(FromSEBASTIAN's Point of View)
Every breath I draw in this forest is a battle against suffocation.
It is not because of the thick mist or the mana beasts, but because of that cursed leather shroud wrapped around my chest beneath my armor. It is the shackle that reminds me every second that my existence here is the greatest lie in the history of HOUSE PLATOD.
I paused for a moment amidst the colossal trees and closed my eyes.
In the darkness behind my eyelids, that ill-fated day ten years ago returned...
The Past: The Death of "Servina"
The ancestral hall was as cold as a grave.
I remember standing before the tall mirror, watching my favorite pink dress being cast into the flames before my eyes. My father, DUKE OSCAR PLATOD, did not look at me as a daughter; he looked at me as a "problem" that had to be solved.
"SERVINA," my father said, his voice sounding like the creak of ancient doors. "The law of blood in our family is absolute. The Black Mana—the secret of our power—can only have its leadership inherited by a male. That has been the decree since the beginning."
He stepped closer, his shadow engulfing me.
"If the branch nobles, the ambitious, or the Emperor discover that I have not sired a son, we will be stripped of our lands, and our lineage will end."
I remember the coldness of the scissors touching my neck, and the sound of my long hair falling onto the marble floor.
That night, I didn't cry because I lost my hair; I cried because I saw the death of "SERVINA" in my father's eyes.
"From today, you are SEBASTIAN," he said, tightening the bindings around my chest with a force so painful I couldn't even scream. "Your emotions, your tenderness, even the tone of your voice... all of them must be buried. You are not SERVINA now; you are the 'Dark Blade' that will protect the throne of PLATOD."
The Present: The Forest of Dusk
I opened my grey eyes and returned to the forest mist.
The Black Mana was boiling beneath my skin, as if responding to the constriction in my chest. It is a merciless energy that devours everything around it.
I walked with heavy, measured steps—the gait I had practiced for years to deceive everyone with my illusory physical bulk.
The forest was noisy with the cries of pleading students, but around me, an absolute silence reigned. Even the "Mana Deer" passing in the distance would freeze in place and then flee in a frenzy when they sensed my presence.
"SEBASTIAN... it's him!"
Two noble students emerged from behind a massive rock.
They were from HOUSE DUVAL, a branch family that had long dreamed of reaching the Elite rank. They carried swords charged with Black Lightning mana, as if they thought their weak sparks could withstand the darkness of the PLATOD.
"Hand over your medallion, SEBASTIAN," one of them said, his voice trembling despite his attempt to appear brave. "You are alone here, and Black Mana is useless in a dense forest."
The Dark Blade
I looked at them coldly, feeling that lump in my throat.
If I were "SERVINA," perhaps I would have felt fear or tried to reason with them. But I am "SEBASTIAN."
And "SEBASTIAN" does not speak with the weak.
I raised my right hand slowly, not even drawing my sword. Black Mana bled from my fingers like ink spilled into water, quickly manifesting into sharp threads that pierced the air.
I didn't even need to attack them; the Black Mana itself devoured their shadow energy simply by being near.
In seconds, their magical shields shattered, and they fell to the ground gasping, as if something had drained the very life from their veins.
I stepped toward them with calm strides and leaned down to take their medallions.
"Darkness does not need open spaces to function," I said in my artificial deep voice. "I do not need to use a shred of my true strength to strike down the weak."
The Silent Agony
I left them behind and continued toward the "Lighthouse" at the center of the forest.
Success was not what occupied my mind; rather, it was the anxiety that the trial might drag on. Every hour I spend in this forest exerting combat effort means greater pressure on my lungs, on the binder, and on the enchantment I wear.
I do not fear the monsters, and I do not fear the students.
I fear the moment someone might discover that the "Legend" who terrifies everyone is nothing more than a girl breathing with difficulty behind a shield of lies and Black Mana.
I pressed on, indifferent to everything happening behind me.
All I wanted was to return to my room, unwrap those leather bindings, and cry as "SERVINA" for one last time before dawn.
Here is the text arranged into a professional novelistic format, with clear spacing and paragraph breaks to emphasize the narrative flow:
(From ADRIAN's Point of View)
I came to a complete stop and loosened my grip on my dagger. I surveyed the three students from HOUSE LAWRENCE; they were brimming with confidence, their lightning spears crackling with black sparks that mirrored their vanity.
To me, they were nothing more than trivial nuisances, but for NIKO... they were a wall he had to tear down to stop his trembling.
"ADRIAN... what should we do?" NIKO whispered, his voice quivering, his hand white-knuckling the hilt of his sword.
I turned to him; my gaze was not one of encouragement, but as cold and sharp as a blade. I took a step back and leaned against a massive tree, putting my hands in my pockets with a level of detachment that stunned the three students.
"NIKO," I said calmly, my words reaching him clearly, "these are yours. If you cannot best three half-nobles here, you won't survive an hour in this forest. Show me what you learned under IGOR."
The Duel in the Mist
The leader of the LAWRENCE group laughed derisively. "Are you joking? Letting your lackey fight your battles? It seems the 'Pale One' isn't just a coward; he's an idiot. I'll incinerate this boy first, then I'll take my time carving you into pieces!"
Their leader lunged at NIKO with a linear spear thrust that tore through the air. NIKO recoiled in panic at first, but then I saw that flicker in his eyes—the moment of "transition."
He remembered our training; he remembered how I forced him to evade my strikes while blindfolded.
'Now!' I commanded silently.
NIKO ducked beneath the spear in a movement the nobles never saw coming. It wasn't magic; it was sheer physical prowess. He unsheathed his sword and, rather than attacking blindly, used the flat of his blade to parry the spearhead away, capitalizing on his opponent's momentum.
"What?!" the LAWRENCE student cried, losing his footing.
NIKO gave him no opening. He drove a heavy kick into the boy's knee, then slammed the hilt of his sword into his temple, knocking him unconscious in a heartbeat.
Economical Combat
The other two froze for a split second. "You scum!" they bellowed, charging from opposite sides.
I remained in place, tracking NIKO's every move. His strikes lacked raw destructive power, but they were defined by "efficiency." He shifted and parried stabs by mere centimeters, applying the "Economical Combat" style I had drilled into him:
Waste no energy, move only as much as necessary, and strike where the weak are vulnerable.
With a rapid circular strike, NIKO severed the medallion belt of one; with a sharp headbutt to the bridge of the other's nose, all three collapsed—some in agony, others in darkness.
NIKO stood there, gasping for air, sweat dripping from his face. He stared at his hands in awe, as if unable to believe he had dismantled three nobles single-handedly.
"ADRIAN... I... I did it!" he said, his voice a cocktail of joy and shock.
The Hidden Watcher
I approached him slowly, offering a light pat on the shoulder while my eyes swept the surroundings to ensure no one had noticed my subtle interference—having flicked two small stones to disrupt the twins' footwork at the critical moment without NIKO or them ever knowing.
"An acceptable performance," I said coldly to stifle any rising arrogance. "Take the medallions. Now you have enough to enter the classes we want. But remember... these were just bottom-feeders. The real monsters are still waiting in the depths."
NIKO bowed and gathered the three medallions, filled with a pride he had never felt in his life.
But I... I felt a different "presence" watching us from above the trees. It wasn't LILITH. It was something heavier... something reeking of Black Mana.
'Sebastian...' I thought, adjusting the collar of my cloak. 'Did you enjoy the show? Or are you looking for something more exciting?'