> "Each of you carries something... that we don't know about."
> "Perhaps... one of the Nibrim spirits lives within you.
Or maybe... you're just the Chosen One.
Or maybe... none of that.
But if one thing is certain..."
> "...it's that what's inside you... wants to come out."
> "For over a century, we've been trying to understand the Nibrim. Trying to interpret their nature,
drawing their shapes on walls, writing their legends in books...
But we have nothing more: words, rumors, and fear."
> "Some of us believe they're real... and some pretend there's nothing there.
But you... you, and you alone, will give us the answer."
The only sound in the hall was the sound of Raiden's footsteps, breaking the silence like taut music. He stood in front of the class, his eyes shining a strange color, then spoke the names… not calling them, but announcing them, as if each name carried its own weight:
> "Ivan Draven."
"Ella Myristel."
"Aron Firehold."
"Cairn Valmir."
"Sera Locrian."
"Nima Silwarn."
Then there was silence.
Flirts of glances from each person toward the other, some tense, some trying to appear strong, and Cairn… watching without showing anything.
Then Raiden said in his clear, heavy voice:
> "You are here… because you are not ordinary."
> "Not because you are strong, or special in combat, or because someone chose you by chance."
> "You are here… because there is something inside you that we do not know."
Then he took a step closer, and looked at them one by one:
> "Perhaps… one of the Nibrim spirits lives within you."
> "Or maybe… you're their chosen ones."
> "Or… maybe none of that."
> "But there's only one thing we know…"
> "That what's inside you… wants to come out."
Some exchanged glances again, but no one spoke.
Raiden continued, circling them slowly:
> "For over a century, we've been trying to understand the Nibrim."
> "We've drawn them on walls, searched for traces, followed stories and legends… but all we have is the talk of old men and ancient fear."
> "We have no science… only legends."
> "Some of us… chose to believe they were real."
> "And others… decided to close their eyes."
Then he paused, turning his face to them again:
> "But you… will force the world to see."
> "Because, like it or not… you are the only evidence."
He was silent for a moment, then raised his voice slightly:
> "From this day forward, you will train."
> "Not to become stronger... but to reveal the truth."
> "Not to protect anyone... but to understand who you are."
> "And why... you are alive."
Then... the massive door opened behind him. A long, dark corridor, dimly lit from the ceiling.
> "The initiatory test awaits you."
> "Each of you enters alone."
> "The test... will not measure your strength."
> "It will measure your fear... and your truth."
The moment Raiden finished his words... silence fell.
The air was charged, as if each sentence was not just an "explanation," but an unspoken threat.
Cairn didn't speak.
But others did.
A young man's voice among the trainees—he looked a little older, his hair oddly white for his age, but he didn't look sick—said:
"Question, sir."
Raiden looked at him without responding verbally.
The young man continued:
"Are we the only ones...? I mean, are there... others like us?"
Raiden was silent for a moment, then said:
> "Yes."
He added:
> "I've trained others... myself."
> "And as I stand here with you... there are others, in different neighborhoods, undergoing training under trainers other than me."
He lifted his head slightly, his eyes piercing the ceiling.
> "This isn't a single project... it's an entire system."
> "Some of those I trained... are no longer around."
> "And some of them... have become something else entirely."
He looked at everyone:
> "You're now at the starting line.
But remember..."
> "Reaching the finish line doesn't mean surviving."
Then he pointed with his right hand toward a stone wall behind him.
The wall opened quietly, as if something living and breathing within it...
Behind it, a dark corridor lit only by thin shafts of light from above.
Raiden said in a clear voice:
> "The beginning test."
> "Each of you... enters alone."
> "The test won't measure your strength.
It will measure something you can't see."
> "Your weakness?
Or your fear?
Or a curse you haven't discovered yet?"
> "Maybe all of them."
Then he looked toward Aaron:
- "You first."
The young man swallowed and stepped into the corridor.
As he stepped across the threshold... the door closed behind him with a soft thud, as if the very air had shrunk.
Raiden turned to the rest of the group:
> "Each of you will face something different."
> "And I won't tell you what the others faced."
Then... silence fell again.
Cairn felt something strange.
Not fear.
Rather... curiosity tinged with anxiety.
