Morning light spilled through the high arched windows of the main hall, turning the marble floor to gold. The hall had been transformed into a chamber of intellect, discipline, and quiet dread.
At the center sat Edwin, tall and poised, dressed in a sleeveless black coat that revealed the inked symbols spiraling down his arms. His eyes, sharp and calculating, flicked from one end of the room to the other. Twenty five chessboards gleamed on long black tables lined in rows. Fifty recruits stood to the side, waiting.
This was the tactics test.
The recruits were informed the night before: win the match, survive the pressure, or face tactical demotion. Only the sharpest minds would make it into the elite tactical division. This wasn't about ego. It was about war. It was about being able to survive.
And Edwin was a warlord of thought.
He addressed the room with the voice of a seasoned commander.
"Your hands may wield blades, but if your minds are dull, you're nothing but meat waiting to be sliced. Today, you'll face me. Not to defeat me—because most of you won't—but to reveal who among you has the potential to command. Who sees through chaos. Who has the mind of true assassins. Who can survive the test of the cruel world outside this.they"
He gestured to the boards. "Sit."
The recruits took their seats. Twenty five to begin with.
Among them were Xero, Sonze, Xui Hai, Clark, and others like Rin Valek, a tactical scholar from Tardel province, and Mikka Lun, an orphan who once survived a siege by hiding and manipulating the attackers with whispers.
Edwin began from the far end. His seat was behind and a large table was positioned in the centre.
"Chessboard?! What the.." someone muttered in shock. Murmurs began to flow
They hadn't expected it to be their source of exam.
Reft, thin and shivering, opened with an attempt at the instructor, Edwin.
Three minutes later, Edwin cornered his queen and ended him with a knight fork. "Your pattern is too symmetrical," Edwin said. "It tells me your next move before you make it. Too bad. "
Next, Hilka one of the speedsters , frantic, overconfident. She lasted four minutes. She acted too fast and rough leaving her at the mercy of Edwin.
Wren, the stoic girl who had a better mindset, her dad worked in the military. She lasted eight minutes . She played a passive defense, but Edwin lured her into abandoning her pawn wall and punished her.
People tropped in lasting three minutes or five minutes. Good intuition, poor execution.
Shai Ken surprised everyone by holding Edwin for nine and a half minutes, even gaining an upper hand briefly by forcing him to trade a rook for two minor pieces. But a miscalculation in a diagonal break costed her the game.
"You'd do well with map tactics," Edwin told her. "But you hesitate when it matters. And hesitation kills." Shai Ken only scuffed as she left.
Clark entered next, confident and sharp. He opened with an aggressive four-knight opening and used double rook pressure to corner Edwin's king.
Ten minutes in, Edwin countered by isolating Clark's queen side . Clark's pawns were wiped off entirely . Clark was left to play defensive. Eleven minutes laughter. Clark was checkmated.
"Ambition and speed," Edwin noted. "But not enough adaptability."
Sonze came in predictable. Strong opening. Overexposure. He started with opening the route to his king and using his queen to wipe Edwin's army but a little bait was all Edwin needed to take away his queen and then a checkmate came in next. It was so swift and his alliance were already wiped out.
He lasted only five minutes and a half. He stood up chuckling. "Think I'll smash my way through problems instead."
Edwin smirked. "You may, but not on my board."
Next was Xui Hai. She entered like fire wrapped in frost. Unlike others, she didn't play fast. She studied. Took three full minutes before moving her first pawn. Edwin's eyes sharpened.
"You study me?" he said in disbelief.
"I study my prey. Left for you to decide who you are." she replied.
Her game was full of unorthodox traps. Forcing Edwin to use pieces out of position. She nearly captured his queen with a disguised bishop play. She sacrificed material for control.
Ten minutes. No winner.
Twelve. Edwin countered with a queen trade.
Fifteen. She pushed with twin pawn advancement—almost breaking his defense.
Seventeen. He looped around her flanks, collapsed her back rank and rendered them useless.
But after a few more minutes, her defenses were totally annihilated and that caused her to get checkmated.
Edwin nodded. "You learn fast. With two more minutes, you'd have broken my center. Next time, don't hesitate."
Xui Hai offered no reply, but her narrowed eyes said everything. Her gaze swept to Xero. She stared at him long enough and he only scuffed. His eyes sharpened as he stared back at her. A silent war occurring between them.
All matches paused as the last player stepped forward. Xero walked like someone who didn't care about attention. But every instructor watched him now. He had seemed too brainy in the past five tests and this would only prove whether he was indeed wise or just grace falling upon him.
Xero sat across from Edwin and quietly moved his pawn forward. Edwin responded. The game began and time slowed.
Every move Xero made seemed ordinary. But Edwin found himself repeating internal calculations. Xero adapted to his strategies too quickly.
He switched his structure mid-game from six pawn defense to a hypermodern setup, trading space for trap corridors. He sacrificed a knight early to bait a reaction—then reclaimed tempo.
Thirty minutes. Edwin's brow was wet. He hadn't expected a single play to be this long. A simple rookie was taking him so much time to defeat. Damn!
Forty-five minutes in.
Instructors gathered. Derick leaned forward. Idran said nothing, his hand tight around his cup. This was not ordinary. Edwin never stayed this long in a game. He always cut in fast.
Xero sacrificed his queen. Edwin leapt at the opportunity only to realize it had exposed his flank. Two rooks. One pawn.
Check. Edwin responded.
Check again. Final move—Checkmate.
Edwin froze. His breath caught. Xero leaned back, his mind was still at perfect ease.
Silence.
"You… beat me." Edwin whispered.
Xero didn't reply. He just looked at the board.The recruits stared at him, stunned.
Thein stepped into the room.
"I've seen enough," he said. "Mark him."
Edwin stood and addressed the room.
"Most of you were outclassed. And that's fine. But he...he has a battlefield mind. Not just a player. A general."
He looked at Xero. Xero kept an expressionless face. He could have won Edwin earlier than he did.
"You'll be leading missions one day. Or rewriting the future of assassin warfare. Demons will come to fear your but then do not screw it up by dying."
Xero nodded once. His face was lightened
He hadn't to be that easy. He smiled lightly. He had expected something tough but Instructor Edwin was too easy for him. He smiled again as every one looked at him. The other instructors watched him closely. A game of one hour. Not so much to be happy about. He had slipped the best time to end Edwin around the tenth minute. Well that was still good. At least he was the only one who had defeated Edwin.