Opening Narration — "The Era of Smoke"
"Eighty-five years have passed… since the final Codex was sealed."
The screen fades from black. We see a slow zoom-in on a war-torn map—half-steam, half-ink—showing fractured continents, black flags over red oceans, and routes carved through forgotten skies.
"In that time, the world has not known peace—only the illusion of it."
"The Seekers, once born of sacrifice and soul, now march beneath banners of progress, trade, and faith. The old legends—Kai Xander, Aria Flamehart, Rin Kairo—have become statues. Lessons in textbooks. Names etched into medals no one remembers how to earn."
A cut to a massive coliseum being rebuilt, its arches inscribed with glowing runes. The voice continues:
"But even myths have children. And blood, it seems… never forgets."
Scene Shift — Janoah City: The Steam Heart
We enter a modern metropolis—glowing brass rails, skyscrapers of black stone and chrome etched in sigils. Posters of the legendary Seekers flutter above tram lines. Below, a boy runs. Black coat. Four swords. Sparks trail his boots.
"This is Lugen Mason."
"Seventeen. Middle-class. Son of Alugen. Great-grandson of Allelujah Mason—the one they called Sunblood."
"He is not the strongest. Not the smartest. Not even the most chosen."
"…But he has something no one else does."
"A fragment of fire that should have died with the Codex."
Scene Cut — The Gathering Begins
In every corner of the world, warriors move. From the crimson valleys of Chun to the steam-hives of the Drakari clans. A storm brews over Terragigantus. Cloaked Seeker agents whisper in dead languages. A shadowy tribunal watches from mirrors.
"The Trial by Mercy is not merely a tournament."
"It is a culling. A convergence. A test of soul against soul beneath the light of the Half Embrace—a celestial event that bends aura, warps fate, and shortens even a god's breath."
"Victory grants power. Fame. Ascension."
"Failure… writes your name in ash."
Final Shot — Lugen Jubei Mason, standing atop a clocktower
He gazes at the sky, four blades strapped to his back. One hums softly—sealed in black wrappings, pulsing with something ancient. He's breathing heavy. Determined. Unsure. But unbroken.
"This is his story."
"And in a world of Seekers, monsters, gods, and ghosts…"
"The boy with the forgotten sword… has already been marked."
"This forest doesn't hunt. It waits. And when it whispers, it's already chosen you."
The Trial by Mercy – Day 1
The Drop
Lugen didn't fall.
He crashed.
Aura burned against his back as the air warped mid-descent—his boots slammed earth first, shoulder rolling as a root whipped toward his throat.
He ducked. Countered. Steel kissed bark.
KZZZKSH— the root fell in two pieces.
The Whispering Forest welcomed no one.
Around him: silence warped by tension. Trees bent like they were listening. Shadows moved faster than light. The air held no sound, just a constant electrical hum—as if Muti had infected the wind.
Ten seconds later—
Kairia Xander dropped in a cascade of blue lightning. She landed in a crouch—shoulder down, hand to dirt.
Chittering.
From above—dozens of arachnid-like creatures—Winged Muti-Spiders, aura-stitched and fast.
"Scatter-Shock: Surge Bloom Kata."
She punched the ground.
CRACK—ZZZZZZTTT!
Lightning flared in rings, arcing up trunks, electrocuting the first dozen mid-air. The rest vanished into the canopy. Steam rolled from her shoulders. Glyph batteries on her hips flickered—already 40% drained.
Kounen Kairo arrived in silence.
No aura signature. No elemental flash.
Just a blur of movement.
He sidestepped a camouflaged relic-beast and severed its vine-wrapped throat with a single draw.
"South perimeter clear," he said, voice flat.
Luna Butters dropped last.
But not gracefully.
She screamed, tumbled through a warped tree branch, and landed tangled in a live vine. Her boots smoked. Her coat hissed.
She fumbled a flask.
"Blend 4B! Flashfreeze Burst!"
SHHHHHH-BRAK!
The concoction detonated in a shock of ice, freezing a tusked beast lunging from the undergrowth. Its legs locked in mid-charge.
"Aha! I meant to do that. Also—ow."
The Team Regroups
Lugen exhaled and unslung a single blade: Kazenari—the cleaver.
