The moment the doors shut behind the candidates, the entire hall returned to silence. Not the normal kind of silence people heard at night when everyone was asleep, but the type that pressed against the ears and slowly crawled into the mind.

Ezra slowly turned around, his movements careful and controlled as he lifted both hands, spreading his palms wide while stepping forward little by little through the darkness.

His eyes moved around instinctively, but there was nothing to see.

No light, no shape, no shadow.

Only darkness stretching endlessly around him like a sea without waves.

A few seconds later, his palms touched something cold and flat.

The door.

Ezra rested the side of his head lightly against it, his expression calm as he thought silently.

Since this place is still a room...

Then it should be possible to calculate the size by tracing the walls.

"This will help pass time, but..."

His brows tightened slightly.

For an enclosed space like this, I shouldn’t only hear my own movements.

He slowly began walking, one hand sliding along the wall while the other remained slightly raised in front of him. His bare feet stepped carefully against the smooth floor as he traced the edge of the room.

If air is entering this place, then there should at least be some sound from wind pressure or collision against the walls.

He breathed in deeply, then out again.

The air felt fresh.

That alone made the room stranger.

Ezra focused harder on his hearing, not using Cognis, only sharpening his natural concentration as much as possible. His ears picked up every tiny sound around him.

His footsteps, breathing, the faint rhythm of his heartbeat and the soft friction of his fingers against the wall.

Nothing else, not even an echo.

"Tsk."

Ezra clicked his tongue lightly and tapped the wall with his knuckles.

The sound disappeared almost instantly.

"This wall is absorbing the noise."

He exhaled quietly before increasing his walking speed. Step after step, he continued tracing the room while calculating distance in his head, recording every movement carefully.

Time passed.

Eventually, Ezra completed the entire perimeter.

He stopped at one side of the room and lowered his posture slightly, placing one foot behind the other.

A running stance.

Inside his mind, he already began sketching the room into lines and measurements.

"I already have the base structure," he muttered softly. "Now I only need the height."

He exhaled once more...

Then burst forward.

His bare feet slammed lightly against the ground as he sprinted through the darkness. Ezra carefully calculated the remaining distance before the wall based purely on memory and movement.

The moment he sensed he was close...

Cognis flowed into his legs and he jumped.

His foot struck the wall smoothly, and with the added force from the Cognis strengthening his muscles, he ran upward across the vertical surface.

One step, two steps, then another explosive push. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Ezra leaped higher, stretching one hand upward through the darkness.

His fingertip touched something solid.

The ceiling.

Only the tip of his middle finger brushed against it, but that was enough.

Ezra landed safely back on the ground, his knees bending slightly before straightening again.

The entire structure of the room formed clearly inside his head.

A square room, smooth walls, high ceiling, noise-dampening surfaces, fresh airflow and no visible light source.

"With this..."

Ezra walked calmly toward the center of the room.

"I can rest until the third month begins."

He slowly sat down cross-legged, placing both hands on his knees like someone preparing for meditation.

Then...

A faint smile appeared on his face.

And there’s no better chance than this to finally reach the Binder Rank.

Ezra closed his eyes.

Cognis slowly began flowing through his veins as he entered the state of advancement meditation.

This was already the plan most candidates had thought of before entering the trial.

Waiting inside endless darkness without giving the brain any task was dangerous. The mind would slowly begin eating itself apart if left alone too long, but advancement meditation...

That was the loophole and the needed cheat code.

For Alchemists, meditation during advancement consumes time naturally. Days could pass without someone even noticing, sometimes weeks, sometimes months.

And for higher ranks...

Even years.

Since many candidates had already reached the edge of breakthrough during the previous trials, this black room became the perfect opportunity.

Train, advance and let time pass naturally.

Of course...Even that method carried danger, especially in a place like this.

Time passed silently.

No sound entered the sealed rooms, none escaped them either.

The guards stationed outside the giant hallway remained expressionless, standing beside the rows of doors like statues carved from stone.

