[KUTO – REAL TEST FIELD – 173 DAYS REMAINING]
The ground was shaking.
Not an ordinary tremor. It was a **pulse**. Like the heartbeat of something colossal forcing its way to the surface.
Trees swayed violently. Leaves flew like razor blades. Dust rose in golden whirlwinds under the faint light of dusk.
With every **step**, the air grew heavier.
Romeo felt it first — pressure in his chest making it hard to breathe. His fingers trembled on the bowstring.
"What… what is this?"
Jack drove his sword into the ground, trying to stay balanced. His jaw clenched.
"Get ready."
Sonia gripped her staff, knuckles white. Selina adjusted her magical focus, hands shaking. Célia prayed quietly, her voice failing. Dimitri was breathing too fast, trying to control the panic.
Gunja raised his shield, but the golden light flickered unevenly. Sensi was already calculating escape routes before attack positions.
Haru melted into the shadows, shoulders tense.
Kuto remained motionless. Observing. Calculating. Expressionless.
Then the bear appeared.
---
It was a living mountain.
Four meters tall. Skin black as coal. Thick hide marked by deep scars crossing in chaotic patterns.
And the **weapons**.
Dozens embedded across its entire body. Rusted axes on its back. Broken spears on its shoulders. Shattered blades along its flanks. Each one belonged to a dead warrior.
Blood constantly streamed from its eyes. Dripping in drops that steamed when they hit the ground.
Its breathing sounded like a living furnace. Every exhalation visibly scorched the air.
"My God…" Célia whispered, her staff nearly slipping from her hands.
The group instinctively stepped back.
Jack took one step forward, forcing courage he didn't feel.
"Selina, Sonia, Sensi — elevated position. Ranged attack."
"Dimitri, right flank. Romeo, left."
"Gunja, Célia — keep everyone alive. **Don't let anyone die**."
He turned to Kuto.
"You're with me. We hold its attention."
Kuto tilted his head ever so slightly.
---
**The First Charge**
The bear roared.
A physical shockwave exploded like an invisible bomb. Sonia dropped to her knees, hands over her ears, screaming.
Jack charged, sword raised.
Kuto followed. Silent. Already activating a skill.
**[ADAPTABLE CLASS: Elemental Flames]**
Right hand engulfed in fire.
The paw came down.
**BOOM!**
Jack managed to raise his shield at the last instant.
The impact sent him flying violently. He crashed through bushes. Slammed into a tree.
**CRACK.**
The sound of breaking ribs echoed.
Jack fell. Tried to get up. Screamed in pain. Right arm hanging limp, shoulder dislocated.
"**JACK!**" Célia cried.
"NO!" Jack roared despite the pain. "Stay with the others! I can take it!"
He pushed himself against the tree. Got to his feet.
Raised the sword with his left hand.
"Keep going!"
Kuto didn't look. He dodged the second paw by millimeters. Spun. Flaming blade sliced deep into the hind legs.
Without stopping, a burst of fire exploded from his palm.
A black charred mark burned into the flank.
---
**The Sky on Fire**
"Damn it!" Romeo shouted, more rage than courage.
He ran while shooting. Ten arrows in five seconds. Half missed because of the shaking ground.
He planted his feet. Tears in his eyes — not from fear, from fury.
"**Twenty Arrows of Hell!**"
A flaming arrow shot straight up.
The sky split open.
Twenty arrows fell like converging meteors toward the bear.
**THUNK-THUNK-THUNK—**
Explosions. Fire spreading.
The bear roared, flames licking its back. It spun violently.
Romeo smiled for a second — pure satisfaction.
Then the paw struck him from the side.
He flew five meters. Landed badly. Ankle twisted with a wet snap.
He screamed. Rolled on the ground.
"Damn, damn, **damn**!"
He tried to stand. Leg wouldn't respond.
*I can't run. I can't reposition.*
*But I can still shoot.*
Lying on the ground, he pulled three arrows at once.
"Then come! **COME!**"
He shot from the ground.
Two missed. One hit the eye.
Romeo laughed hysterically.
"I STILL HAVE ONE GOOD ARM, YOU BASTARD!"
---
**Manipulation and Destruction**
Sensi floated above, sweat running down his face.
He raised trembling hands.
The axes and spears embedded in the bear's body began to shake.
A mental snap reverberated behind his eyes.
He ripped them all out at once.
The bear roared — a sound that made blood trickle from Sensi's ears.
The weapons floated. Spun in a deadly dance.
**They fired.**
Piercing flesh. Shattering bone. Each metallic impact echoing.
The bear staggered, bleeding from dozens of new holes.
Sensi traced complex runes. Illusions of ancient warriors materialized, advancing from all sides.
Confused, the monster attacked empty air. Wasted energy.
But the cost…
Sensi felt it. Nosebleed. Vision darkening at the edges.
*Too much mana. Too fast.*
The bear sensed the weakness.
It roared. A sonic wave expanded.
Sensi was thrown. Slammed into a tree. Something broke in his back.
He fell unconscious, bleeding.
Romeo was flung again, screaming.
Kuto was hurled, rolling, spitting blood.
---
**Desperate Healing**
Célia ran, stumbling, tears streaming.
"No, no, **no**!"
She knelt beside Sensi. Trembling hands tracing runes.
"**Restoring Light!**"
Weak golden glow.
Sensi was still bleeding.
Célia gasped. Sweat dripped.
**[MANA: 180/300]**
"Please, please work!"
Second wave of light. Stronger.
The bleeding stopped. Sensi breathed unevenly.
But Célia swayed. Vision darkened.
