Back outside, they were greeted by sunlight shining right over their heads. And with the light ca Ashton's stat nerf. All of his stats were reduced by 20% in presence of sunlight. It wasn't as bad as before but the fact that the nerfing depended on percentage and not a fixed amount was a bit problematic.
But Ashton had other things occupying his mind. Although Ashton was pretty bumd out that he did not get the first position. The more he thought about it the more he realised it was for the better.
Him getting the first place would have gotten him so unwanted attention and that was the last thing he wanted. Especially if he did not have anything to hide his identity as a Zompirewolf, like a mask or sothing.
On top of that, he was already getting a bit of attention thanks to him sharing the Mistress's last na. Gathering even more attention would not have done him any good. Especially when the matter involved the noble families.
The lowkey he stayed the better hidden his secret would be. But it seed like things would not go the way he wanted them to. As Lucas was on his tail.
'I didn't even kill the bastard and yet he is following ... this is not good.'
Ashton had decided to treat the exam as an exam and not take things the hard way. But it appeared the others did not harbour the sa emotions as him. He could feel the hostility of the qualified examinees towards each other.
This was to be given because most of these families had so sort of history with one another and now that all of them were mbers of the academy, it was ti to assert dominance.
"Please wait here for a few monts. You can step out and collect your rewards when your nas are called." One of the attendants uttered before rushing away leave the ten of them in an open courtyard.
As soon as they were left alone, people started chattering amongst themselves. But there was one thing common among their talks... Ashton Bismark. All of them wanted to know who he was and what was his relationship with ra Bismark, who was also known as the Mistress.
All of them except 4 or 5 of them were busy speculating about the origins of this unknown werewolf who was leading in the exam before Nicole and Nick Grunta left him behind. But speculating was all they could do, after all, the mistress herself was shrouded in mystery.
At this ti sothing weird happened. Suddenly two people from the crowd made their way towards Ashton. As they did that, the others got awkwardly silent. Ashton doubted whether they were even breathing or not.
He looked at their faces and realised who they were. Since they were twins clad in bloodied black clothing, Ashton guessed they were the Gruntas.
Nick was the first one to Approach Ashton out of the twins, with extended gloved arm. Their oddly white skin was reflecting the sun as if they were made of a mirror. Both of them had black hair, matching their clothes and accessories and an equally expressionless face.
Nick had his hair unstyled while Nicole had her shoulder-length tied in a ponytail. But the thing which got Ashton's attention the most was Nick's muscular build. He had innocence on his face just like most of them, but his 5'9" body did not match the look on his face at all.
Nicole was around 5'5", and her physique was much like an assassin. Just with a look, Ashton could tell that she was most agile among the twins. Apart from the difference in their heights and physique, the two looked the sa, which was obvious as they were identical twins.
"You must be Ashton Bismark. It was a pleasure to fight against you." Nick said with an almost authoritative tone.
Ashton shook his hand because why not? The man didn't seem hostile and well, since Nick 'defeated' him for the number one spot in such a short ti fra. Thus by shaking his hand, Ashtn wanted to show him mutual respect like Nick was... or so he thought.
The mont Ashton was about touch Nick's arm, Nicole grabbed Ashton and ripped his sleeve apart. Ashton was taken aback by this action and tried to get back, but this ti he was stopped by Nick who had firmly grasped his hand. Not letting him get away.
"Just like I thought... another filthy mutt." Suddenly Nick's expression changed from uncaring to disgusted.
The sa happened with the rest of them. All of their eyes were filled with disgust, except for a couple of them. And Ashton knew exactly why. Mutt was the slang term for those who were born as humans but eventually were forced to turn into a werewolf.
Thus, it was given that in a place filled with nobles, Ashton's presence was going to be frowned upon. However, being related to the mistress did not help his reputation either. The slave mark on Ashton's hand was sothing he would have to live with for the rest of his life... Just like all of the other slaves.
"The fck are you doing?" Ashton finally snatched his hand away and transford them into werewolf claws.
He wanted to acknowledge the Gruntas, but had he known it would turn out to be like this, he would have kept his distance from them. However, turning his claws upon the Gruntas propelled the others to go into action as well.
Within seconds, all of the nobles were standing beside the Gruntas, while Ashton stood in front of them alone.
'So much for keeping it under the radar... I couldn't have picked a nicer ti to gain unnecessary attention. Damn it!'
"One against nine. You think you can overco these odds?" Lucas grinned like the bastard he was while the other laughed along.
"You talk a lot for soone who was about to wet his pants just by seeing . But then I guess talking is the only thing you can do." Ashton fired back.
"You filthy mutt!" Lucas cursed under his breath. What Ashton said stung him even more as he knew every single word that ca out of his mouth was true. The only reason he qualified was his luck and not his competence.
He knew getting physical with them wasn't a good choice. But it should be fine as long as it is a verbal bout. However, there was soone else who wanted to offer a piece of her mind.
"Who said it was 1 vs 9? I never joined your side.." Anna Swan, the flaming wizard proclaid as she joined Ashton's side, "Because of idiots like you, all of the nobles get hate from others. Do you not know how tense our relationship with the vampires is? And yet you foolishly waste your ti asserting dominance on unnecessary things?"
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