After Traset's defeat, he was ordered to sit down, his rank now lowered. The commander wasted no time and began the second match: Kuda vs. Atiart. Meanwhile, Traset's anger was evident. He kept replaying how he had lost to someone whose greatest strength was long-range attacks. Even though he had secured the advantage in close combat, he was taken down by bullets. He hated himself for such a humiliating loss.
The commander gave the signal. Kuda and Atiart, both armed with pistols, faced off. Kuda rushed in, attempting to snatch Atiart's weapon. Atiart reacted quickly, elbowing Kuda in the stomach and locking him in a hold. Kuda struggled and managed to escape, though he lost his pistol in the process. His only option now was hand-to-hand combat or trying to recover his weapon, which had landed far away.
Kuda pretended he was going to retrieve his gun. Atiart, seeing this, fired at him—but hesitated, feeling ashamed of taking such an easy shot. In that moment of doubt, Kuda grabbed Atiart and threw him down, though it didn't help much—Atiart struck him in the head. Kuda heard the impact with fear, realizing Atiart hadn't held back. But the blow reminded him: this was a battle to become a soldier.
Though afraid and exhausted from the blows, Kuda tried to tackle Atiart without success and was countered and pinned. But out of fear of ending the fight, Kuda managed to grab Atiart, flip him, and choke him until he couldn't breathe. The fight ended there. Kuda won.
Traset's reflection was abruptly cut short. Seeing another of the "strongest" fall made him question his choices—had he surrounded himself with mediocrity? His pride resisted the idea. At the same time, Traset and Atiart both turned to Etirm, who now felt the full weight of their expectations—fear mixed with the pressure to win.
Then the commander interrupted, announcing the next match: Sebas vs. Sudadio.
Sudadio was deep in thought, a mixture of awe and despair watching the fall of those he had looked up to. If they couldn't win, what hope did he have? But a promise to Leudo echoed in his mind, snapping him out of it. Hearing his name called filled him with terror, but also a fierce determination. He had to keep his word—to see Leudo again and honor those he admired. Even defeated, his heroes showed no fear or regret.
The commander gave the signal. Sudadio picked up a sword. Sebas, overly confident, didn't take a weapon. The commander guessed this arrogance would cost him the fight—but allowed it to begin.
Sudadio attacked first, going for Sebas's knees. Sebas dodged with agility and countered, hitting Sudadio in the neck. Sudadio fell, but held on to his sword. As Sebas moved in to take it and deliver the final blow, Sudadio grabbed his hand, surprising him. Sebas hesitated—and Sudadio struck his jaw with the sword.
Sebas flew through the air from the impact. Sudadio got up and, as Leudo had taught him, followed with a strike to the abdomen and finished with a brutal slam into the ground. A final blow to the chest echoed with a loud crack—bones breaking.
The commander watched in thought. Sudadio, despite his initial insecurity, had overcome fear. Maybe the desire to see Leudo and prove himself had pushed him through, even when he was nearly defeated.
Traset observed Sudadio's victory. At first, he wondered if he himself had lacked willpower. But he dismissed the thought—it had been a matter of distance. Instead, he saw in Sebas a reflection of his own arrogance at the end of his match: overconfidence that led to a careless defeat.
The next battle began: Isma vs. Etirm.
Etirm felt the crushing fear of disappointing everyone, especially after Atiart and Traset's losses. Isma, understanding that ranged fighting wouldn't work, chose daggers—realizing that, like the others, the fight would end up close-quarters.
Etirm, knowing Isma made up for his physical disadvantage with battlefield intelligence, chose a spear to maintain distance. But with poor aim, he was forced to rely on positioning.
The fight began. Isma, anticipating Etirm's strategy, prepared a counterattack. Etirm tried to keep mid-range—not too close or far—and left his non-weapon side exposed.
Isma spun just before Etirm's spear strike landed. Etirm noticed where Isma aimed and tried to stop it. Though Isma took a hit, he managed to throw a dagger into Etirm's torso, destabilizing him. But Isma couldn't follow up—Etirm's counterstrike to his ribs didn't land cleanly but left him partially disabled.
Etirm pressed on. Isma, now with one dagger, tried to defend and recover his weapon. He knew if he lost his dagger, Etirm's spear would also become useless.
Isma blocked another strike and managed to knock Etirm's spear aside. He charged, but Etirm, expecting a head-on attack, was caught off guard when Isma instead dove for his other dagger.
