...
When Zion opened his eyes again...
The world had disappeared.
There was no forge.
No sky.
No earth.
No stars.
Only endless darkness stretching beyond the limits of sight.
Yet somehow...
He could still see.
His feet rested upon nothing, but an invisible force supported his weight.
The black panel floated before him, its golden words unchanged.
"So..."
Zion slowly raised his sword.
"This is the Independent Trial Space."
The darkness offered no reply.
It wasn't empty.
It felt occupied.
As though countless unseen eyes watched him from every direction.
Waiting.
Judging.
Measuring.
The Veil beneath his shirt grew colder.
For the first time in his life...
Zion felt completely exposed.
Then the darkness trembled.
The Voice returned.
—Trial... begins.
Silence followed.
A heartbeat passed.
Then another.
Nothing happened.
Zion remained perfectly still.
His breathing slowed.
His grip tightened around the sword.
The silence itself became oppressive.
Then...
A thin crack of silver light appeared before him.
It stretched across the void like a wound carved into reality.
The crack widened.
Cold air poured from within.
A low growl echoed through the darkness.
Zion lowered his stance.
His left foot slid forward.
His right hand tightened around the sword's hilt.
Granny Iya's countless lessons surfaced one after another.
"Never fear the enemy."
"Fear the mistake you haven't noticed."
"Watch the shoulders."
"Watch the feet."
"The weapon lies."
"The body never does."
The wound tore open.
Something stepped through.
The creature that emerged was no ordinary beast.
At first glance, it resembled a wolf.
At second glance...
It looked like a nightmare wearing the shape of one.
Its body stood nearly twice as tall as an ordinary wolf, its ash-gray fur stretched over muscles that seemed carved from stone. Black claws scraped across the invisible ground, leaving trails of pale sparks in their wake.
Its eyes held no anger.
No hunger.
No instinct.
Only emptiness.
"So this..."
Zion murmured, tightening his grip on the sword.
"...is an Unawakened Beast."
The wolf lowered its body.
Its muscles tensed.
Then it disappeared.
Boom!
The distance between them vanished in an instant.
A massive claw slashed toward Zion's throat.
Instead of retreating...
Zion stepped forward.
Clang!
Steel met claw.
The violent collision sent sparks flying into the darkness.
The force numbed Zion's arms, but his feet never left the ground.
'Heavy...'
The beast pushed harder.
Its jaws snapped toward his face.
Without hesitation, Zion twisted his wrist and redirected the creature's momentum.
The wolf stumbled.
Only half a step.
But half a step was enough.
Granny Iya's voice echoed inside his mind.
"Don't chase an opening."
"Create one."
Zion moved.
His sword flashed like a streak of silver.
Slash!
A clean cut traced across the wolf's shoulder.
There was no blood.
Instead...
A brilliant crack of pale light spread through its body.
The wolf released a distorted howl that sounded less like pain and more like reality itself breaking apart.
Its body shattered into countless fragments before dissolving into nothingness.
Zion didn't lower his sword.
The wound in space remained open.
A second creature crawled through.
It walked on four elongated limbs resembling sharpened spears.
Its body was covered in dark armor-like plates, while glowing lines continuously shifted across its hide like living runes.
The creature stopped.
Its head slowly rose.
Then...
It screamed.
The shrill sound pierced Zion's ears like thousands of needles.
His vision blurred.
His balance faltered.
The beast lunged.
Boom!
Its spear-like forelimb crashed into Zion's hastily raised sword.
The impact hurled him backward.
He rolled across the invisible ground before driving his blade downward to stop himself.
His palms burned.
"So much stronger..."
The armored beast charged again.
This time...
Zion watched carefully.
Not its weapon.
Not its claws.
Its shoulders.
The instant its left shoulder dipped...
He moved.
Not backward.
Forward.
He slipped inside its reach.
The spear-like limb shot past his shoulder close enough for him to feel the rushing wind.
Now.
Zion thrust.
His sword pierced the narrow opening beneath the creature's jaw.
Crack!
Golden light burst from within.
The glowing runes covering its body fractured one after another.
The armored beast froze.
Then...
It collapsed into shimmering fragments before fading into the endless void.
Silence returned once more.
Zion's breathing grew heavier.
Two beasts.
Both stronger than anything he had ever imagined.
Yet the trial wasn't over.
The wound of light trembled again.
A third figure stepped through.
Smaller.
Leaner.
Its body resembled a black panther, yet its outline constantly flickered, as though it existed half a heartbeat outside reality.
Even stranger...
Its shadow appeared before the beast itself.
"So..."
Zion exhaled slowly.
"You're the fast one."
The panther circled him.
Neither moved.
Neither blinked.
The void became eerily silent.
Then...
It vanished.
Zion's pupils contracted.
Gone!
His instincts screamed.
Without thinking, he twisted sideways.
A razor-sharp claw sliced through the space where his neck had been an instant earlier.
The creature appeared behind him.
"So fast!"
Zion rolled away.
