Chapter 1 – Page 4: “The Ritual of Heroes”

The ruins of Valdros were not what the students expected.

There were no burning banners, no war cries echoing from the hills, no monstrous shadows peeking from behind crumbled towers. The air was too still. The fog too thick. And the silence—that was what unsettled Kuro most.

He stood at the front of the caravan as they dismounted near a decaying courtyard overrun with vines and moss-covered stone. His eyes scanned the area before the others even removed their packs.

“This place stinks of death,” Yumi muttered behind him, pulling her cloak tight around her shoulders.

Kenji stepped beside her, squinting into the mist. “Ruins don’t kill people. Demons do.”

“Exactly,” Kuro said softly, eyes narrowing. “And demons don’t leave their territory undefended.”

Ayato hopped down from his horse, stretching his arms. “Looks fine to me. Little creepy, but no monsters in sight. Let’s get this over with.”

Kuro didn’t reply. He already knew they were being watched.

Inside the ruins, shattered columns rose like broken fingers toward the overcast sky. A narrow corridor opened between two collapsed archways, and General Alfric ordered the students to split into reconnaissance units.

“Stay in your teams. You see movement—you report it. Do not engage.”

Kuro was grouped with Ayato, Yumi, Kenji, and Elenia. A poor match, he noted immediately. Ayato was impulsive, Yumi distracted, and Kenji too clever for his own good. Elenia was the only one who moved with caution. And trust.

As they moved deeper into the ruins, Kuro’s senses screamed warnings.

The moss on the stones hadn’t been disturbed. No footprints. No claw marks. No blood. No signs of battle or retreat.

“Too clean,” he muttered.

Kenji scoffed. “You saying you know better than a war general?”

Kuro shot him a look. “I’m saying this place is a trap.”

Ayato stopped mid-step. “You think we’re being ambushed?”

“I think we already have been.”

That’s when they heard it.

A shriek—not human. Echoing from behind the broken walls.

Then another. Closer.

Shadowy forms lunged from above—creatures with elongated limbs, slick black skin, and glowing yellow eyes.

“Contact!” Ayato shouted, fire bursting from his palms. He launched a flaming arc at the nearest attacker, catching it mid-leap. The demon screeched as it burned, twisting midair before collapsing into ash.

“Fall back!” Kenji barked. “Form a circle!”

Yumi began chanting healing spells, her hands trembling.

Elenia stood at Kuro’s back, staff raised, lips tight.

Two more demons rushed. Kuro moved like a ghost, slipping beneath one and driving a blade into its chest—except… he had no blade.

He ripped the demon’s own claw off and used it instead.

Kenji watched, momentarily stunned. “You’re… unarmed!?”

Kuro flipped the claw like a dagger and turned to face the next attacker. “I don’t need a sword.”

Ayato grunted as a demon knocked him back. “A little help?!”

Kuro moved with terrifying precision—ducking, weaving, disarming, disabling. No wasted motion. No emotion. He was efficient. He was deadly.

He was what they feared.

Minutes passed. Then silence again.

Seven demons lay dead.

The team stood in a half-formed circle, panting, injured, shaken.

“Everyone okay?” Elenia asked, scanning for wounds.

Yumi had a gash on her arm. Ayato a dislocated shoulder. Kenji… was untouched.

Kuro stood alone, claw in hand, barely winded.

“Those weren’t scouts,” he said. “They were planted.”

Kenji frowned. “Planted?”

“They were waiting. They knew we’d come. They weren’t here for a fight—they were here to test us.”

“To test…?” Ayato wiped blood from his cheek. “Why test us?”

Kuro stared at the shadows between the columns.

“To see who the weakest were.”

Later, at camp, Kuro sat alone, sharpening the broken claw he kept as a makeshift blade. The firelight danced across his face, but his eyes were fixed on the perimeter.

Elenia approached, kneeling beside him with a bandage kit.

“You’re bleeding,” she said softly.

He glanced down. A shallow cut ran along his side. He hadn’t noticed.

She reached out to dress it, and for the first time, he flinched.

“Don’t,” he said.

Elenia paused. “Let me help you.”

“I said don’t.”

Silence.

She set the kit down between them. “You don’t always have to do everything alone, Kuro.”

“I do,” he said flatly.

“Why?”

He didn’t answer.

“Is it because of what you did? Back home?”

Still no reply.

“Because you think if someone gets too close, they’ll get hurt?”

That made him stop.

“I’m not asking for your trust,” she said. “Just… your company.”

He looked at her. For the first time, really looked.

“Why do you care?” he asked. “I’m not a hero. I’m not even supposed to be here.”

“I care,” she said quietly, “because you haven’t given up. Even if you say you have.”

He looked away.

Her hand rested briefly on his, and then she stood. “I’ll be nearby if you change your mind.”

She walked back to her tent, leaving the kit behind.

The next morning, General Alfric ordered the group to press deeper into the ruins. But Kuro lingered near the outer walls, watching the horizon.

A raven circled above. A signal.

He turned to Kenji. “We’re being watched.”

Kenji sneered. “By what?”

“Something smarter than you.”

Kenji bristled. “You think you’re above us because you’ve seen blood? Because you’re better at killing?”

Kuro stepped closer. “No. I think I’m above you because I don’t pretend killing is noble.”

Their eyes locked.

Then a scream tore through the ruins.

A second team had been ambushed.

General Alfric called for reinforcements, but it was already too late. Smoke began rising from the eastern corridor. Screams turned to silence.

Kuro drew in a long breath and turned to Elenia, who stood with her staff, ready but shaking.

“We leave tonight,” he whispered.

She nodded.

At dusk, the surviving heroes gathered around a central fire. The mood was grim. Some students whispered about going home. Others cried quietly.

Kenji sat apart, muttering to a captain. Kuro watched him. He knew betrayal when he saw it.

He turned to Elenia. “There’s a trader's route half a mile north. It cuts through the ridge and into the Mistral Woodlands. If we’re fast, we’ll be out of range by sunrise.”

“Supplies?” she asked.

He handed her a pouch. “Enough.”

She didn’t ask how he’d gotten it. She knew.

Kuro glanced back at the group one last time. Yumi was tending to a burn victim. Ayato sat sharpening a sword that still trembled in his grip.

None of them were ready.

He didn’t want to wait for them to break.

He slipped into the darkness, Elenia a step behind.

But far above, on the broken tower of Valdros, a figure watched.

Cloaked in shadow. Eyes glowing faintly red.

“He’s begun moving,” it whispered.

Behind it, a voice replied: “Let him. The assassin walks into the fire believing he can escape the flames. Let’s see how long his conviction lasts.”

The blood moon rose again, casting the world in warning.

[End of Page 4 – Chapter 1]