As the students stepped through the glowing mirror one by one, they found themselves standing in a strange and eerie place.
Fog was everywhere.
It rolled across the ground like waves and floated in the air, making everything look soft and blurry. But it wasn't thick enough to block vision completely. They could still see what was nearby, but anything far away looked like a distant shadow. It felt like the ground was there, but no one could see it clearly—like they were standing on a cloud.
Even the sky above was filled with mist, but a pale light filtered through just enough so everyone could still see around them.
"Are we in heaven... or hell?" Maruti muttered, half-joking but also a bit serious. Her voice echoed slightly in the quiet, foggy air.
All the students had arrived by now. No one was running ahead to get a head start—this wasn't a race. Everyone knew this was a trial. And none of them had any idea what was coming next.
Ethan looked around cautiously, then whispered to himself, "Well... if the academy arranged this, it shouldn't be too dangerous. We can handle it."
Meanwhile, Esdeath walked forward with calm confidence, her head held high like a queen used to being followed.
"Let's go," she said, her tone cool and certain as she took the first steps forward.
Maruti quickly followed her, and seeing the two of them move, the rest of the students took deep breaths and began to walk too. The air was cold and the silence was heavy, but everyone forced themselves forward, ready—or at least pretending to be ready—for whatever was waiting.
---
They walked for five minutes.
Nothing changed. The fog stretched on forever. No trees. No buildings. Just white mist all around, and the soft sound of footsteps.
But then…
A chilling sound broke the silence.
The quiet was replaced by soft sobs… the cries of babies… and the weeping of women.
It came from all around.
"What the hell?! Someone stop these voices!" a student shouted, clearly shaken.
But the voices didn't stop. If anything, they grew louder. The sounds were faint but disturbing—like whispers from something not human.
Everyone stayed close together. No one dared to move too far ahead or too far behind. The fear was real, but being in a group gave them a little comfort, like safety in numbers.
And then—
Something even worse happened.
A pale, cold hand suddenly shot up from the fog-covered ground, reaching out.
"Help… please… someone help me…" a woman's weak, sobbing voice came from below.
Everyone froze.
"I'll help her!" a girl in the group said quickly and ran over. She bent down and grabbed the hand, trying to pull the person up.
But nothing happened.
"She's not moving! I can't pull her up!" the girl said, her voice strained as she tugged harder.
But before anyone could react—
The hand suddenly grabbed her wrist tight.
And with one swift motion—
WHOOSH!
The ground opened slightly, and the girl was yanked down into the fog with terrifying force. She didn't even have time to scream.
She was just gone.
Pulled into the ground like she was never there.
Silence followed.
Every student flinched, stepping back. They knew the girl hadn't truly died, just been sent outside for failing the trial. Still, the sight of her being dragged under the foggy ground was deeply unsettling. It was a scary, vivid reminder of the trial's dangers, even if the stakes weren't real death.
Maruti slapped her forehead, letting out a tired sigh. "Seriously? How can anyone fall for such a simple trick? Didn't the teacher say this inheritance was already claimed, and everything here is just a fake copy? Why would a real person be begging for help?" Her voice showed her clear frustration with how easily others were fooled.
Esdeath, on the other hand, just smirked. A cold light danced in her eyes. "It would have been much more fun if whoever died here actually died for real!"
-------
Outside the shimmering, mirror-like portal, the girl who had just been swallowed by the foggy world gasped, her eyes flying open. She lay on solid ground, perfectly fine, not a scratch on her. Her hands flew to her chest, clutching her clothes as she took several shaky breaths. "I... I survived!" she whispered, a wave of relief washing over her. But her moment of thanks was cut short as a huge shadow fell over her.
It was the strict teacher, arms crossed, a stern look on his face. "Disqualified already? Looks like you need some really tough training." His voice was firm, leaving no room for argument or pity.
Back in the murky, foggy world, another hand reached out from the ground. This time, it was a smaller, younger hand. The voice, crying for help, was clearly the same as the girl who had just been taken by the earth.
"Someone save me! I'm almost out, just pull me a little!" she pleaded, her voice shaking with what sounded like real fear.
The remaining students recoiled, their faces set. They took several steps back, focusing their eyes. No way. They wouldn't fall for that trick a second time. A silent understanding passed between them: this was a test of their smarts, and they wouldn't be fooled again.
After a few tense moments, when no one moved to help, the pleading hand slowly, slowly, sank back into the ground, vanishing without a trace. A quiet, collective sigh of relief rippled through the group.
"Okay, time to fly!" Esdeath told Maruti, her voice full of confidence. Without a moment's pause, she used her wind magic, letting a faint breeze lift her easily into the air.