The beast vanished again.
Left.
Right.
Above.
Behind.
Its claws rained down from impossible angles.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Every strike sent another wave of numbness through Zion's arms.
Sweat dripped from his forehead.
His breathing grew rough.
One mistake.
That was all it needed.
The panther disappeared again.
This time...
Zion closed his eyes.
Not because he had surrendered.
Because he remembered Granny Iya's words.
"Your eyes can be deceived."
"Your instincts cannot."
Everything became quiet.
His heartbeat slowed.
Then...
There!
His eyes snapped open.
Instead of turning around...
He stepped backward.
The panther materialized exactly where he expected.
Its claws slashed toward his chest.
Zion lowered himself beneath the attack.
His foot pivoted.
His waist twisted.
The sword followed.
One smooth movement.
Simple.
Efficient.
A blacksmith's strike.
Not beautiful.
Perfect.
Slash!
The blade cut upward beneath the creature's jaw.
A web of golden cracks spread across its body.
For the first time...
The silent beast cried out.
Then it shattered into drifting fragments of light.
Silence reclaimed the Trial Space.
Zion remained standing.
His chest rose and fell violently.
His arms trembled from exhaustion.
Three beasts.
Three victories.
"...I passed."
A small smile finally appeared on his face.
The black panel returned.
Golden letters slowly formed across its surface.
═══════════════════════
TRIAL COMPLETE
Calculating Reward...
═══════════════════════
Zion let out a long breath.
"I actually survived..."
Then...
The letters stopped moving.
Every word upon the panel dissolved into darkness.
The entire Trial Space trembled violently.
The nearly closed wound of light was ripped open once again.
Wider.
Deeper.
More unstable than before.
The Voice echoed throughout the void.
For the first time...
Its emotionless tone carried the slightest trace of distortion.
—Error detected...
Zion's smile froze.
"...Error?"
The black panel flickered violently.
The golden letters scattered before rearranging themselves into new words.
═══════════════════════
WARNING
Abnormal existence detected.
Re-evaluating Trial Difficulty...
...
Reassessment complete.
Current Trial Difficulty:
IMPOSSIBLE
Additional Trial commencing.
═══════════════════════
Zion's blood ran cold.
"What...?"
"This wasn't supposed to happen..."
No one had ever spoken of an Awakening Trial changing after it had already ended.
The stories passed down through generations were all the same.
Complete the trial.
Receive your reward.
Return home.
There had never been a second trial.
The darkness surrounding him suddenly became restless.
The wound of light continued expanding.
Wider.
Deeper.
The space itself groaned as though struggling to contain whatever lay beyond.
A heavy pressure descended upon the Trial Space.
Zion's breathing became difficult.
His knees bent involuntarily.
Even gripping his sword required all of his strength.
It felt...
As though an invisible mountain had been placed upon his shoulders.
Then...
Something stepped through.
A single black foot landed upon the invisible ground.
Boom!
The entire Trial Space shook violently.
Another step followed.
A towering creature slowly emerged from the wound.
Unlike the previous beasts, this one possessed no traces of emptiness.
Its massive body was covered in black armor-like bones that looked as though they had been forged rather than grown.
Jagged horns curved backward from its head.
Its claws resembled polished obsidian blades.
Most terrifying of all...
Its eyes.
They weren't hollow.
They were alive.
Watching.
Thinking.
Judging.
The moment Zion met its gaze...
Every instinct in his body screamed.
Impossible.
This wasn't an Unawakened Beast.
This was something far beyond that.
An Awakened Beast.
"A... awakened beast...?"
His voice trembled.
"How can this be...?"
No sixteen-year-old on Blue Star had ever faced such a monster during their Awakening Trial.
Not even in legends.
The creature slowly turned its head toward him.
Their eyes met.
For a single heartbeat...
Neither moved.
Then...
The Awakened Beast smiled.
It wasn't a smile of joy.
It was the smile of a predator that had finally found prey worth hunting.
A chill ran down Zion's spine.
His legs urged him to flee.
His heart told him to survive.
His mind screamed that this battle could not be won.
Yet...
His hands never released the sword.
Granny Iya's voice echoed within his heart.
"Power makes fools loud."
"Fear makes cowards freeze."
"A sword..."
"...is an answer."
Zion slowly raised the blade before him.
His exhausted body trembled.
His arms ached.
His breathing was ragged.
But his eyes never left the monster.
"If..."
He swallowed.
"...if this is my trial..."
A determined smile appeared on his bloodless face.
"Then I'll forge my own ending."
The Awakened Beast took one step forward.
The invisible ground shattered beneath its foot.
The pressure multiplied.
Zion's muscles screamed.
His vision blurred.
Yet he refused to kneel.
The Voice of the Void echoed one final time.
—Final Trial... Commencing.
The beast vanished.
Zion's pupils contracted.
Too fast!
A massive claw descended from above.
The sword in Zion's hand rose instinctively to meet it.
The darkness exploded.
BOOM!