The mist thickened until the world shrank to a coffin.
Each breath burned in his lungs. Each step crunched on soil that should have been firm, yet sagged as though soaked with unseen blood. The silence pressed heavy, smothering, so complete it made his heartbeat sound like a war drum.
Renji tightened his grip on the sword. His knuckles whitened, slick with sweat that refused to dry in this suffocating air.
The girl walked at his side, silent as a shadow. Not once had she looked back at him, not once offered reassurance. Her steps didn't falter. Her presence alone seemed to cut the mist.
And yet, the dread did not fade.
Something lurked here. He could feel it—the weight of unseen eyes, the faint shuffle of claws against stone, the growl that hummed too deep to be the wind.
Renji swallowed. "What… exactly is this trial?"
The girl's voice came flat. "The Mist is alive. It births predators. It tests. Fail, and it feeds."
As if summoned by her words, the fog ahead rippled.
A shape emerged, half-formed at first, then solid.
Long limbs bent wrong. A maw gaped too wide, lined with teeth that dripped liquid shadows. Its eyes—if they could be called that—were pits of pale flame, hungry and endless.
The Mist Beast shrieked. The sound wasn't just noise—it was invasion. It clawed into Renji's skull, scraping memories, dragging half-formed images of his family, his accident, his past life.
His chest tightened. His knees wobbled.
The girl did not move. "Prove yourself. Or die."
The Beast lunged.
Renji raised the sword on instinct. Steel clashed against shadow-flesh. Sparks flew, though there should have been none. The force rattled his arms, nearly tearing the weapon from his hands.
He staggered, teeth gritted, and slashed back wildly. The blade carved through mist and tore into the Beast's arm. Black ichor splattered, sizzling as it hit the ground.
The creature didn't flinch. It shrieked again and swung with its other limb.
Renji ducked, the strike cutting air where his head had been a second before. He stumbled forward, slashing upward in desperation. The sword cut across the Beast's chest, leaving a glowing fissure of light.
The creature reeled back, keening.
Renji gasped for breath. His chest burned. Every muscle trembled.
"Too slow," the girl said simply.
Another shape slithered from the mist. Then another. Then three more.
His throat dried. "There's more?!"
"The Mist never stops," she said.
The newcomers circled, eyes flickering, claws dragging lines in the dirt. The first Beast snarled, ichor spilling from its wound, yet its hunger hadn't dimmed.
Renji's hands shook around the sword hilt. His mind screamed at him to run. But where could he go? The fog stretched endless, the girl's expression offered no salvation, and the Beasts hemmed him in on all sides.
This was no trial. This was slaughter.
The first Beast lunged again. Renji swung with all the strength left in his arms, steel meeting shadow in an explosion of sound. He roared, the sword biting deep into its neck.
The creature convulsed. Its scream ripped the air. Then it collapsed into smoke, dissolving into the mist.
Renji fell to one knee, panting, sweat dripping from his chin. His stomach lurched with nausea. His vision blurred.
He realized—something was missing.
He couldn't recall the shape of his father's face.
Not clearly. The memory was there, but fractured, smudged like ink drowned in water.
His heart sank. He understood.
The price of survival wasn't only blood and exhaustion. It was memory. Each kill, each respawn, carved pieces away.
"More," the girl said. Her tone carried no pity. "Fight, or vanish."
The circle of Beasts closed in. Their glow pulsed like dying stars.
Renji pushed himself to his feet, gripping the sword so hard the edge of the hilt dug into his skin. His teeth ground together.
He wasn't ready. His body screamed defeat. His mind whispered surrender.
But he could not die. Not here. Not like this.
He roared and charged.
Claws scraped the earth, leaving trails that smoked.The circle of Beasts tightened, the pale fire in their hollow eyes burning brighter, hungrier.
Renji's chest heaved, his muscles screamed, and yet his grip never loosened from the sword. His thoughts were scattered, broken by fatigue and dread, but one truth burned clear: if he fell now, the world would crumble with him.
