After the commander's speech, a sergeant appeared and told the children they needed to find out what powers they possessed. The kids were frightened by the way the sergeant looked at them, while the commander watched with some interest.
This sergeant—who was a PGDUDC with the concept of destiny—felt a strange premonition. His creator had warned him telepathically that something felt wrong, that a fight and betrayal were coming. The sergeant feared knowing who the traitor was, but his creator refused to reveal it, saying destiny could not yet be altered.
Their telepathic conversation was abruptly interrupted by a woman named Volg, a soldier in charge of threat prevention and bearer of a truce with Hades. Speaking to the children, she told them they were "the future of this garbage." The commander immediately hit her, while Egenver stared at her, clearly smitten.
Meanwhile, the children who had been placed in the reserve rank were still on a truck, some tied up. Earlier, during their fight, the new commander had explained how their training would work. He was a commander of attack and classified intelligence, and his mission was to shape them into strategic minds for the battlefield. Due to the earlier brawl, he had tied them up.
Atiart shouted that it had just been a childish fight, but the commander ignored him. While smoking, he thought to himself that he was curious to see how these kids would turn out. Yet due to his strong aura sensitivity, he felt something strange—something bad—present in their expressions, like weapons made of fragments and suffering. He was left wondering what would happen there.
Later, back at the base, the commander divided the recruits into groups of six and seven. At the last moment, he informed them that strong performance would allow them to advance. The weekly test would involve team battles. The winning team would be allowed to choose a member from the losing team to join them—at the cost of trading one of their own.
The commander reflected internally. He needed to find out who was emitting that unusual aura and held such potential. His plan was to speak with each one individually, but the risk of being seen or caught made that too dangerous. He considered rigging the tests to make sure this person ended up on the winning team, so he could remove and kill them quietly. However, the likelihood of failure was high.
Worse yet, he sensed a terrifying presence watching him. He knew someone had been sent to protect this place—but who? And why was someone with fragment-level power involved? He needed to find out.
He thought about launching a direct attack—but with a looming war, that would be suicide. He couldn't deny the situation was affecting him; the presence was clearly still there. He considered changing his teaching methods, but quickly rejected the idea—it would give away that he was aware, increasing the danger. So he chose to act calmly and left the area.
Flashback: Before the attack commander was given the mission to train the children, the war commander had warned him. He had felt a powerful aura in Traset—an aura of fragments and revolution. Something devastating. During the trials, he had also noticed others like Kuda, who had exceptional perception, and similar potential in most of the others—except Atiart, Joshua, Etirm, and a few more, who didn't seem to carry it.
But by the end of the trial, the war commander had felt something he'd never felt before: real fear. It was as if something or someone had already chosen one of the children. He warned that this was too dangerous, and things wouldn't end well. But if their destinies could be manipulated, they might gain immense power. That presence could also prove helpful in the civil war brewing against their own government.
The attack commander had simply replied that he understood.
Back at the base, as soon as the commander was out of sight, Sebas mocked Joshua:"Ha! You always lose. Imagine losing to Joseph, Kuda, and Isma."
Joshua let him talk but sometimes replied with a mix of sarcasm and seriousness. At that moment, Traset felt sudden pressure around his neck—as if struck by an invisible blow. He looked around for the source, but found nothing, then searched for his two friends with his eyes.
Etirm caught his gaze, and the two ended up talking, which—as usual—turned into a fight.
The commander reappeared, announcing that Sebas and Joshua had been chosen as the two team leaders. Sebas grimaced in anger while Joshua ignored him entirely. Both began picking team members. Sebas ended up with Aime, while—surprisingly—Traset found himself on Atiart's team.
Sebas felt confident, mocking Joshua internally for having a weaker team. The commander told them the first battle would be in a week and that they should use the time to train.
Back in the base's power-testing center, where the newly promoted soldiers were, each one had to test which power would choose them. They would take turns.
Upon hearing this, Egen lit up, thinking about how much stronger he'd become. Isma, on the other hand, wanted to become the strongest of all time. Joseph only wanted to survive. Kuda felt a particular discomfort with the whole process—he didn't care about power itself but about understanding others' perspectives.
To Kuda, seeking power this way could only lead to death, because powers had defects—and their use depended on time, perspective, and user compatibility. He concluded that choosing a power wisely was more important than chasing it blindly. These thoughts crossed each recruit's mind in silence.
Egen, with a transparent excuse, asked what kind of power Volg had. He clearly just wanted to talk to her, perhaps even flirt. Only Isma and Joseph understood immediately why he'd brought it up.
Volg answered curtly:"Connection."She clarified that her connection was with the god Hades.
Egen nodded, pretending to understand, while still obviously mesmerized by her. Volg gave a slight smile, amused by his look.
With that, the sergeant, Volg, and the war commander left. They gave clear orders: the kids must train and test all available powers. They would stay there for at least three months, so the powers could choose them—and so they could understand them.