Etirm hesitated—why hadn't he attacked? What was Isma planning?
That doubt cost him. Isma feinted an attack, and Etirm braced, but instead got hit in the wrist.
Let's pause to explain Isma's plan: by confusing Etirm with his unexpected choice to retrieve the dagger instead of attacking directly, he created uncertainty. That hesitation let Isma strike decisively.
With his injured wrist, Etirm couldn't react in time. Isma followed with a flurry of blows. Desperate not to lose to such a trick, Etirm struck Isma's hand and broke it.
Wounded, Isma pulled back to regroup, but Etirm, enraged, rushed in blindly. Isma dodged and struck his eyes, blinding him. With Etirm defenseless, Isma targeted his weak spots until he passed out.
Isma won.
Elsewhere, Egen and the others—now healed with advanced bone-regenerating tech—watched. Egen mocked Sebas for losing to someone "so weak." Sebas responded that he didn't care; he lost due to overconfidence and hadn't expected Sudadio to be that strong. Egen kept mocking, while Sudadio watched in disbelief at their attitude.
Soon after, Joseph, Isma, Joshua, and Kuda arrived to calm things down. Kuda asked them to relax. Joseph pulled Egen away, Isma took Sebas, and Joshua ignored the drama altogether. In his mind, he reflected that Joseph had beaten him in a close fight—he had lost only because he couldn't endure the pain and lost his form.
After all the matches ended, the results were:
Advanced to soldier rank: Isma, Egen, Kuda, Sudadio, Joseph, Josh, Irun, Spawnur, Ajed, and Ekat.Placed in reserve: Sebas, Traset, Etirm, Atiart, Pket, Drow, Dispert, Aime, Daytan, Perry, Yfi, Jhosua, and Ingt.
Those in reserve were loaded onto a truck. A new commander informed them that due to a lack of personnel, they would train constantly by fighting each other. The top 8 would become soldiers after two months of rigorous training. They could remain in the truck.
As the commander walked away, Sebas, making sure he couldn't be heard, exploded with rage. He couldn't believe he had lost to someone like Sudadio—someone who had seemed weak at the start.
His anger was interrupted by Atiart mocking Etirm for losing due to his rage and going blind. Furious, Etirm punched Atiart and yelled at him to shut up, reminding him that he had lost because he showed mercy when he had victory in hand. Their argument turned into a full-blown fight.
Aime watched the chaos and felt disgusted. She thought she had been thrown in with the worst. She believed if she trained hard enough, she could be like Irun, Spawnur, or even Isma—more strategic and disciplined. But she ignored those thoughts. The fight between Joseph and Joshua had been so strategic it had been even—until it was interrupted by Etirm pushing Atiart, who fell onto Aime and dragged her into the brawl.
As the fight broke out, Traset ignored it, lost in thought. Moments later, after Etirm's fight, silence fell again, each of them dealing with their defeat.
Then Etirm broke the silence. He admitted he had lost because he gave in to anger. From now on, they would need to overcome their weaknesses. He acknowledged that they had focused too much on physical training because Traset had once said strategy was useless without strength and speed. Atiart agreed—it had been a mistake. Etirm continued: if they didn't address their flaws, they risked being expelled for military incompetence.
Coming back from his thoughts, Traset felt the hits of the fight around him—a reflection of everyone's frustration. But he could only look on with disgust. It all seemed stupid to him. Then he noticed Joshua was the only one not reacting, also lost in thought.
Among the victors, Egen smirked arrogantly and called Sebas weak and ignorant. Sudadio glared at him, but Egen shrugged it off. Isma scolded him, but then the commander intervened.
He told them he didn't believe they had won merely by luck. They needed to prove their bodies were compatible with defense systems. According to intelligence reports, a war was imminent—and they would soon have to get involved.
He began to explain what the particles were and why they were so dangerous.
Originally, there were only normal humans. But something happened that allowed some to develop powers. These powers manifested differently in each person, causing the human population to plummet—because the energy these new beings emitted was deadly to normal humans. And if two normals had a child, the child would always have powers.
These superpowered individuals stopped obeying laws, enslaving or killing regular people. The few normal humans who remained went into exile. They built a dome that purified the energy from powered beings, allowing them to survive. But the powerful kept trying to invade and enslave them—because there were no other normal humans left outside the dome.
So they had to develop new defense methods.