Night fell, and the real bodies of the students lay peacefully in reclining chairs provided by the examiners. These chairs could transform into soft beds, allowing the students to rest while their khodams were in the spirit world.
Alfin's khodam couldn't sleep well.
Rai had fallen asleep while hugging his arm tightly, as if it were something she was used to. It reminded him of their childhood, when Rai used to do the same thing during sleepovers. Diana, who was supposed to sleep between them as a barrier, somehow ended up in the corner, snoring softly, wrapped cozily in her own nine tails.
The cold, almost freezing, made Rai subconsciously hold Alfin even tighter in her sleep, and Alfin, shivering, instinctively used Rai's wings as a blanket. Despite the awkwardness, warmth took priority over embarrassment—for now.
The next morning, Rai jolted awake, only to realize she had ended up lying on top of Alfin. Her eyes widened in panic. Diana, already awake, gave her a knowing smirk, as if to say, "So you don't like him, huh? Then why are you on top of my brother?"
Alfin woke up a few moments later, groaning slightly. He hadn't slept much thanks to the awkward position.
With the new day, the second trial resumed.
Once again, the three of them hunted tuyuls, but this time, they encountered something far more dangerous—giant tuyuls.
Unlike the regular ones, these towering creatures were worth ten points each, but defeating them was no easy task. Their attacks were not only strong and wide-ranging, but every hit also drained the khodam's energy, weakening them with every blow.
As if cursed by fate, the three of them encountered five giant tuyuls.
A single one was already a rare and deadly enemy—most only appeared after surviving more than ten years in the spirit world. To find five at once? That wasn't luck. That was misfortune in its purest form.
"Is this... our unlucky day?" Alfin muttered, narrowing his eyes.
One of the giant tuyuls let out a low, gurgling snarl and slammed its massive fist down. The ground shook. Trees cracked and collapsed like matchsticks. Diana's tail lashed out, intercepting the strike—strong enough to deflect it, but not without cost. The impact sent her flying back, crashing through branches.
"Diana!" Alfin shouted.
Without thinking, he lunged at the giant tuyul, his spear-like tail stabbing forward with precision. But it was no use—the creature's skin was like iron, barely even scratched.
"I need more power... Alfin, can your tail rotate? Or burn hotter?" Rai shouted from behind.
"I—I'll try!" Alfin yelled back, focusing his energy.
His khodam's spear tail started to glow red, then hotter—until it shifted into a blazing blue flame. The tip spun rapidly, forming a piercing drill of burning energy.
Alfin struck—straight into the tuyul's chest.
Success.
The drill tore through the creature's thick hide and pierced its core. The tuyul howled before collapsing to the ground in a violent thud. But victory came at a price. Alfin was too slow to dodge the next attack.
A second tuyul slammed its fist into him, launching him through the air.
"ALFIN!!" Rai screamed, rage burning in her voice.
Something... snapped.
Her khodam's energy surged wildly. One of her elegant white wings slowly darkened—turning pitch black. A heavy shadow formed beneath her feet, spreading like ink across the ground.
From it, hundreds of dark hands emerged, rising like a cursed army and grabbing the remaining four giant tuyuls, holding them in place.
Her glowing fireflies twisted in mid-air, shifting—morphing into red-eyed bats.
The bats dived, screeching, their fangs sinking into the tuyuls. Blood sprayed. The tuyuls screamed, thrashing, but the hands held firm. Within moments, the monsters' bodies withered, drying up like ancient corpses.
And then... silence.
The bats returned, carrying the blood they had drained. The crimson liquid swirled in the air before condensing into a single, gleaming red horn, which floated down into Rai's waiting hand.
Rai could feel it—a new power.
She now had control over the shadow hands, the bloodthirsty bats, and even the blood-converted horn itself, which acted as a kind of storage crystal for life energy.
Rai's khodam held out the crimson horn, glowing with concentrated life force. From its tip, droplets of red light floated outward—splitting into two streams and flowing toward Diana and Alfin.
As the energy soaked into their bodies, wounds faded, fatigue lifted, and strength returned. Slowly, both of them stood back up, breathing heavily but alive.
"Thanks, Rai," Alfin muttered, clutching his side.
Rai turned away, arms crossed. "Tch. It's not like I did it for you."
But deep down, all three of them felt it—the relief of surviving day two. They hadn't failed. Not yet.
---
Inside the exam control room...
A large crystal screen hovered in the air, showing live footage of the examinees.
One of the instructors clapped. "Well done... look at those three."
Several other shamans gathered, nodding in agreement.
"The tail defense of the fox girl... impressive," murmured one, stroking his beard. "Most participants would've been eliminated just by encountering a single giant tuyul. Yet they fought five... and won."
"If only that boy Alfin hadn't let his guard down," said another shaman, sipping tea. "He could've been the hero who saved beauty."
"Haha! But in the end, it was beauty that saved the hero," laughed Shaman Rosso, causing a few others to chuckle.
Then one of them leaned closer to the screen. "Look at Rai's khodam... that's not normal."
"Yeah... that energy. That's black magic—voodoo, shadow control... even blood-based techniques," another said, eyes wide. "Even we struggle with those. But her khodam used it like instinct. And she wasn't even fully conscious of it. It happened when she got angry."
"A khodam that can wield voodoo out of emotion... that's dangerous. And powerful."
"I'm giving extra points," one of the examiners decided. "Their performance deserves it."
In this test, scores weren't just based on time and the number of tuyuls defeated.
Personal evaluations from instructors and judges could boost a candidate's score even further.