The Ravenguards and a black nurse had just finished inspecting and injecting the dead monster corpses in order to preserve their corpses. Meanwhile, Instructor Hyoh was still standing in front of the towering Tartaros monument, which loomed over him. Its dark stone was etched with intricate designs that seemed to tell a story of a long-forgotten time.
While trying to memorize the ancient letters and learn the elven language, Hyoh's concentration was broken by the approach of a Ravenguard and the black-clad nurse. "King, the watchers are already in position, and the monster check is complete. Tomorrow, they will be transported to the academy by ship," stated the Ravenguard.
Hyoh sigh behind his mask, frustrated that his request to use Riftstone to transfer the monsters instantly had been rejected by the Swordmaster.
The nurse standing beside the Ravenguard nodded gratefully, her eyes filled with relief. "Thank you, Lord Hyoh. Thanks to you, the high-budget and long-time experiment that Madam Lucia has carried out will not be in vain," she said, referring to a project they had been working on.
Hyoh's attention was drawn to Yuria, who was nearby cultivating in front of a bonfire. Her ebony aura was powerful and unmistakable, a testament to her strength and skill as a warrior. Hyoh pointed toward her and said, "It's not me that you should thank, but that girl."
The nurse then approached Yuria, waiting for the girl to finish cultivating before thanking her. Two Ravenguards then approached with a hooded cadet girl with number 387 in tow. "King, we have captured this intruder as you ordered," said the Ravenguard.
The hooded woman gazed upon Hyoh with admiration written all over her face. She knew he was a legend in the world of warriors, having won the Triacademia World Tour in the previous generation. She spoke up, "If not for your observation technique, I might have been with them in the hermitages, Instructor Hyoh."
Hyoh shook his head, aware that the woman had undergone immense challenges that few could even fathom. "Even Zhao Mingxue couldn't stop you from coming here," he said, referring to her teacher who had tried to prevent her from making the dangerous journey.
"You already know that Manseto never marks the cadets who survive his tests—he expects them all to die in his tests," Hyoh said.
The cadet woman nodded in agreement, her face was hidden by the hood. "And it seems the academy wouldn't mind having me back as their asset, ready to die in battle against the Chthonians. Nice to meet you, Instructor Hyoh," she said, revealing her intentions.
Hyoh was intrigued. "Why are you so insistent on getting that artifact, Han Luoyi, is it to free your land from the Grom Union?"
"More than that, Instructor, more than that," she replied cryptically. “And let me remind you, Instructor, that it's not the Grom Union anymore, but the Grom Dominion.”
Hyoh was reluctant, but he knew that he had a duty to fulfill. “For me, it's very difficult to refuse a request from a Triacademia runner-up this year.”
She chuckled, “Don't overpraise me, Instructor. I just wanted to have fun at the time, not knowing the final would be against Solfuego. If I had known earlier, I would not have put all my energy into fighting that Zesperia woman.”
Hyoh knows who Solfuego Vista is - the wizard ranked number one in the current Magician Academy of Arx Magnoterra, but his mind is elsewhere—things that interest him the most of this conversation. "You lied to me, right? They said you and that Zesperia woman had such a fierce duel that there was no hope of either of you winning against Sol in the final round. If you don't mind, may I ask what the name of that woman is?"
Han Luoyi was a little irritated at the mention of the woman's name, the woman who had exhausted her so much that she failed to claim the title of the King/Queen of Combat. However, her lips finally moved because she didn't want to stay here too long—and miss the parties at the hermitages. "That blonde woman, her name is Maria Alexandra, Princess of Arthevia. She's really one hell of a fighter, can I go now?"
Hyoh took out the Stopwatch from his pocket, then saw that the nighttime was still very long, but he nodded in understanding, "Okay, since you're so stubborn, I'll take responsibility for your return, but with one condition."
Han Luoyi listened intently. "Please say it, Instructor."
"You must live," Hyoh said firmly, his eyes behind his raven mask locking onto hers.
Han Luoyi smiled, her eyes shining with determination. "I thought you would say that I should at least survive the third hermitage or something. Thank you, Instructor."
*
Under the quiet shade of night, Hyoh checks his stopwatch, which shows that an hour has passed since Han Luoyi left. The nurse from Instructress Lucia thanks Yuria and gives her a pill to enhance her cultivation, along with some medicine to assist her on her journey. After the nurse departs, Yuria looks at Hyoh near the monument, but his expression is unreadable behind his mask. However, his movements make it clear that he's worried as he checks his stopwatch every minute. When Hyoh senses that Yuria has completed her cultivation, he closes his stopwatch and joins her by the warm bonfire.