Maruti, acting on instinct and a flash of fiery resolve, used her own fire magic. Flames danced around her feet, pushing her upward to float next to Esdeath. It was perfect timing, because just as they rose, dozens of bony hands burst from the ground at once, grabbing wildly at anyone close.
Many students, quick on their feet, jumped back or to the side, barely escaping the grabbing hands. But others weren't so lucky.
"Ahhh! Get off me, you zombie hands!" a boy screamed, panic in his voice. He struggled, desperate to free his leg from a hand that had clamped around his ankle, but the grip was too strong. With a sickening tug, he was dragged down, swallowed by the foggy earth, his cries suddenly cut off.
It became painfully clear: those who could fly had a huge, clear advantage. Those stuck on the ground had to rely on sheer luck and quick moves.
Ethan moved with wind steps, each stride carrying him across the ground at incredible speed, almost as if he were skimming the air. Emma, a ground-type mage who couldn't fly, held tightly to his back, relying on his quickness to get them through the danger. Violet, with her control over gravity magic, subtly changed the forces around her, letting her float a few feet above the dangerous ground. Her movements were smooth and precise. Sylvania, less restricted, simply used her magic to fly freely, gliding through the air with a graceful ease.
Suddenly, a girl with striking blonde, slightly curly hair ignited. "Lightning speed!" she declared, a brilliant yellow light covering her body.
Wooshhhhhh!
Her body blurred, turning into a living bolt of yellow lightning. She shot past the grasping hands with incredible, blinding speed, a streak of pure energy. She didn't slow down, didn't hesitate. In fact, she sped past even Esdeath and Maruti, who had been leading the way. This was Claus Clandestine, the Marquess, a talented student who had come so close to winning the one-on-one duel but in the end lost to Violet.
Soon after that, Ethan and his team passed by Esdeath and Maruti, flying ahead with smooth steps and focused faces. Many other students followed right behind them, some running, some barely flying, all trying to escape the grabbing hands below.
But all eyes slowly turned toward Sasha.
She was still walking on the ground like nothing was happening, not bothered at all. In her hand, she was holding Alice by the tail, lazily swinging her through the air like a bag of vegetables.
Every time a skeleton hand came out of the ground to grab her leg, it did nothing. Sasha's steps were firm and heavy, and instead of getting pulled down, she ended up pulling the skeletons out with her steps. Some were dragged halfway out of the ground, their arms stretched toward her, but their bones rattled helplessly as she walked without pause.
"You really are Maruti's older sister," Alice said while dangling in the air. Her eyes were spinning, and her voice shook with amazement. "If you weren't here, I'd already be thrown out of this trial!"
"No need to thank me. Just keep talking," Sasha said in a flat voice. She didn't even look at Alice. Her cold eyes were focused on the white mist ahead.
Alice nodded with a dreamy smile. "So where was I? Oh right! Maruti and I were supposed to go on that date together, just the two of us. But then that annoying lizard Kaelith forced herself in between! Hmph, Maruti only wanted to go with me. She really likes me, you know~, Ohh she even wrote a letter for me once but I never got to read it—"
Her voice was sweet but twisted, and every word she said was clearly made up by her own crazy imagination.
Many students were flying or running as fast as they could to get ahead. They didn't care what was behind anymore. The fog, the hands, the danger—it was all behind them now.
But Esdeath and Maruti didn't seem to care about rushing.
They floated in the air slowly, side by side, like they were taking a peaceful walk instead of being inside a dangerous trial. There was no fear, no stress, not even the slightest hurry in their expressions.
"Aren't we supposed to use our advantage and go ahead as fast as we can?" Maruti asked while stretching her arms lazily.
"No need," Esdeath said softly. "By now, some of them are probably fighting each other."
"Fighting?" Maruti raised an eyebrow.
Esdeath nodded calmly. "You'll understand once we get there."
Even after saying that, she didn't change her speed. They just floated peacefully, like two girls enjoying a quiet morning walk.
The world around them was covered in white mist. There was no sky, no ground—just endless whiteness. After a while, Maruti started feeling bored.
She did a few backflips in the air, spun around for fun, and made silly shapes with her hands.
She even did some silly game moves such as "Kamehameha", "Stand pose from JJBA", "Bankai" Etc.
But then her eyes landed on something strange.
She leaned closer to Esdeath, squinting. Without warning, she reached out and plucked a single strand of hair from Esdeath's head.
"Red hair?" she said loudly.
Esdeath turned around sharply and looked at the strand in Maruti's hand. She sighed, rubbing her forehead.
"Can't you stay still for even one moment?" she said. "Well, I was going to tell you anyway."
She slowly undid her braid, letting her long black hair fall loose over her shoulders. It flowed smoothly like silk, but as she moved her fingers through it, the hidden part was revealed.
The outer layer was black, but inside, there were strands of red, like a layer of red hair beneath the outer layer of black hair.
