Before Sunrise
The academy gates stood open.
A cold wind swept through the courtyard.
Yozaro carried only three things:
A wooden sword.
A water flask.
A small knife.
Nothing else.
Kael frowned.
“That’s all you’re taking?”
Raizen answered before Yozaro could.
“If he needs more…”
“…he has already failed.”
Rex wrapped Yozaro in a crushing hug.
“Come back alive.”
“I’ll try.”
“You’d better do more than try.”
Mira handed him a small pouch.
“Medicinal herbs.”
“You’ll know when to use them.”
Yozaro accepted them with a smile.
“Thank you.”
Luna stepped forward last.
She hesitated for a moment before handing him a small blue notebook.
“I wrote down edible plants, poisonous herbs, and monster tracks.”
Yozaro looked surprised.
“…You made this?”
She nodded, avoiding his eyes.
“I thought…”
“…it might help.”
Yozaro smiled warmly.
“It will.”
For a brief second…
Luna forgot to breathe.
Just as Yozaro was about to leave…
A royal carriage arrived.
Elenia stepped down.
She had clearly come in a hurry.
“I made it…”
She walked over and handed Yozaro a small silver pendant.
“It’s a good-luck charm.”
He looked at it.
“I can’t accept something so valuable.”
She shook her head.
“It’s not because I’m a princess.”
“It’s because…”
She paused.
“…because I want you to come back safely.”
Yozaro nodded.
“I promise.”
She smiled, though her heart felt strangely heavy as she watched him leave.
Luna silently witnessed the exchange from a distance.
She looked down at the notebook in her hands.
“…So that’s why…”
She finally understood the ache in her chest.
Raizen led Yozaro deep into the Ashen Mountains.
For seven days, they climbed without speaking.
The higher they went, the colder it became.
Finally…
They reached a lonely peak.
There was no village.
No road.
Only endless wilderness.
Raizen stopped.
“This is your trial.”
Yozaro looked around.
“…What do I have to do?”
Raizen pointed toward the distant horizon.
Yozaro blinked.
“…That’s it?”
The old man smiled.
“No maps.”
“No food.”
“No magic.”
“And…”
He took Yozaro’s wooden sword.
“You don’t need this.”
Yozaro stared.
“My sword?”
Raizen tossed it over the cliff.
It disappeared into the clouds below.
“You’ve relied on it for too long.”
Then…
The Sword Saint vanished.
Leaving Yozaro completely alone.
The mountain became silent.
Dark clouds covered the moon.
Yozaro built a small shelter beneath a large rock.
Using Luna’s notebook, he identified safe berries and collected rainwater.
He whispered,
“Thanks, Luna.”
The wind carried his voice into the darkness.
Three days passed.
His stomach growled constantly.
He caught fish with sharpened branches.
Climbed cliffs.
Crossed freezing rivers.
Every step drained his strength.
On the fifth day…
He found fresh footprints.
Not human.
A monster.
He slowly followed them.
Instead of attacking…
He watched.
A huge mountain bear hunted a deer with perfect patience.
Yozaro sat hidden among the rocks.
“…So that’s how…”
He realized something.
The bear didn’t waste energy.
It waited.
Observed.
Then struck once.
Raizen’s lesson echoed in his mind.
“Control the distance.”
Even nature fought that way.
Back at the academy…
Kael slammed a map onto the table.
“We’re not just sitting around.”
Rex nodded.
“Agreed.”
Mira looked worried.
“If the Cult attacks again…”
“We need information.”
Luna quietly placed Orion’s journal beside the map.
“I found something.”
She opened to a page marked with a ribbon.
One sentence had been written in red ink.
The Cult has an informant inside the Royal Academy.
Silence filled the room.
Kael whispered,
“…A traitor?”
None of them noticed…
Outside the classroom window…
A shadow stood motionless.
“So…”
“They’ve discovered the journal.”
The figure disappeared into the darkness.
On the tenth day…
Yozaro reached a narrow valley.
Suddenly…
Six Shadow Wolves surrounded him.
Without a sword…
Without magic…
He had only a knife.
The wolves circled slowly.
Waiting.
Yozaro didn’t panic.
He remembered the mountain bear.
He slowed his breathing.
He waited.
One wolf lunged.
At the last possible moment…
He stepped aside.
The wolf crashed into another.
Yozaro used the terrain instead of force.
Rocks.
Trees.
Steep slopes.
One by one…
The wolves tired themselves out.
Only the alpha remained.
It charged.
Yozaro didn’t dodge.
He stood his ground until the very last heartbeat.
Then—
One precise movement.
The knife struck the wolf’s shoulder—not to kill, but to redirect its momentum.
The alpha tumbled past him and slid down the hillside.
The remaining wolves immediately followed their leader.
The valley fell silent.
Yozaro collapsed against a tree, exhausted.
He laughed weakly.
“…I finally understand.”
“A sword…”
“…is only a tool.”
“The real weapon…”
“…is the person holding it.”
Three weeks later…
Thin.
Covered in scars.
But alive.
Yozaro finally reached the academy gates.
Raizen stood waiting with folded arms.
A faint smile appeared on the old master’s face.
“You’ve passed the second trial.”
Yozaro smiled tiredly.
“…What’s the third?”
Raizen looked toward the academy.
His smile disappeared.
“The third trial…”
“…has already begun.”
At that exact moment—
A loud alarm echoed across the academy.
DONG!
DONG!
DONG!
Headmaster Aldric’s voice boomed through magical speakers.
“All students, report to the central plaza immediately!”
“This is not a drill!”
Yozaro’s expression hardened.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.