I Cultivated As The Devil

Challenge, part 2

This wolf was kind, unlike what he expected.

And the wolf opened its mouth, gathering fire inside it, until it grew stronger and stronger, until the red fire became a black energy that turned into a hard type of rock.

It fell in front of Emrys, who was surprised.

The black rock was almost as big as the wolf's eyes. And using the wolf's claws, it crushed the thing several times until there were now countless black stones, almost as big as small marbles.

Emrys looked up at the wolf in surprise. "What are these?"

"That's a Cultivation Stone that comes from my own power. It's very fresh and undeniably very effective. Especially for someone like you who can't even raise their own strength level."

The young man frowned. He was clearly surprised by what he heard. "How did you know I can't raise my level?"

"I see your soul. It's a simple reason. You can't hide anything from me, young man. Even your past."

Emrys swallowed. "I just have a question."

"You want to know why I can speak your language, but I just want to clarify everything for you."

Again, Emrys was surprised by what it said. How could this creature even read his mind?

"Clarify what?"

"It's not me who learns the language of humans. You... You are the one learning the language of demons. Emrys Valestron."

Me?! The young man never thought that was the only reason he understood it.

Because from the very beginning, he was the one who actually understood the monster's language, not the monster his.

Emrys let out a sigh. He felt like he was getting drunk on the information he had learned. It wasn't the monster that was deficient, but he himself who was wrong about it.

And because this was the first time he had met and spoken to a real monster, he only now realized that he had the ability to communicate with these creatures.

Emrys took one of the stones from the cluster and looked up at the monster. "Can I try this?"

The sun was setting when all the new students of the White Temple Institute gathered at its gate.

There were many of them, coming from different clans and towns.

Sai, Loan, and Eris were also there.

And from the gate itself, a man in glasses and with his hands in his pockets came out to face all these new cultivators.

He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention before speaking in a loud voice. "All new cultivators, listen! My name is Mr. Desmond Dekker. I have been assigned by the officials of the White Temple institution to take care of newcomers like you, so you can learn to be great adventurers in the future."

The young men smiled at what they heard. They were obviously nervous, but also excited about what might happen once they got inside this school.

"That's what the too-kind teachers would say to people like you, but you can call me different!" Desmond shouted again, stopping everyone. "Before you can enter the school, we will have a tough exam where you will be given the opportunity to show what you can do as a cultivator. If you pass what I'm going to ask you to do, you will immediately be accepted as students of the institution. Clear?"

"Yes!"

Desmond took out a list, and from it, he read the first name. When the person raised their hand, he brought the young man closer to him.

"Are you going to see how strong my strength level is now, Mr. Desmond?" The young man was obviously eager to show off the level he could do now.

"Give it your all in concentration. Create a very strong defense in your energy center, and if you lose your concentration for just one minute, you're out." Desmond ordered sternly.

Everyone whispered because of that.

"Really?"

"Is it that easy?"

"Oh, even if it's hours, I can do that without being disturbed."

"Even a week, I can do it."

"It's so easy."

"I thought the test would be hard. He's just making us nervous."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Brainless." Sai whispered on the side. "They think it's that easy."

"What do you mean?" Loan asked, seemingly not understanding his friend.

"Instead of asking, let's just watch what happens." Eris chimed in.

"Start when you're ready." Desmond ordered the young man in front of him.

There was a soldier on the side holding a clock to make the one-minute basis of the test exact.

"Yes!" The young man said. They were both sitting there, Desmond and him, one meter apart.

The first applicant closed his eyes and began to build strong energy in his body.

After ten seconds, Desmond just watched the young man with a serious face.

The others were silent as they watched. No one seemed to think the young man could fail such a simple test. Except for Sai and Eris.

Everyone was silent.

The clock kept ticking, but when it passed half a minute, everyone was shocked by what happened next.

The cement where Desmond was sitting cracked as a very powerful red energy suddenly burst from his entire body and enveloped the young man.

A strong gust of wind blew, making everyone's hearts pound.

The first applicant screamed and crawled away, sweating. "I don't want to! Please! I give up!" He said tremblingly, repeatedly, while sobbing and hugging himself.

Sai grinned, realizing that his suspicion was true.

Desmond, whose eyes were blazing, looked at the remaining over five hundred cultivators present and spoke.

"I don't care if darkness catches us here. Come forward, whoever wants to be next!"