"Vitals check."
Kairia: "Burn rate at 45%. Pacing for one more big surge."
Kounen: "Conserving. Forest reacts to overuse."
Luna: "Minor concussion, medium sass reserves. Also—shoelace is still cursed."
Lugen nodded once.
"Then we move."
The Forest Moves First
They advanced through the Hollow Root Basin.
The forest was alive—but not in the biological sense.
At one point, they passed a clearing where fire burned upside-down, locked to the canopy like reversed gravity.
In another glade, time skewed.
Lugen's boots delayed three seconds behind each step.
Luna stabilized him by jabbing a harmonizer rod into his ribs.
"Deadlight Rot," she muttered. "It's like… haunted lag."
Ambush
Screams.
Not theirs.
Another team—ripped apart.
One girl crushed by twisting bark. Another halfway absorbed into a tree trunk as the wood curled over her screaming mouth.
The attacker revealed itself.
Not behind the forest—but made of it.
A Barkjaw Beast.
Six legs. Rootlike jaws. A glowing chest-core—Relic-encoded.
It wasn't guarding a relic.
It was the relic.
Combat Initiates
Kairia went first.
"Whipcoil Fang!"
Lightning cracked into a lash—she sliced through one of its front limbs, staggering it. But the ground betrayed her. Roots surged up, breaking her stance.
She rolled. "Dammit—overreach!"
Kounen moved like a whisper.
"Ecliptic Feint."
He blinked behind the beast. One thrust beneath the jawline. Precision.
But not lethal.
Activating his second eye would unleash too much aura—too soon. He stepped back.
Luna hurled two canisters.
"Smoke gel! Stun sap!"
One blinded the beast. The other glued its legs mid-pivot.
She dove toward Kairia and slapped a glyph cell into her belt. Sparks jolted.
"Thirty seconds. That's all I can buy you."
Lugen Moved
The moment the Barkjaw reared toward Luna—
He vanished.
Two blades in hand now.
Breath in.
Stance dropped.
"Yasha Waltz: Jet Black Fang Form."
—ZNNNK!
Four cuts—one motion.
Mirage strikes echoed a fraction of a heartbeat behind the real ones, creating layered ghost-blades. The Barkjaw flinched at the illusion, turning late.
Too late.
Lugen was already behind it, cleaver across his shoulder.
The beast reeled.
Kounen pierced the core.
Kairia launched from above—
"Heavenlash: Dive Bolt."
Luna tossed a crystallizer.
BOOM.
The barkjaw exploded into glowing shards.
The relic—a cracked amber orb—rolled to Lugen's boot.
He picked it up.
Pulse—red… then gold.
Accepted.
No one spoke.
Steam hissed off Kairia's back.
Luna sat crumpled against a root. "I hate my joints."
Kounen's blade hand trembled—just a little.
Lugen stared into the woods.
The forest had stopped moving.
Not from fear.
From observation.
It had seen them now.
"We can't stay here," Lugen said. "It knows what we took."
Kairia stood. "Which direction?"
He pointed.
North.
Where the trees grew darker and the air thinned like altitude.
"Deeper."
"When the forest goes silent, it's not peace—it's permission."
Trial by Mercy – Day 3
The Mark of Fire
The relic pulsed in Lugen's palm.
Heavy. Warm. Alive.
Red and gold. It burned not just with power—but consequence.
They'd taken it from the barkjaw.
But in doing so…
They were now hunted.
Narration (inner voiceover):
"In the Whispering Forest, claiming a relic isn't the end of the trial—it's the beginning of the war."
"And today, the war came looking for them."
It started with whispers—barely above the wind.
"Team 7D saw them pass the Hollow Ridge."
"Confirmed—Sector 9 says they carry the relic. Kairia Xander confirmed."
"Moving east. Cut them off near the fallen godtree."
The message wasn't carried by voice.
It was carried by aura—drifting like blood through leaves.
The Trial by Mercy had changed.
No longer just survive.
No longer just pass.
Now the law was simple:
Take the relic. Or die trying.
All elite. All hungry. All four-person teams.
No Gold Seekers. No commanders.
Just talent. Strategy. Hate. And will.
