The elder raised his hand slowly and with just that small movement, the weight that had been forcing them to kneel disappeared. A sudden wave of relief passed through the young warriors. One by one, they stood, breathing heavily, wiping sweat from their brows. Some were even trembling. That pressure had felt like a mountain crushing their backs. This elder… he was not someone to joke with.
The elder turned, his black robe dragging across the clean stone floor as he walked to the front of the hall. Then he finally spoke, his voice not loud, but it felt like it was bouncing inside everyone's skull.
"The rules for the entrance trial has changed this year."
Everyone's heart skipped a beat. Some heads raised, some eyes narrowed.
The elder continued, "You will not fight each other."
That caught them off guard. Fighting was what they had trained for. That's what the past 11 years was about. Swords, fists, speed, killing—what else could there be?
"You will instead be sent into the human world. Each of you will be given a mission. If you complete it…" He paused, letting the weight of his words hang like a sword above their heads. "You will be admitted into the Blackwatch."
Murmurs rose. A mission? In the human world? This was a huge jump. Most of them had not left the timeless zone in a decade.
One of the boys, a nervous one with short brown hair, raised his hand. "E-Excuse me, elder... What if we can't finish the mission?"
The elder didn't even look at him. He simply said, "If you do not finish it within twenty-four hours... you die."
Silence fell again, heavier than before. It was like someone had cut the air with a blade. The boy who asked the question dropped his hand slowly, his face pale. Even Caelum, who never showed much reaction, frowned deeply. His brows knotted so tight they almost touched. A time limit? On a mission they knew nothing about?
"That's mad…" Galen muttered from the side, now standing near Isoria. "How are we supposed to even know what we're doing?"
Isoria didn't reply. Her lips were pressed into a thin line. Her whole face had gone stiff, unreadable.
The elder didn't care about their shock. He raised his hand again, and thirteen silver badges appeared in the air. They floated like feathers, yet they sparkled like stars. Then with a flick of his fingers, the badges began to split and hover in front of different pairs.
"You will move in pairs. The person beside you is your partner."
Everyone turned to look at who they were paired with. Isoria and Galen looked at each other, not surprised. Caelum looked around to see who was walking towards him, but no one came. He blinked. Then he saw—he had no partner.
The elder walked to him and placed a badge in Caelum's hand. "You will go alone," he said, his voice calm. "Your badge is your partner."
Some of the others exchanged glances. A few smirked. Some looked at Caelum in pity, others in fear. Going alone meant you had no backup. No one to cover you. No one to save you.
Caelum didn't say anything.
The others were busy checking their badge difficulty. Some had "one" and smiled like they had just escaped death. A few unlucky ones had "two" and swallowed hard. Then Galen cursed out loud when he saw the number on Isoria's badge.
"Three?!" he shouted. "These people want me dead for real."
Isoria didn't even flinch. She just looked at her badge like it was a piece of dust. "If you're scared, just don't come."
Galen shook his head fast. "Nah. If I die, I die. I'm not letting them say I ran."
Galen suddenly noticed that Caelum's face was frozen in shock. His brows were stiff, his lips parted slightly, and his hands hung still by his side like someone who'd just seen a ghost. Galen frowned as he leaned a little closer and whispered to Isoria, "What did I tell you? Caelum's luck is always messed up. Look at his face. He's alone and still got a difficulty of three."
Isoria blinked. "Wait, what?"
Galen tilted his head toward Caelum, nodding. "I saw the badge. Big number three."
Isoria narrowed her eyes and looked toward the badge in Caelum's hand. For a second, her breath caught in her throat. She stared, then stared again. That wasn't a three.
That was a five.
Her whole body tensed instantly, the blood in her veins going cold as her heart thudded once—hard. "That's not a three…" she whispered.
"What?" Galen asked, glancing again. Then he leaned in further, squinting.
Isoria's voice dropped. "That's five… Level five."
Galen straightened up instantly, eyes widening. "No way."
Isoria didn't reply. She couldn't. Her eyes stayed fixed on Caelum. The badge sat in his palm like a curse, the glowing red number branded into its center, clear as day—5. Her fingers clutched her own badge tighter without meaning to. If she and Galen were barely confident to survive a level three mission together, how could someone survive a level five alone?
It was suicide.
She glanced at the elder who stood at the front like a statue. Cold, uncaring. This wasn't random. It couldn't be. This man gave Caelum that mission on purpose. That kind of difficulty wasn't even supposed to be available for the entrance exams. Everyone knew that. Level five missions were reserved for trained Blackwatchers. Veterans. Some didn't even come back from those.
The air in the hall shifted slightly.
Another girl to the left squinted at Caelum's badge, then gasped. "Wait… that's a five. That's five, right? Not three?"
Everyone turned.
"What?" someone whispered.
One boy took a step closer and let out a dry, humorless laugh. "He's screwed. That's a death sentence."
Voices rippled across the group like falling stones on a pond.
"He's alone…"
"A five?"
"Dead man walking."
Someone muttered with a blank face, "I guess we're down to 24 already."
That was the general thought. No one said it directly, but everyone had accepted it. He was finished. The best Caelum could do now was forfeit and wait the twenty-four hours for death to take him. That would still be better than whatever was waiting in that mission.
And yet Caelum didn't move. Didn't speak. Didn't even show any emotion on his face. He just kept staring at the badge like he was trying to figure out why someone had just thrown him into a grave with a smile.
Some of them looked uncomfortable. A few clenched their fists, but none dared say a word. Going against an elder was dangerous. Stupid. But there was always that one person.
Isoria raised her head, stepped forward, and said loud and clear, "This is madness!"
Her voice echoed off the stone walls.
All eyes turned to her.
She stepped forward again, ignoring Galen's tug on her wrist. "How do you expect someone to survive a level five mission alone? Are you seriously sending him to die? What is this, some kind of test to see who lasts the longest screaming?"
The elder turned his eyes toward her.
Cold.
Empty.
His brow raised slightly. "Tread carefully, child," he said in a low, calm voice. "Your mouth may cost you more than you're willing to pay."
But Isoria didn't back down yet. Her jaw was clenched. Her eyes burned. Before she could open her mouth again though, Caelum shook his head. Just once. A simple movement.
His eyes met hers, and they were calm.
Too calm.
"Don't," he said quietly.
His voice wasn't loud, but she heard it. And somehow, that was enough. Her fists shook at her sides, and she looked away in frustration, biting down the words in her throat. Damn him. Damn that stupid calm face of his.
As for Caelum, he turned back to the elder.
Still emotionless.
He stared at the man for a long moment, trying to understand. This wasn't about the exam anymore. That much was clear. Someone had placed something on his path that didn't belong. Level five? Why? What did they want from him?
He felt something stir in his chest. Something quiet, cold. A thought. A whisper. There's more going on here than you know.
And he would find out.
But for now, he just held the badge, stepped back in line, and waited.