Maruti's eyes lit up. "Did you dye your hair? You should've told me! I was thinking of changing my hair color too!"
But Esdeath shook her head.
"No. It happened on its own."
Maruti tilted her head in surprise. "On its own? Did you get some cool new power or something?"
But Esdeath shook her head again, this time with a small sigh.
"It's quite the opposite. The red means... corruption."
Before Maruti could ask more, Esdeath explained with a calm but serious voice.
"There's an old legend. It says that red is a sign of corruption. If it's true, then—" she paused for a moment, then continued, "—if your eyes, hair, or even your skin starts turning red without any reason, it means your body is getting tainted. And when your second awakening happens, there's a 20% higher chance you'll become an 'Anomaly Class'. It can also increase your chances of awakening as a vampire, wolf, or another corrupted type… by 30%, Thay means if I were to be one of these three things, There's 50% chance that I will become an anomaly."
Maruti's eyes widened as she pointed, "Wait! Your eyes are red too!"
Esdeath let out a small chuckle. "No. That doesn't count. If someone is born with red hair or red eyes, or got them due to a magical reason, then it doesn't mean anything. It's only when the red shows up suddenly on its own, without any explanation, that it becomes dangerous."
Maruti slowly nodded. "But you said it's just a legend, right? Don't you already know the future? Shouldn't you be sure if the legend is real or not?"
Esdeath closed her eyes and lifted her index finger like a teacher giving a lecture.
"There are a lot of things I don't know, even now. That's what you get from a trash game world like this. I played it hundreds of times, yet most of the time I got the bad endings, I mean I purposely did it. And even at the end... many mysteries stayed unanswered."
As Esdeath opened her eyes again, she found Maruti rolling on the ground, flipping her sleeves, lifting her denim shorts's edges, and checking herself all over.
"Now what?" Esdeath sighed, already tired.
"I'm checking if I have any red patches on my body!" Maruti said seriously, her eyes filled with worry.
Esdeath slapped her forehead with a groan. "Do you even read the history books in the library? Barbarians, elves, Elves, dark elves, demons... they don't get vampire, wolf, or anomaly awakenings. Their second awakening is always something simple, like better physical strength or improved control over their main element or some other thing."
She paused and looked ahead with an annoyed expression.
"Only we humans, dragons, and beastkin have to deal with this weird corruption nonsense."
Maruti suddenly stood up straight with a grin. "So I'm actually safe, huh? Feels like someone is purposely trying to curse these three species!",
Both Esdeath and Maruti started walking again through the silent, foggy world. But this time, Maruti was unusually quiet. She glanced at Esdeath from the corner of her eye and finally asked in a soft voice,
"What will you do if you awaken as an Anomaly... or a Vampire… or a Wolf?"
Esdeath raised her chin a little, her voice calm but steady.
"I have Lortell, remember? If I ever feel like something's wrong—like I barely escaped death or if I start losing my mind or thinking weird things—you, too, if you ever notice anything strange about me… other than my usual simping for Lortell," she added with a small smirk, "just tell me right away. That kind of behavior is a sign of anomaly. If it happens, I'll rush to Lortell and let her turn me into a vampire."
"If I awaken as a vampire, I'll have to survive one full night while going crazy. But after that, if I don't become one of the noble bloodline vampires, I'll go to Lortell again and let her turn me into one herself. I don't mind becoming her servant. I'll gain way more power that way than being just a random low-level vampire."
Maruti's eyes widened a bit, surprised at how clear and detailed Esdeath's plan was. But Esdeath wasn't finished.
"And if I awaken as a Wolf Girl," she added with a shrug, "that's fine too. I already have powers related to time. Wolfman—usually have a natural bond with space magic. Time and space together? That's a great match. I wouldn't complain."
She said it all so casually, like she had already thought about it a hundred times before.
Maruti clapped her hands once, smiling brightly.
"You really have a plan for everything, huh? You codename should be "Ms.Prepared", Not Fable",
Esdeath smirked with pride.
"Well, there's still a big chance I'm just overthinking things. In truth, I'd prefer my second awakening to be as a human. Human awakenings come with their own special perks too."
Maruti nodded, thinking it made sense… but another question popped into her mind.
"Wait… what about dragons and beastkin? I mean… can someone really be both a dragon and a vampire at the same time? Like… a vampire dragon that sucks blood? Or a wolf dragon?"
Esdeath laughed softly and shook her head.
"No, it doesn't work like that. They get different awakenings than us. And honestly... they have it even worse."
"Dragons already have incredible power from birth. But when they go through second awakening, it's always risky, or pointless.That's why most dragons don't even try. They just stay in their lairs, sleeping for years. They avoid breeding, avoid fighting and breaking their limits. They don't want to risk it."