The faint scent of damp moss filled Noah's nose as he adjusted his grip on Kagetsume. Around him, thick trees stretched toward a gray, cloud-covered sky. The forest floor was uneven, littered with twisted roots and scattered fragments of ancient stone—half-buried remains of magical ruins long abandoned. A soft breeze stirred the canopy, making the light shift in dappled patterns.
He let out a quiet breath, eyes scanning the terrain.
"Same place as last time…" he muttered under his breath.
Only this time, everything felt heavier.
'I landed in the same spot as last time. The only difference… the competitors.'
The first test had pitted him against students from Classes 4, 5, and 6—ambitious but mostly inexperienced. This time, it was Classes 1, 2, and 3. The elite.
His gaze sharpened.
'There are some strong ones here. Especially Cordelia. She's the one I can't figure out. No records, no backstory, nothing I remember.'
That alone made her dangerous.
'Either something changed in the story… or she's a player like me.'
He took a step forward, quiet and smooth, the sounds of distant shouts barely audible through the trees.
Time to begin.
The forest wasn't silent anymore.
Just ahead, muffled voices clashed through the undergrowth—sharp, rising, unmistakably heated.
Noah crept forward, moving low through the ferns until he spotted the source: a pair of students locked in a stubborn argument near a cracked stone obelisk covered in moss.
One of them, a broad-shouldered boy with a rugged stance and gauntlets wrapped around his forearms, was clearly an Augmentor. His stance screamed physical combat.
The other, a girl dressed in layered green robes with loose silver charms woven into her hair, was a Spiritualist, her expression twisted in frustration.
"We should go east. It's open terrain, easier to detect threats."
"And easier to get flanked, genius. West has ruins and cover."
"We'll be surrounded there!"
Noah tilted his head slightly, a small smirk playing at the edge of his lips.
'Perfect.'
He slid forward a step, then another, channeling mana down into his legs. A faint shimmer surged at his heels—Gibbous Step.
His body vanished in a sudden sidestep, an afterimage flickering in his place for half a second before fading completely.
Neither of the arguing students noticed a thing.
By the time the girl threw her hands up in frustration, both their bracelets were gone.
"What!?" she gasped, patting her arm. "Where the hell is my bracelet!?"
"You're accusing me?" the boy barked. "We've been yelling at each other for five minutes! What, you think I pickpocketed you mid-argument?"
"Maybe you did! I shouldn't have trusted you!"
"You know what? I'm done. Go survive on your own."
He turned and stormed off through the trees.
From a nearby branch above, Noah crouched in silence, grinning to himself.
'Amateurs.'
From the shadows of a thick thicket, Cordelia Ross lay still—low to the ground, her breathing steady and controlled. Just a few meters ahead, hidden perfectly behind a cluster of broad-leafed bushes, her eyes locked onto him.
Noah.
Messy black hair. Pale skin. A katana at his side. His movements were sharp, calculated, and silent.
But what caught her the most were those crimson red eyes—quiet, focused, brimming with something cold and alive.
'There's no doubt about it… that's him.'
Her heart beat a little faster, a strange mix of nerves and something else creeping into her chest.
She had doubted herself at first—maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe she was just projecting what she wanted to see. But now, watching him silently laugh to himself after effortlessly stealing two bracelets in the middle of an argument…
'It's the same Noah from the novel, now I'm sure of it.'
The face, the expression, the efficiency—it all fit.
But something didn't.
Her brow furrowed, eyes narrowing slightly.
'I don't remember him getting a katana this early… and he was supposed to start in Class 10, not Class 1.'
'What's going on?'
She tilted her head slightly as she watched him disappear again into the woods.
Noah Thorne.
The extra who became a monster of war. The boy who saved her during that mission a month ago, when she had barely held it together.
She still remembered how her hands had trembled.
'I'll keep watching you for now… just a little longer.'
One month ago…
The fight had ended—or so they thought.
