled at his words. The short fellow beside Tang Ling also trembled but tightly held his fists.

Yu and Orston were not moved since they should know about the contents of the exam.

Tang Ling understood the situation but he was not affected either since he had seen many life-and-death situations himself.

“Now, I’ll give all of you a chance. You can choose to quit now.” It seemed like the frightened reaction from the group made the instructor feel haughty as his tone sounded like he was ridiculing them.

No one was willing to quit now though.

“Very well then.” The instructor slowly walked around and then said loudly, “Clear the venue and get ready.”

As his words subsided, many groups of warriors appeared from every direction of the square. They moved in in an orderly fashion, and they quickly cleared the crowded Glory Square to create a spacious ground.

Then, another group of warriors carried many iron bars into the square and started to piece the thick bars together.

The clunks were endless, making the crowd curious about what the warriors were building. A heated discussion started to rumble among them.

The format of the exam seemed to be different from the past.

This time, Larf did not care about the discussion in the crowd. Instead, he watched the warriors getting busy piecing the iron bars with an interested gaze.

A minute and a half later, a giant iron cage appeared in the center of Glory Square right in front of the giant statue of the castellan.

Only after the cage was built did everyone finally realize that the whole cage was covered with dark claret lines as though they were bloody lines.

“All of you should be honored to take the exam in front of the statue of our great castellan of Safety Sector No. 17, Lord Worf Andol. Do all of you know our Lord’s greatest achievement? A Level 3 vicious beast, a white thunder eagle, once sieged our sector, but our great castellan single-handedly shot it down. Therefore, the exam that we’ll be having here should follow the footsteps of our great castellan.”

When the iron cage appeared, the instructor in the blue uniform was thoroughly excited. He said the most words since the beginning and his eyes were gleaming with an unusual shine. “The changes in our era cannot tolerate your cowardness anymore.”

The moment his voice subsided, groups of workers appeared from behind Glory Hall and strenuously carried a dozen fully sealed cages towards the center of the square.

No one was able to catch a glimpse of the contents of the sealed cages, but judging from the various savage growls inside that shook the sky and made the land tremble, the crowd started to grow anxious.

Even an idiot knew what the sealed cages were holding. All the cages were unloaded in front of that giant iron cage without exception.

The smile on the instructor’s face grew darker. “Very well now, all of you have one last chance to quit. It’s now or never. Anyone?”

Tang Ling saw the smirk on the instructor’s face. He squinted his eyes and finally understood what the short fellow beside him was warning him earlier. He might be affected in the upcoming exam.