Step, step, step-

  In a hollow echo, footsteps resounded throughout a silent hallway, with nothing else to be heard.

  My walk was slow, body tense, and my mind turning its gears to integrate itself inside the maze. Gradually, as I got into the groove of the silent atmosphere, my footsteps quieted down to a feather's footfall.

  How long have I been walking? 20, 30 minutes? I breathed quietly. No, it could have just been 5 minutes.

  In a place with no light, it was only a matter of when my sense of time would be distorted.

  I figured counting my own steps to track time wouldn't be very efficient either, and there's no need to explain why that wouldn't work.

  Though, it's not like it's so important. I'll know naturally how long it's been when I've met others. Just when I halted my steps to check on the heart in my pocket, a vague light could be seen up ahead, and paired with it, the sound of liquid sloshing around.

  Pausing for a moment, I collected myself before moving forwards. The light grew larger, closer, and clearer, until I reached a point in the hallway where light began blending with darkness. I stopped before my silhouette could be revealed, looking ahead.

  Just in front of me, a small area was fully lit up, the walls and floor texture could be seen easily. Except, the floor was stained with a reddish liquid, and a monster resembling a large, gooey red slime was sucking up the liquid on the ground.

  A disgusting suction sound could be heard.

  Is that...what I think it is? Am I stepping on blood right now?

  This large slime species was called a Red Sludge. It was a type of beast that preyed on the blood of demons, even in the wild. The more red and vibrant its color, the more it had eaten.

  This thing didn't particularly have any supernatural powers other than super strength and expelling poisonous blood in its stomach. So, given that it hasn't attacked me, it probably doesn't know that I'm here. It's possible that the heart in my pocket is doing its work hiding the presence of the demonic blood in my veins.

  Moreover, after this sludge monster is done with its meal, it's likely to keep searching for more demons to feast on afterwards.

  I stepped back slowly, grateful that there are no twigs I could step on here that would force a monster encounter from the will of the plot gods.

  I focused my gaze on the monster. Should I follow it?

  A Red Sludge's senses are unlikely to be wrong. I could find others faster that way, but if I make a sound or a mistake, I could die much earlier than I anticipated. There's also always the risk that the sludge monster would notice my presence as well.

  But, I didn't have time to contemplate, as the Red Sludge finished up its meal, turning the floor spotless, and began slithering it's way into the darkness ahead.

  I frowned, but eventually decided to follow it. Ah, whatever! At least I have a companion now.

  Once the Red Sludge made it somewhat farther away, I stepped into the lighted area and moved back into the darkness. I could hear the Red Sludge so sight wasn't a problem.

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  The Red Sludge monster also isn't weak, and it'll probably deter a lot of weaker monsters from approaching. It was also pretty nice that this part of the hallway was less darker than the area I spawned in before.

  After confirming that there was nothing else to inspect, I followed the Red Sludge monster for the next long while afterwards.

  "Haa, haa, haa, haa-"

  In a well-lit part of the maze, a thin boy sprinted with all he could in one direction, tears streaming from his wide eyes and saliva dripping from his mouth in mania.

  On his left arm, his clothes were torn with a mark resembling a claw having dug into his flesh, leaving a trail of blood as he fleed.

  He didn't know how long he had been running for. He didn't even know what had hit him. He was just exploring the maze when a monster had snuck up behind him, and he saw his arm start bleeding-

  "Please get me out of here please get me out of here!!"

  Luckily, he was always quite speedy since he was young, and he was able to run before the monster dealt the second blow.

  Tap t-tap tap- His footsteps echoed in the hallway.

  At that moment, a nauseating feeling banged on his stomach.

  Grr...

  Hungry. He was hungry.

  His head turned left and right, attempting to inspect the surroundings without taking the risk of stopping, but everything was passing too fast for his eyes to catch up.

  Why did I go here? This academy is crazy. I could have just lived in peace with mom. I just- it's too much, fuck!

  However, eventually, after an undiscernible amount of time, a vague demon-like silhouette could be seen in the distance, a small glimmer on its head.

  "A-anothe- haa, haa, perso-", he nearly stumbled from exhaustion, his complexion pale.

  In no amount of time, he reached the silhouette and came face to face with it. He stopped and fell on his knees.

  He looked up. A man with metallic, silver hair with a pair of demon horns and tail of the same color.

  "Uhuh, and who's this?", the silver-haired man tilted his head.

  "A-uh, a-", the thin man attempted to speak, but his throat was too dry to form a word.

  But, in the end, he mustered the rest of his strength to speak of his cravings.

  "F-ffod.. Hungry.", he looked up at the silver-haired man hopefully.

  "...", the silver-haired man stared at him, looking at him up and down, before responding, "Nope, don't got no food."

  The silver-haired man then raised his hand, holding a large bloody tooth.

  W-what..? The thin man on his knees looked up in a daze. I- didn't see that before-

  But before the thin man could react, the hand holding the tooth was brought down, severing his neck with a clean cut.

  Ssssrr... His head slid off his torso, falling onto the floor. Thump!

  Looking at the head, the silver-haired man murmured, "Must be pretty fast, how long did it take for him to get here..?"

  Unbothered with it, the silver-haired man proceeded to walk away, leaving behind the body to get eaten by the small beasts eagerly waiting far behind him.

  On a large desk, several demons wearing uniforms were watching and evaluating hundreds of demon Aspirants inside the maze with magic that seemed to project each Aspirant vididly, like a camera.

  Each demon murmured to each other quietly without taking their eyes off of the Aspirants--writing, checking, and crossing out profiles on the papers on the desk.

  From behind them, the supervisor approached, and looked over the working demons' backs to examine their work.

  "Check...check...", she muttered, before saying, "Wait, cross this Aspirant out."

  Meanwhile, as she was examining one part of the table, in another area, two more Aspirant profiles were just judged, of a silver-haired demon and a red-haired one.

  The demon worker slid the papers over to his colleague for review.

  --Profile 362--

  Name: Esteine Argyros

  Defining Features: Silver hair, silver eyes, pale, back tattoo...

  Description: Youngest heir of the Baron household, Argyros....

  Current Evaluation: Pass upon death

  --Profile 890--

  Name: Cael

  Defining Features: Red hair, red eyes, upturned mouth...

  Description: An orphan with no registered family members, originating from...

  Current Evaluation: Pass upon death

  Upon seeing the demon worker's judgement, his colleague questioned quietly, "Is this all? As for the other Aspirants?"

  Without a change in his expression, the demon worker nodded, "Yes. All other Aspirants in my area, as of right now, are evaluated to fail upon death."

  Writing a short summary on a separate piece of paper, the colleague then swiftly returned to reviewing the rest of the profiles.