—Team Crimora
Silent aura-casters and anti-seeker disassemblers.
Raevis – Void-halo touch, disables aura pathways.
Kasya Vorn – Battlefield trap-crafter using glyph threads.
Mirot the Hollow – Reinforcement brawler, feels no pain.
Elza Darn – Psychic glyphist, locks your soul in tattoos.
—Team Embertail
Explosive synergy, zero chill.
Rooky Blaze – Self-built weapons, hybrid Martial + Fire Muti.
Thornna Glint – Mad alchemist, rides her own blasts.
Jett Breaker – Punches aura. Literally.
Penny Sprig – Hologlyph user, makes hardlight constructs.
—Team Sunscale
Gravity-born warriors, pride forged in stormsteel.
Valek Ironstream – Dropkick savant, uses Momentum Muti.
Gura Shae – Living armor via Soul Hardening.
Yunari Flamefist – Sacrifices lifespan for power bursts.
Ishi Fourward – Kinetic memory striker; hits reflect later.
—Team Ayavi
Balanced, deadly, precise.
Ranya Silk – Wind-beast Muti. Feral grace, barefoot death.
Ko Tenzo – Dual-element blade user. Tragic eyes, killing hands.
Vellari Bloom – Emotion-field weaver. Buffs team morale.
Nehri – Quietest. Deadliest. Controls vines like limbs.
The first strike came at twilight.
A whisper of metal—then THUNK.
An arrow embedded in the tree beside Lugen's face.
It exploded into purple aura light—a beacon.
Kairia cursed.
"Signal flare. We're marked."
Kounen's eyes pulsed.
"Multiple heat signatures incoming. They're boxing us in."
Luna hurled a flask into the air—a misty double of herself darted east.
"Decoy up. They've got sixty seconds before someone realizes it doesn't bleed."
Lugen gritted his teeth.
"We don't fight. We shift. North slope—cut through the root veins."
They vanished.
Seconds later—Team Ayavi arrived.
Too late.
But not by much.
At the Hollow Ravine, Team Embertail struck.
Jett Breaker dropped from above, steel fists aimed at Kounen.
CLANG—
Kounen caught the gauntlets, redirected into the tree, and countered with a draw-slash across the ribs. Jett grunted. Not fatal. But warned.
Thornna bombarded from the canopy—alchemical flares popping in midair.
Kairia arced a bolt of lightning straight up—"Thundercurve Spiral!"—it bent mid-flight and detonated behind Thornna, knocking her off-course.
Rooky Blaze sprinted in. A grin split his face.
"Heard you got four swords, black-coat."
Lugen stepped forward. Two blades drawn.
"You'll only see two."
Clash.
Rooky's explosive gauntlets met Lugen's wind-boosted swings.
Each impact echoed through the forest like war drums.
Fire clashed with shadowstep. Steel kissed burning knuckles.
Then—
"PULL OUT!" Penny screamed.
Team Embertail retreated—Rooky tossed a laughing-flare that leveled the nearest tree.
Lugen stood over scorched roots, panting.
Team Crimora struck next.
No footsteps. No aura. No warning.
Just paralysis.
Elza's glyphs silenced Kairia's aura mid-step.
Kasya's invisible threads wrapped around Luna's limbs.
Mirot hit Lugen with a strike that negated inertia—he stopped cold mid-movement.
But—
Kounen struck.
"Unseen Arc: Phase Draw."
One slash—clean through Raevis' aura shield.
The illusion broke.
Crimora retreated—not wounded, but measured.
They'd tested the waters.
And decided it wasn't worth drowning.
They found refuge in an abandoned trial hut, half-swallowed by moss and memory.
No monsters. No Muti traps. Just silence.
But not peace.
Status:
Luna: Concussed. Four flasks left.
Kairia: Battery glyphs empty. Skin scorched.
Kounen: Viatra flaring—blood seeping from his left eye.
Lugen: Bruised ribs. Sprained ankle. Still hadn't drawn Tetsuba.
Kairia finally said it:
"We're not gonna make it, are we?"
Luna looked away.
"We might. If the others lose track."
Kounen didn't blink.
"They won't."
Silence.
