LILITH stiffened in her place, feeling as though the air had been sucked out of her lungs all at once. The scent emanating from ADRIAN wasn't that of a frightened student or an Adoptee trying to survive; it was the scent of a terrifying "stillness," like the silence of a graveyard.
When he turned toward her, she didn't see those dull eyes he used to deceive everyone in the plaza. She saw something else... a vast, bottomless abyss. A cold prickle surged down her spine—a sensation she was not accustomed to feeling from anyone other than her father and brothers.
"Strategy and speed are not the exclusive domains of your family," he said, tilting his head slightly. His tone carried a calmness that made her want to scream.
LILITH wanted to respond; she wanted to mock him as a daughter of HOUSE MALQUAR, the family that manipulates minds. But her tongue felt heavy. As he finished speaking, she realized the bitter truth: she wasn't chasing a rabbit; she was walking willingly into a lion's den.
When he left, she remained standing for minutes, her breath slightly ragged and her fingertips trembling. She looked at the spot where he had stood and found not even a footprint in the dust—as if a ghost had passed through a wall.
"Do you think the nobles are fools?" She remembered her question to him and felt a surge of shame. The nobles aren't just fools; they are entirely blind. She realized then that what they called "nobility" was nothing but a thick shroud of sacred ignorance. They saw the world through their titles, while he saw the world from a completely different perspective.
LILITH returned to her room with steps that weren't entirely steady. She closed the door behind her and leaned her back against it, letting her body slide down slowly until she touched the cold floor. His voice still echoed in her ears like a droning bee.
She pulled off her leather combat gloves and noticed that her palms were sweaty—something that hadn't happened since her first entrance exams. The decisive mask she fought to maintain had shattered easily before him.
She went to the bed and collapsed onto the silk covers without even changing her clothes. She stared at the ceiling, where the shadows of the trees outside were reflected by the moonlight, looking like long fingers trying to grab her.
"ADRIAN VANIT..." she whispered his name, as if the words themselves carried a strange weight.
The Eve of the Final Trial
Before she sank completely into sleep, the last thought that crossed her mind was that tomorrow's test would reveal something new.
While LILITH fell into a restless sleep, in another part of the dormitory, ADRIAN remained awake. He sat in the dim light, quietly touching his dagger—a rhythmic, grounding motion, as if reassuring the blade before the coming storm.
THE NEXT MORNING...
With the first thread of grey dawn, the sun did not rise in peace. Instead, the Academy's silence was shattered by a sharp, metallic ring
—CLANG!—
echoing in every corner. The mana spheres suspended in the dormitory hallways glowed a vivid yellow, and PROFESSOR JORDAN's coarse, merciless voice emanated from them:
"To all students... rest time is over. You have thirty minutes to assemble at the East Gate overlooking the DUSK FOREST. Anyone late by a single second will be failed instantly in the third trial. Bring your weapons and prepare yourselves."
LILITH woke abruptly, her body taut like a bowstring. She was still in yesterday's clothes. She looked at her hand, which had been trembling slightly in her dream, and clenched her fist until her knuckles turned white.
"It has begun," she whispered to herself, rising to wash her face with ice-cold water.
On the other side, NIKO scrambled up in a panic, nearly falling from his bed, while ADRIAN was already standing by the window. He had donned his faded cloak and fastened his dagger securely.
"ADRIAN! Did you hear that?" NIKO said, searching for his boots in confusion. "He said the forest...! I've heard the monsters there are incredibly strong."
ADRIAN turned to him with his usual coldness, took his ranking medallion, and placed it around his neck.
"That is good, NIKO. Monsters are fair; they only want to devour you. Humans are the problem; they want to break your soul before your body. Just remember... stay behind me at all times, and don't get ahead of yourself."
The scene at the gate was both majestic and terrifying. Hundreds of students stood in ranks as the thick mist rolling out of the forest crawled toward their feet like white serpents.
Casparian stood at the front, surrounded by lackeys whose luxurious armor gleamed; he ran his hand over the hilt of his flaming sword with a look of pure arrogance. SEBASTIAN PLATOD stood alone as usual, staring at the colossal trees with a vacant gaze, as if the trial had already ended for him before it even began.
LILITH arrived at the plaza, her eyes instinctively searching for that messy black hair and listless posture. She found him. He stood at the far edge with the Adoptees, looking weak, small, and invisible. But now she knew—this "invisibility" was his greatest weapon.
The Law of the Jungle
PROFESSOR JORDAN stepped forward, holding an ancient leather map.
