Inside an isolated room sealed by three solid walls and one glass wall, Cain lay unconscious on a hospital bed.
Blue cracks spread across his body, pulsing irregularly. His face was twisted in pain, sweat dripping steadily down his temple.
No one could step inside to comfort him. No one could even wipe away his sweat. The room was strictly off-limits.
Two figures stood outside, watching him through the glass.
"Doctor, is this really everything you can do for him?" Aeris asked. Her voice carried both worry and desperation.
The doctor shook his head. "I'm afraid so, Ms. Aeris. The wild mana inside him rejects any foreign mana. If we tried healing magic, the wild mana would attack it, causing even more damage."
"What exactly is this wild mana?" Aeris asked.
"…I'm sorry, but that information is classified." The doctor lowered his head, bowing apologetically.
"I see…" Aeris's gaze lingered on Cain. "Then… will he survive?"
"It depends." He turned his gaze back to Cain. "Fortunately, as violent as it is, the wild mana won't kill him outright—as long as no foreign mana interferes. But he'll be in constant agony. If he can't endure the pain, it could still kill him."
"Can he be healed at all?"
The doctor shook his head slowly. "Not as of right now."
***
[BANG! RAT-TAT-TAT! PING!]
At the shooting range, William trained with the same heavy rifle Cain used. Each shot jolted his arm with pain as he struggled to adapt to its recoil.
A soldier marched up to his booth.
"Private William!" he barked.
"Yes??" William yanked off his earmuffs, startled by the shout.
"Major General Isaac ordered me to deliver this letter to you personally."
"Ah, okay." William accepted the letter, waiting to see if the soldier had anything else to say.
But the man only gave a sharp salute and left.
William frowned and looked at the envelope in his hands. "A physical letter instead of a digital one? That's strange…"
He tore it open and read.
{Private William, logically, you should have received your reward during the Rewards Ceremony for the Eclipse Orchid Expedition.
But in consideration of your passionate request, I have decided to give out your reward early.
You are now assigned to Unit Zero, effective immediately.
Use the badge enclosed and report to the unit at once.
Signed, Major General Isaac}
William blinked. 'That fast?!'
He had made the request only this morning. Not even a full day had passed, and it was already granted.
Reading the letter again, he felt a creeping unease. It almost felt like he had walked straight into a trap.
Still, he had no choice but to follow the order.
***
Sector E – Special Training Ground
William arrived at a secluded corner of the army base, where an isolated building loomed.
'This is the place?' he wondered, checking the holographic map projected from the badge.
The building was four stories tall, wide as a soccer field, and built entirely from plain concrete.
The walls were featureless—no windows, no color, no markings. Even the doors were slabs of solid concrete.
Its sharp edges and blocky shape gave it the appearance of a fortress bunker, something built for an apocalyptic war.
The concrete door towered over him, at least two stories high. As William approached, it creaked open on its own, slow and menacing, revealing only darkness within.
Standing at the edge of the entrance, William called out, "Hello?"
No reply. Not even an echo.
He waited a full minute, but nothing.
With no better option, he stepped inside.
At first, nothing changed. Then a beam of light flicked on deep in the dark, illuminating a small table.
William followed it cautiously. On the table sat a paper note, with a sign pointing at it: Read out loud.
Naturally, William obeyed. "Lesson No. 1: Never enter a mysterious dark room?"
[BOOM!]
The massive concrete door behind him slammed shut. His only light source went out, drowning him in darkness.
Then the lights began to flicker on one by one, revealing a vast hall. The floor, walls, and ceiling were covered entirely in white square padding.
In the center, a giant mechanical golem knelt on one knee, dormant.
With a rumble, it powered on. Red lines lit up at its feet and climbed upward—legs, torso, chest—until they reached its skull. Its empty sockets blazed crimson.
[Target acquired]
The robotic voice boomed as the golem drew a rod from its chest. The rod transformed into a massive hammer.
Jets fired from its back as it launched forward, hammer raised high.
William froze, his mind blank, unable to respond.
The hammer smashed down before he could move.
When the mech lifted its weapon again, William's limp body was revealed beneath it, already unconscious.
Silence hung for a moment, then an enraged female voice erupted through the intercom.
