Kyle barely remembered when his eyes had shut. The night had bled into uneasy sleep. That silence shattered with a thunderous bang.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Kyle nearly launched off the bed, tangling in the thin sheets. His heart hammered in his chest like it wanted out. The door rattled on its hinges, a voice exploding through the crack.
"Wake the hell up, rookie!"
Kyle scrambled upright, blinking at the faint gray light of a world not yet touched by the sun. His skull still felt foggy from lack of rest, but all thoughts cleared when the door swung open with a violent shove.
A figure filled the doorway like a mountain. A woman, easily over six feet, muscles taut beneath her black training uniform. Her arms were crossed and when she spoke again the room shook.
"Name's Rhonda, I'll be breaking you today."
Kyle's jaw hung open for a moment. Rhonda looked like she'd been carved from stone, every line of her posture radiating strength and authority.
"…Breaking me?" Kyle asked, rubbing his eyes.
Her glare deepened. "It's training, rookie. On your feet."
Kyle swallowed hard, swinging his legs over the bed. His whole body felt like lead but something told him that complaining would be suicide. He followed her into the hall.
The training grounds of the West Division wasn't a polished dojo or some modern facility. Instead, it stretched wide beneath an open sky... dirt packed flat beneath countless drills, surrounded by racks of training weapons, sand-filled dummies and sparring rings etched into the ground. Even before dawn, the air smelled faintly of sweat and dust, the residue of warriors who had bled and sweated here before him.
Rhonda stopped in the center ring and turned, arms folded, waiting for him to catch up.
"Before we start." she barked, "tell me something. Do you know how to fight?"
Kyle hesitated. "Uh… a little? I took karate lessons back in high school."
Rhonda snorted, unimpressed. "Karate lessons? Cute. Here's lesson one, forget what you think you know. Out there, you fight like your life depends on it. Because it does." She jabbed a finger toward a pile of wooden swords lying in the dirt. "Pick one."
Kyle stepped forward, scanning the scattered weapons. He reached down...
A blur of motion. Rhonda was already there, her body flashing forward like she had teleported. One massive hand shoved him hard in the chest, sending him sliding across the dirt. His back hit the ground with a thud, air bursting from his lungs.
He gasped, coughing as Rhonda's voice cut through. "You react too slow, rookie. You think a demon's gonna wait for you to grab a weapon? They'll rip you apart before your fingers touch the handle."
Kyle pushed himself upright, spitting grit from his mouth. Rhonda's shadow loomed over him.
"You have to be faster than your opponent. Faster than your fear, let your body race ahead of your mind. Don't let hesitation kill you."
Kyle nodded weakly, wiping sweat and dirt from his forehead. He grabbed a wooden sword, the grip rough in his hands, and staggered into position.
"Good." Rhonda said. "You ready now?"
Kyle barely had time to open his mouth before she was there again, the distance erased in a heartbeat. Her fists came flying in sharp, controlled punches, each one heavy enough to rattle his bones.
Kyle raised the stick, blocking clumsily. The impacts rang through his arms like hammers striking steel. Every blow sent him stumbling backward, legs struggling to hold his ground. He managed to parry one, then two but the third knocked the breath out of him.
"Slow!" Rhonda barked.
Kyle gritted his teeth, desperation sparking in his chest. He ducked low, swiping the stick toward her ankle... a desperate move.
Rhonda moved to step back...
Thwack!
The tip of the wooden sword tapped against her shin. Barely a touch but it landed. Kyle didn't waste the chance. He spun and bolted backward, putting distance between them.
Rhonda laughed. It was a harsh, booming sound that filled the grounds.
"That's a dirty move, rookie. Good for survival." Her grin widened, teeth flashing. "But they piss me off."
Kyle barely had time to brace before she closed the gap again. One massive fist drove straight into his gut.
WHAM!
The pain was instant and explosive. Kyle folded forward, the wooden sword slipping from his fingers as he collapsed to the dirt. His mouth opened in a silent scream, lungs refusing to work, his stomach screaming with fire.
Rhonda stood over him, firm. "Same time tomorrow, rookie."
With that, she turned on her heel and left, boots crunching on the dirt as her figure disappeared into the morning haze.
Kyle stayed curled on the ground, gasping, clutching his stomach. And as he lay there, one thought clawed through the pain.
"If this is training… how the hell am I supposed to survive the real thing?"
The world tilted every time he tried to push himself upright. His stomach still throbbed where her punch had landed. His arms trembled from blocking her blows, his back scraped raw from sliding across the rough ground. Hours passed, the sun had arced and now sank toward the horizon, painting the sky in bruised gold and violet.
All day he'd lain there, crawling back to his knees, trying to stand but failing again. His breathing had slowed to shallow gasps, though stubbornness burned behind his eyes.
"I'm not going to stay down." he told himself.
He planted his palms in the dirt and pushed. His legs shook violently beneath him as he tried to rise. And footsteps crunched behind him.
"Hey."
He turned his head, blinking sweat from his eyes. Nia stood at the edge of the training grounds.
"Where have you been?" she asked. "The Captain's been asking about your whereabouts since noon."
Kyle huffed, trying to straighten, but his knees buckled. "Been… here." he managed. "Couldn't… stand."
Nia's lips curved into a small, knowing smile. "Let me guess, Miss Rhonda was training you?"
Kyle dropped his head, hair sticking to his sweaty forehead. "Yeah, what's her deal? How does someone even get to be that strong?"
Nia walked over and crouched beside him, offering a hand. He took it, surprised by the firm but careful grip as she helped him up.
"Miss Rhonda trained her entire life." Nia said simply. "And those are the results, she's even second to our Captain."
Kyle's eyes widened slightly. "Second after the Captain? Nice." He gave a weak chuckle, then leaned on his knees. "Anyway… I've been meaning to ask, what's the thing about contracts with demons?"
Nia tilted her head, studying him. "You really don't know?"
Kyle shook his head.
She sighed and stood, brushing dirt from her gloves. "Alright. A contract with a demon is when a human agrees to trade in something... a certain part of themselves in exchange for control over a demon and its abilities."
Kyle's eyebrows shot up. "Whoa."
"Sounds cool, I know..." Nia continued, "...but once you trade something, you never regain it back. Even if the demon bound to you dies, that piece of you is gone forever."
Kyle frowned. "Oh…"
"Yeah. And some demons... the more you use their abilities, the more they take from you." She glanced at him seriously. "You can say that there are fixed and variable contracts. Fixed means you trade a single thing once. Variable means every time you use their power, more is taken."
Kyle blinked, trying to wrap his mind around it. "So… like… I could trade my leg and every time I use the ability I'd lose another body part?"
Nia gave a short laugh. "Something like that but demons don't usually want body parts. They want what makes us humans human... lifespan, memories and emotions."
Kyle grimaced.
"On the other hand some exceptional humans with burning will trade those..." Nia said. "That's the only contract that feels fair to me, the others just rob humanity from us piece by piece."
Kyle glanced at her. "What's your contract?"
Nia's expression shifted, softer now. "Well... you can say I'm one of the exceptional ones, my will to live shines brighter. And ironically, the demon I'm bound to symbolizes death." She paused, eyes flicking away as though seeing something only she could see. "When I first bound to it, it whispered in my ear for a full month. Its whispers were constant, irritating and manipulative. It wanted me to trade my soul, promising me unimaginable power... it thought I was dumb."
Kyle's brows drew together. "Uh... soul-exchange contract. I remember the Captain asking how I'm here... what does that mean? You didn't even mention it with the other types."
Nia turned back, her gaze sharp. "That's because soul-exchange is forbidden or rather, suicidal. Cause once you agree to trade in your soul, the demon overwrites you... seizing full control over your body."
Kyle blinked.
"I feel like that's what demons really want from us..." Nia went on. "Because overwriters are nothing like the normal and bound demons, they can move freely in daylight. They don't burn to ash and not just that, they also advance to S-rank instantly."
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "And that brings me back to you. How are you still here?"
Kyle looked down at his shaking hands. "I… don't know. But I never made any contract with a demon, didn't even think they existed." He hesitated. "But… oh…"
Nia leaned closer. "What?"
"You said when you first got bound to yours, it whispered to your ear?" Kyle asked slowly.
Nia nodded.
"I've had whispers in my ear for as long as I can remember." Kyle admitted. "Sometimes she whispers about how she wants to devour the world. And sometimes… she warns me. Like that night of the alley, she told me to turn back, not go there. But I did and when I thought I was dying, she asked me to give her control... I agreed and that's when I blacked out."
Nia stared at him, her face unreadable. "Control? The only way a demon controls a human body is through soul-exchange. And as I said, that's an instant overwrite. Then how is it possible that you're… still you?"
Kyle's pulse quickened. "I… don't know."
"Finally found you." Ezra's voice cut through. "The Captain is requesting for all of us, now."
Kyle blinked, still catching his breath. "Uh… okay…"
Nia glanced at him, a small smirk tugging at her lips. "Well, that's our cue... let's go."
She stepped forward and Kyle followed, leaning on her slightly as Ezra led the way across the training grounds.