Kael lay sprawled on his bunk bed, staring at the mark on his hand, the pulsating green light reflecting faintly across the ceiling. Zaida twirled in the air, her stitched grin stretching wider with every rotation.
"You've been here before," she said abruptly, "in another skin, in another dream. Do you remember the taste of shadows?"
Kael raised a brow. "The… taste of what now?"
Zaida tilted her head, her pale face lit with mischief. "Yes. Dark, slippery, and warm. But only for those who bleed enough."
He blinked. "Okay… and what exactly does that mean for me?"
"Ask not what the shadow eats, but what eats the shadow," she replied, hopping lightly on the edge of his bed.
Kael sighed. "Right… riddles. Got it." He rubbed his face, staring at the faint glow on his palm. "Fine, let's try something else. Why do I feel like I'm already… dead?"
Zaida pirouetted, hands clasped behind her back. "Because death smells sweeter when it's borrowed."
Kael groaned. "Borrowed? Who's borrowing whose death here?"
Zaida simply laughed, a soft gurgling sound like wind through hollow bones. "I could tell you, but then you'd have to lend me something in return."
Kael's patience was wearing thin. "Lend you what?"
Her head tilted sharply. "Your hope."
Kael squinted. "Huh?"
Before Zaida could answer, the door flung open with a clatter. Jorin stumbled in, hair ruffled, shirt half-unbuttoned, tie hanging crookedly around his neck. Scratch marks ran across his chest, and dark hickeys marred his neck and collarbone.
Kael's eyes flicked up, and he raised a brow. "You really can't keep your thing in your pants for five minutes, can you?"
Jorin froze mid-step, a sheepish grin forming as he raised his hands defensively.
Zaida, meanwhile, moved closer, her stitched smile widening as she examined him. "…You smell like sweat and...."
Kael frowned. "Don't encourage him."
Zaida's left hand detached from her arm, walking across the air like fingers on a spider's legs. It crept up Jorin's chest, sniffing at the hickeys and scratches.
"Ugh! Zaida you really need to quit that!" Jorin groaned, slapping the hand away.
Zaida's hand gleefully scuttled back, reattaching itself to her arm with a soft pop. She tilted her head, eyes glinting.
Kael rolled his eyes, still staring at the mark on his hand. "Dont raise your voice at her Jorin. She has mood swings, and she still sees people as prey. One day, if you piss her off while I'm not around, things could get… messy."
Jorin snorted, brushing it off like nothing. "Messy? Kael, she's a cute little piece of rotting flesh. She can't hurt me."
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The next morning, the dorm was half-lit with weak sunlight filtering through the blinds. Kael leaned against his bunk, flipping through a dusty tome he had borrowed from the library about the Purge Era—a century ago, when forbidden creatures roamed freely and Spirit Masters struggled to keep humanity alive.
Zaida perched on the edge of the bed, her stitched eyes glowing faintly. "The past is hungry," she whispered.
Kael frowned.
[Trial of Culling Level One begins in 20 minutes. Prepare immediately.]
Kael's stomach tightened. Zaida tilted her head, her grin faintly widening. "Time ticks. Do you remember how fast the shadow moves?"
"Not now, Zaida." Kael muttered, brushing at the sweat on his palm.
Before he could ask anything further, the academy speakers roared to life.
"All students! The Trial of Culling Level One will commence in twenty minutes! Summon your pets and be ready! Good luck!"
The dorm erupted.
"Twenty minutes? Are you kidding me?!" one girl shouted, throwing her blanket over her head.
"I haven't even eaten breakfast yet!" someone else wailed, dashing toward the communal kitchen.
Jorin, still rubbing the hickeys on his neck from last night, cursed under his breath. "Why am I always last to know anything?! I swear this school hates me!"
A small shadow leapt onto Kael's shoulder—Zaida—tilting her head to observe the chaos. "I can feel his brain pulse," she murmured.
Kael let out a long breath, feeling adrenaline surge through him. "Focus," he muttered. "This isn't time to get distracted by… anything."
Jorin staggered past him, flailing his arms. "I don't even know what to summon first! My pet? Divine hope and luck? I didn't even eat breakfast! Somebody save me!"
For a moment, Kael allowed himself a quiet smirk. Chaos suited him.
Outside the dorm window, the academy grounds were slowly filling. A faint green shimmer of barriers and the distant rumble of anticipation hinted at what awaited. The Trial of Culling had begun in every student's mind already, even if it hadn't physically started yet.
