Date: Year 23,000 month 1, week 1 day 5,

POV of Maich

As Maich sat cross-legged outside, darkness surrounded him. From a bystander's view, he was at peace, but his mind was in chaos. His eyes were locked on a black tent. Whispers could be heard from it, but he couldn't hear them from his distance. Maich touched the scar that ran diagonally over his eyes and shook his blue hair. It had been a week of training, and Maich hadn't killed her. Maybe he was a coward, destined to do nothing. Maybe he was destined to be a loser.

“Maybe I am a coward,” Maich whispered. Every day he told himself that he was going to kill her. But he didn't. He didn't know how. How could he take a life without feeling any guilt? He wasn't like Luther, a merciless killer with the eyes of the devil. So from the day, that Maich made his vow, he was trapped in watching her. She was a beautiful girl with blonde hair and a bright smile amplified her beauty even more. She was short and thick. And like many of them, she was trying her best to survive. Maich watched her punch her tree every day for four hours straight. She even carved in (Rebeca). And the day before today, he saw how she knocked it down and cheered with her four friends. She was one of the later students to knock her tree down, but he found beauty in her trail. And as time went by, Maich realized that she had caught him looking at her.

It was the day before yesterday when she saw Maich staring at her. He moved his eyes from her; he couldn’t stare at her beautiful green eyes. Then out of nowhere, she appeared in front of him, with her hands covered in blood, and said in a melodic tone,

“I saw you looking at me, and you know, talking to me won’t hurt,” she said right in his ears. Then she turned around, and he saw her curves; his face started to get red.

Turning around her head to look at maich blushing she said, “You're quite cute, but for you to be my boyfriend, you have to be strong.

Maich's heart raced as he stared at her back. His expression changed immediately once she was out of sight; he was filled with rage. "She didn’t even remember what she did," he muttered.

As his mind stopped wandering, he remembered what day it was. It was the day of judgment. But like any other day, the group was preparing for their run. Then he smiled and held his head low not trying to be obvious.

Leo's Point of View:

As Leo appeared beside his best friend Maich, who was sitting cross-legged on the grass, he didn’t even look or acknowledge Leo's presence. As much as Leo found his attitude rude, it didn’t bother him. It was something that Maich did often. Leo didn’t understand his reasoning, and he didn’t care to ask. Maybe he was selfish, maybe he wasn’t a true friend.

As Leo gripped the handle of his sword on the sheath at his waist, he looked down upon Maich again and asked, “Maich, I heard her sister is a powerful cultivator like Luther. I don’t think this is a good idea.”

But Maich didn’t look fazed by Leo's words. It felt like he knew this was the end for him, and he accepted it. As Leo's eyes bore into Maich's back, he took a deep breath.

“You know Leo, I think we could have become a beautiful couple,” Maich said, pointing at the girl's tent he vowed to kill. He didn’t even know her name, but I guess it didn’t matter now.

(Pause)

Leo didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say. He started to feel anxious. But it didn’t show on his face. No, it wasn’t that. It was because he couldn't show it. The things he had seen had scarred his face into a statue.

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Leo nervously ran his hand through his hair and looked at the sky. It was time for their run; the sun was rising, and the forest was becoming alive and noisier.

“Leo, you know you can make a lot more friends if you show a little emotion. That face of yours is truly unpleasant to many. It’s very unpleasant to look at.”

When Leo heard his words, he looked down immediately and saw sadness written all over Maich's face. He was trying to smile to lighten the mood, but Leo could feel the tension in the air.

After all, today was the day Luther would see their results after their run. Out of the 48 students, only 8 didn’t destroy a tree, meaning they couldn’t tear a hole in it. They didn’t know if Luther would kill them. It was a terrifying thought. Luther was unpredictable. Nobody understood his reasons, and because of that, fear was written over everyone's face, even those who had destroyed their tree.

As Leo looked around, he saw fear and tension. It reminded him of his home, the Kingdom of Spark, during the time of the Beast Wave. Many civilians were petrified, unable to predict their allies' actions or the power of the beast wave.

Lost in his thoughts, Leo heard someone punching the tree—bang, bang. The person screamed out in fear, shouting, “I’m almost done!” Blood dripped from thier hands as he walked towards the healing pool, expecting it to be there, but it wasn’t. He screamed, “Where is it?” while looking around.

“I just need a little bit more,” He said, trembling. “Where is it?” He shouted more aggressively, ripping hair off his head and digging further into their scalp, blood and skin coming off with it. Blood ran down his face as he spun around, looking for a reply, but everyone avoided his gaze.

“It’s finished,” someone said in a soft but sad tone. “It wasn't there when we woke up.”

“It can’t be finished, it can’t be,” he replied. Then, out of nowhere, the kid took a spark metallic object out of his pocket and ran it through his neck. Blood splattered everywhere, screams filling the camp.

His body was shaking like a headless chicken, blood splashing everywhere. A girl screamed and then ran towards the forest. As she entered the trees, another scream echoed, freezing everyone's gaze on the spot where she vanished.

Silence filled the camp until someone vomit, and then another. It was Jack and Sten, two of the boys who hadn't finished destroying their trees. Two lives were lost in one minute, just before their run.

While chaos unfolded, Luther sat atop a tree in the forest, observing everything as he drank his liquor. He was indifferent to their suffering. He shouldn't have been; he had suffered too. So why, as a man who had endured extraordinary pain, didn’t he feel any empathy? The answer was simple—a simple question. He was a killer himself, one who killed indiscriminately. His own actions had caused thousands of children to suffer. He had slain criminals with families, leaving them to endure fates worse than death. He had fought battles in the midst of villages, hearing the cries of children.

And many cultivator were more evil than Luther, many cutivator get lost in human desire. Which cause catastrophe world wide. As much as Luther was evil he was a good evil to keep the monster away and thats what Aaron understood. And he was tried to show Luther.

He had killed monsters, even monster children who posed no threat. He did it because it was his mission. Many believed he was a protector of humanity. But no, he was a fraud. He was just a killer, and he would reap what he sowed. And now, Tommy should do the same.

As Luther reflected on who he was, Aaron appeared beside him in a flash of lightning, wearing a frown.

His frown could be interpreted in two ways: one, it was due to the loss of two students today, a loss that wasn’t directly caused by Luther's actions, or was it? Or because Luther was drinking early in the morning, and humans are creatures of habit—Luther wasn’t any different. There must be something he was up to, and Aaron didn’t know.

“Brother, I remember you never drank early in the morning,” said Aaron, sadness evident on his face.

“That is true,” replied Luther as he shook the contents in his jar.

“Do you know what separates the greatness from the rest, Aaron?” Luther asked, downing the contents of his jar.

Aaron didn’t answer; he didn’t know what Luther was getting at. His heart started to race, fearing Luther might be planning something. He clung to his sword, he was consumed by fear.

With an enchanting voice, Luther continued, “Do you know what separates a survivor from the rest?”

At that moment, Luther's voice echoed across the camp, spreading through the forest of death. Everyone, from students to mana beasts and monsters, looked towards its source. Mana spread through the forest, bending the towering trees.

“It’s conviction,” Luther declared.