As residents of Ashenvale, the two share a bond, and Hyoh seems to understand Yuria's feelings well, having also been born into the Ashura (or Shura) clan. Yuria assumes that Hyoh knows more about her pedigree than she does. This moment presents an opportunity for Yuria to find out crucial information about Malazen's condition outside Dawnstrike Fortress. However, before approaching this topic, she's eager to learn about the condition of her comrades first. Surviving until dawn may be difficult, especially if they have to fight the Undead.
Hyoh recalls Swordmaster's instructions to the instructors to make the exam as complicated as possible. He's putting his all into it, and each of the main instructors has a different level of difficulty, based on their general personality. Swordmaster Theodin had ranked them from easy to hard, and they had planned it out even before the senior assassins asked him to raise the difficulty due to the mad cadet shattering the all-time record. Deep down in Hyoh's heart of stone, he still had high expectations for the new cadets to fight against the Chthonians. He didn't particularly care about the exam's form, as it was only to identify the potential cadets who were superior and those who were not. Thus, he knew that the future of Malazen lies in their hands.
The current generation has faced the most severe trials, but each test they pass holds deep meaning that will lead to the next. Death is natural on this continent, and the instructors have witnessed the worst suffering these cadets endure. The Chthonians have killed more than half of the Malazen population, and if not prevented, the new cadets will suffer the same fate as their predecessors - becoming food for the Chthonians. That's why Theodin changed the system to be even tougher, once in a lifetime. And despite only affecting this generation, the instructors approved this new curriculum, forcing them to become strong troops ready to die. Perhaps if no one survives this test, the higher-ups of the academy will be forced to abolish this vicious system once and for all, hoping that Dawnstrike Fortress will survive the Chthonian attacks in the next few years.
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"Yuria, even your seniors couldn't eradicate the Chthonians, especially at your current level. We desperately need the chosen ones. In fact, Dawnstrike Fortress is now the only stronghold that can protect Malazen, and it cannot endure forever."
Without Hyoh even saying it, Yuria already understood from the beginning when she entered the academy. Without Dawnstrike's solid walls, the new cadets would have been confirmed dead at that time - with no food, drink, or medicine. But thanks to the academy, everything inside and outside of this bastion can be financed and covered forever until they fulfill all the missions. The disaster ten years ago still haunts them, especially the cadets who prefer to value their own lives by fighting the impossible rather than waiting silently for death.
The world of assassins is a cruel business where new cadets are bound to serve forever as long as they obey the academy's rules. It's no wonder that so many cadets protest with their blood contracts, which regulate their freedom and human rights. If they signed these contracts ten years ago, there is no justice in this business. The people in power controlled the game when the cadets were children, and they couldn't properly read the thousands of letters in the contracts. They signed them right away because they wanted a place to live. However, during the doctrinal stage, the majority of cadets are happy because they can still be cared for and served until they grow up, and the rest is their responsibility.
Yuria's gaze was fixed on the bonfire before slowly shifting to Hyoh's weapon, which lay vertically on a nearby rock. As the cold wind blew the frost between them, the blazing flames of the bonfire reflected on Yuria's radiant face, bringing back memories of her past.
As a child in her native Ashenvale, her mother died of an incurable curse, and all the descendants of Shura suffered the same fate. Perhaps Hyoh knew something about it. Yuria's former mother, Kuvira Shura, was known as Deathcraver, the demon of the east, the crème de la crème in underworld affairs. If one saw a woman with a sinister face, cracks, and long streaks across her eyes to her cheeks, and her hands always holding a cursed sword, people would scream 'The Slasher!' When that happened, there must be a death, a blood-contracted murder case that would never stop in one place until it became a terror in the eastern region.
Due to the Shura clan's reputation and Kuvira's exposed identity, Yuria was widely shunned by the residents and her friends. She was stoned every time she stepped outside her house. "A demon child who will follow in the footsteps of her demon parents doesn't deserve to live" are being said by the residents. Yuria's family is eventually driven to a swamp without neighbors, and the hard life of solitude led Kuvira to teach Yuria how to survive from an early age. She teaches her to hunt deer in the forest and get fish from the river. Kuvira was proud to see Yuria learn martial arts techniques quickly, but behind her mother's smile was a hidden melancholy—ever since the Chthonian Invasion. She knows that she will not be able to see her only child grow up in the future.
