The corrupted hallways stretched before him, twisting and choking on themselves, as if the building itself had been swallowed by something alive. Black vines curled up the walls and across the ceiling, pulsing faintly like veins filled with tar. Fleshy growths clung to the floor, sticky and wet beneath his steps. He leapt over them, each movement sharp and precise. His soles made no sound, he had coated his shoes with mana to silence them. To anyone else, the suffocating stillness of this place would have been unbearable. To him, it was simply another battlefield. What is this place? The question burned in his mind, but his face remained calm, almost expressionless. Once, not long ago, he might have gagged at the stench of blood. He might have broken at the sight of bodies torn apart. But that was before the war at the Black Gate, before he had stood among the dying and the dead, fighting to survive when the world itself seemed ready to collapse. Now... now he understood something different. ’Death isn’t always the enemy. It’s a truth.’ He thought of the Black Gate. The cries, the fire, the endless screams. He had seen lives snuffed out like candles in the wind. And though it left scars, it also carved clarity into him. Death was cruel, but it was honest. It spared no one, it promised nothing, and in that, it was equal. Still, he didn’t enjoy it. He didn’t enjoy seeing people slaughtered, their dreams ripped apart in seconds. He didn’t enjoy stepping over corpses. And yet... here he was again. His gaze caught on something up ahead. Another body. A girl. What was left of her was barely human, her limbs twisted, flesh mangled beyond recognition. His teeth clenched. His grip on Zalrielle tightened until his knuckles whitened. "...The fifth one," he muttered under his breath. His voice cracked, soft but sharp, like glass breaking. "Is this the fifth body we’ve seen?" Zalrielle, the blade in his hand, the ancient presence bound to him, did not answer. But Kyle felt the weight of her silence pressing against his thoughts. He shook his head, frustration tightening in his chest. The monsters here weren’t especially strong. That much he knew. He could cut through them easily, too easily. Yet worry gnawed at him. ’Reo. Luna... where are you?’ He pictured them, reckless and brave, but not invincible. And his sister. Aurelia. She was strong. But still... ’What if she got caught too?’ The thought made his chest ache. And where were the instructors? Had they been dragged here as well? Or had they abandoned the students? Nothing made sense. The first thought that had come to him when he appeared here had been immediate, instinctive. Fractal Veil. But how could that be? He had read of it, in the pages of a book in his past life. "Path of Transcendence." A story that had felt more like prophecy than fiction. In that story, Cedric had stumbled into the Fractal Veil... but much, much later. Not now. Not this early. And yet, here they were. Zalrielle had agreed. It could be the Fractal Veil. But even she didn’t sound certain. The sound of cracking glass broke his thoughts. A monster hurled itself from a shattered window, its eyeless face twisting, its jaw unhinging to reveal rows of jagged teeth. It lunged straight for his head. Kyle didn’t even look. His hand moved, Zalrielle flashing in a clean diagonal slash. White lightning burst forth, splitting the air with a crack. The monster’s body split neatly in two, frozen solid in the same breath. Ice crystals spread along its cleaved halves, and then— The pieces hit the floor, sliding apart. Kyle didn’t pause. He kept running, his blade trailing faint sparks of frost and electricity. Since his four affinities had evolved into Storm, something had changed. He could bend them together now, weaving elements that should have resisted one another. Lightning and ice. lightning and wind. Chaos and harmony, somehow fused. His strikes no longer belonged to one element, they belonged to all of them. The power was intoxicating, but he didn’t dwell on it. Instead, his mind turned again, racing faster than his steps. ’This doesn’t add up. These monsters... they’re nothing special. The danger here isn’t their strength, it’s the fear. The panic. The way people break when they see the unknown.’ That thought... it sounded familiar. Too familiar. ’Fear of the unknown. Breaking under pressure. Testing resolve.’ He remembered a conversation. A sharp voice, a smile edged with cruelty. Seris. She had once told him that most students lived too comfortably, that they didn’t grasp how dangerous their world truly was. That no one grew strong by being coddled. That if she had her way, she would throw them into the abyss and see who crawled out. And he, like a fool, or perhaps out of some twisted agreement, had told her she wasn’t wrong. That maybe, they needed something harsh. Something that would cut them open and force them to see reality. He slowed, his steps faltering for the first time. The hallway loomed around him, vines twitching, walls pulsing. His heart hammered in his chest, not with fear, but with realization. ’This isn’t just an accident. This... this is the exam.’ He stopped completely. His chest rose and fell, his breath ragged though he hadn’t truly exerted himself. One hand lifted, running through his white hair, dragging back the sweat-damp strands. His eyes widened. His lips trembled with something between a laugh and a whisper. "And this is another one." A voice said coolly, the sound of a quill scratching across parchment following the words. "That makes a total of eight hundred and seventy-one eliminated in just under an hour. Out of nine hundred and fifty-six first years." "A lot higher than what we expected." In the dim glow of hundreds of floating screens. Principal Lucian Aetheris stood with his arms folded, his white hair gleaming faintly under the light. His calm, unreadable eyes scanned the images before him, students crying, students running, students frozen in place as illusions of monsters tore into them. At his side, Vice principal Seris Voidcrest leaned lazily against the console, her dark coat spilling over the floor. Her lips were curled into a faint, sadistic smile as her gaze danced over the chaos. The Monitor Room was alive with sound, flickering screens, professors muttering as they recorded notes. Yet the Principals stood apart, speaking as though the hall full of chaos was their private stage. "Look at them" Seris murmured, amusement lacing her tone. "Some running. Some fighting. Some crying their eyes out like children." Lucian glanced at her from the corner of his eye, already catching the sharp edge of her grin. "And how many, do you think..." she continued. her voice laced with cruelty, "...will crawl out of this hall forever scarred? How many will wake screaming, unable to forget the feeling of their own blood, or worse, their friends’ blood, on their hands?" Lucian exhaled quietly through his nose, his expression untouched. Check latest chapters at novel~fire~net ’Her sadistic personality is surfacing again.’ Yet, even with that thought, he said nothing. This was Seris. She found pleasure in watching cracks form in the human spirit. And though he would never admit it aloud, sometimes her brutal perspective was necessary. On the screens, the chaos shifted. A dozen screens faded, replaced by a new set of moving images. The monitors flickered, then zoomed, focusing on five specific individuals. Lucian straightened slightly. Even Seris’s also narrowed her eyes. There was Kyle, slashing through the monsters with a Tachi in one hand, lightning and ice dancing around his blade in destructive harmony. He wasn’t just killing. He was moving with purpose, guiding terrified students to safety along the way. Seris tilted her head, almost purring with satisfaction. "See, Aurelia? I told you not to worry about him." The younger Instructors standing behind them. Aurelia Valemont, kept her lips pressed tight. Her eyes were glued to the screen, a mixture of pride and relief flickering in her gaze as she watched her younger brother fight. She had been a little worried that this might bring back some of his Black Gate unwanted memories, but it seemed she had been concerned over nothing. Seraphina, standing quietly beside her, said nothing. "You and Seraphina are oddly overprotective of him" Aurelia did not respond, but the faintest upward curve touched her lips. She was proud. That much was clear. Another screen shifted. Cedric Valteri, his long sword glowing with light and fire. Stood at the head of a small group, rallying them with firm commands. He wasn’t just fighting. He was leading, keeping those who followed him alive by sheer force of will. Further down, Cassian carved his way through the horde with a manic smile, his gauntlets dripping with blackened ichor. Unlike the others, his eyes gleamed with something wild, like he was enjoying himself too much. Eleanora moved differently. Like a phantom, she slipped through the battlefield, her estoc striking with deadly precision. Darkness and light swirled together at her command, felling monsters before they even realized she was there. To the students who glimpsed her, she was less a warrior and more a savior.... a princess of darkness. And then Serena. Calm, sharp-eyed, cutting through the monsters with a grace that felt unshakable. She didn’t just protect the weak, she pulled strength out of those still willing to fight, forcing them to stand when they wanted to collapse. "These five..." Lucian murmured, almost to himself. "They’ve killed more monsters than anyone else. And they’re still composed. Even after the transport into the Fracture Veil." Seris’s eyes gleamed. "They’ve already surpassed their peers. Not just in power, but in mentality too." Lucian gave a small nod. He couldn’t deny it. ’Strength can be trained. But willpower, that’s harder to forge.’ Still, the monitors didn’t stop there. A second set zoomed in, showing four more figures. Lyra Silverwind. The half-elf archer, arrows of wind and nature affinity cutting monsters down with surgical precision. Luna Starfrost, dashing through enemies with dual short swords, ice crackling around her with every strike. Reo Dustbane, his spear twirling in perfect arcs of wind, a one-man storm sweeping the battlefield. Sylvie Wavecrest, summoning torrents of water, her magic forming shields and spears alike, a true mage in the chaos. "They’re not the same as the first five, but they shine in their own way." Seris said. Lucian folded his arms again, eyes narrowing slightly. "Raw potential. But whether they reach the same heights... time will tell." Behind them, the professors scribbled notes, whispering assessments under their breath. Some looked impressed. Others skeptical. Then, a voice cut through the murmur. A professor with heavy dark circles under his eyes rasped. "You should look at this." Lucian and Seris turned as one. The screens flickered, zooming out, until a single figure filled the projection. Even Lucian’s composure faltered. On the screen, a white-haired figure walked calmly through the battlefield. Monsters circled him, dozens of them, their grotesque bodies twitching. Yet none attacked. They stood frozen, their eyeless heads turned as if staring at him, fear etched into their very forms. And then, with an ease that was almost casual. The figure raised his blade. One slash. Another. Another. Each strike ended a monster, clean and efficient, without wasted motion. The horde fell before him like grass to a scythe. Seris’s grin broke into full laughter. A sharp, ringing sound that cut through the tension. "Oh, he really is a crazy kid." The name hung unspoken in the room.