"First Opponent, a Mysterious Student"

“You a new recruit too, pal?” Zoah asked, probing with a simple question.

The man before him replied calmly,

“Isn’t that obvious?”

A creeping unease began to stir in Zoah. His eyes darted around, scanning for an escape route. If this guy had intended to kill him, he would have done it back when Zoah was fighting the monster. That meant he wasn’t overwhelmingly strong.

“Aren’t you afraid you’ll end up like that monster?” Zoah pressed.

Sensing Zoah’s attempt to gauge his strength, the man stopped playing coy.

A sharp slash tore through the still air. Zoah barely managed to dodge—his outer coat ripped clean open. The man spun around, speaking with chilling nonchalance:

“This won’t take long. I’ll kill you and take every point you have.”

Without another word, he charged forward, his blade aimed straight at Zoah. Zoah sidestepped and countered with a powerful slash. In a single stroke, the man’s left wing was severed, thudding heavily to the ground. He froze, a bead of sweat trickling down his neck.

Shaken by the sudden threat, he immediately retreated to widen the distance. Still keeping his guard up, he asked:

“What’s your name?”

“Zoah.”

The moment the man closed his eyes for a blink, Zoah closed the gap, slashing straight at him. The man hastily beat his wings to propel himself backward, barely avoiding the blow, then retracted them entirely. The two of them launched into a fierce, head-to-head duel.

Steel rang out again and again as their blades clashed, echoing through the ruins. Their fight carried them from the rubble outside into the depths of ancient architecture, then back out again. The gleam of Zoah’s sword mirrored his resolute gaze as he poured all his strength into each strike.

Having regained his Soul Blade technique, Zoah unleashed a blinding horizontal slash that cleaved through trees and even the structure behind his opponent. The crow-winged man dodged with a burst from his wings but still came within a hair’s breadth of death. He crashed to the ground, rolled several times, and staggered upright, trembling. Fear was plain on his face, yet he stubbornly held his stance, ready to continue.

“Your technique’s not bad. Why don’t you just farm points instead of trying so hard to kill me?” Zoah asked.

The man didn’t answer. He lunged forward with renewed aggression. Zoah parried in surprise, quickly regaining his rhythm. Despite his serious wounds from the previous battle, Zoah fought on against the man’s equally skilled swordsmanship.

The longer they fought, the more Zoah’s strength waned. He dropped to one knee, panting heavily, his injuries slowing him down. The crow-winged man hovered above, watching.

“What’s your name?” Zoah asked.

“Just call me Crow. You’re going to die anyway—what good will my name do you?”

Zoah laughed.

“Like hell I am.”

Crow dove in, his blade cutting into Zoah again and again. Zoah couldn’t mount an effective counter and was sent sprawling by a vicious kick. Crow pressed the attack, aiming for a killing thrust. Zoah rolled aside, hooked his legs around Crow’s neck, and slammed him into the ground.

The impact left Crow momentarily stunned. Zoah drove his blade forward, grazing his opponent’s waist and leaving a deep gash. Crow flared his wings, leaping back to safety, then retracted them, holding his stance.

“Still not giving up, Crow?!” Zoah taunted.

Blood dripped from Crow’s waist to his hands, his legs trembling—he was nearly spent as well. Zoah moved in for the finishing blow, but then sheathed his sword and turned away. Crow tried to pursue, only to collapse unconscious. Zoah didn’t get far before his own body gave out, and he fell to the ground.

Some time later, Zoah awoke beneath a star-filled sky, surrounded by the silence of the ruins. He immediately checked his wounds, scanning the area warily. No sign of anyone—not even Crow.

“He didn’t kill me?” Zoah murmured.

In the distance, he spotted Crow speaking to another academy student. Crow’s voice was low and serious:

“That guy’s ability… it’s strange. I was going to kill him, but I didn’t dare get too close. It feels like I’d end up the same way as that monster if I did.”

The other man smirked.

“Then let me go down there. With my ability, killing him shouldn’t be difficult.”

Crow turned away, his voice cold:

“This world isn’t so easy to predict. Even if you’re strong, I can’t be sure just how powerful he truly is.”

Meanwhile, elsewhere—deep in the territory of the last high-ranked monster—corpses littered the ground, the stench of blood thick in the air. A chestnut-haired boy trembled, his eyes wide in terror.

Before him loomed a massive, black-skinned creature with burning red eyes, holding a spear that had skewered half the body of another student. Blood dripped in thick, crimson drops.

“Why would the academy put something like this in the exam…”

Behind the monster stood a small gate, its inscription half-sliced away:

“Pass through this gate if you have met the conditions to clear the exam.”