The private calash rolled steadily toward Zheng Fort, but the atmosphere inside was tense. Kei fixed Vincent with a hard, unyielding stare that made his companion shift uncomfortably in his seat.
"Come on, Kei. Stop looking at me like I just set fire to the village," Vincent groaned, slumping back against the cushions.
"I still can't believe you took such a reckless risk with our entire mission," Kei said sharply. "What if someone here remembers what you did years ago? You nearly leveled an entire nation, Vincent. Those kinds of things don't just fade away."
"That was ages ago! I don't even have any memory of it myself, only what the others told me," Vincent shot back. "And look how it turned out, we've got a princess willing to help us! So what exactly are you so upset about?"
"And what if it had gone wrong? You can't just put your faith in strangers like that." Kei let out a heavy sigh, folding his arms across his chest. "We're not here to gamble, we're here to save lives."
"But it didn't go wrong! Can't we just move past this already?"
Kei turned away from him, gazing out at the passing countryside of rolling hills and rice paddies. "No. One mistake could cost us everything we've worked for. This can't happen ever again."
Vincent let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through his hair. "Alright, alright, you were right. I was careless. I shouldn't have blurted out who we really are. But can you at least see what this could mean for the Fabled Class? If we prove ourselves here, the Sunhonghin Imperial Kingdom could become our first formal ally. That would build trust between the western nations like Elion and Gammora and the central lands. Besides, we need their respect and their trust to finish our mission here correctly. I know it was risky, but big risks can lead to even bigger opportunities. Just… give me a chance to make this work, all right?"
Kei was quiet for a moment, his expression unreadable. Finally, he nodded once. "Fine." But even as he spoke, his mind was already mapping out contingency plans—every possible way to save their mission if things took a turn for the worse.
After about two hours of travel, the calash came to a stop. Zheng Fort loomed before them, an imposing fortress with multiple watchtowers piercing the sky, walls of thick iron-bound masonry standing tall, and dozens of archers patrolling the perimeters, their eyes sharp and alert.
Yul opened the carriage door, his expression serious. "We've arrived. Princess Yejin is waiting for you inside the outer grounds."
As Kei and Vincent stepped out, every archer on the walls turned their gaze toward them, bows slightly drawn and ready to fire at the first sign of trouble.
Yejin stood at the entrance gate, her posture straight and commanding. A guard approached her immediately, his voice respectful but firm. "Princess Yejin, who are these men you've brought to the fort?"
"They are skilled mercenaries who wish to serve under my banner," she replied. "They will join us once they pass our combat assessment."
"I understand, Your Highness, but I cannot allow them inside the fort walls," the guard said apologetically.
Yejin's brow furrowed with disappointment. "Are you challenging my authority?"
"Never, Your Highness! Please forgive my choice of words. But these are direct orders from your brother, the Dae-Ryeong. I dare not disobey him."
Yejin was quiet for a moment, then nodded in understanding. "If they cannot enter the fort, then we will conduct the assessment out here. At least provide them with a tent where they can prepare."
The guard looked uncertain—no such protocol existed—but after a brief pause, he bowed his head in agreement. Within minutes, a small canvas tent was set up for Kei and Vincent just beyond the fort's outer barriers.
Yejin joined them there to explain the tests. "The assessment will begin in three hours. We need to verify your combat capabilities thoroughly. First, we'll test your defense. Our archers will fire non-lethal dummy arrows at you, and you'll need to either dodge them or block with a shield we'll provide. Next is offense. You'll have a set time limit to destroy a field of combat dummies. For the final test, you'll face Yul and Tsuyu in a sparring match. You must defeat them both to pass."
Vincent flashed a broad, confident grin as they prepared for the first assessment, while Kei stood perfectly still, his face calm and expressionless. When the time came, they took their positions a hundred meters from the line of archers. As the order was given and arrows began to fly, neither man made a move toward the shields placed several meters away—instead, they simply twisted and stepped aside with effortless grace, every dummy arrow passing harmlessly by. The archers watching from their posts exchanged looks of clear amazement; even the skilled soldiers in the empire would have needed shields or quick footwork to avoid all the shots, yet these two made it look like child's play.
Next, the guards set up the combat dummies and placed minute glasses nearby to monitor time. For the first round, three sturdy wooden dummies stood five meters apart—Kei and Vincent each had their own set to destroy in under a minute.
The moment the minute glass was flipped, Vincent moved without hesitation. He raised his hand high, and a wave of brilliant, controlled flames surged forward, wrapping around all three of his dummies at once. Within seconds, the sturdy wooden figures were reduced to smoldering piles of ash, the air carrying only the scent of burnt wood.
Kei, however, took a different approach. He did not rush. Instead, he walked calmly toward the first dummy. Drawing a single, plain-looking dagger from his belt, he positioned himself precisely before striking. With one clean, fluid slice, the dummy split cleanly down the middle and collapsed to the ground. He moved on to the second, then the third, each time using nothing more than that simple dagger to cut through the thick wood as if it were paper.
From their posts nearby, the guards watched with wide eyes. One of them shook his head in disbelief, turning to his companion. "I remember when I took this test—I had to swing a greatsword with all my strength just to make a dent in those dummies. Those are not made with ordinary wood! But look at him, he's doing it with ease using nothing more than a small blade. I've never seen anything like it."
