After the guard announced Nate as the winner, the noise of the arena didn’t settle immediately. Instead, it swelled for a moment, voices rising from different sides before slowly blending into a constant murmur.

Nate stood there for a second longer than needed.

His gaze dropped to the unconscious girl lying on the platform. Her body was still, her chest rising faintly, while two nurses rushed forward with a stretcher, their boots hitting the ground in hurried rhythm as they reached her side.

They moved efficiently, lifting her carefully.

Nate watched them.

I didn’t even get to know her name.

The thought passed through his mind quietly.

He turned away without thinking more than that and began walking back to his seat, his steps steady, his expression already returning to that calm, unreadable state.

In front of him, his group erupted into cheers.

Their voices carried pride, loud and open, some even standing as they called out his name. That energy spread quickly, like dry leaves catching fire, moving from one row to another as whispers followed.

"So, that Nate guy is that strong?"

Felix sat where he was the day before, his eyes fixed on Nate’s retreating figure, but the look on his face twisted slightly with displeasure.

"A mere commoner ranking above me... Tsk."

He clicked his tongue, turning his gaze away as if continuing to look would only irritate him more.

"From his fluid movement... he is actually strong."

Gareth spoke calmly from beside him, his tone soft, his expression gentle as always.

Felix slowly turned his head back.

"Are you acknowledging his strength to be above me?"

His voice carried a hint of sharpness.

Gareth immediately stood up, straightening his coat with a composed movement.

"Not in the slightest, Felix."

He replied without hesitation, his voice still mild.

At that same moment, the holographic number above the stage flickered and changed.

It was his turn.

Felix watched him silently, his eyes narrowing just a little, but he said nothing further.

"Look at how they’re cheering like idiots."

Page scoffed from her seat, her arms folded tightly across her chest, one leg crossed over the other.

"I clearly fought someone stronger than him..."

She muttered; her tone filled with dissatisfaction.

The people around her nodded quickly, some agreeing, others praising her again, repeating words about her performance as if to reassure her.

"I’m off, guys."

Gareth cut in, waving lightly as he stepped away.

"Hehehe..." Page let out a soft laugh, her lips curling slightly. "I pity the unlucky one who ends up facing a monster like you."

"I’m not a monster, though."

He replied with a gentle smile before walking toward the stage.

But...

Everyone sitting in that area and watching knew better.

Even Felix, the other candidates from different groups, especially the leaders, all narrowed their eyes slightly as Gareth stepped onto the platform.

They all already knew the same thing.

Gareth was not simple.

He had been in the top five since the beginning of the trial and more than that...

He was one of the very few people who could stand against Veda in pure hand-to-hand combat without using Cognis.

Even then... His chance of winning was not low.

Forty percent.

That alone said enough.

The guard raised her hand, then dropped it without waiting to confirm if the boys were ready.

"Fight!"

Her voice echoed.

The fight had barely begun when the guard left the stage.

Gareth immediately moved in a blink.

His body shifted forward, weaving past a heavy downward slash from the boy opposite him. The sword cut through the air with force, but it met nothing.

Gareth had already stepped inside the range within a second counting.

His right leg lifted...

A clean, sharp kick.

It struck the flat of the blade near the handle.

The force was precise.

The sword flew out of the boy’s hand instantly, spinning through the air before crashing near the front row where the Ashenlocke children sat.

Gasps followed.

And in that motion...

His hand moved forward gripping the boy’s neck with one hand lifting him off the ground as if his weight meant nothing.

"Surrender."

His voice came out flat and cold.

Yet...

His face still held that same soft, gentle expression.

That contrast was what exactly made it worse.

The boy’s eyes widened in fear.

At that moment...

He understood this was someone who would not hesitate, someone who could snap his neck without blinking, but he still tried to struggle.

His hands grabbed Gareth’s wrist, trying to pry it loose but it didn’t move.

Not even slightly.

"Argh..."

His breath tightened, body shook as Gareth’s grip grew stronger and tighter.

The boy’s vision blurred quickly.

He immediately tried to force Cognis through his body...

"Boy..."

Gareth’s voice dropped lower and colder.

"The moment you do that..."

His fingers tightened just a little more.

Enough to end it.

The boy’s legs kicked weakly, his hands trembled, breathing broke and the world spun.

He couldn’t hold on anymore.

With the last bit of strength, he had forced himself to tap Gareth’s hand.

Twice.

Gareth released him immediately.