After her father died due to the Chthonian war, Yuria never knew why her mother worked as an assassin. She speculates that if her mother used the cursed sword too long, her mind would go crazy and be controlled by the will of the sword. The Ashenvale region, where they lived, was far from the reach of the Chthonian attacks. Her mother intended to retire and spend her last days with Yuria, but those days changed Yuria's perception of the Runeverse. Her mother had contracted a severe fever from not using the sword anymore, which led to her death. What was even more surprising was that the next day, her mother's corpse disappeared without Yuria's knowledge. Yuria survived for more than a week, living alone like a stray cat and scraping for food. After the Kaliyuga Explosion, the Dawnstrike exploration team found Yuria under the rubble of her house. She still had no memory of why her mother's body disappeared into nothingness.
Several years into her time at the academy, Yuria came across a book about swords that caught her attention. The cursed sword called Soul Eater was the thing that piqued her interest the most. It was said to be a descendant of the ancestor of the Ashura clan, and it was deliberately passed down from generation to generation. Yuria's mother had a Soul Eater sword in the first era, a possessed type.
When Yuria is watching Instructor's Dual Saber weapon, she was immediately reminded of her mother's Soul Eater sword and couldn't help but ask, "Instructor Hyoh, how did you manage to use that cursed sword without being possessed?"
To Yuria's surprise, Hyoh was equally surprised by her question. He started to realize that she still didn't know much about the Ashura clan. "Yuria, don't you know anything about the Ashura clan?" he asked.
Feeling embarrassed, Yuria shook her head and turned her attention away. She hoped that Hyoh would understand that she was too young to know the meaning of her family tree. She didn't even know why her mother had decided to work as a Dawnstrike Assassin. All she knew was that the Soul Eater's weapon was related to the Ashura clan. The weapons book she read also mentioned that the Soul Eater's weapon was one of the fifteen Cursed Swords.
As Yuria thought about the Ashura clan and the cursed sword, she couldn't help but wonder about her own family history—perhaps there was a connection to it—or a missing link. She made a mental note to do some research on the subject when she had the chance.
"Ah, I see you're the daughter of the Slasher," said Hyoh, acknowledging Yuria's strength. "No wonder you were able to defeat the Black Rabbit. However, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you the truth about the Shura clan until you pass this academy."
Yuria's heart sank at the news. "Why not? At least I can find out why my mother suffered from the curse..."
Hyoh's expression grew serious. "It's not safe for you to know yet. I promise to tell you everything when you make it through the academy."
Yuria, although disappointed, tried to understand. "I don't need to know about the Shura clan right now, but could you at least tell me why my mother died that day?"
Hyoh was silent for a moment, then began to speak. "Alright."
Yuria's face lit up at the prospect of finally getting some answers. However, her excitement was quickly replaced by fear as her eyes widened at Hyoh's words. If she had known the instructor for a long time, maybe she wouldn't have had to spend so much time researching her family. But, thanks to the Black Rabbit, she was able to meet Hyoh face to face in the middle of a quiet night and a bonfire, the perfect opportunity to put all the disturbances in her mind to rest.
This was the moment of truth, and Yuria felt a mix of emotions coursing through her as she waited to hear what Hyoh had to say.
“I'm Hyoh Ashura, from the same clan as you," Hyoh said as he pulled out his weapon and showed it to her.
He then proceeded to recount the history of the Dual Saber, which was the second-generation weapon forged by the Ashura clan, a Phantom-type Soul Eater. He explained that Soul Eaters were originally ordinary weapons, but their potential could only be unlocked by users from the Ashura clan, specifically the last descendant of the Shura clan. The more the blade was stained with blood, the more it bonded with the wielder, and it could turn into a demonic weapon with an evil spirit residing in it. Hyoh warned that anyone other than them who held the hilt would not be able to escape the curse and would be driven crazy by the evil spirit invading their mind like a parasite. He guessed that Yuria's mother had faced a similar situation as him.
Yuria hummed in understanding, ("Hmm... So we need to have a high spiritual aura or the Soul Eater will consume the user's soul.")
After Hyoh's explanation, Yuria realized the gravity of the situation. The Soul Eater was a powerful weapon that could easily become a curse for those who were not strong enough to handle it. She wondered if her mother had truly understood the risks when she had wielded it.
Despite her unanswered questions, Yuria was grateful to Hyoh for shedding some light on the mysteries surrounding her clan. She felt a strong sense of camaraderie with him, knowing that they shared a common bond as descendants of the Ashura clan.
However, the uneasy feeling that both of them had experienced earlier returned when the crows appeared. The sudden change in the atmosphere was a warning sign that something ominous was brewing. Yuria knew she had to be vigilant, as danger could be lurking around every corner on Mount Tartaros.