The first light of the moon illuminated the forest entrance as the surviving participants slowly emerged from between the trees. Their clothes were covered in dirt, several had bloodstains across their bodies, and almost everyone looked exhausted after spending forty-eight hours inside the forest.
Cain stood several meters away from the entrance, watching each participant carefully as they emerged while another instructor recorded their names. Cain remained the only instructor responsible for the evaluation.
Once the final participant stepped out of the forest, Cain looked over the group and confirmed their numbers before speaking.
"Everyone standing here has passed the second evaluation."
Several participants immediately sighed in relief, while others simply collapsed onto the ground from exhaustion. Rook remained standing beside Milo, although his body was aching after everything that had happened inside the forest.
Cain’s expression became more serious as he continued. "Two participants were killed by Demon Beasts during the evaluation. Their deaths will be reported, but the rest of you fulfilled the requirements."
Rook glanced toward the forest behind them. Two people had entered alongside them forty-eight hours earlier and would never walk out again. The thought reminded him that despite being called an evaluation, this place had never been safe.
Cain then dismissed them for the night and ordered everyone to return to their assigned quarters, recover, and prepare for the third evaluation the following morning.
Rook walked alongside Milo for a while before a familiar figure approached from behind. Kael walked past them before suddenly stopping and glancing toward Rook’s empty hands.
"Maybe next time you should think about holding a weapon," he said casually before continuing toward the academy without waiting for a response.
Rook stared at his back with an irritated expression.
"What was that supposed to mean?"
Milo laughed quietly and shrugged. "Probably his strange way of being friendly."
Rook rolled his eyes, but eventually the two reached the point where their paths separated. Milo gave him a tired wave before heading toward his dormitory, leaving Rook to continue toward the quarters belonging to his squad.
Unlike the newly awakened students who would be assigned to squads after their awakening, Rook already belonged to Seryn’s squad, meaning his room remained inside their dormitory. When he pushed the door open, several familiar faces immediately turned toward him.
Seryn was sitting near the table, Baram was stretched across one of the couches, Rex was cleaning his daggers, Lina had a book open in front of her, and Dren stood near the window with his arms crossed.
For a moment, everyone simply stared at Rook until Baram suddenly stood and laughed.
"You actually made it back!"
Rook raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn’t I?"
Baram scratched his head while grinning. "Because you went into a forest filled with demons for two days. I thought there was a fifty percent chance we’d be identifying your corpse."
Rook sighed. "Thanks for the encouragement."
Seryn approached him with a faint smile. "Did you pass?"
Rook nodded. "I passed."
The atmosphere immediately became lighter as Baram laughed and Lina smiled, while even Rex briefly stopped cleaning his dagger.
Seryn looked genuinely relieved. "I knew you would."
Rook smiled slightly at her words, but before he could respond, Dren finally spoke from beside the window.
"Tell us what happened."
Rook walked over and sat down, knowing he would have to explain at least part of what had happened inside the forest. He wasn’t going to tell them everything, but there was no reason to hide the fact that the evaluation had been far more dangerous than expected.
He began explaining what had happened from the moment he and Milo entered the forest, including the encounter with the Demon Beasts, the other participants, and eventually Kael. When he mentioned Kael stealing golden stones from other participants, Baram’s expression immediately darkened.
"That bastard."
Rook nodded. "It gets worse. He wasn’t even the only problem. He had clones."
Seryn frowned. "Clones?"
"Six of him," Rook replied. "They looked exactly like him, moved almost perfectly together, and were difficult to kill because their injuries disappeared."
The room became noticeably quieter.
Dren’s expression hardened. "Didn’t know he had such a Trait. And you survived?"
"Obviously."
Baram laughed again. "That’s why you’re standing here."
Rook leaned back in his chair. "There was something else, though. Sir has apparently decided to give us another chance."
Seryn’s expression changed immediately.
"At Ozymandias."
The name made everyone silent.
Rook looked between them. "We’re going after him again?"
"Not yet," Seryn replied. "Sir said we can attempt it again after you complete all your evaluations and become a full member of the squad. Until then, we’re supposed to focus on getting stronger."
Rook nodded slowly. That was better than he expected. The previous Rook’s memories carried the weight of their failure against Ozymandias, but this time he wasn’t the same person who had failed before.
He had awakened.
He had already grown stronger.
And he had barely begun exploring what his abilities could do.
"Then we’ll finish the evaluations first," Rook said. "After that, we’ll deal with Ozymandias."
Seryn nodded while the others agreed, and the conversation continued for some time as they discussed their next steps. Eventually, exhaustion began catching up with everyone, and the squad slowly retired to their rooms.
Rook returned to his own room and closed the wooden door behind him. He removed his jacket, the Ashline training uniform, and placed it over the chair before sitting on the edge of his bed. His body still ached from the battles inside the forest, but he had experienced worse.
Tomorrow would bring another evaluation.
Rook opened his System and stared at his status for several seconds before closing it again.
He needed rest.
The next evaluation would probably be even worse.
Rook lay back on his bed, but sleep didn’t come immediately. His mind kept returning to the forest and everything that had happened during those forty-eight hours. The Demon Beasts, the golden stones, the participants who had turned against each other, and most importantly, Kael. There was still something about that swordsman that bothered him.
Rook had fought him with everything he had, yet Kael had still managed to keep up with him through nothing but his swordsmanship. Even now, Rook couldn’t understand how the clones had been created or why Kael had gone through so much trouble to steal the stones.
For some reason, he felt he and Kael still had unfinished business.
He opened his System once more and examined his attributes.
His body had become considerably stronger since awakening, but there were still limits he hadn’t managed to overcome. His Intelligence and Spirit remained capped, while his Mana was slowly recovering from the battle. He wondered what would happen when he finally reached the next Rank and whether the System would allow him to push his attributes beyond their current limits.
More importantly, he wondered what the third evaluation would demand from him.
Rook closed the System and turned toward the window.
’Whatever the third evaluation is, I’ll deal with it tomorrow.’
He closed his eyes and finally allowed himself to relax.