No one knew what was happening inside, no one knew if some candidates had already gone mad or died or broken mentally.

The darkness swallowed all answers slowly... The first month came close to its end.

Then...

The real trial began.

Gena breathed out heavily.

Warm steam that was consumed by the darkness escaped her lips as the Cognis surging through her body slowly calmed down.

Sweat covered her skin.

Her face tightened painfully as she gritted her teeth.

Advancing her First Star completely hadn’t been easy in the slightest. Several times during the process, she almost lost control completely as the Cognis forced itself through her body violently, but she endured, barely.

Gena slowly opened her eyes with darkness greeting her.

Yet inside her mind...She could clearly feel it.

The completed star.

"I’m now a Full-Star Novice Rank Alchemist..."

A smile spread across her face despite her exhaustion.

"I actually did it..."

"Argh..."

She suddenly held her stomach painfully.

The injuries from her fight still hadn’t healed completely. Bandages wrapped around parts of her arms, stomach, and head, pressing tightly against her skin.

Blood slowly dripped from her nose as she struggled to sit up properly.

"I finally did it..."

She wiped the blood away with the back of her hand, still smiling weakly.

"The seclusion took a long... wait..." Her eyes widened suddenly. "Did I miss the trial?"

She quickly covered her mouth in panic and looked around instinctively.

"I should leave quickly... it shouldn’t have taken that long, right?"

Then she paused, the smile on her face fading slowly.

"Why is it dark?"

Her breathing slowed slightly.

"Did the light go out or something?"

She sighed tiredly.

"Did I forget to turn on the lights again? Yeah... that must be it."

She nodded to herself.

"I always turn off the lights when I want to focus."

Gena casually flipped her hair backward...But felt nothing.

"Huh?"

Her eyes widened.

She immediately reached toward her head.

Nothing.

No long hair brushed against her fingers.

She turned too quickly and lost balance, tumbling sideways onto the floor.

"Ouch..."

She groaned softly, but her focus remained entirely on her missing hair.

"Where’s my hair...?" Her breathing became uneven. "Why is it still dark?"

Her chest rose and fell faster now, fear slowly crawled into her thoughts.

"Why can’t I see?"

She slammed her palm against the floor, then suddenly...

Something clicked inside her mind.

"Wait..." She slowly pushed herself up. "Maybe I was locked..."

"Yes..."

Her eyes widened more.

"I remember..."

Then confusion immediately replaced it.

"No... no, that’s not it..."

She grabbed her head tightly.

"What’s happening?" Her thoughts became messy. "I can’t even hear anything properly..."

Her breathing grew faster.

"I was locked, right? Yes... yes, I was locked."

She nodded repeatedly to herself.

"I can just burst my way out of here with my new strength... yes... I’m strong now... I can do it..."

Her voice echoed weakly through the darkness.

Then...

"Do, what exactly?"

Gena froze.

The voice didn’t sound loud, but in the empty darkness of the room, it felt like somebody had whispered directly inside her ear.

"Break out of here..."

Her heartbeat immediately sped up.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Sweat slowly rolled down the side of her face.

"Yes... I’m strong." A shaky laugh escaped her lips. "I survived... I always survive..."

Her breathing became uneven.

"Up till now..."

The darkness around her suddenly felt colder, then...

"Would you look at this lucky girl."

A female voice came from her left side.

Gena’s pupils shrank.

"Lady Vera picked her during the Fourth Trial. So lucky."

Another voice echoed from somewhere behind her.

"But why her though?"

Gena’s body stiffened completely.

The darkness slowly peeled away like black cloth being dragged from her eyes.

Shapes appeared.

Faces, girls.

Several girls were standing around her in a circle. Girls she recognized immediately as members of Vera’s group.

Girls who always followed Vera around silently like shadows.

Their faces looked normal...But their smiles felt wrong.

Too stretched, too empty.

"Why are you guys here...?"

Gena slowly turned around, her voice trembling badly.

"And what do you mean?"

Nobody answered immediately.

Instead...

One of the girls suddenly burst into laughter while pointing at Gena’s face.

