Chapter 4: Familiar? Entering the forest!
The first and foremost thing was for them to overcome their fear of demonic presence; the malicious espera induced fear in those with weaker hearts and minds.
As the children from the proud clan, they must not be influenced by this at all, or else they will barely be able to restrain themselves in a forest filled with demonic presence and malicious espera.
Oliver assumed a seat in the middle, his heart was beating wildly with every second; he was brave only because of the assurance that the ominous bird would not attack them.
The malicious espera was overwhelming and induced chills down his spine; not to mention the bloodthirsty eyes of this demonic creature.
For him, someone used to a peaceful environment, this was a tough experience to say the very least.
He thought with some astonishment, this bird was really feathery, its back was quite cushiony too, and he felt comfortable.
If he was not wrong, at the academy, they conducted familiar summoning too; he'll make sure to get himself a wonderful familiar.
The image of a fat white cat suddenly appeared in his mind; in the image, the cat was yawning and scratching its belly, looking really annoying.
He shook his head and focused on the crowd at the ground.
He looked down and saw the third sibling pair was still down, not daring to move much; they were still stunned by the presence of the demon.
He sneered; it would be a pity if they get left behind.
He could tell that the test must have already begun given the nonchalant expression on the elder's face.
The elder would have helped the children climb up by now had it not been for the test. This was also one of the reasons that he quickly climbed up to avoid being left out.
If this went on, he felt that half of the children present would get eliminated in this step only—not even getting a chance to hunt.
He looked down and also saw the kid who had brought his ancestor's sword shivering in his boots and felt quite speechless.
Just now, he was bragging about staining his ancestor's sword with the blood of demons, and now he was quivering in his pants.
He was not going to piss himself, was he?
Oliver looked over suspiciously… fortunately, it was not the case or it'll turn into a cursed memory for the kid.
Some minutes passed as more and more children mustered up the courage and walked up to them.
In the end, out of 40 children, only 27 were able to successfully climb up the demon bird.
Not a bad number; this showed the courage and strength of the younger generation of the Mystic Purge Clan.
The elder glanced at the remaining children and disdainfully said,
"Hmph, you all are disqualified from the hunt; you are not worthy enough to bear the name of our great clan yet." He flicked his sleeves, and the demonic creatures screeched as it started to fly high in the sky, its wings generating powerful wind currents with every flap.
The current was strong, and they should have rolled down to the ground due to it, but unexpectedly, they remained seated in their positions, the wind seemingly not even affecting them.
'Is the elder's doing?'
He wondered, using the special eyes, he saw them enveloped in the elder's espera—covering them like a blanket in a dome shape.
"Wow! Look below! We're so high above the ground!"
A kid could not help but exclaim in surprise.
"I am having motion sickness…"
"I-I… This is nothing for me-! I even cleared the elder's hidden test. I-I am smart and powerfu-UGH!"
"…"
The elder remained silent upon hearing such discussions.
Sure enough, the younger generation was always the noisiest one.
His earlier impression of them for being courageous decreased slightly.
"Look-! The forest-!"
After around ten minutes of high-speed travel, they had finally arrived at the site where the test was going to take place.
The demonic bird landed gracefully on the ground near the forest entrance, letting the children climb down one by one.
They immediately noticed many other elders nearby observing them.
In the presence of so many elites, it was natural that all of them felt some pressure on their shoulders.
If they could prove themselves and their strength through this hunting event, then their future would be set on an easier path with more resources and influence.
The elder who had been with the children so far looked at the others, and upon receiving the signal, he told the others.
"Alright, here are your sealing talismans," He handed each one of them a paper with some runes inscribed on top of it.
"Use them wisely; they are precious and would only work once. The sooner you use this, the sooner your hunt will be over."
After making sure that everyone was equipped with one talisman and their respective weapons that they had brought over, he said,
"On my signal, all of you will enter the forest! As soon as you step foot inside, your test and the hunt will begin. Beware the elites are watching so don't try something that will cause you trouble later."
"Yes, elder!"
"Go!"
The elder signaled, and instantly all of the present participants rushed inside the green forest ahead of them.
Oliver was also among them, and the first thing he did was to separate himself from the other participating children.
He knew the closer he was to others, the more his chances of catching a good demon as his prey would decrease.
Not only that, but he might even get attacked by the other candidates. Sure, the elder had said that it was against the rules to try to kill each other, but he did not say anything about mutual fights and injuries.
Neither did he say about the scenario where one candidate might try to steal other's talismans.
It was quite ambiguous, so he would rather not take the risk and be alone.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone