They called it the Verdant Forest—a labyrinth built in tribute to the Verdant Maze of legend.
A place where perception betrayed reason, where every tree whispered lies, and even the wind led wanderers astray.
The trial wasn't just a test of speed or strength. It was a trial of truth.
The course was divided into three biomes—each designed to break different senses and force clarity through chaos.
[Ruins Region]
Broken corridors of stone twisted like veins beneath the earth. Shattered arches distorted light, warping depth and distance. The air shimmered with mirages—walls that weren't there, paths that ended mid-step.
[Forest Region]
A canopy so dense that daylight fractured into shifting hues. The air itself hummed with sound illusions—whispers, footsteps, even heartbeats that weren't mine. A thousand false trails waited to consume the lost.
[Mountain Region]
Steep ridges and razor cliffs. Here, the ground itself betrayed trust—false ledges, invisible bridges, and crumbling paths disguised as safe.
At the starting line, a proctor pressed a small crystal into my palm.
A Spirit Stone—its soft blue glow pulsing in rhythm with my heartbeat. When infused with mana, it emitted a cone of radiant light capable of dispelling illusions.
Most cadets treated it like their only lifeline. I turned it over once, then clipped it to my belt. I had something better.
I took a slow breath and steadied my breathing as I waited.
My watch beeped. Seven minutes since the last runner.
> Trial Start.
The signal blared. I ran.
[Ruins Region]
Three paths ahead.
All identical—torches, moss, and dust. But Mana Sense painted a different picture. Two of the corridors lacked any flow—hollow echoes made solid by illusion. Only the center pulsed faintly with stable currents.
I took it without hesitation.
An archway blocked the next passage, collapsed with stone. Anyone else would burn mana to test it with the Spirit Stone.
I didn't stop. My body passed through as if the debris were smoke.
The maze thickened the deeper I went. At one junction, five tunnels split in perfect symmetry. But I could feel the lie—mana bent unnaturally in four of them, twisting perception.
One tunnel pulsed faintly in rhythm with the world.
That was my path.
[Forest Region]
The change was seamless—a blink, and I was standing in mist.
The forest was alive, whispering secrets that clawed at the edge of my mind. My reflection appeared between trees, mirroring my movements a half-second too late.
A misstep sent me crashing into thorned vines—the pain sharp and grounding. Blood welled. Real enough.
A soft patch of moss ahead caught my eye. The texture felt… wrong.
Mana Sense revealed the truth—a hole cloaked in illusion. I fused with the light and pushed myself forward.
Skill Activated – Photon Step
A burst of golden-white brilliance.
I shot forward in a single flash, landing cleanly on a rocky rise as the false ground behind me collapsed into nothing.
The forest fell silent, as if acknowledging me.
[Mountain Region]
The final stretch.
Cold wind screamed through fractured cliffs. A rickety bridge loomed ahead, aged and moss-covered. Stable to the naked eye—but through mana sight, the middle planks didn't exist.
I didn't slow.
Photon Step.
Ten meters vanished in an instant. My feet hit solid ground. The bridge shattered behind me, fading into particles of illusionary light.
I scaled a cliff next, fingers digging into rough stone.
Each foothold flickered—half were false.
I trusted mana's pull, climbing fast, even as one grip gave out and I swung for a heartbeat before catching myself.
At the top, I sprinted.
A wall of solid rock waited. Dead end—or so it claimed.
I pushed through.
The finish gate blazed into view.
[Completion Time: 9:42]
Silence fell. Observers scribbled notes behind reinforced glass. I handed in my unused Spirit Stone, breathing steady.
Then came the familiar chime.
[Skill Acquired – Swift Movement]
Increases movement and reaction speed by 20%.
I exhaled, a slow grin tugging at my lips.
I didn't rest.
After a quick shower and meal, I was back in the training hall by 1 PM.
A mana doll stood before me.
I activated Veiled Stride—my outline shimmered and blurred as I moved. Each step dissolved into silence, every motion a controlled mirage.
The mana doll turned its head the wrong way, too slow to track me.
Drift Fang—executed.
The strike landed clean, the doll's core shattering in a flash of light before reforming again.
Acquiring Swift Movement changed everything.
My body now flowed with instinctive precision—each shift smoother, each transition seamless.
Veiled Stride was no longer a technique I performed.
It was a rhythm I became.
It reformed. I attacked again—barehanded this time, focusing mana into my strikes, tracing the internal flow through its body.
When I hit the convergence point, the construct collapsed.
Skill Unlocked – Silent Steps: Form III – Disruption Pulse
Targets mana flow or neural response points to incapacitate or disable constructs.
Hours blurred by in repetition—Flash, Mirror Veil, Photon Step.
Each motion refined, each failure catalogued.
By sunset, my mana felt lighter—alive, resonating to my rhythm.
I stared at my reflection in the training mirror, sweat dripping from my chin.
I didn't need to be ready.
I needed to be better than ready.
Because the duel was coming.