The academy grounds had never felt so quiet.
Not because the students had stopped talking—but because they were talking in hushed tones. Every hallway whispered secrets. Every glance lingered too long. And every step Eli took echoed a little louder than it should've.
News of the Imperial Scholarship Test candidates hadn't been made public. But in a place like this, nothing stayed hidden for long.
Eli didn't care. Or rather, he wouldn't let himself care.
Still, he could feel the shift. The corridors seemed narrower. The air heavier. He wasn't just another misfit anymore—he was a threat. And threats in this world were not tolerated. They were hunted.
He found himself in the west wing library one afternoon, tucked between the ancient tomes and the scent of ink-stained wood. His usual sanctuary. Only this time, he wasn't alone.
"Wolfstone," came a quiet voice from between the shelves.
He didn't need to turn. He recognized her steps before she spoke.
Hana Mizuno.
Eli didn't say a word. Just closed the book he wasn't really reading and waited.
She stepped into view, wearing the same calm composure that made her unreadable to most. But Eli wasn't most. He could see the sharpness behind her eyes. The way she read the room like a battlefield and moved like a queen with ten steps planned ahead.
"You took the test," she said.
He didn't answer.
"You know they picked me too."
Still, silence.
"You're going to have to speak eventually, Eli," she added, folding her arms. "This isn't a street brawl. It's politics now."
Eli finally looked up. "I don't need allies."
"I'm not offering," Hana replied, raising an eyebrow. "I just thought you should know—this test is designed to break people like us."
"People like us?" he echoed, a hint of mockery in his tone.
"Unclaimed. Unprotected. Wildcards."
Eli stood slowly, eyes locked with hers. "Let them try."
They stared at each other for a long moment. No emotion. No trust. Just quiet recognition of what they were—outliers standing on the edge of an empire built to consume them.
Then Hana said something unexpected.
"They've already started."
He frowned. "The test?"
"No," she said. "The culling. Elimination rounds. Quiet ones. Fail a class, start a fight, cross the wrong noble… and you're out before the first phase begins."
Eli's jaw tightened. "So they want us scared."
"They want us desperate."
A pause. Then she added, "I'm not here to team up, Eli. I'm here to warn you. Whatever game you think you're playing—it's already being rewritten around you."
With that, she turned and walked away, her footsteps as measured and deliberate as always.
Eli stood alone among the shelves, her words echoing in his mind.
They've already started.
Later that evening, a notice appeared on the dorm bulletin.
Candidate #3: Disqualified – Behavioral Violation.
No name. Just a number. Just a reminder.
Eli stood among the crowd staring at the notice, expression blank.
But inside, the wolf was waking up.
He wasn't here to survive.
He was here to dominate.
And if the test had already begun, then the wolves among them were already biting.