"Look at her."

The others turned toward Gena together.

Their eyes slowly scanned her body from head to toe.

"Does this look like the face of someone strong?"

"This bitch keeps surviving through luck."

"And she was screaming about wanting to do her best too."

The girls laughed together.

Not loudly, but continuously, like knives scratching slowly against glass.

Gena’s heartbeat grew faster and faster.

The sound of it pounded painfully inside her ears.

"No... I really want to..."

She tried speaking, but her voice came out tiny.

Broken and weak.

Almost like a child begging.

"I CAN’T HEAR YOU, GENA!"

Boom!

A kick slammed directly into her stomach.

Her body folded instantly as saliva flew from her mouth.

The laughter exploded louder.

It surrounded her from every direction now.

"You think we don’t know about your little double-agent behavior with that boy who killed Lady Vera’s fiancé?"

"The audacity you have... pretending to be a good girl."

"When you’re just an opportunistic bitch lucky enough to stay alive."

"No..."

Gena shook her head repeatedly, tears already spilling down her face.

"No... no..."

Her fingers dug hard into the floor.

"You were useless in the Second Trial."

"You fainted uselessly in the Third."

"You got carried in the Fourth because Lady Vera pitied you."

"The Fifth."

"The Sixth."

"The Seventh."

The voices overlapped one after another without pause.

"Everything about you is uselessness mixed with luck."

"No..."

"You survive because stronger people carry you."

"No..."

"You survive because people always pity you."

"No..."

"You survived because your best friend chose to kill herself, for a trash like you."

The world around Gena suddenly became quieter, not because the girls stopped talking...

But because those last words crushed everything else.

Her breathing stopped for a second.

"You are so lucky..."

A girl slowly crouched in front of her, smiling softly and repeated the same words in a crueler structure.

"So lucky that even your best friend had to blow her brains out just to save worthless trash like you."

Gena’s pupils trembled violently.

"And deep down..."

The girl leaned closer.

"...weren’t you already thinking about killing her first?"

"No..."

Gena whispered weakly.

"You were scared."

"You wanted to live."

"You were ready to sacrifice her."

"No..."

"She just did it faster than you."

"No..."

"You’re a coward."

"No..."

"You’re weak."

"No..."

"You’re selfish."

"No..."

"You’re disgusting."

The laughter suddenly exploded again.

Louder and louder, and...

LOUDER.

It no longer sounded human.

It sounded like thousands of mouths laughing together inside her skull.

The girls around her multiplied.

Five, ten, twenty, more and more.

Everywhere she looked...

Smiling faces, laughing mouths and pointing fingers.

"GENA..."

The voices suddenly echoed together at the same time.

"ARE YOU WORTHY?"

Her breathing completely broke apart.

Her chest tightened painfully, her thoughts became messy and her ears rang violently.

The girls stared at her.

Waiting, smiling, mocking, and judging.

Then...

One word escaped Gena’s mouth.

"NO!"

BANG!

She slammed her forehead against the ground violently.

The impact echoed through the darkness.

Instantly...

Everything vanished.

The girls disappeared, the laughter stopped and the voices vanished.

Only darkness remained and Gena.

"Ahh... ahh... ahh..."

She lay flat on the cold floor trembling violently.

Blood slowly dripped from her forehead, from her nose and her mouth, it even came out from the corners of her eyes.

White Cognis glowed beneath her skin as her veins bulged painfully across her body like something was forcing itself through her flesh.

Even the bandages wrapping around her arms and stomach could not hide the glow anymore.

"It’s dark..."

Her voice sounded dry as her fingers twitched against the floor.

"I remember now..." She coughed weakly. "This is the Eighth Trial..."

Her body refused to move properly.

It felt heavy and slowly cold, like her bones were slowly sinking into the ground.

The fear finally settled deeply into her chest.

Not the fear of pain nor from the fear of dying, but the fear that...

Everything the voices said might actually be true.

"My Star..." Her lips trembled. "Am... am I going to die...?"