It was almost midnight by the time the Naming Ceremony ended. Khal had spent the remainder of his time meditating and recuperating his lost energy. There were a few things he realized after spending some listening to Cloud and Totem. The Black Recluse was part of the corps of House Dor. He was amazed that nobody believed that he was the grandson of this Lord Fang as they called him. Apparently, the Black Recluse preferred code names. Khal wasn't too surprised by this, especially since they were essentially an assassin group.

Cloud had explained that all the captives were expected to train every day and live together in what was called the Hollows. The Hollows was a long hallway with numerous rooms. It was considered the first level of the Hive and only Spiderlings could live there. It was also the only level where killing was allowed. The Spiderlings were supposed to live there for at least a year and only then would they become true Black Recluse.

After the Ceremony was finished, Cloud had given each of the Spiderlings free reign to find their own rooms to live in. Although there were 500 rooms, it didn't matter which room they took since there were more rooms than Spiderlings, to begin with. The ceremony had claimed the lives of at least twenty people already after all.

Khal needed to use a torch to find his way around the Hollows. The elementum girl was given the name Kitten. Khal hoped to avoid her as much as he could since she would be the most obvious threat to stealing his name. Cloud had given the new students or Spiderlings as they were now referred to, the basic ruled of their new home. The aim of the Hollows was to prove yourself.

The only way to prove yourself was by increasing body counts. Only those with a considerable number of kills or a numbered could request a truce from either Cloud or Totem each month. Those who could kill a numbered were also promised enormous amounts of gold coins. Although the coins couldn't be used in the Hive, if they managed to Become a Black Recluse then they would stand to earn more than they could use. This was what sparked the interest of all the Spiderlings to kill and become one of the numbered. This system forced them to become stronger while also putting enormous pressure on the numbered. It was a cycle created to produce the strongest killers.

Cloud had ordered everyone to find a comfortable room to spend the rest of their time meditating. Sleeping was not allowed at the Hive and anyone found breaking the rules would face death.

Khal made his way down the hallway on his own to find a suitable room. He headed towards the furthest side of the castle, hoping to find a room far away from the others. He was surprised at how big the castle was. On the outside, it seemed smaller than Baron Black's mansion. Khal suspected that it must be below ground since the hallway was slanted just enough to be unnoticeable by most people.

Finally, Khal reached a room that was no longer made of bricks. Instead, the room was made completely of dirt. It looked more like someone had dug out a large portion of the earth to live here. Off in the distance, Khal realized that all the rooms were also made of dirt. Randomly choosing one, Khal walked inside. He was sure none of the others would walk this far nor would they expect to find him here. After all, it had taken him two hours to find this place.

Khal dusted himself off and sat on the floor. Just as he was about to remove his mask he saw a blurry figure sitting on the darker side of the room. Khal wasn't sure if the person was dead or alive since he saw no signs of breathing or movements. Approaching the person, Khal heard a voice echo, "Take another step and I'll impale you." Stopped in his tracks, Khal looked at the man. "Sorry, I thought the room was empty."

There was silence in the room again for only a second before the man opened his eyes. Khal could only see his yellow eyes staring back at him. "Hmm, you're 'Five, no?" The man asked. Khal straightened up himself before responding, "Yes," Khal knew he was in danger. Killing was encouraged in the Hollows and this person had an aura of strength. He prepared to fight if he needed to but to his surprise, the man remained seated.

"Indeed, you are. The rooms on this side are not as comfortable as the ones you passed. You would be better suited to the more comfortable rooms, no?" Khal looked around the room a little before he turned towards the boy, "These are just a little worse than what I'm accustomed to. It's not so bad." The boy's eyebrow raised, didn't 'Five' say he was General Dor's grandson when he was outside? So it was a lie, after all, the man thought to himself.

The man wanted to ask Khal where he was really from but decided against it, the Hive was his new home and those things didn't really matter anymore. He couldn't wait to finally become a Black Recluse and leave this place behind him.

"The rooms closest to this one, are empty. You can choose from any of those." Khal nodded before turning around. "Thank you," Khal managed to croak as he exited the room. The Spiderling chuckled to himself before closing his eyes to meditate again, he no longer had any interest with the strange 'Five'. Khal's footsteps quickened as he exited the room. He stopped just outside to catch his breath, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Khal had only felt this aura from Bryce the one time he made him serious during their spars. Even if this man wasn't the strongest Spiderling, Khal knew he was close to the top.

Khal made his way into another one of the rooms before settling down. The room was mostly empty, except for the most basic necessities. Khal found a gauze stone laying on the dirt. Either all rooms had one or the last inhabitant of the room was dead and didn't need it anymore. Khal believed it was the latter since twenty had already died from his batch alone.

Grabbing the stone and allowing his spirit energy to flow through it, Khal watched as the numbers kept rising.

E333....

E368....

E500...

Khal smiled at the last figure he saw. Masterclass Squires had no more than E199 spirit power. E200-E299 meant a 2nd class Knight and only those who were able to clad could possibly pass the bottleneck to E200. This phenomenon was seen at every rank. The ability to clad was the deciding factor on how well a person could contain the bountiful energy within their nucleus. Without achieving at least an initiate level of cladding it was impossible to contain more than E199. This was the reason the cladding level was so important in deciding the rank of a Knight.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

E200-499 was the spirit power of a Knight, therefore I passed the bottleneck. I'm finally a Senior Knight! Khal thought to himself. Khal had somehow managed to reach the second-class Senior Knight rank without even realizing it. After his fight with the bandits, the spars with Alec and now with Kitten, his power had skyrocketed. It's still not enough! Khal grit his teeth at the reality.

