In a vast, artificially carved abyss, towering stone pillars stretched into the sky. Wide, solid, and spaced apart, they looked like the backbone of some forgotten giant. Atop each stood a Regular, all from the Fisherman class, clutching a red needle.
Indrah stood on one near the edge, eyes lifted, focus sharp. His gaze was locked above, but his awareness spanned the field.
Hax floated overhead, scanning the area with a calm, hovering presence. Once most of the Regulars had assembled—barring the handful already disqualified due to injuries or worse—she started speaking.
"This test is simple. Or maybe not, depending on how clumsy you are," she said with a grin under her silver mask. "We're going to reduce the number of Regulars on these pillars from twelve to eight. Only the red needle in your hand is allowed. Use it well."
A beat.
"So… any questions?"
Endorsi raised a hand. "We're standing way too high up. Is there some kinda protection if someone falls?"
"There is," Hax replied. "But not perfect. A fall from here could put you out of the game… maybe for good."
"So basically, failing this Test is like failing the whole class," Endorsi muttered.
"Exactly!" Hax giggled.
"Then let's begin! Ready… go!"
WHOOSH WHOOSH
Violent gusts ripped through the air as soon as Hax gave the word. Almost immediately—like some unspoken signal—every Regular on the field began jumping toward Indrah's pillar. All of them, except Anaak and Endorsi, who were clearly more interested in resolving some old score.
'Hmm… just what I needed. A fresh set of punching bags,' Indrah thought, calm as ever.
Since stepping onto this ship, he'd made it a habit to train in Taijutsu. From what he could tell, both Taijutsu and Kenjutsu felt built into his very core. Not something he'd learned, but something his body remembered. Muscle memory. Instinct.
He could activate Kenjutsu with intent, but Taijutsu… that was different. It required his body to move on its own, drawing from reflexes buried deep. So, for weeks, he trained only the basics—moves he could replicate with consistency.
Now, as the Regulars landed on his pillar, he stood still, barely reacting.
"You wouldn't mind if we hung out here, right kid?" one of them asked, cocky. The guy looked like a Young master in a trashy Cultivation-novel.
"And what's the deal with your weird eye?" the guy kept rambling. "You look like a bootleg villain from—"
BOOM
"Mount Tai, motherfucker."
Indrah moved like a phantom. A blur. One second the guy was talking, the next… his body blasted through the air like a cannonball. A hole tore through multiple pillars behind him as he disappeared into the distance.
Smoke and wind trailed the arc he flew across.
Silence fell.
The other Regulars just… froze. Trembling. Trying to make sense of what just happened.
"He'll live," Indrah said flatly. "No need to freak out."
"Y-You expect me to believe that?!" another guy barked—Changsoo Yung or whatever. His face was already pale.
"What's your name, good sir?" Indrah asked with a gentle smile.
"C-Changsoo Yung…"
"Ahh, Mr. Yung," Indrah nodded politely. "You see, the moment you stepped on this pillar… you lost the right to question anything."
The smile remained, but his tone dropped.
" It's difficult to control my powers, it's difficult to step on ants without crushing them "
He let that hang in the air.
Then he moved.
A blur again. He fought without unleashing his full strength—just enough to overwhelm but not kill. Every strike was a textbook example of the basics he'd trained. Controlled, deliberate, restrained.
The battle stretched on. He didn't want to end it too fast.
But then his eye caught movement—Endorsi holding onto Anaak's leg, both struggling not to fall off their pillar.
'Tch. I don't want those two failing this round…'
[ CHIDORI STREAM ]
RRRRRUMMMMBLE
Lightning exploded from Indrah in a violent torrent, arcs of blue energy tearing across the stone. The air sizzled. The very pillar beneath him glowed bright, humming with power. His opponents, already exhausted, couldn't move. They could only watch, stunned, as the electricity crashed down around them.
Out of the grey abyss, only one pillar radiated that eerie blue glow… his.
Anaak and Endorsi both turned toward him, expressions grim.
"Is that guy trying to kill them?" Endorsi muttered.
Up above, Hax hovered silently, her mask hiding a frown.
'This power… it's not something a Regular should wield. Is this why that coffee-obsessed freak asked me to keep an eye on him? No… his whole existence feels wrong. Ominous. Anomalous.'
When the lightning finally died out, the center pillar—Indrah's—was just… gone.
"Is the test over?" a voice called.
Everyone turned. Indrah was standing casually on a neighboring pillar, looking up at the sky like nothing happened.
'Shit. I hope they don't disqualify me for that… I can't control my power under 1%. Not like it's my fault the pillar—and those guys—are weak. Yeah… not my fault.' Sweat beaded down his back at the thought.
Meanwhile, Hax misread the entire thing.
'He must've pushed himself to exhaustion. Probably trying to look cool now, standing like that. Typical.'
"Well," she said, floating down, "you're the last one standing, technically. But if those two," she gestured toward Endorsi and Anaak's destroyed pillar, "recover before the next test… they'll be considered passers too."
Indrah blinked. "Wait… they fell?"
"They did. After your little storm," Hax said, checking on the injured.
Looking over the edge, Indrah immediately felt two pairs of eyes burning into him from below.
whistle whistle
"Ahh… nice weather today."
Without another word, he turned and walked away. No hesitation. No guilt.
…
On the way to his room, his thoughts wandered.
'Hopefully that little display sends a message… stop sending minions. This is the third time. Once during the first test, again in the crown game, and now this. They're either testing me or trying to provoke me.'
This wasn't him snapping on a whim—this was calculated. If they wanted a reaction, he just gave them one… loud and clear. Either they'd back off entirely, or they'd send someone big next. Someone who might finally be worth the trouble.
By the time he reached his room, he was calm again.
It was simple—bed, lavatory, a balcony overlooking the open sky. He liked it. The air was fresh. The feeling of Shinsu flowing all around him… peaceful. Like a fish in water.
"Let's see."
He sat on the couch by the window and closed his eyes. Today, he planned to catalogue all the skills and powers of his current body. He hadn't fully mastered them yet, but with enough control—toning down Shinsu output by 99%—he could use most of it without killing anyone by accident.
'Taijutsu is instinct… but the rest, I can refine. I need a roadmap. I need structure.'
He started digging into his memories—not from his own life, but from this new body. Everything it knew. Everything it could do. He tried to pull it all up like opening folders on a PC…
But what he found wasn't there.
It was somewhere else entirely.
Something… different.