"14."
My voice shook.
"12."
Step.
"20."
Click.
"5."
My hands pressed against stone.
Creak.
"6."
Someone muttered.
"Is he still doing that?"
"18."
My chest felt tight.
"29!"
I stopped for a moment as I heard my number being called.
"10."
My gaze stayed on the red numbers.
"Come out."
"19."
Shaping them with my lips calmed me.
Step.
"17."
My fingers trembled as they brushed across the stone.
"Hey!"
"1-Ahh!"
A hand gripped my arm and yanked me back.
Thud.
I fell flat to the ground.
My vision swam, but my head stayed tilted upward.
Toward—
The numbers.
My legs trembled as I stood.
I needed—
"Come!"
I was pulled again.
My body swayed left and right.
Step.
My legs didn't respond right away. When they did, they felt like jelly.
My arm was pulled, and my body followed. But my head stayed glued to the wall.
Grip.
Hands pulled me farther away.
I cried out.
"No—!"
I twisted, trying to pull away.
But I was yanked forward again.
Step.
I stumbled, nearly falling.
The wall vanished.
Something inside my chest refused it.
I tried to go back.
The grip tightened.
I was dragged through the corridor, my breath hitching in short, panicked gasps.
The sound of my own breathing was too loud in my ears.
I couldn't slow it down.
My head faced backward while my body was forced forward by a firm pull.
Step.
We stopped abruptly.
I was shoved forward again and nearly collided with someone.
I looked up.
Four teens stood in front of me.
They stared.
One frowned.
"Hey… where—"
Thud.
The gate opened.
Light poured in.
Bright.
Too bright.
I moved, throwing my arm over my eyes as pain flared behind them.
After the light came the sound.
Hundreds.
Maybe thousands.
They shouted.
My ears rang.
I was pushed forward.
Step.
My feet crossed the threshold before I realized I was moving.
Hard ground turned soft.
Sand beneath my feet.
Cold.
My breathing came in jagged bursts.
I was in front of the weapon rack.
I didn't remember walking there.
A sword was in front of me.
My sword.
My hand reached out toward its hilt.
Then stopped.
My vision tunneled.
The sword was in Rash's chest again.
Step.
I staggered back with a strangled sound, my hand jerking away.
I couldn't.
I couldn't touch it.
My hands shook violently.
Thud.
My back hit something hard.
Before I realized it, a hand rested on my shoulder.
"Everything okay?"
A voice followed.
My head turned.
A teen.
He reached out.
In his hand.
Another sword.
"Here."
I grabbed it without looking, grip too tight, knuckles whitening.
I turned away from him.
But—
"Where's Rash?"
His voice came again.
The name hit me like a wave.
My breath caught painfully in my throat.
I walked faster.
Away from him.
Away from that question.
"Adonis."
His voice followed me.
My body swayed.
My steps quickened.
I reached the center.
There—
"Where is he?"
Other teens.
With the same question.
I stopped.
I couldn't move anymore.
They gathered around me.
Too close.
"You were always together."
"The two of you weren't in the arena."
"What happened to him?"
"What happened to you?"
My vision blurred.
Too many questions.
My ears rang.
And the answer—
My mouth opened.
Closed.
Opened again.
Nothing came out.
My lips trembled uncontrollably.
I couldn't look at them.
I couldn't tell them.
That...
That I—
My hands shook.
I killed him.
"I… I—"
My voice cracked.
Something tried to come out.
Then—
"Dear guests."
Another voice.
From above.
Far away.
And close.
It cut through the noise like something sharp.
My head lifted toward it.
Just for a moment.
Red.
A suit.
White.
A mask.
My stomach twisted.
I turned away immediately.
I couldn't look at him.
But his voice continued.
Calm.
Unchanging.
"…this Blooding nears its conclusion."
Blooding.
The word pressed against my chest.
My fingers curled tighter, nails biting into skin.
"…those who stand here have survived what many could not."
Survived.
My throat tightened.
Another image.
Rash falling again.
Blood soaking into the sand.
Crack.
The sound when he hit the ground.
My breathing turned ragged.
"…this arena exists for one purpose."
The crowd was silent.
"…to separate those who merely live from those who endure."
Endure.
I swallowed.
The sand beneath my feet felt too cold.
I could feel eyes on me.
Thousands of them.
Judging.
I kept my head down.
"…today's trial will decide which of you is fit to become a warrior."
Warrior.
Or did he say—
Murderer?
My hands shook.
I wasn't—
"…young lambs must be tested."
The words slid past me, dull and distant.
I could feel eyes on me.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
They burned into my skin.
I kept my head down.
"…only through blood and survival does one become a warrior."
Blood.
Survival.
The words echoed.
Survive.
He didn't.
My chest tightened painfully.
I swallowed, my throat dry.
I heard whispers.