The first Beast lunged. Renji twisted, narrowly dodging, blade lashing out. The steel cut across its jaw, tearing it halfway open. Black ichor sprayed, splattering his face with burning cold.
The monster howled and dissolved into mist.
Renji staggered back, vision spinning. For a heartbeat, he couldn't remember where he was. Not the forest, not the trial—only emptiness, a blank where memories should be.
His mother's voice… what did it sound like?
The thought slipped like sand through his fingers. Gone.
He bit down hard enough to taste iron. Focus. If he faltered again, nothing would remain.
Another Beast rushed him. Renji braced, lifted his sword, and instead of meeting the blow head-on, he dropped low. The claw passed above his head, missing by inches. He surged upward, plunging the blade into its gut.
The monster convulsed. Renji twisted the sword and yanked it free. The Beast crumbled, evaporating into smoke.
Two more came at once. He spun, parrying one, ducking under the other. The impact numbed his arm, pain exploding from his wrist to his shoulder. His breath came ragged, vision tunneling.
Steel met claw again and again, sparks flashing, black ichor spattering the soil. He fought like a drowning man gasping for air—wild, desperate, untrained. Each strike lacked form, but his will drove it forward.
One Beast leapt, claws aimed at his skull.
Renji roared and thrust upward. The blade pierced its throat, impaling it mid-air. The monster shrieked and dissolved.
But its claw still grazed him, tearing across his shoulder.
White-hot pain flared. Blood sprayed. His grip slipped.
Renji fell to one knee, clutching his wound, sword dragging against stone. His chest heaved, mouth open wide as if the air had been stolen from him.
Only one Beast remained. It circled, slow, patient, unlike the others. Its pale eyes glowed with something more than hunger—something cruel, aware.
Renji forced himself up, swaying, blood running down his arm. His sword felt like lead.
The creature hissed, maw stretching impossibly wide. Then it darted forward.
Time slowed.
Renji saw the claw descending. He couldn't lift his blade in time. Couldn't dodge. His body screamed betrayal.
But then—his gaze flicked to the ground. The ichor from the fallen Beasts pooled, still sizzling. He staggered sideways, just enough, letting the claw skim past his chest. With the last strength he had, he shoved the Beast's head down into the burning black pool.
The monster shrieked as its face melted, dissolving faster than before. Its body convulsed, thrashing, then scattered into smoke that the Mist swallowed whole.
Silence crashed back.
Renji stood swaying, drenched in sweat and blood, his breath tearing ragged from his throat. His arms hung heavy, the sword trembling in his grip.
His mind, though, was worse.
Another hole yawned open where memories should be. He could no longer recall the sound of his own laughter. Not as a child, not as a teenager—nothing. The image of his younger self slipped away like water down a drain.
Pieces of him were dying with every kill.
The girl finally stepped forward. Her expression was calm, but her gaze lingered on him longer than before. "You survived."
Renji barked out a laugh that broke halfway, closer to a sob. "If this is survival… what the hell counts as dying?"
Her silence gave no comfort.
The Mist shifted then. Not like before, not the ripple of Beasts hunting. This movement was deliberate, patient, heavy.
Renji tensed, lifting his blade though his body begged to collapse. His wound throbbed, his vision blurred, but instinct screamed louder.
A shadow took shape beyond the fog. Not beast, not animal.
Human.
Bootsteps echoed, slow and certain. The mist parted as though afraid to touch the figure stepping through. A man, tall, broad-shouldered, eyes glowing faint violet. A crooked smile split his face, cruel and deliberate.
Renji's blood ran cold.
The girl's hand twitched toward her own weapon. Her gaze hardened. "Another respawner."
The man's laugh came low, chilling. "So the Mist has chosen another toy. How delightful."
Renji's sword trembled in his grasp. His heart pounded. The Beasts had been monsters. But this—this was worse.
The air grew heavier, silence cracking under the weight of imminent violence.
The trial wasn't over. It had only just begun.