"I passed!!"

  "Wooo!"

  "That was so tiring.."

  Several demons held their arms up in the air and rejoiced upon hearing that they passed, cheering and high-fiving random demons.

  However, for some reason, when I watched them, I could feel no such joy. I looked down, my arm was reattached as if nothing happened. I analyzed the fight.

  Such a low leveled spell like mana burst likely did as much damage as it did because my body is still too weak. Beginner mages couldn't even recycle magic in the first place, so Professor They was indeed right in trying to mock me for 'reshaping spells'. And once my skills advance, it'll likely be much more difficult reshaping spells midway, since their structure would become much more intricate too.

  I clenched my fists.

  But regardless of my insights from this battle, there were still two sections left.

  Seeing how I'm alive, Lully must have passed as well. I scanned the area and noticed a pink blob standing out from the crowd, not quite short enough to be consumed by the wandering shoulders.

  Likewise, Lully noticed me as well, and ran towards me, "Hey! You passed! I mean, what can I expect?"

  I nodded, "I did. How was it?"

  "Not too hard. Apparently, I was supposed to fight an instructor, so I tried testing them out, but I got bored and ended up using {Incineration} to blast them to pieces."

  Hearing his explanation, my mind lagged behind. ...He tried 'testing' the instructor..? So, he didn't listen to the supervisor! Did he not hear the part where the instructor would match his strength?

  "Haa... I see.", sighing, I shook my head before turning to the supervisor on the stage to give us further instructions.

  Inspecting the remaining demons left in the crowd, she silenced us with a spell again, "It seems like a decent amount of you has passed the first test. Now, let us move onto the next section."

  My expression turned cold. This is the section I have to be careful of the most. It was the hardest of the three, and was not something to take lightheartedly.

  The supervisor explained, summoning another hologram, "The second section of the examination is called 'Endless Maze', as nicknamed by your predecessors. As such, you will be teleported to random areas of the maze. To pass, you must survive until the time has run out. However, if you pass the standards of the Demon Academy's instructors, you will be considered as having passed and revived at the end of the test."

  The demons looked at each other, all with similar levels of confusion asking several questions--if the instructors would be watching, what the twist to this section is, what they need to survive from, how long they need to survive for, etc.

  However, in the end, these questions would go unanswered, plunging all of the demons into ambiguity.

  "That is all.", the supervisor snapped her fingers, with demons all around beginning to get teleported in rapid succession, "Good luck!"

  Seeing the demons disintegrate into light, a slight nervousness formed within me.

  Because this time, I wouldn't risk dying just from the test, but have 3 different ways I could die now: from the environment, other people, and the contract with Lully if he dies and doesn't pass the test.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  I speculated in my head. If Lully was truly an extra that died in the entrance exams, then this is the most likely stage he would have died in.

  Moreover, the supervisor purposefully withheld most of the information of the second section. Initially, we would all be dropped into the maze alone, and it would take some time to reach other people in the maze.

  If I were to run straight ahead, I'd be able to reach someone in about an hour? But that would take all of the god's luck to do that.

  Hopefully, he'd be able to survive the maze until I can get to him. I massaged my temples, annoyed from being bound by a contract.

  Unlike the last test, being a direct physical fight, this test was much more brutal in the grand scheme of things.

  If the last test evaluated uniqueness and combat intelligence, this one would test preserverance, instincts, and personality. It was designed to push a demon's sanity to the limit and observe what their instincts led them to do first.

  After all, I'd immediately recognize any demon that would fail the third test.

  With that in mind, the next second, I blinked, and I was in pitch darkness.

  ...

  I opened my eyes, but realized they were already open. It was simply too dark to tell if I was blinking.

  I looked around without moving my feet, there was no light to be found anywhere, nothing to tell what direction I was facing. Mundane was no longer at my waist either.

  "Foo...", I breathed out to calm my nerves. Did they remove soulbounded weapons too?

  However, unfortunately, there would be no time to adjust myself properly.

  I can't see, can't hear anything, can't tell where I am, I don't smell anything rancid or feel anything around me either. But despite feeling no signs of danger, my body stayed motionless, only my breathing discernible in the quiet darkness.

  Just like the supervisor explained, there was indeed something to survive 'against'. When the demons were dropped into the maze, it would be orchestrated to have them encounter one immediately upon arrival.

  These were monsters. They were just ordinary beasts found in the demonic realm, but with their souls taken and mind manipulated with magic to be extremely hostile to all demons they encounter.

  So right now, there should be one, here.

  I can't feel anything. I carefully tuned my senses to pick up anything around me.

  But at that moment, something in my mind clicked, and I slowly moved my hand behind me, forming a mana arrow gradually as I sunk into immersion.

  Gradually...

  KIEEEEK! An ear-piercing shriek abruptly sounded.

  Immediately, I threw the mana arrow in front of my head where my instincts led me.

  Krk! Sss.. An audible sound of bones and meat being pierced was sent flying back, crashing and sliding on the ground.

  My breath became slightly heavier, "Huu... I knew it."

  But the danger wouldn't stop here. I have to quickly harvest the corpse and move.

  Monsters would spawn periodically in the maze, and if I'm stuck in one place for too long, that increases the chances of getting surrounded. Most monsters were modified slightly to be able to better pinpoint a demon's location from far away.

  I stepped a few meters forward, hitting a mass of some kind with my foot, and crouched down, feeling around a corpse on the ground.

  I dug my hand into its bloody corpse, a heavy feeling sitting in my stomach.

  I forgot the name of this particular species, but rest in peace. If I'm correct, this part should be edible...

  Kewrk! I pulled out an organ from the corpse. The heart.

  Dun, dun, dun- The heart's beat slowly died out.

  I can trade this with something useful later, once I meet people. I stuffed the heart in one of my inner pockets, my clothes becoming stained with blood.

  Now, let's go. Forward, I guess? I inched sideways to a wall, and put my hands on it. Actually, this heart might serve as camouflage too. Those monsters only target demons, so I should smell a little different now.

  I checked in with myself. I didn't feel too hungry nor thirsty at the moment. No need to go to the washroom any time soon either. That's good.

  I considered spreading out mana to form a radar like I did in the cave, but I decided against it. [Killing Intent] is a trait too obvious and would give me away to monsters instantly, which also reminds me that I might not be able to use that trait at all.

  I clicked my tongue internally.

  Tracing the wall, I maintained an uneven pace, moving forwards.

  I won't have a moment to rest any time soon.

  This is also because one of the most important things that the supervisor didn't say was how long the test would be run for.

  In total, the test would last for an intolerable 12 hours.

  And if I wanted to guarantee passing by surviving the whole way, the easiest way to do that would be with people.

  Constantly fighting monsters, running the risk of dying, having that inconvenient contract with Lully, and knowing your every move and word is being judged by professors high above...

  Those demons would already struggle enough on their own needing to take care of themselves, let alone another person.

  Haha. I laughed silently. Humans would never accept testing minors like this.

  Oh right, I'm only 17 years in this world, huh.