Demon Tamer's Ascension-Chapter 34: Academy Grounds

"Oh, I see," Alex said with a grin, leaning comfortably back into his seat, "so I’m not the only one with a unique aspect tied to me. Seems like quite a few people have one."

Leonar Nova maintained his serious expression, not reacting in the slightest.

Guess we’ll just have to see during the trials, Alex thought, his gaze fixed entirely on the beautiful scenery outside, deep within the Royal District.

"Stop requested! Thank you for your visit, and have a wonderful day!"

Very few people got off at this stop, since nearly ninety percent of the train was filled with eager individuals awaiting the academy trials.

All of them were eighteen. Well, almost all. It had only been about four days since the new year, and now it was 1216 since the cataclysm first occurred.

Still, it was very unlikely that most people had birthdays this early.

The train doors closed, and then the speaker above announced the next destination.

"Next stop! Nosguard Beast-Taming Academy!"

Murmurs spread from every seat. The tension rose noticeably, yet Alex remained calm. The same went for Cassie.

The two of them sat quietly together. Or rather, Cassie acted incredibly friendly toward Alex, but the same couldn’t be said for him.

He remained distant.

In the end, he never once held feelings toward her, so it didn’t matter to him which persona she chose to show.

For him, all that mattered right now was surpassing the trials.

After the brief altercation between Leonar and Alex, the two didn’t speak for the rest of the ride, and Leonar had stopped kicking the back of his seat.

A large, broad-shouldered man approached Cassie. "Wanna go for a drink sometime?"

Cassie smiled and, without hesitation, slipped her arm under Alex’s shoulder. "I have a boyfriend. I’m terribly sorry."

The man sighed before walking away.

Alex didn’t care enough to resist, so he simply let it happen, waiting for their stop to arrive.

Which would be in another two hours.

........

12:00 PM.

"Stop requested! Nosguard Beast-Taming Academy! Thank you for boarding with us today!"

The train came to a halt, and everyone stood up rapidly.

The doors slid open, sunlight pouring inside as people rushed to exit, but Alex and Cassie stayed seated.

They weren’t nearly as eager as the others, because to them, passing the trials felt almost inevitable.

While the others pushed forward, they remained still, waiting for the line to clear.

"Excuse me."

"Get out of my way."

"I need to get there first!"

"The gates are just ahead!"

"You extra, let me pass!"

Arguments, shouts, and scattered chatter filled the air, drawing attention as people once again fought over who would go first.

"Just stand in line," Alex yawned, "being first won’t give you a head start."

"Wrong," Cassie whispered, her tone deepening, "it actually depends. If you’re first, they’ll be able to sense your mana flow longer, which means they can take more notes about you."

"Interesting," Alex paused briefly, "alright, the line’s cleared. Let’s go."

He gave Leonar Nova one last glance before stepping forward toward the exit.

"Please exit respectfully! We do not want any casualties while boarding Ashtar’s Train Cycle! Have a lovely day, everyone!"

This time, people followed the instructions.

Just as Alex stepped off the train, two guards stopped them right outside.

They hadn’t even gotten the chance to see the academy grounds yet before officials began searching through their belongings, checking for anything suspicious.

As expected, there was nothing.

They were about to move forward—

"Stop!"

Alex and Cassie halted immediately.

"We forgot to detect your core energy. Wait here for a moment."

A deer-like creature stepped beside the guard.

"Use Existence Reading."

The creature lowered its head, its antlers pointing directly at Alex and Cassie.

A faint pulse passed through their bodies, brushing over them lightly before fading away.

The creature lifted its head and nodded.

"All good!" the guard announced. "You may proceed. Next!"

Alex and Cassie continued walking forward.

Exactly as I predicted.

---------------------------

[Core Exchange]

└ A-Rank

[Description]

└ Allows the user to swap their core with that of a tamed beast.

└ The user can switch back at any moment within twenty-four hours.

[Limitations]

└ Lasts only one day and resets once every week.

└ The user cannot use their own acquired skills while the exchange is active, as they are transferred to the tamed beast.

---------------------------

All creatures, aside from demons, contained mana within their cores.

So Alex had swapped his core with Adoff’s.

Because of that, the guards couldn’t detect the demonic energy within him using that particular skill.

Normally, no one other than demons could sense that type of power.

However, there were exceptions.

And those exceptions were tied directly to the skill the deer-like creature had just used on him.

Everything had gone exactly as he planned.

Alex and Cassie finally stepped fully outside. The heat and sunlight made both of them squint slightly.

Alex, who mostly operated at night, wasn’t used to this level of brightness yet.

Ahead of them stretched a beautifully maintained forest. They followed a wide concrete path that led toward a set of towering metal gates.

Two clear rivers flowed alongside the path, surrounding it naturally. At the gates stood two guards, firm and ready, as if prepared for battle at any moment.

Looking around, there were far more people than either of them had expected.

This was truly a terrible place for anyone socially awkward.

Alex let out a faint, smug grin as he continued walking forward.

To him, people hiding their abilities were pointless.

Because now, he could do far more than that.

His eyes drifted toward the nearby lake, where he spotted creatures moving beneath the surface. They were clearly placed there as part of the scenery, so it didn’t surprise him in the slightest.

Then, with a single word, everything sharpened.

"Appraisal."

Their names, their tamed beasts, and of course, their personal rank were all shown just above their head, just as Alex expected.

"There we go."