Annan walked slowly and cautiously through the dark corridor.

As she concentrated, the world in front of her widened again, the background turned dim yellow, and the speed of time seemed to slow down a lot.

- Although this is the residence of the Grand Duke of Winter, it is unlikely that there will be any enemies.

But after all, the job she came to "apply for" was Winter's Hand.

As the official transcendent agency of the Duchy of Winter, it also serves as a secret agency, so if you are vigilant enough, you may be able to add points during the interview......

However, in the next moment, something suddenly shook in front of Annan's eyes.

…… Is it really coming?

Annan narrowed his eyes slightly, and his hands turned into beast claws silently.

Even though it was a completely dark hallway, the werewolf's vision saw the silhouette of a human figure moving.

It looks like it's about 1.7 meters and has a relatively thin body......

Although when he was still again, he immediately dissipated from Annan's vision. But as Annan approached, the man finally moved again.

He reached out and silently grabbed Annan's neck.

…… There is no killing intent.

Is it part of the exam?

Annan didn't think twice.

The moment the man reached out to grab him, Annan immediately squatted down on the spot.

She hugged the other man's calves tightly with both hands, and immediately got up, leaned backwards with the strength of her waist, and threw the man directly to the ground.

"Uh-huh......!"

The man's muffled snort of pain suddenly sounded.

"Alright, Bella."

The old man's flat voice sounded in the darkness: "He has no malice. ”

"Yes."

Annan responded obediently.

Otherwise, she wouldn't just have thrown him down.

But if she is really caught by a man...... The wolf's kiss ceremony will certainly be postponed at the very least.

No matter what, she has to go through a certain amount of training before she can go to the "exam".

With a creak the old man pushed the door open...... The light once again filled the narrow hallway.

Following the sunlight pouring in, Annan saw the young man who fell to the ground and groaned.

It was a young man with light brown hair, very white skin, and freckles on his face.

His cheeks looked very thin, and even his cheeks were sunken inward. His spirit didn't look very good, and his forehead was even a little bruised and bleeding from Annan's wrestling.

But when he stood up, his gaze at Annan became a little eager.

"Hello, my name is Thoronik."

The young man made a low, low, indistinct voice and stretched out his right hand slightly towards Annan, as if he wanted to shake hands but didn't dare to.

At the same time, he kept his eyes on Annan's face.

That strange eagerness made Annan feel a little awkward.

…… I beat you up, why are you so enthusiastic about me?

Is this person a pervert?

"He's your brother. Like you, you haven't passed the wolf's kiss ritual yet. The two of you will be together. ”

The old man on the side let out his emotionless old voice: "Just like you, they are all homeless people. ”

"You're a werewolf too?"

When Annan heard this, he looked at the pale and thin man again.

She whispered, turning her right hand back into a human hand and shaking Thoronik's hand.

"No, he's not."

The old man replied coldly, "Even in the entire 'Winter Hand' mechanism, you are the only one who is a werewolf. ”

"I'm ...... I am the child of a murderer. My father and mother, both murderers and killers. They ...... at a very early age and died. ”

Thoronik shy and whispered, "I don't have the money to learn swordsmanship, so I went to make money, but I have money, and the teacher still won't let me learn it." Because of my lowly status, I stole school.

"But in the end I was discovered...... was beaten out by the teacher.

The teacher said...... If I want to learn swordsmanship, I will definitely use it to kill. Later, when they passed it around, it became that I would definitely kill someone...... And they threw me out. ”

"Kicked out?"

Annan was stunned for a moment, then realized that it meant to drive out the barrier.

“…… And after that? ”

She asked subconsciously.

It was the old man standing behind them who answered Annan.

He put his hands on the shoulders of Thoronik and Annan, and replied calmly: "Then I picked him up, and I saw that he had a great talent for the transcendent path, so I led him to this path." ”

"Yes!"

Thoronik's voice was a little louder.

In his eyes, Annan seemed to see a shining flame.

"Only the teacher is willing to take me in, only the teacher is willing to teach me the knowledge of murder......"

It was a very soft, but fanatical voice: "The teacher is my benefactor!" For the sake of the teacher, I don't even want to die! ”

"Killing is an untouchable red line for civilians. But for us, killing is just one of the means. ”

The old man said slowly.

There was no expression on his face, and there seemed to be ice in his deep pupils: "But you must not kill for fun." A person who allows his desires to swell everywhere will not be able to pass the wolf's kiss ritual. ”

"Yes, I know, teacher......"

Thoronic's voice suddenly became much softer.

He lowered his head, his gaze wandering and timid.

But in the face of his appearance, the old man did not react.

Sensing that this was an opportunity, Annan was finally able to spit out the doubts in his heart: "Wolf kiss ceremony...... What is it? ”

The old man was silent for a moment, then turned away in silence.

Thoronik reacted quickly, hurried over, winked at Annan, and motioned for her to follow.

The two of them followed the old man around two corners and then descended into the basement.

Annan immediately sensed a very strong chill.

It's like stepping into cold storage...... No, even far colder than that.

Even when walking, you can feel the degree of your knees creaking. The joints of the whole body are screaming, like the crunch noise of a computer and a fan that is turned on in the cold of winter.

She subconsciously wrapped her whole body with fur, and couldn't help but bend her waist and curl up hard.

To Annan's surprise, neither the old man nor Solonic reacted much to the chill.

The old man seemed to have completely ignored the cold, and Thoronik's hair began to frost, but he did not complain or be surprised.

Suddenly, Annan realized something.

…… This is probably the place where the old grandmother hibernates.

After they had gone down to the bottom, the old man turned on the light and said in a flat voice:

"—here it is."

After a brief pause, the signature light green spark of the "green fire" ignites and leaps through the room.

Then, a bright orange-yellow light bar illuminates the entire basement.

Annan's pupils shrank slightly, crouching on the ground, his tail slowly sweeping restlessly on his sides.

Although I had guessed it a long time ago, this might have something to do with the frost beast......

But Annan didn't expect that there would be so many-

- It's like a chicken farm.

They are now in an underground warehouse of about 100 square meters.

The walls are painted with red paint and painted with a large number "3".

On the walls on all four sides, there are square iron cages with six or seven layers and at least sixteen or seventeen columns.

The size of each cage is about one meter wide, one meter high, and three meters deep. Each cage contains a translucent, light white wolf soul that resembles a soul beast.

After the lights came on, a prostrate and lying frost beast stood up from its cage and opened its eyes.

Their pupils are a pure ice blue.

"The so-called wolf's kiss ceremony...... It's to let the frostbeast out and let you sleep here. ”

The old man said slowly, "When you fall asleep, you will go into a nightmare—a state of complete loss of positive feelings, and you will enter a nightmare. Nightmares are made up of your memories of the last few days...... Once you have escaped from this nightmare, you have passed the Wolf's Kiss Ritual – and you can become excellent transcendents. ”

Hearing this, Annan was suddenly stunned.

- She realized a very serious problem.

(End of chapter)