The bandit camp was in ruins. The traitorous Dual Enchanter lay unconscious at their feet, defeated after revealing her true allegiance. Cordelia stood beside Harlan and Noah, her body aching, her mana nearly depleted. She was just starting to relax.
That's when the last bandit, half-buried under debris, stirred.
He raised a trembling hand, eyes burning with spite, and channeled a final spell—Gaia Projectile.
Cordelia barely had time to widen her eyes.
A jagged, twisting spike of stone erupted from the earth, launching straight at her chest.
She couldn't react.
But Noah moved.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward, drew his sword, and sliced the projectile clean in half mid-air. The severed stone crashed into the ground around them. In the same motion, he lunged and shielded her with his body.
His voice was calm but sharp as steel.
"You alright?"
She blinked, stunned. Her heart thudded against her ribs. Her face flushed before the words slipped out in a whisper she didn't mean to say—
"It's you…"
She wasn't sure if he heard it.
He didn't react.
He simply turned back toward Harlan, checking for more threats.
Cordelia remained still, staring at him.
'I knew it in that moment. It was really him.'
The forest stretched ahead, wild and wide, but Noah moved through it like it was mapped inside his head. He'd already memorized the terrain during the first test and was taking full advantage of that knowledge.
He sprinted low through a cluster of tall grass, eyes sharp, senses open.
'Twelve bracelets already. Not bad.'
A student from Class 2 ran past him without even noticing—too focused on scanning the horizon for threats. With a smooth motion, Noah stepped forward and tapped the clasp of the bracelet cleanly off the boy's wrist with the hilt of Kagetsume. The bracelet dropped into his hand, and he vanished again into the foliage.
'Thirteen.'
Some opponents fought back—those he tested with light footwork and precise strikes. A sweep to the legs, a burst of mana to blind, and a graceful cut to unclip the target. Others were too easy—distracted, untrained, overconfident.
He didn't waste time.
His movements were a blend of discipline and efficiency—nothing too flashy, nothing reckless. Just swift, clean execution.
A few competitors who tried to double-team him were met with a sharp pivot, a flash of his blade, and their bracelets falling to the dirt before they even registered the threat.
This is easier than gacha games… At least here I'm guaranteed results. I still remember wasting 100 rolls just to pull one damn character.'
He paused for a moment under the shadow of a leaning stone arch, catching his breath, eyes scanning the distance.
He could feel it.
Someone was watching.
But when he turned his head slightly, he saw nothing but trees.
Still, something itched at the back of his mind.
'Strange…'
He shook it off and moved again, faster this time. The game was far from over.
While Noah slipped through the battlefield like a ghost, cutting through distractions and collecting bracelets with a mix of precision and casual arrogance, Cordelia Ross moved in silence behind him.
She never got too close. Never enough to be noticed.
But always near enough to watch—to analyze.
Her eyes tracked his rhythm, his footwork, the way he used the terrain. It was methodical, not lucky. His movements were the result of training, knowledge, and experience.
And yet…
She wasn't just watching.
Every few minutes, she'd veer off. A flick of her fingers would summon a whisper of shadow, or a sharp gust of water, knocking students off balance, dissolving barriers, and severing the clasps of their bracelets.
Her count grew steadily.
Five. Seven. Nine.
Each time she returned to Noah's general direction, keeping him in view.
'I can't let myself fall behind. Even if I'm tailing him… I'm still here to win.'
She paused behind a boulder as Noah dispatched another student with a flick of his sword and vanished into the trees.
Cordelia crouched, catching her breath.
She reached up, brushing her white bangs out of her face, blue eyes still focused.
'He doesn't know I'm following him.'
'And he still feels so different from the Noah I remember... sharper. Colder. More dangerous and way cooler!!!.'
'But it's him. I'm sure of it.'
She glanced down at the bracelets hanging from her side—twelve now, matching Noah.
And she smiled.
'Let's see how long I can keep up with you.'