3:00 PM — The Central Advanced Measurement Square…The air was heavy with calm, and the city groaned under its usual noise, while in Adam's hand was an invitation bearing the royal seal, crafted with exquisite precision.Had one examined the edges of the paper closely, they would have found a faint irregularity—a deviation only a trained eye could notice… but neither he nor Carla Brown had paid it any mind.
A woman in her late twenties approached him, wearing a formal gray suit and bearing the insignia of the Evaluation Directorate. She stood before him confidently and said:"I've been assigned to personally escort you to the testing site, Adam Ethan… Don't worry, it's just a routine procedure."
He didn't comment. He simply nodded, letting his feet follow her.Her steps were calculated, slicing through the crowded streets with mechanical precision, until they reached a narrow stone passage ending in a massive iron gate.From her pocket, she took out a metal piece and inserted it into a hidden slot, and the sound of the lock slowly disengaging filled the air.She turned to him with a reassuring smile:"Stay one step behind me… Once we cross, we'll arrive."
But before she could finish the sentence, a long shadow emerged from between the stones.She had no time to scream… not even to turn her head.A cold edge slit her throat in utter silence, and she collapsed to the ground as if life had been drained from her in an instant.
From the shadows emerged a man with a strange face, resembling a wax mask with no real features.He bent down, removed the official seal from her, wiped his blade on her clothes, then stood facing Adam.Pale eyes, neither warm nor hateful… just pure coldness.
Adam stood still, neither retreating nor showing the slightest hint of fear.Inside his head, hypotheses began to flow in calculated slowness:(Possibility: a psychological stress test… or an actual elimination… or a staged act to gauge my reactions. The end result is the same either way.)
The man took a step forward and spoke in a low voice, not threatening but certain:"Adam Ethan… you will come with us now."
A long pause.Then Adam gave a slight nod, as if surrendering himself to a current it was pointless to resist.(If it's a test… acting with composure is the winning card. And if it's an ambush… nothing will change.)
The man extended a hand stained with small patches of blood, as though guiding Adam along the way.Adam lifted his gaze from the hand to the man's face and whispered coldly:"Let's go… this could be part of the evaluation."
And he walked.Inside, there was neither fear nor certainty… only a quiet emptiness, hiding in its corner a single, voiceless question:Where are they taking me?… And why do I feel as though I already knew?
The stranger stopped in front of Adam, his eyes fixed, before stepping sideways toward the stone wall of the passage.There was no haste in his movement, but rather a strange balance that suggested everything was pre-calculated.He extended his right hand forward, as if the air itself were a tangible mass.Suddenly… the void began to distort.
Lines of light trembled, as though the world itself was trying to repel what was happening.From within this distortion, human features began to take shape—first the frame of a body, then its details—until it was as if a transparent statue was being sculpted from nothingness.Then, as if given a command, that transparency took on color, flesh, and blood, until the figure became an exact copy of Adam—same height, same hair, same weight in the gaze.
The stranger did not stop at the external resemblance.He raised his hand again, and from his palm emerged thin threads resembling black mist, which seeped into the copy to imprint on its neck the mark of a deep wound, akin to a fatal blow.In less than a minute, the "corpse" was lying on the ground, its features frozen, its eyes half-open as though life had ended abruptly.
Adam watched the scene in silence, his gaze shifting between his supposed corpse and the man who had created it.He felt no fear; instead, his mind was absorbed in precise analysis:(His element… material creation from nothing, or rearranging air and light particles. If the copy is this perfect, no one will tell the difference between it and me. Is the aim to deceive the observers… or to officially declare my death?)
The stranger approached the corpse, knelt on one knee, and adjusted the position of its arm so that it looked as if it had fallen while trying to defend itself.Then he rose, dusting his hands as if he were an artist who had just finished his final masterpiece.
Without turning, he spoke softly but sharply:"Now… no one will think you're alive."
Inside, Adam felt as though he were watching his own funeral from just two steps away.But instead of fear or sadness, he found himself entertaining a strange thought:(Perhaps my death on paper is better… it could give me room to move without restrictions.)
The stranger turned, walked steadily toward the gate that opened on its own, gesturing for Adam to follow.And as they departed, "Adam's corpse" remained there, shrouded in the cold shadow of the passage… waiting for someone to find it.
After leaving the false body behind in the stone passage, the stranger continued walking without looking back.His steps were quicker this time, as though he wanted to get Adam out of the heart of the capital before anyone noticed his disappearance.
They slipped through the back alleys, avoiding the busy main streets.There was no attempt to hide Adam's face or restrain him… but the way the stranger walked, the slow, surveying turns of his head at every corner, made it seem as though they were moving through hostile ground.
After several minutes, they arrived at a small square on the edge of the capital.At the far side stood a closed wooden carriage, old in style but sturdy, pulled by four black horses with thick manes.One man, his face covered and bearing a silver badge on his chest, was waiting beside the carriage.He opened the rear door without a word, as if he had known exactly what would happen from the start.
The stranger gestured for Adam to enter:"We'll travel a long way… 240 kilometers northwest. To the city of Winy Ger."
Adam climbed in calmly, sitting on the wooden bench inside, as the stranger followed and sat across from him.The door shut from the outside, and the carriage set off immediately, devouring the road as the evening mist began to descend on the city.
From the small window, Adam watched the scenery gradually change—tall stone buildings dissolving into open fields, and fields transforming into dense forests.The farther they went, the more the capital's lights faded behind them, until only darkness and stars remained.
Inside the carriage, no one spoke.The stranger sat motionless, eyes half-closed, yet Adam felt as though he was being observed with precision through every breath he took.The carriage's rattling over the dirt road was a steady rhythm, and as the hours passed, the creak of the wheels began to blend with strange images in Adam's mind… distant sounds, as though the earth itself was whispering about the destination they were nearing.
He didn't ask the reason for the journey.He knew that whatever the answer, it wouldn't be told until they arrived.
As the hours passed, the royal capital's landmarks faded entirely, replaced by open lands scattered with occasional stone houses, then wide wheat fields swaying in the wind.Sometimes they passed through a small village, where children would stop to watch the carriage go by, before returning to their daily lives as if nothing had happened.
After about six hours of travel, the outline of Winy Ger began to appear on the horizon—short pale-brick walls, simple watchtowers, and a small river port with only a handful of boats docked.It wasn't a wealthy or bustling city, but a medium-sized, quiet-looking one, like any trade town surviving on exchanging goods with surrounding villages.
At the entrance, no soldier stopped them for inspection—just a quick salute from the guard before they passed.Inside, the streets were unevenly paved, and small shops opened their doors to local customers.People seemed busy with their lives; no one paid attention to a strange carriage arriving from the capital.
Yet, despite the simplicity of the scene, Adam noticed something subtle…Glances exchanged between some men at the corners, and a woman closing her window the moment they passed.It wasn't enough to count as danger, but it left a side note in his mind:(An ordinary city… at least on the surface.)
The stranger signaled to the driver, and the carriage stopped before an old stone inn.He smiled coldly and said:"We'll stay here tonight… and tomorrow, we begin what you came for."