Chapter 26: The Final Trial

The sun rose.

Warm light spilled over the quiet field where the party had made camp, golden and soft, cutting through the morning fog like butter.

Birds chirped lazily in the distance.

Someone yawned.

Someone else cursed while stretching.

And Gray…?

He stood by the edge of the hill, sharpening his rapier, staring quietly into the blade, not for its shine, but for the faint reflection staring back at him.

His eyes.

Still the same shape, still the same dull gray.

But now…

There were those spiral patterns faintly etched inside, slow and soft, almost invisible until they caught the light just right.

He stared, almost like the eyes were staring back.

“…Mhm…”

[What’s up with that obsession with your own eyes?]

Jasmine asked, just to be ignored by Gray.

[…Fucker.]

“Aghhaaa~” A loud yawn suddenly came from behind.

And that… yawn was also quite familiar to him.

“You up early, princess?” came Ronan’s voice, still groggy but already teasing.

“What, couldn’t sleep after finally hitting puberty?”

Gray didn’t even look back, but of course… he noticed something strange on his voice.

A small pause.

And that was the exact moment Ronan’s brain finally registered something.

“…Wait… what the fuck is up with your face?”

Gray blinked at his confusing words.

“My face?”

“Bro.”

Ronan stepped closer to him, squinting his eyes at him like he had seen a ghost.

“Dude. Your eyes. What the hell happened to them?”

Gray turned slowly to him, and almost immediately, Ronan’s eyes widened significantly.

Immediately, he pointed his finger right at him, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Why do you look… hotter?”

Gray blinked again.

“I what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, man. You look like some rich villain from a romance novel. What happened to your usual tired rat-face?”

Gray’s eyebrow twitched in anger.

“Rat-face?”

CRACK!

He rolled his knuckles, cracking them directly as he stared Ronan with a killer gaze.

“Do you want to fucking repeat that again?”

“N-no, no! I mean like… your skin’s all clear and shit, and your eyes are, like… weirdly shiny now. I’m not even joking. Did you secretly start skincare or something? Is this a new product? Tell me. I’ll sell my soul.”

He reached to poke Gray’s cheek, but of course, that hand was instantly slapped away.

“Don’t fucking touch me.”

“But seriously,” Ronan said, not backing off at all.

“What the hell changed?”

“Nothi—!”

Before Gray could answer, another voice chimed in.

“He probably got his Class now.”

They both turned and instantly realized that it was none other than Lira.

She stood a few feet away, clutching her book close to her chest.

Her voice was soft and careful, but her cheeks were a little pink. She looked at Gray’s face for a second too long… then nodded shyly.

“Your eyes… really do look beautiful now,” she said.

“Like… kind of hypnotizing.”

Gray stared at her for a few moments, and his mouth twitched as Lira, the girl who had a casual expression since the day they met, looked down in complete embarrassment.

“Ohhhh nooo.”

Ronan raised both hands and grinned like a demon as he saw the situation.

“Don’t,” Gray warned.

Ronan ignored him completely and elbowed his arm.

“Look at that. Got the girls falling already. We’re barely a few hours into the day, and you already look like a seductive villain who was exiled from a noble house.”

’…The fuck?’

[Bullseye~ Pffff—he hit you right in the mark, hehehe!]

Jasmine’s voice rang with laughter in his head, clearly mocking the shit out of him.

[You should’ve seen your face just now! Pfft… awww, so cute~♡]

“..You wanna die? Believe it or not, I’ll beat the shit out of you the next time we meet.” Gray muttered.

[Awwww, no you won’t~ I’d pin you down in three seconds flat.]

She giggled playfully.

[Nyehhh~! That’s me sticking my tongue out, by the way.]

Gray groaned audibly, his face twitching with frustration.

“Bro,” Ronan said again, still gawking.

“What the hell class did you pick to end up looking like that?”

Even Lira was staring at him now, eyes slightly wide, clearly wondering the same thing.

Gray’s expression instantly turned colder as he uttered:

“…That’s not part of your fucking busine—”

“ATTENTION TRAINEES!”

A loud voice rang across the hill, interrupting Gray’s words.

It was Arderia, and her voice boomed from the distance like a war drum.

“GATHER AROUND!”

A small stampede followed as confused groans and shuffled footsteps moved across the dew-soaked grass.

Some were still rubbing the sleep from their eyes, others clutching half-eaten bread rolls.

“…Whatever.” Gray sighed and sheathed his rapier before making his way down the hill with the others.

“Man… can’t even enjoy your villain glow-up in peace,” Ronan muttered beside him.

Of course, Gray ignored him.

