I woke up to a single message blinking across my system screen:
[Warning: Wake up. Something good or bad will happen today.]
Great. That's always what you want to see before your first conscious thought of the day.
My dorm room still smelled faintly of the incense they used during Awakening. That was over a week ago. Either I was too lazy to open a window, or that incense was just stubborn. Maybe both.
I sat up, rubbing sleep from my eyes and blinking at the message again. It had faded now. Typical system cryptic nonsense.
I didn't know what "good or bad" meant—an event? An attack? A fire drill with actual fire? Maybe but the more i thought about it something in my gut turned cold. It wasn't the usual anxiety. It was… expectation. Like the world had decided to flip a coin and I wasn't going to like either side.
---
Combat class.
Just hearing the name was enough to make my spine tense.
Combat class had so far been mostly drills—stamina training, footwork, practice dummies that weren't allowed to hit back. It had lulled us into thinking it'd stay that way.
Not today.
The instructor, a man with a sword for a spine and a voice made of scraped gravel, stood before us with folded arms and an expression that said, I hate all of you equally.
"There will be no safety magic today," he said. "Real duels. Real bruises. You will fight as if your life depends on it, because one day, it will."
The silence that followed was the kind only fear could forge.
Then he began calling names.
Each pairing drew gasps, nervous glances, and in some cases, visible horror. He wasn't matching students by rank or balance. It was chaos.
"Aster vale versus Nina Frost."
I blinked. Looked around. Surely there was another Aster Vale hiding behind me?
Nina turned her head slowly toward me. Cold eyes. White hair. No smile. The Ice Fang. Ranked 8th, just behind me. She had buried a Bloodfang Warg in a coffin of ice during Trial Two. And now she was my opponent.
I wanted to laugh. Or cry. Or both.
"Don't die," someone muttered behind me as I walked to the center ring.
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
---
The duel ring was a stone platform layered with rune-etched circles. A barrier shimmered faintly around its edge. It was meant to stop attacks from spilling out.
It wouldn't stop the humiliation.
Nina stood opposite me, posture flawless. She hadn't drawn a weapon. She didn't need to.
I tried to focus. Flow Reading. My newest skill. It let me catch brief glimpses—micro-movements, shifts in momentum, the suggestion of a next step. Not precognition. Just hyperanalysis in real time.
The whistle blew.
Nina didn't move.
Neither did I.
Then a flicker—shoulder tilt, weight shift.
She moved.
I dodged left instinctively.
Ice kissed my cheek. A thin spike sliced past where I'd just been. She wasn't testing. She was already trying to end it.
I ducked low, rolled. My body screamed against the sudden exertion, but I kept moving.
I tried to catch her of guard
But I couldn't attack yet. I hadn't found a rhythm. Flow Reading was active, but the data overwhelmed me. A hundred possible movements flooded in, but I had no idea which mattered.
Because what ever she did i only saw one result death
'What should i do' i said right after seeing my life flashing before my eyes.the truth is she wasn't even using her sword just magic spells she thinks i m not even worthy of a foe
[System Analysis in Progress…]
Wait, what?
[Prediction: You lose in 8 seconds. Adjustment Suggested: Forfeit.]
I staggered.
Eight seconds?
I felt ice bite into my leg as I barely dodged another spear.
"Thanks," I muttered under my breath, "great morale boost."
But I wasn't going to forfeit.
Not again.
---
The seconds stretched.
Nina advanced like a ghost. Controlled. No wasted movement. Her spells were precise, silent. Shards of frost curved and spun toward me with elegance and murder.
I was slipping.
Every dodge took more out of me. My mana control sucked. I couldn't counter. I could barely defend.
She wasn't even sweating.
A flicker—another barrage—too fast.
I blocked with my forearm. Ice ripped my sleeve. Cold burned into skin.
I m once again struggling no safe zone damn why did they sent me here what do they expect from a teenager to do in this damn world everyone else is a teenage too but i m from anothe ducking world what am i supposed to do
I ve tried to survive here with peace but no i have tos struggle to do everything i have a system that i don't know where the heck it came from
A secretive stalker who is not hear it confess to me
A whole damn academy that tries to catch me lacking even in the bathroom
'i just want a fucking break 'i said as i got too careless from all my pent up anger and got it
But i don't care this time i would win i would decimate by oponents not even letting them touch me i would humiliate them
I won't struggle anymore
But right after i said that i looked down and saw something that made my anxiety reach another level
Blood.
[System Interruption…]
What the duck foes the system want this time doesn't it see that i m dying here !!!
Why are you so useless system you haven't helped me even once i hear all those people get broken systems that get them everything they want while i cannot even get another day to live!!!
[Hidden Quest Activation: ??? Offers You Help.]
Accept Help? (Y/N)
I stared.
Seriously? Now?
The system just sat there blinking at me like a
smug child.
"Did the system listen to me!?' will it finally be useful?
I clenched my jaw.
"…What do you want from me now, you piece of—"
But I clicked yes.
[New Skill Granted: Vein Cleaver - cazes the user to turn into a specialized war mode that makes them incredibly more proficient in fighting but it has very hight body strain.]
[New Quest Received: "Deal with the Devil"]
Objective: Defeat Nina Frost
Reward: ???
Failure: ???
I didn't have time to question it.
And i didn't care right now the only thing that muttered to me was winning
My eyes turned red , as the people around us and my opponent wven was a bit confused
But i still I surged forward.
Flow Reading narrowed. No more noise. Just her next step—left.
I followed.
Ice surged. I slid under it, Vein Cleaver primed. My blade burned with unstable energy. I didn't even know if I could control it.
But I aimed for her shoulder.
She twisted—too late.
My blade grazed skin.
Her magic flared wildly.
Feedback.
She stumbled.
I felt my own nerves scream as the skill kicked back into my arm. Electricity and ice all at once. I bit down a scream.
This was working.
I will finally be part of the popular kids
I kept pushing. Another strike.
I kept on violently attaching her my form unstable nothing about me could be called elegant but again i didn't care
And after a few more attacks
She fell back. For the first time—hesitation.
I could win this.
---
And then she adapted.
In the next second, three spikes of ice launched directly from the ground.
I dodged one. The second grazed my side.
The third struck my leg.
I fell.
Pain lanced up my spine.
I tried to stand.
She was already at my throat with a blade of frost.
Match over.
What!?
---
Silence.
Then applause.
Some scattered. Some respectful. Some stunned.
I had lasted almost a full minute. And I'd injured her.
That is good right! He says stop not believing he actually lost
Nina looked down at me. Still no expression. But her eyes… they weren't cold anymore. Just curious.
She turned and walked away.
I lay there, staring at the ceiling of the dueling arena.
[Quest Failed: Deal with the Devil.]
[Vein Cleaver is now Locked.]
[You Have Lost.]
No reward. No pat on the back. Just the cold, hard truth.
And the silence that followed it.
I lost again
Why
Why
Why
Why
Why am i so weak why can't i do anything every since i m come here i can't do anything what do they expect for me
But even as the sting settled into my bones, I felt something else.
A crack in the wall. Not defeat.
Something was starting to break through.
---