Another guard nodded in agreement, his gaze fixed on Kei. "It's not just strength. You can see how he positions himself perfectly every time. He knows exactly where to strike to bring them down with the least effort. That's not something you learn from training alone. That takes real skill."
Vincent glanced over at Kei as he finished with his last dummy, a small grin playing at his lips. Even when taking his time, Kei's precision was unmatched.
Meanwhile, Yejin watched from the sidelines, her expression thoughtful as she noted the stark contrast between the two men's fighting styles: one powerful and explosive, the other calm and calculated. "They're the real thing," Yejin murmured, her eyes fixed on the field. "Vincent's flames are powerful yet controlled, almost nothing chaotic about them. And Kei… his accuracy and precision are all exceptional."
For the second round, ten dummies were spaced ten meters apart across a wider area. Vincent did not even shift his stance—with a steady hand, he directed streams of flame to each target, incinerating them one by one with pinpoint accuracy. Kei, on the other hand, leaped high into the air, drawing ten small daggers from hidden sheathes on his body. With a single fluid motion, he threw them all at once—each blade glowing with faint blue mana as they flew true, striking the heart of every dummy and shattering them instantly.
"Vincent's mastery over flame practition is almost on par with Eunjoo's back when we were batchmates in Saeho Tower," Tsuyu said, her voice filled with awe. "And Kei, well, he moves like an assassin who's spent his life perfecting every motion. That kind of precision usually takes decades of fighting in life-or-death situations to develop. But he looks so young. I can't imagine he's even near his thirties yet."
Yul remained silent, his gaze intense as he studied every detail of their movements.
The third and final round of the offensive assessment began, and this time the targets were not wood—but massive dummies covered in thick steel plates. Five stood in a line before each man, their surfaces gleaming under the sun.
Vincent raised his hand to unleash his usual flames, but when the fire washed over the first steel dummy, it only darkened its surface. Frowning slightly, he took a step back, closing his eyes for a moment to gather his mana. When he opened them again, a low hiss filled the air as a small, coiled serpent made entirely of flame materialized around his forearm—its eyes glowing like embers, its body twisting and writhing with life.
"Good Goddess Amaterasu!" one of the soldiers cried out, and a murmur of shock rippled through the crowd.
Yejin stared wide-eyed at the fiery creature, her jaw slightly slack. "He can conjure something like that? It looks like my brother's Mirana, but forged entirely from flames…"
With a sharp gesture, Vincent sent the fire serpent shooting forward. It moved with incredible speed, striking the first steel dummy and burrowing straight through its plated body before darting to the next. One by one, the serpent pierced each target, leaving molten holes in its wake and causing the steel to warp and melt. Within seconds, all five dummies had collapsed to the ground in twisted heaps of metal. The serpent then arced back to Vincent's arm, coiling around it once more before fading away like smoke.
Kei had been watching quietly, and now it was his turn. He studied the five steel-plated dummies before him, his eyes glowing faintly blue as he calculated every angle. Then, in one swift motion, he drew a single shuriken from his belt and infused it with shimmering blue mana. With a precise flick of his wrist, he sent it flying toward the first dummy.
The shuriken struck true, then bounced off in a perfectly calculated trajectory—ricocheting from one steel plate to the next in a blur of silver and blue. Before anyone could fully process what had happened, all five dummies had been struck in their vital joints, their steel plates shattered and their frames collapsing to the ground. The entire sequence took less than a second.
Gasps of amazement echoed across the field. Even the stoic Yul leaned forward slightly, his eyes narrowing with clear respect. The soldiers stood transfixed—some with their mouths open, others exchanging looks of pure disbelief at what they had just witnessed.
When the last of the dummies had fallen, Yejin walked forward with a bright, genuine smile spreading across her face. "I am truly beyond impressed! I've seen countless warriors undergo these assessments, but never have I witnessed such mastery. You've passed every test." She paused, placing a hand on her hip as she looked between them. "Now take some time to rest and catch your breath. The final test will begin shortly."
Yejin made her way over to where Tsuyu and Yul stood waiting, adjusting the strap of her sword as she approached. "You two ready for this?"
Tsuyu let out a light laugh, shaking her head. "Honestly? I don't see the point—they've already proven they're stronger than most warriors we've trained with. I'd rather not end up flat on my back out there!"
Yejin grinned, giving her friend a playful nudge. "Afraid of getting a little banged up, are we? What about you, Yul?" she turned to her cousin, whose eyes were already fixed on the field where Kei and Vincent were resting.
"I'm more than ready, Your Highness," Yul replied, drawing his blade and swinging it in a smooth arc to loosen up his shoulders. "I've been watching their movements closely. Their skills are impressive, and I want to see just how well I match up against them."
"Good to hear. I knew I could count on you," Yejin said warmly. Then she turned back to Tsuyu, her expression growing determined. "If you'd rather sit this one out, that's fine. I'll step in myself. I want to go up against the one who summoned that fire serpent."
"Your Highness, are you certain?" Tsuyu's eyes widened with concern. "You know how powerful your brother's serpent technique is, and this man's flames are no joke."
Yejin nodded firmly, her gaze already drifting to Vincent as he stood up and stretched. "That's exactly why I want to test them myself. Come on, Yul. Let's head out there and get started."
With that, she unsheathed her own sword—a beautifully crafted blade with a rose-shaped pommel matching her emblem—as she stood gracefully. Yul fell into step beside her, and together they walked toward the center of the open area where the spar would take place, Yejin's eyes locked intently on Vincent as she prepared to face him.