“Okay, but like… seriously, was it skincare?” he muttered to himself, which Gray also ignored… including the gazes coming from Lira behind them.

Once they made their way downhill, the first thing they saw was Arderia.

She stood atop a small platform made of summoned stone, her arms crossed, eyes scanning the group like a hawk ready to gut anyone not paying attention.

“You’ve all made it past the first two trials,” she said, her voice carrying clearly, without the need to shout anymore.

“You’ve survived the march. You’ve survived the ruins. Some of you barely. Some of you impressed.”

Her eyes swept across the group. Gray thought for a second they lingered on him, but maybe that was just his ego speaking again.

“And now,” she continued, “it’s time for the third and final trial.”

Murmurs spread across the trainees like wildfire.

Even Ronan straightened up.

“A duel,” Arderia declared.

“A one-on-one battle against one of us… your instructors.”

For a moment, there was only silence… and then…

“Wha—?!”

“No way…”

“You’ve gotta be kidding…”

A wave of gasps and murmurs spread like wildfire.

“You mean we have to fight them?!”

“That bald guy literally shattered a boulder with his head yesterday—!”

“I heard Instructor Gale cut someone’s shadow once—how does that even work?!”

“She said ’all-out’… does that mean they’ll try to kill us?!”

Gray didn’t say anything.

Ronan, on the other hand, swore under his breath…

“Fucking hell…”

Beside him, Lira slowly closed and touched her curved blade, her grip tightening at its hilt.

The only reason she was nervous was that she wasn’t confident enough to beat one of those instructors, after all, just like Gray, she needed the Silver Rank Knight emblem.

And she didn’t know if she needed to actually win against one of them to be able to get, especially when the instructors were a stage above hers, in the Early Advanced Realm.

Arderia smiled faintly at their reactions, and it was not a kind smile.

“You’ll be allowed to use anything you have. Your weapons, your techniques, even your Class Skills…if you’ve awakened any. No holding back, no rules about honor or mercy. Only combat.”

Gray’s eyes narrowed.

Jasmine clicked her tongue in his head.

[This just got interesting~]

Arderia raised one finger.

“After the duel, we will evaluate your performance and assign your Knight Rank. The scale is as follows:”

She waved her hand, and three glowing emblems appeared mid-air,floating silver sigils made of light.

“Trainee Knight.”

A dull, barely glowing bronze mark.

“Bronze Knight.”

A deeper gold with a jagged, flame-like border.

“And Silver Knight.”

This one shimmered brightly, sharp and clean like polished steel.

“And for those interested in joining the city’s knights, you’ll only be allowed to stay if you receive at least the Bronze Rank. Trainee Rank is a mark of failure. That means you’re out.”

The entire camp went quiet.

Even the birds stopped chirping.

“You have an hour to eat, prepare, and recover your mana,” Arderia said, her voice cold and clear.

“After that, you’ll each be called one by one.”

She paused… and then added with a small smirk:

“Try not to die.”

A hush fell over the field.

And then… came the reactions.

“Wait, what?!”

“Did she just say die?!”

“This has to be a bluff, right?”

“Please tell me this is just training! Right?!”

More voices started rising, barely contained panic crawling into the tones.

“We’re not ready for this!”

“I haven’t even finished reading the basic sword manuals—!”

“She has to be joking… right?”

“Right…?”

No one answered.

Arderia didn’t turn back.

Without another word, she stepped down from the platform, her crimson cloak flaring behind her like a curtain of blood.

Every step she took echoed across the stone tiles, her heels tapping out a slow, unbothered rhythm.

And then… someone gulped next to Gray.

It was none other than Ronan.

“W-wait, any instructor?” Ronan whispered, completely horrified by Arderia’s words.

“Like… even that bald guy with the massive battleaxe? He’s basically a demon in a man’s skin—!”

“You’d better hope it’s not me, then.”

The cold voice came from behind, and Ronan flinched so hard he almost tripped.

Instructor Gale walked past them with a neutral look, but a faint smirk ghosted his lips as he adjusted the sword at his hip.

Gray said nothing, but his expression had darkened.

[Heh… you thinking what I’m thinking?]

Jasmine’s voice was gleeful.

Gray slowly turned back toward the others, muttering beneath his breath.

“…Perfect.”

“Perfect what?” Ronan asked nervously.

Lira also stared at him.

But Gray didn’t answer.

Instead, his fingers twitched, and invisible threads shimmered faintly in the light between them… just for a second.

[Puppet Strings, huh?]

[You really are evil…]

To her words, Gray only smiled in the same manner that he always did.

[But… I like it~]

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