What awaited him beyond that wall?
And if he failed?
Would failure mean death?
Or something worse than death?
Names were called, the sounds of doors closing and opening, faces emerging from the test with tearful or trembling eyes...
Cairn watched.
Each trainee emerged... having left something of himself there.
Until his voice came.
> "Cairn Valmir."
He stood up without hesitation.
His steps toward the corridor weren't fearful... but almost empty.
As if he didn't know if he was walking toward a revelation... or toward nothing.
The corridor was as it was.
Cold.
Silence.
Denuded of life.
Cairn took his steps, one by one, but felt nothing.
No tightness in the chest.
No flashing memories.
No hallucinations.
No voices.
Not even pain.
His eyes darted between the gray walls, the high ceiling, and the dim light.
Then… he stopped.
Not because anything happened.
But because nothing happened.
He blinked.
Then he heard a voice at the end of the corridor:
> "Go back."
He looked ahead.
Raiden was standing there, as if he hadn't moved the entire time.
Cairn asked:
— "…finished?"
> "Finished."
Cairn didn't ask any more.
He returned.
**
When he reentered the hall, the trainees raised their heads.
But they saw nothing on his face.
No tension.
No confusion.
And no signs that he had ever encountered anything.
Ella whispered:
- "That's impossible..."
Nima muttered:
- "He's... normal."
But Reid cut in the whispers with:
> "The test didn't react to him."
He was silent for a moment.
Then he added, his voice filled with tired repetition:
> "It's happened before."
> "Rarely."
> "And every time... we couldn't find an explanation."
> "Are you not chosen? Are you not possessed by the spirits of Nibrim?"
> "Or is there... something else?"
> "Something we don't know."
Then he looked directly at Cairn:
> "Maybe you're not a guest in your own body."
> "Maybe... you're something else."
Cairn didn't reply.
He just... sat back.
But this time, he felt something small inside him.
Not fear.
Not confusion.
Rather...
A very small tension... began to slowly build.
The sound of the outer doorknob being turned.
All heads turned... and with the sound of approaching footsteps, the atmosphere in the hall shifted, as if a new person had entered, bringing with them a different atmosphere.
A woman.
Her steps were steady, slow, but they carried an invisible weight.
Her hair was long, silvery, tied in an unfamiliar pattern. She wore a long, dark black coat decorated with intricate patterns.
Her gaze didn't search... it knew. As if she knew everything before she heard it.
She stood beside Raiden, without greeting or introducing herself.
He just said quietly:
> "This is Orina Nerissa... your First Stage instructor."
She didn't bow. She didn't smile. She didn't even speak.
She took a single look at the audience... as if weighing them, not evaluating them.
Then she finally said:
> "All of you are here... because something about you isn't entirely human."
She paused, then added in a cold tone:
> "And I... will reveal how many of you are left human."
Hush whispers. Inner confusion.
But she continued without waiting for a response:
> "Tomorrow, at 5:00 a.m., will be the first physical exam."
> "And what comes after... will depend on today's results."
> "There's no room here for pretense."
> "And no time for comforting answers."
She looked again at Cairn, then at Aaron, then Ella. She paused at Nima, staring at her for two seconds longer than necessary.
Then she said in a low voice:
> "There are those among you who will hate me."
> "And there are those who will break before they even begin."
> "But I don't train those who want to survive."
> "I train those who want to... know."
And she left with the same steps she had entered.
Cairn said nothing. But that last look from Orina Nerissa never left his mind.
It wasn't a training look.
It was a look of analysis.
The look of someone who knows...
or suspects they know.
Raiden spoke after she left:
> "Tomorrow begins your actual training."
> "This isn't an academy. This isn't an army."
> "This is a journey into what we don't know."
Then he spoke one last sentence, his voice more warning than encouragement:
> "If you want to remain as you are... I advise you to leave tonight."
But no one moved.
Eyes met, then parted.
And silence... more telling than any words.
Cairn stayed put, but his mind didn't.
A voice inside him—not a real voice, but a feeling—began to whisper...
"Something isn't right."
"I... am not right."
And so ended the first day of training.
No sweat.
No blood.
No screaming.
But...
The beginning of change... had begun.