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The system chimed again.
[Teleportation Sequence Initiating…]
Students began vanishing in flashes of blue light. One moment they were there — the next, gone.Some screamed, others tried to joke through the panic, but the fear in their eyes said everything.
"See you on the other side!" someone yelled—then vanished mid-laugh.
Reports immediately flooded the comms:"I'm under attack!""My pet's hurt!""There are demons everywhere—!"
Then silence.
Kael's pulse quickened. The dorm rooms emptied one by one until only he, Zaida and Jorin remained. It wasn't long until it was Jorin's turn.
She looked up at him, her stitched lips twitching into a faint smile. "It's our turn, Master."
A blinding flash swallowed them whole.
When the light faded, Kael was standing in knee-high fog, the air thick and heavy. Towering trees stretched upward like black spires, dripping with green mist that shimmered faintly in the dim light.
Zaida stepped beside him, silent as a ghost.
The forest was still. Too still.
Then, somewhere far off, a scream split the air—followed by a wet, guttural growl that made Kael's spine lock.
Zaida's eyes glowed faintly. "They've started feeding."
Zaida tilted her head toward the mist, the faint glow in her eyes flickering like candlelight. The silence stretched for a beat—then a chime echoed in Kael's head.
[Location: Verdant Abyss — Outer Region][Objective: Survive and eliminate a minimum of five Class-F demons to advance.]
A sudden rush of air spiraled around his palm. In the next second, a sword materialized — forged from steel and bone, its blade blackened and laced with pale veins that pulsed faintly like something alive. The hilt curved elegantly, carved with runes that shimmered in green.
From the fog, a pair of red eyes blinked open. Then another. And another.
The forest had noticed them.
Something slithered through the fog — soft, wet, deliberate.
Kael raised his blade, eyes scanning the green mist as shadows rippled between the trees. The air had turned colder. Even the faint hum of insects had gone silent.
Then he saw it — small, crouched, with its limbs bent backward like a spider's. Its skin shimmered dark purple, and a translucent venom dripped from its jaws.
A Class-F Demon.
"Zaida," he said, tightening his grip, "don't let it get close."
Zaida's stitched lips twitched into a grin. "Close is where I like them."
She vanished. One blink — and she was gone from sight, her movement a blur of afterimages. The demon screeched, whipping around as her claws raked across its back. The wound hissed and sizzled as if acid burned through its flesh.
Kael stepped forward, sword raised. The bone-edge vibrated faintly, resonating with her energy.
The demon retaliated — its limbs stretching unnaturally, striking from multiple angles. Kael barely deflected one strike, another grazing his shoulder.
"Poison," Zaida warned, licking her claw. "It tastes… sweet."
"Yeah? Try not to die tasting it."
He ducked low, sweeping his blade. The steel-bone edge split through one of the demon's arms — black ooze spraying across the mossy ground. But instead of falling, it laughed. A sound too human for something so inhuman.
Then the ground beneath Kael shifted.
"What the—"
His foot sank. The earth rippled like liquid, dragging him down inch by inch. A quicksand trap hidden beneath the moss.
Zaida darted forward, claws digging into his arm to yank him free, but the demon lunged again, this time for her throat. She twisted mid-air, ripping half its face off with her teeth. It shrieked, stumbling back.
Kael wrenched himself free, landing hard beside her. His blade pulsed, runes glowing violently green.
"Let's finish this!" he growled.
Zaida crouched low, her eyes gleaming. "Permission to feast?"
He smirked. "Granted."
She moved like a storm — twisting, leaping, devouring. The demon barely had time to scream before its body was torn apart in a spiral of black mist and bone.
The system chimed:[1/5 Class-F Demons Eliminated]
Kael exhaled, lowering his blade. "That… wasn't so bad."
Zaida tilted her head, licking a streak of venom off her arm. "You shouldn't say that yet."
"What?"
The fog around them trembled — and then everything went still. Even the wind seemed to die.
From somewhere deeper in the forest, a low growl echoed. Deep. Heavy. Intelligent. The kind that made Kael's heartbeat stutter.
A presence pressed against his chest — suffocating, enormous.
His system flared again, glitching.[Warning: Level Two Predator Detected][Recommendation: Evacuate Immediately]
Kael's mouth went dry. "That wasn't the trial demon, was it?"
"Master…" she whispered, her voice barely human now."They're already aware of you. And they won't wait for the trial to start."