The boy collapsed to the ground, gasping violently, his chest rising and falling as he coughed uncontrollably.

"Cough... cough... cough..."

Saliva spilled from his mouth as he struggled to breathe.

"I... I surrender..."

His voice came out broken, barely audible.

Gareth adjusted his coat calmly, as if nothing had just happened.

The guard stepped onto the stage again, almost at the same speed the fight had ended.

"Winner!" She pointed. "At Gareth."

He stepped down from the stage without delay.

The moment his feet touched the ground, the cheers began to rise again. This time, it was louder from Felix’s group, their voices carrying pride and excitement, while even some candidates from other groups joined in, clapping or calling out his name.

Especially the girls.

Their voices stood out the most.

On the opposite side...

The orphans who had cheered earlier for their fighter now sat completely still and silent.

With no one cheering like before.

Their eyes stayed fixed on the stage, or more precisely, on the boy who had just lost.

He had been one of their strongest.

Someone they believed could at least push the fight further.

Yet...

He had lost fast and not in a way they could argue against.

It wasn’t due to luck nor wasn’t a mistake, it was simply a gap.

A clear strong one that stinged their heart more and more.

The trial continued and as it did...

More wins came from the children of Ashenlocke.

One after another.

Some matches ended quickly, while some took longer to end, but everything still ended in their wins.

In that time, Bobby’s turn came and he stepped forward with a different mood in him.

His fight wasn’t so different from the others.

It didn’t end quickly nor convincingly.

The two of them stood across from each other, both breathing heavily at different points of the fight, their movements slowing and speeding up in waves.

They were evenly matched, their Cognis levels were close, their physical strength was not so different from each other.

But...

There was still a slight gap.

His opponent had more speed and more raw power mixed with better fight experience.

Each clash pushed Bobby back just a little more than he wanted, each exchange forced him to think harder and faster.

At some point...

He had to reach into his space bag, his fingers trembling slightly as he went for his already made trump card.

Then...

He took it out – the dark pill.

The same one he had used during the fourth trial, during the stage four challenge when he fought Daniella to double his strength.

That fight...He lost badly, but now; things were different.

He didn’t hesitate to consume it.

His body reacted immediately with strength surging through him, muscles tightened, breathing changed and this time...

He didn’t go into the fight with only a lame man instinct, instead he moved forward with everything he had learned, and it began to show.

Ezra’s teachings and Veda’s guidance.

The mistakes he made before and the failures he carried in his mind.

They weren’t just memories anymore...They became part of how he fought.

His movements became more deliberate, less wasted motion and more intent.

Even his thinking...

Changed.

He wasn’t just throwing punches aimlessly.

He was planning, even under pressure, even when his opponent pushed him back.

Still...

That fear hadn’t disappeared completely, whenever the pressure rose too high...

It still showed in the slight delay before he acted, but compared to before, it was different.

He held on and pushed through it, especially after the fifth trial.

That time he had no choice but to lead, to organize and to guide others in the medical team.

Taking responsibility for people who needed to be healed from their bad injuries, he even ended up saving a few of his group members from death and that experience stayed with him.

And now...

It showed, bit by bit, exchange after exchange. He forced his opponent back.

Until finally...

He won.

For a moment, he just stood there after knocking his opponent down, staring at the ground.

Then...

He shouted loud, so loud that his voice echoed across the arena, not caring who was watching him.

He let everything inside him come out.

The frustration of not being able to help Ezra during the ambush, the helplessness he felt knowing he couldn’t stop Lime from betraying them, the guilt for not being able to save Aliya, yet he went lashing out at Ezra.

All of it.

He let it all out completely and then his body gave in, collapsing on the floor.

Fainting right there on the stage.

The nurses rushed in quickly, carrying both him and his opponent away.

The platform was cleared again and the trial continued as usual, but this time...

Something changed.

The orphans finally got a win, although it wasn’t easy, but it was finally a win.

Their side reacted differently with this change, which was not loud, but there was a shift in the air around them.

The next match ended in a draw, neither side taking it fully and from that point...

The rhythm changed.

It wasn’t one-sided anymore, at least not completely, but the difference remained clear.

The children of Ashenlocke still dominated.

Winning repeatedly in some consecutive matches.

Three matches in a row and even more than that as the matches went on, during the next few matches, an orphan fought hard enough to force a draw, then another managed to secure a win.

The pattern continued like that.

Back and forth, but never remaining equal.

As the day came to an end...The atmosphere shifted again because everyone knew the next day would be different.