Did I?
"He killed him."
"I saw it."
"Did you see his face?"
"Monster."
Rash.
I killed Rash.
My body swayed.
I shifted my weight to stay upright.
A hand brushed my arm—one of the other teens.
I flinched and pulled away.
He stared at me.
I couldn't meet his eyes.
I couldn't let him see my face.
"…the final group stands before you."
Boom.
A drum thundered.
The vibration ran through the ground, up my legs, and into my chest.
My heart jumped violently.
Boom.
Another.
"Begin."
"NO MERCY!"
Thud.
The gate opened.
Metal scraping across stone.
Then—
Thump.
A heavy sound.
The ground vibrated beneath my feet.
Thump.
My body flinched.
Thump.
My shoulders shook.
Thump.
I couldn't breathe properly. My hands trembled around the hilt of my sword as my gaze stayed fixed on the dark opening.
Then—
Something moved.
My breath hitched.
My body shook.
At first I saw a head.
A mouth.
Open.
Sharp teeth.
Too many.
Thump.
The ground trembled as it took another step.
Then—
Swoosh.
A pressure followed.
A ripple washed through the arena.
Mana.
It slammed into me. My core burned as if molten metal had been poured into my chest.
I couldn't breathe.
The beast was—
Big.
Brown.
Not fur.
Not skin.
Like a moving rock.
Four legs.
A long tail dragging behind it.
Its shadow loomed over me.
I felt small.
My shoulders shrank.
My heartbeat sped up.
Its head turned.
Slitted eyes locked onto me.
I couldn't look away.
And I couldn't keep looking.
My vision blurred.
My hands trembled around my sword.
Then someone shouted.
"Rock Drake!"
The crowd erupted.
My ears rang.
The beast stared down at me.
I couldn't move.
My body stood there, stiff, trembling like it didn't belong to me anymore.
A blur passed beside me.
The others moved.
One after another.
They rushed toward the beast, weapons raised.
They attacked.
Steel struck stone.
Sparks jumped.
The beast didn't roar.
It just stood.
Its head turned away from me.
Toward them.
My heart hammered painfully.
I let out a breath.
"Adonis!"
Someone shouted.
My name.
My shoulders trembled.
"Help us!"
I heard it.
But—
My feet felt glued to the sand.
"What are you doing?!"
Their voices overlapped.
"Fight!"
"Come on!"
"We need you!"
I swallowed hard.
My chest burned.
My breathing quickened.
I looked around.
He wasn't there.
Rash wasn't here.
The thought struck suddenly.
Rash isn't—
"Adonis!"
I flinched.
My grip tightened until my knuckles hurt.
'I can do this.'
'I have to.'
Step.
I stepped forward.
My legs shook with every step.
The beast's head turned.
One dark, slitted eye stared at me.
My stomach dropped.
The world narrowed to that gaze.
Then—
Swish.
Something moved.
It was long.
A brown blur.
I didn't even fully see it.
My body tensed.
But still moved.
My sword was already raised.
Boom.
The impact exploded through my arms.
My eyes shut.
Pain shot through my shoulders.
All air left my lungs.
My feet left the ground.
Thud.
The world spun violently as I hit the sand, rolling, tumbling until everything stopped.
I couldn't breathe.
My chest burned.
My limbs wouldn't move.
Everything hurt.
My ears rang.
My vision blurred.
"Adonis!"
My name.
I turned my head.
The others were fighting.
Weapons clashed
The beast moved again.
One swipe.
A blur.
A girl flew through the air.
A boy charged.
The beast moved again.
Thump.
The teen disappeared.
"Help us!"
Someone screamed.
I closed my eyes.
Everything hurt.
Legs.
Arms.
Head.
Everywhere.
Pain.
"Adonis!"
Shouts broke through.
My limbs trembled as they moved.
Sand shifted beneath me.
I tried to push myself up.
My arms shook violently.
My body refused.
"I—"
My voice failed.
I dragged myself up.
My jaw clenched.
It hurt.
But—
I pushed through.
My knees dug into the sand.
My arms forced my body up.
Slowly.
Time stretched.
A second.
A minute.
I didn't know.
I just pushed.
Haah.
My body rose.
But—
I wasn't standing.
I was kneeling.
And when I finally opened my eyes—
Silence.
Slowly, the sword slipped out of my hand.
Thud.
Bodies lay scattered around me.
Puddles of red.
Pieces of flesh.
Limbs.
In the center of it all—
A beast.
Standing.
Breathing.
Staring.
At me.
My body trembled.
There was no pain now.
My breath quickened.
Thump.
Bathump.
My heart pounded.
Thump.
Bathump.
With each step.
Thump.
Bathump.
The beast took.
Thump.
I knelt there.
I couldn't move.
I couldn't think.
I could only watch.
Thump.
As it came closer.