The teleportation light faded.
Xero stood in a courtyard bathed in soft moonlight. The scent of iron and blood still lingered in his senses, but the sounds of battle were gone. The stone beneath his feet was warm. A tall wall enclosed the courtyard, shielding it from the wind.
He took a deep breath.
"You made it."
The voice startled him.
He turned to see Sonze standing nearby, bruised and smiling like a bear who had just awoken from a long nap.
Xero smiled back. "So did you."
Sonze limped toward him, every step heavy. "I watched you, you know. You were sneaky as hell." As the campus made it, tests could be viewed from a central television in the View Hall.
Xero chuckled. "You mean smart."
"Smart, sneaky—same thing here." Sonze sat on a wide bench made of polished black stone and rubbed his shoulder. "But damn, that guy was insane."
Xero nodded. "He wasn't just fast. He knew every angle. Every reaction. Like he could see the future."
Sonze snorted. "Well, future or not, I'm just glad I'm still breathing. He sniffed a hell a lot of lives."
They both laughed, the sound echoing into the night. For a moment, the tension of the day lifted.
"I didn't think I'd survive," Xero admitted quietly.
"I did," Sonze said. "You don't talk much, but you've got that look. Like you're not scared of dying."
"Am I?" Xero said. "But I'm more scared of being nothing."
Sonze looked at him, surprised. "Huh. Deep."
They sat in silence.
Around them, other recruits appeared in flashes of light. Some collapsed the moment they arrived. Others looked around in disbelief. A few cried.
From one thousand, only a fraction remained. About Two hundred of them remained. Only half of the initial number. Before the end of the test they may narrow down to a hundred. About eight hundred people had died in the past few days.
Xero looked up. The stars were out, scattered like distant sparks. He couldn't remember the last time he saw the sky and felt... peace.
"So," Sonze said after a while, "what do you think comes next? I mean after we scale through the fifth test."
"The campus." Xero replied. "If we're lucky."
Sonze grinned. "Lucky? We've been through four trials that make death look like a vacation. If we're lucky, we get tortured academically instead."
"I heard the real training starts only after admission." Xero said. "All this? It's just to remove the unworthy."
Sonze leaned back. "Makes sense. Assassin Campus isn't a place for average people. We're talking about assassins who've killed demons. Some of them don't even blink when slicing throats."
Xero remembered what Clark had said about the Grande Tournament. "And we have to fight them. In front of everyone."
Sonze rubbed his chin. "You thinking of joining the Tournament?" He still wanted to know Xero's ideal in this.
"I don't know yet," Xero said. "Maybe. If I survive the next tests. I might know my strength."
They sat again in silence. The air had cooled. A breeze passed through the high walls.
"Still," Xero said, breaking the quiet, "I'm glad you're here. You saved my ass once, remember?"
"That's what brothers do."
Xero looked at him. "Brothers?"
"Don't get emotional," Sonze grinned. "I meant like... arena brothers. Bloodshed and trauma kind of bonding."
Xero laughed. "You're crazy."
"Damn right."
***_***_***_***_***_***_***_***_***_***
Meanwhile, deep within the administrative tower of Castle Loon, two figures stood in front of a glowing map.
One was Master Idran. Tall, composed, arms behind his back. The other wore heavy black robes lined with silver runes—the Grande Commander. A man known simply as Thein.
The map displayed colored dots—each representing a recruit. Most were extinguished.
Thein's face was like granite. "Final tally?"
Idran replied without emotion. "From one thousand, two hundred and forty-three remain."
Thein's eyes narrowed. "And among them?"
"About twenty show promise. Real promise. The kind you mold into elite assassins."
Thein exhaled through his nose. "We lost more than expected."
Idran nodded. "The third test caused chaos. They underestimated the nature of a surprise strike."
"And the fourth?"
"I weeded out the reckless. Only those who planned, adapted, and reacted with intelligence survived."
Thein turned away from the map. "Are they ready for enrollment?"
"Most of them are mentally broken," Idran said. "But those who endured will thrive. If we train them right."
Thein crossed to a high shelf, pulling down a sealed scroll. He unrolled it.
It contained the ancient symbol of the Assassin Campus—a blade wrapped in flame, with wings of smoke on either side.
"They must be broken before they are built," Thein said quietly. "And we must build them to be more than killers. They must be artists of death."
Idran's gaze never wavered. "Then we must push harder. Test them more than ever. These new recruits... they are facing a different world. One ruled by demons. And assassins must adapt."
Thein nodded. "Let the fifth test be the gateway. If they pass it, we open the doors."
"And if they fail?"
"They're buried here."
A long silence.
Then Idran spoke again. "There is one among them... different. Quiet. Controlled. Observant. A spark of something unnatural."
Thein's eyebrow rose. "Name?"
"Xero."
Thein closed the scroll slowly. The very same person he had noticed."Watch him."
"I am."
"And if he becomes dangerous?"
Idran turned his head slightly. "Then ,we recruit him into out Blood Regiments ."
Their eyes met across the silent room.
And in the courtyard far below, Xero sat under the stars, unaware that his name had just been spoken in the mouths of kings.