The real fights were coming.

All the leaders and most of their vice captains’ matches were on that day.

The strongest.

The ones everyone had been waiting to see.

***

The atmosphere in the arena shifted the moment the new day began.

Everyone was ready, not just ready but excited.

Even the orphans, who had been quieter in previous rounds, now showed clear anticipation in their eyes. Their attention stayed fixed on the stage, their bodies leaning forward slightly as if they didn’t want to miss even a single movement.

The reason was simple.

Most of the top twenty had not yet fought.

Only three of them had already stepped onto the stage before, and even those three had lost. Still, they were not part of the top ten, so the true expectation had not yet been fulfilled.

Now...

That was about to change, both sides understood one thing.

They wanted to see it.

How the strongest of each side would clash and how the gap would show.

Or...

If it even existed at that level.

Vera was already seated.

Her posture was relaxed, one leg crossed over the other, her back resting lightly against the seat, as if she had no tension at all.

But her eyes were sharp and fixed on searching for something, they shifted slowly until they landed on Ezra.

He sat among Veda’s group, quiet as always, his expression blank, his posture straight but not stiff.

Vera stared at him, not hiding it.

There was a small light in her eyes, one that didn’t match the calm on her face.

Expectation.

She already knew that today...He would fight and more than anything she wanted to watch him fight.

Ezra felt a gaze.

He turned his head slightly, his eyes moving without hurry until they met hers.

For a brief moment...

Their gazes locked.

Vera lifted her hand and waved at him, her face remained soft, calm and unreadable.

Ezra looked at her for that same brief second, then turned away with no reaction.

His eyes returned to the stage just as the holographic image flickered into existence above it.

The floating numbers shifted.

Then stopped.

A voice followed.

"Number 103, step forward."

Nina stood up immediately smiling brightly, her mood already lifted before the fight even began.

She turned to the girls beside her, raising her hand.

They responded instantly...

High fives echoed in quick succession.

"Go!"

"You got this!"

Their voices overlapped.

Nina laughed lightly, then turned to Vera.

"I am off, my Lady."

She raised her fingers, forming a victory sign, her confidence so natural that it didn’t feel forced.

It felt certain, then she walked.

Each step was steady and light bringing confidence.

Across from her, a boy stepped forward.

He stood still, his expression was dull and a quiet observant groove to his personality.

His eyes remained on Nina, not moving, not reacting outwardly, but inside he was calculating and analyzing how he should go about the fight against her.

"You have a good presence."

Nina pointed at him, her chin raised slightly, her tone carrying a hint of arrogance that came from confidence rather than mockery.

The boy didn’t respond to her provocations, instead he focused on the bigger picture of the reward he would gain, if he beat her.

"Humph..." Nina smirked. "Even if you analyze so much..."

She let the rest hang in the air, her meaning clear.

It wouldn’t matter...Huh...

The boy read it clearly, but he wasn’t about to let that confidence she had, pull him down.

The guard stepped onto the stage.

His boots made a low sound against the stone as he stopped between them, his eyes moving from one to the other.

"Ready."

His hand rose, then without any delay he dropped his hand.

"Fight!"

His voice rang across the arena, firm and sharp.

Both moved at once.

Their hands dove into their space bags.

Steel bars were pulled out in quick succession and at the same time...The boy brought out a piece of brown leather cloth.

Clap!

Their hands came together almost simultaneously.

Cognis surged.

The air around them shifted slightly as their alchemy circles formed between their palms, glowing faintly with controlled energy.

Nina moved first.

Her hands slammed onto the ground.

The steel bars dropped, melting, then reshaping in one smooth transformation...

Three revolvers formed.

She caught them without looking down.

Two in one hand and one in the other.

Her fingers settled on the triggers instantly, her arms already moving.

While the boy finished his alchemy a fraction of a second later. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

A leather quiver appeared filled with steel arrows and bow formed

He moved immediately, rapping the quiver on his back and holding the steel bow on his right hand.

He rolled across the ground...

Bang! Bang!

Two shots rang out.

The bullets cut through the air where he had been standing just a moment ago.

He rose from the roll smoothly, already drawing an arrow.

His fingers moved fast... placing it against the bowstring... pulling back.

At the same time...

Nina adjusted her aim, her eyes locked onto his new position with no wasted motion.

For a brief moment...

They stood, both aiming at each other.

The tension between them stretched tight, like a string about to snap and then...

They moved to fire.