If he was still outside, he could take a break and admire the fact that he had managed to become a Senior Knight at twelve years old. He felt like cold water was splashed over his head. Here, no one cared how old he was. He was just 'Five', a target worth dying for. Since his grandfather wanted him to become ruthless killer then so be it. There was no other way to return. The Hive would become the catalyst to spring forth into the man he must become.

The next day, Khal looked outside his room cautiously before leaving. The hallway was crowded with Spiderlings and surprisingly nobody was fighting or trying to kill each other. Khal suspected that since everyone's faces were covered, it was far too difficult to determine if someone was strong or not since the room the Naming Ceremony was done was poorly lit and fine details were difficult to see. Khal followed the crowd as they all walked along the hall. He could see two Spiderlings in front of him that seemed especially close with each other. It surprised Khal a little but he paid it no mind. After a while, he finally passed the circular room where the ceremony happened. From here should be the training rooms, Khal thought to himself.

Khal began to feel the temperature of the hallway beginning to rise. He wasn't sure where it was coming from but looking around he realized that others felt the same. Suddenly, Khal saw a Spiderling in front of him abruptly stop. His cladded fist surrounded by fire element. A Spiderling next to him slowly dropped to the floor, his charred flesh still sizzling. Khal realized right away that it was the two Spiderlings who were talking just a second ago. Khal watched the man as he sneered before turning towards the others, "The name's two. Anyone else thinks they can kill me feel free to try." Khal's eyes dilated. What just happened?! He wasn't sure how to deal with the sudden death. Sure, he'd kill a few bandits and Burgans before but this was just cold-blooded murder. Khal's mind couldn't wrap around the idea of killing defenseless people, wait, was he defenseless to begin with? Khal inspected the body quickly to see a small knife in the corpse's hand.

Realizing exactly what just happened, Khal slowly stepped away. He wanted no part of this madness. This was too crazy and sudden. He had to get out of this. He half expected others to feel the same way he did but to his surprise they only paused for a second before carrying on along the hallway. Some even stepped on the dead body as they carried on. Khal stared as some kicked the head a few times before moving on. Even the knife was gone. The longer Khal stared at the dead body the sicker he felt. Did these Spiderlings have any humanity left he wondered?

Khal eventually continued walking, trying to be as vigilant as he possibly could. There was no telling when someone might happen. Unexpectedly, the Spiderlings began rushing towards various rooms. It took Khal a second to realize why the death still fresh in his mind. It was because of this that the Spiderlings were trying to enter a room as fast as they could. Cloud explained the night before that killing was only prohibited in the training rooms. However, only one person was allowed entry into any of the training rooms at a time to be trained by a specific master.

Each room had a specific Black Recluse Master, a master of the blade, master of daggers and so on. However, there were only 100 of these rooms while 479 Spiderlings rushed forward. Khal only took a second before he began running as well. His element offered him an advantage over most of the others. After 5 minutes, Khal was close to the front of the group. Ahead of him, he could see a flickering light as a female-led the pack. That must be Kitten. To the left of him, Khal noticed a small fight taking place. He could feel his stomach begin churning at the sight. Bodies that fell never got up as the crowded hallway was coated in red. Clumps of flesh and limbs littered the area as the Spiderlings tried their best to get to a room. It was bloodier that Khal expected given that they had no weapons. More elementums! He grounded his teeth as he pushed on. These couldn't have been ordinary prisoners if so many of them were elementums. The most logical explanation to Khal was that they were either kidnapped from prominent homes or they were the prisoners of war that House Dor captured. He was sure that he was an anomaly, House Dor would never send their own to the Hive.

Khal tried his best to avoid the confrontations but it was becoming more difficult by the minute. Fire, as well as earthen elements, crowded the hallway. By the time Khal reached the rooms, he could see Spiderlings already occupying them. Without spending much time, Khal continued until he found a room towards his left. Suddenly, he felt a fireball combust part of his trousers just as he entered the room. He let out a cry in agony as a small fire started on his trousers, causing him a few burns. He quickly took them off before using his spirit energy to sooth the pain.

It took him a few minutes before he felt some relief. Khal then ignored his burns to examine the room he finally chose. It was a smaller room that he expected. The walls were crowded with swords of various shapes and sizes. In front of the wall sat an elderly man in a meditative posture. Khal could tell that he was old by his grey eyebrows and wrinkled eyes. The man didn't even look at him. This gave Khal a little relief since he was now in his underwear.

The old man seemed focused on the sword laid across his lap. Khal inspected him a little more before he gained enough courage to approach. "Senior, this one's name is Five. If there is anything you can teach me I'd gladly listen."

Khal learned from Lord Tommel that the best way to approach someone was with respect. It was against his teaching to show any emotions, not even fear, especially when it was someone you did not trust. The old man looked up towards Khal awkwardly. "Huh? You said something?" Khal wasn't sure whether the man was making fun of him or he really didn't notice when he entered the room. He stood there for a second before the man added, "And why are you in your underwear son?" Before Khal could even answer the man responded, "Oh never mind, I forgot it's blood week."

"Blood week senior?" Khal asked confused. "Of course, the first week for every new batch of Spiderlings are always filled with blood. If you can survive this week then it's very unlikely that you will die thereafter. Ahhh, what fond memories," the old man chuckled to himself. Khal awkwardly looked at the old man, he was unsure how he should even respond to him.

"Well young man, it's good that you're here now. What can you tell me about that sword hmm?" Khal watched the man point to the area right next to him. Following the man's finger, Khal looked at the sword stuck in the ground directly next to his feet. When did he put this here? Khal was surprised, to say the least, the sword next to him was exactly the one the old man was watching just a second ago.