"What the FUCK was that?! One hit?! Why didn't you even try to dodge?!"
[BAM!] Something slammed against the intercom.
"Clara! Stop hitting the console when you're angry—you'll break it!" a man shouted.
"What do you mean, stop?!" Clara yelled back. "Why would they send someone this weak here? How am I supposed to test my mech with that?!"
"Then test it on the other members!"
"They're monsters! They'd destroy it in one strike! That's useless!"
Their argument echoed through the hall.
"Anyway," the man sighed, "you messed up the test. You'll have to run it again."
"Of course I will! I still need combat data."
When the man walked off, Clara glared back at the monitor showing William's unconscious body.
"…I guess I'll suit him up for a fight," she muttered.
"Ugh… my head…" William groaned as he regained consciousness.
He reached around and realized he was fully suited in armor.
Before he could process anything further, a female voice cut through his helmet.
"Listen up, boy. There was a small error in your test earlier. So the magnanimous me has decided to give you another chance. Understood?"
"…Yes!" William blurted.
"Good. Now, go defeat the robot standing right in front of you."
Right on cue, the mech's eyes blazed red again as it charged.
This time, William braced himself to dodge. But suddenly, heat burst from his back and hurled him sideways.
He avoided the charge—but slammed hard into a wall, bouncing off the padded surface.
Groaning, William looked behind him. Two mini jets were strapped to his armour.
He didn't have time to think. The mech had already turned and charged again.
William panicked and thought about dodging. The jets activated instantly, launching him across the hall.
He bounced corner to corner in a chaotic loop, the mech chasing him relentlessly.
Slowly, he began to adjust his movement, trying to control the jetpack. But the mech switched tactics.
Missiles fired rapidly from its back, tracking his clumsy trajectory.
He couldn't dodge in time. Explosions rocked him, slamming him into the wall again.
By the time he recovered from the blast, the mech was already looming over him, hammer raised.
William threw up his arms, expecting the end.
But instead of being crushed, a mechanical sword manifested in his hands, catching the hammer's swing.
Stunned, William barely had time to react before the mech swung again. He gritted his teeth, holding the sword with both hands.
The blows came harder, faster. Each deflection shoved him back, forcing him against the wall.
[KLANK! KLANK! KLANK!]
The relentless assault left him gasping, pummeled again and again with no chance to recover.
In the monitor room, Clara leaned forward, her red eyes narrowed.
"Haa… he's too weak. I might as well start the real test," she muttered.
[CRACK!]
"Stop." Her command froze the mech mid-strike.
William was exposed, backed against the wall. His helmet was shattered, yet he still held his sword in a guard position.
Though barely conscious, he seized the brief pause. Flaring his boosters at full power, he launched himself forward with his sword raised high.
The blade drove straight into the mech's head.
"What?!" Clara shouted. "145, get that boy off you now!"
But William wasn't done. He flipped, turned his jets downward, and clung to the embedded sword as he rocketed to the floor.
The motion dragged the blade through the mech's body, tearing its circuits apart.
The machine collapsed into pieces.
"AHHHHH!" William roared in triumph, blood dripping from his forehead as he stood, eyes cloudy with exhaustion.
Clara sat in stunned silence before breaking into laughter.
"Hah… hahahaha! You cunning little bastard. Good. You're still fighting."
Her grin widened, madness in her gaze. "Then don't blame me for going all out."
In the hall, William dropped to his knees, his vision fading. His body should have given out long ago, but sheer stubbornness kept him upright.
"Haaah… Huff… I actually passed…"
Before he could collapse, the ground shook. Something massive landed nearby, rattling the entire building.
William looked up. A new mech loomed over him—bigger, darker, and far more menacing.
Inside it sat Clara herself, finally revealing her face. Her expression was twisted with fury.
"Boy," she shouted, "the warm-up's done. Now for the real test."
William blinked, his mind barely catching up. "…But… you said I'd pass if I defeated that mech."
"Yeah," Clara said flatly. "I lied."
Her mech's jets roared as she charged.
William remained on his knees, too exhausted to move.
To an outsider, it might have looked comical. But to William, the sight of Clara's crazed charge was nothing less than horrifying. Her face etched itself into his memory as the face of the devil.