Lugen stood alone at the fire's edge.
His hand on the sealed black blade on his back.
It didn't glow.
It absorbed light.
The very air around it began to dim—like the forest was trying to back away.
He didn't draw it.
He didn't even unsling it.
He just turned and looked at them.
Eyes hard. Quiet.
"If they want us…"
"They can come take us."
Trial by Mercy — Day 7
Narration (inner voiceover):
"Seven days in the forest. Seven days of rot, rhythm, and rule-breaking."
"They entered as prodigies. They exit as survivors."
"But the Trial by Mercy… doesn't end when the forest lets you leave. It ends when the world sees what's left of you."
Scene: Forest Edge – Dusklight
They emerged under a bleeding sky—red clouds churning like bruised lungs above the horizon.
Mud covered their boots. Blood crusted their collars. The relic still pulsed faintly at Lugen's hip, sealed in a rune-thread pouch that vibrated with quiet hums.
Luna stumbled and dropped to her knees. "We made it. Right? Tell me we didn't hallucinate the exit."
Kairia fell back into the grass, arms splayed wide. "I can taste air again. Actual air. Not haunted fungus gas."
Kounen said nothing. But the slight unclenching of his jaw spoke volumes.
Lugen didn't sit.
He stared back into the forest.
"It let us leave. Doesn't mean it forgot us."
Scene: Seeker Citadel – Return Gate
As they crossed the outer glyph barrier, the forest finally let go. The distortion stopped. Time settled.
Alarms blared.
Observers and medics rushed forward.
They were the third team to return.
Others had failed.
Some had died.
A few returned… without teammates.
But this team—Team Hollow Root—had their relic, and every member still standing.
Kaian Xander stepped forward, cloak fluttering. He didn't smile.
He simply raised a hand and spoke the words:
"Trial passed. Rank earned. You are now—Iron Seekers."
A quiet chime echoed as metallic glyphs etched themselves into the team's arms.
Silver-gray. Jagged.
Permanent.
Scene: The Ceremony Hall – Hours Later
The Iron Seeker induction was short. Formal. Intimidating.
Dozens of new Seekers stood lined beneath the statues of Kai, Aria, and the other icons. Their relics were stored, cataloged, and locked under sigilwatch.
The whispers were already beginning.
"That's the Mason boy. The four-blade one."
"Heard he didn't even draw the black sword."
"What kind of Seeker hides his real blade?"
Lugen ignored them. But his fingers hovered over Tetsuba, still sealed.
Not yet.
They stood in front of the arena gates now—towering obsidian stone laced with steam veins and sigillight. Thousands of fans had already begun pouring into the stadium for the Half Embrace Festival, a celestial event that aligned two moons and made aura behave erratically.
Master Kaian addressed them all from a raised platform.
"You are now Iron Seekers. But your Trial is not over."
"The forest tested your survival."
"The Coliseum will test your presence."
"During the Half Embrace, your matches will be held before the world."
"There are no fake battles here. No scripts. No saving face."
"You win by command. By soul. Or by surrender."
Scene: Lugen's Quiet Moment
That night, Lugen sat beneath a sky fractured by twin moons.
His fingers brushed the wrappings on Tetsuba.
The blade didn't glow.
But it pulled.
Lugen (softly):
"You slept through the forest… but I felt you. Watching. Waiting."
A pause.
"So when are you going to speak?"
No answer.
But the air around him stilled.
Like something ancient was listening.
Scene: Announcements Begin – Arena Rosters
In the city square, massive projection orbs displayed updated matchups.
"HALF EMBRACE TRIAL MATCHES — ROUND ONE"
Names flickered in glowing script:
— Team Hollow Root vs Team Sunscale
— Team Embertail vs Team Ayavi
— Team Crimora vs Team Ghost Archive
— Wildcard Entry Pending…
The crowd roared as Lugen's name appeared.
Kairia cracked her knuckles. "Drakari, huh? This'll be fun."
Luna groaned. "No forest advantage. No alchemy trick terrain. Just flat-ground pain."
Kounen simply smiled. The kind that meant someone was finally going to bleed properly.
Lugen stood, eyes locked on the arena.
"They hunted us in the forest."
"Now it's our turn."