"Behind this gate, there are no Academy rules. There is only one law: Survival of the Fittest. The medallions you wear are your tickets to the first academic year. Anyone who emerges with their own medallion and at least one other succeeds."
THE RULES:
Survival: Reach the lighthouse in the center of the forest to surrender your spoils.
Integrity: Killing is forbidden among students. Death by monsters is your own failure.
The Ranking System:
. One extra medallion + your own = One-Star Class.
. Two extra medallions + your own = Two-Star Class.
. Three or more extra medallions = Elite Class.
Freedom: Alliances, all forms of magic, and weaponry are permitted.
The guards swung open the massive iron gates with a harrowing screech—CREEEEAK!
"GO!" JORDAN commanded.
As soon as JORDAN uttered the word "Go," the quiet plaza transformed into organized chaos.
It wasn't a typical start.
It was an explosion of energy, hopes, and fears.
The nobles lunged forward first, as if in a horse race. Casparian used his lava mana to propel himself like a projectile, leaving behind a trail of scorched grass and the shouts of his followers struggling to keep up.
SEBASTIAN PLATOD, meanwhile, moved with steps that seemed slow yet covered vast distances. He appeared to be gliding over time itself, disappearing into the mist without a single sound.
LILITH MALQUAR did not rush with the crowd.
Instead, she made a graceful leap toward a nearby tree trunk, and from there to the high branches. She preferred the "second level" of the forest—where visibility was clearer and ambushes were harder to set.
Her eyes never left that pale spot where ADRIAN stood.
The Patient Hunter
Unlike everyone else, ADRIAN did not run.
He walked with steady calmness, holding the shoulder of NIKO, who was trembling. NIKO's hand never left the hilt of his sword.
"ADRIAN, everyone is getting ahead of us! We'll miss the easy medallions!" NIKO said in a low, disturbed voice.
ADRIAN replied, his eyes scanning the forest entrances coldly:
"Let them run, NIKO. The forest is not a racetrack; it is a maze. Those who run first are the ones who fall into the traps first."
"Then when will we start??" NIKO retorted.
"Now," ADRIAN said. "And remember... we are not looking for medallions. We are waiting for the medallions to look for us."
As soon as they took their first step into the forest, the thick mist swallowed them.
The screams of the students behind them faded.
They were replaced by strange sounds: the creaking of ancient trees, the growls of distant monsters, and the metallic footfalls of students who had already begun setting ambushes for one another.
In the first few minutes, the forest began to filter its students.
Cries for help were heard from Adoptees who fell into magical nets set by nobles from mid-tier families wanting to secure their success quickly.
The observers, wearing grey cloaks and perched atop treetops like crows, did not move a muscle. Their mission was to record results, not to save lives.
From a distance, ADRIAN saw a student from HOUSE TRENCH seizing a medallion from an Adoptee girl who was crying on the ground.
NIKO looked at ADRIAN, pleading for him to intervene, but ADRIAN gestured for him to refuse.
"Not now," ADRIAN whispered. "There is a bigger predator watching that student right now. Look up."
Above the tree where the TRENCH student stood, there were green mana threads that were almost invisible.
Suddenly, the student was snatched upward with lightning speed—screaming—only for ELENA VALERIAN to appear, standing regally on a branch, holding his medallion and the girl's.
ADRIAN signaled for NIKO to keep moving away.
The Ambush of House Lawrence
ADRIAN avoided the main paths, veering toward an area dense with thorny bushes and dark shadows.
He moved in a peculiar way—stopping suddenly, touching a tree trunk, then changing his path by only a few inches.
"Why are we moving away from the path leading to the lighthouse?" NIKO asked.
ADRIAN stopped.
He looked back toward where he suspected LILITH was watching him, then gave a faint smile devoid of any warmth.
"Because we aren't going to the lighthouse with just one medallion, NIKO. We are going to ensure our entry into the Elite Class. To get three stars, you must hunt those who think themselves hunters."
At that moment, from behind a massive tree covered in moss, three students wearing the crest of HOUSE LAWRENCE emerged.
They carried long spears glowing with yellow lightning mana.
"Look what we found in the shadows," their leader said with a malicious laugh.
The leader had yellow hair and golden eyes. Behind him were two students—twins—looking almost identical in their light armor.
"Lucky ADRIAN and his sidekick. It seems your journey ends here," the leader said.
ADRIAN did not retreat.
He relaxed his shoulders and slowly placed his hand on the hilt of his dagger.
"NIKO," ADRIAN said in a dry voice with a slight smile on his face.
"Will you handle them, or shall I start with them?"
....