Gunja grabbed her shoulder, planting his shield between them and the bear.
"You're at your limit."
"I don't care!" her voice shook. "There are still others! I can't let anyone die!"
**[MANA: 120/300]**
---
**The Shadow Falls**
Haru materialized on the bear's back.
No sound. No warning.
"**Stealth Shadows**."
Daggers pierced the base of the skull. He vanished. Reappeared. Struck.
Thirty cuts in five seconds.
Blood sprayed.
But the paw came like a hammer.
It struck Haru in the chest.
**CRACK.**
He flew. Hit. Rolled. Lay still.
Célia screamed. Ran unsteadily.
Knelt. Hands glowing weakly.
"Haru! Haru, answer me!"
He coughed blood. Broken ribs. Punctured lung.
His eyes met hers.
He tried to smile. Failed.
"Kuto… protect… Kuto…"
He passed out.
Célia traced runes even while shaking.
**[MANA: 50/300]**
The light flickered. Almost went out.
Then Sonia knelt beside her.
"Let me help."
She placed her hand on Célia's shoulder.
**[MANA TRANSFER: 100]**
The light stabilized. Haru's ribs fused.
Célia collapsed into Sonia's arms, unconscious.
"Rest." Sonia whispered. "You did your part."
---
**Pure Adaptation**
Kuto observed.
The bear was wounded. Patterns now predictable.
He advanced without hesitation.
Dodged claw. Severed tendon. Retreated.
**[ADAPTABLE CLASS: Stealth Shadows]**
Vanished.
Reappeared behind. Slashed. Vanished.
Reappeared at the side. Burned. Vanished.
The bear spun in confusion, attacking empty air.
Kuto didn't stop. No expression. No hesitation.
Killing machine.
---
**Transformation**
The bear stopped.
Even bleeding. Even burning.
It slowly rose.
And roared differently.
Not an attack. **Transformation**.
The blood streaming from its eyes solidified. Crimson armor covered its body.
It grew larger. Muscles expanded.
"Shit." Jack whispered. "Second phase."
The bear charged.
Faster than before.
The claw pierced Kuto's guard.
Struck his chest.
Kuto flew. Hit. Blood sprayed.
He lay still.
Jack tried to run. His leg gave out.
The bear ignored everyone. Focused on Sonia tracing runes.
**Easy prey**.
It advanced.
Kuto stood up.
Slowly. Blood dripping.
Picked up his blade.
No expression. No fear.
Crossed the space.
Materialized between the bear and Sonia.
He didn't raise his weapon. Just stood there.
Empty eyes staring at the monster.
The paw descended.
Struck Kuto brutally.
He flew again. Hit. More blood.
But he bought three seconds.
Sonia finished the circle.
"**ARCANE CURSE!**"
A purple circle opened beneath the bear.
---
**The Final Blow**
Selina raised her staff, tears streaming as she saw Haru down.
"**Arcane Circle!**"
A brilliant black-and-white circle floated. A colossal fireball formed above.
Dimitri stopped laughing for the first time.
He looked at Haru. At Sensi. At everyone hurt.
"Enough playing around."
He raised both hands. Flames danced.
"Time to burn this thing to ashes."
A second fireball formed.
Sonia trembled.
Not from fear. From **hatred**.
"You chose wrong." she whispered to the bear.
Her staff glowed purple-black.
"You should never have touched them."
"**ATTACK!**"
Two spells descended like meteors.
The field exploded.
The bear roared. Flesh burning under the curse.
Damage multiplying five times per second.
Legs buckled.
It fell to its knees.
Tried to rise—
Haru emerged from the shadows.
Even with ribs broken moments earlier.
Daggers pierced the base of the skull.
"It's over."
The bear collapsed.
Its body disintegrating into glowing ashes carried by the wind.
---
**Silence After the Storm**
No one moved for ten seconds.
Then Jack laughed.
It started low. Hysterical. Incredulous.
"We… did it?"
Sonia dropped to a sitting position. Started laughing too.
Selina fell to her knees crying.
Dimitri raised a trembling fist to the sky.
"**WE DID IT!**"
Romeo, still lying down, shouted:
"SOMEONE CARRY ME, I CAN'T WALK!"
Laughter. Exhaustion. Relief.
Gunja helped Célia wake up.
She looked around.
"Everyone… alive?"
"Everyone." Gunja confirmed.
Célia cried pure relief.
**[FULL HEALING APPLIED]**
**[HP/MP: 100%]**
But even healed…
Jack still felt the ghost of pain in his arm.
Romeo tested his leg. It worked. But he remembered the bone breaking.
Haru touched his ribs. Solid. But he remembered the punctured lung.
*That was real. Death was real.*
**[LEVELS INCREASED]**
Jack: 20 / Kuto: 22 / Others: 18-20
---
Jack walked over to Kuto, who was standing apart cleaning his blade.
"You saved Sonia. And Haru. Thank you."
Kuto didn't look up.
Just gave the slightest nod.
"You're part of the group now. Whether you like it or not."
Kuto paused.
For a second, he looked at the others.
Selina and Dimitri arguing.
Romeo teasing Sonia.
Gunja helping Célia.
Then he went back to cleaning his blade.
No reply.
But he didn't walk away.
---
In the pavilion, Zenk watched.
"They evolved fast."
"But they almost lost." the king said.
The princess was watching Kuto.
"That one is different."
---
The king's voice echoed:
**Congratulations. You passed the first test.**
Silence.
**First?** Romeo murmured.
**The second begins tomorrow.**
The platform vanished.
Leaving the group alone.
Realizing.
*That was just the beginning.*