From the crowd of children, shadows lengthened as three figures emerged.
They were tall... towering at least six feet, their faces hidden behind grotesque masks carved like devils or twisted beasts. Their presence alone pressed a heavy weight on the air.
The one on the right lifted his leg and—
BOOM!
His foot crashed against the ground, the sound echoing like thunder. The floor trembled, dust falling from the cavern ceiling. The children screamed, voices overlapping in fear until the masked figure raised a hand.
"Quiet!"
The command cracked like a whip through the air, and just like that, the noise died down into whimpers and muffled breaths.
The man's voice was rough, carrying easily over the silence.
"Congratulations, survivors. But remember—this is only the beginning." His words cut deep, heavy with promise and threat alike.
He gestured toward the center, where a large stone stood faintly glowing in the torchlight. "Now… line up. Each of you will place your hand on the stone."
Grimm's chest tightened, though he kept his face unreadable. Beside him, Lian's eyes narrowed, sharp and calculating. She leaned close enough for only her small group to hear.
"Stay together. No matter what happens don't get separated."
Grimm gave a short nod, torchlight glinting in his tired eyes.
'This is a test,' he thought.
The line stretched long, children shuffling forward with hesitant steps, but none dared resist. Fear was a stronger leash than any chain.
Despite the numbers, the process moved quickly, the masked figures directing them with simple gestures, their presence enough to silence even the most restless.
Grimm kept his eyes sharp, following each movement. It became clear after a while that the children were being divided.
Three groups formed, each filling steadily under the watchful eyes of the masked adults.
He frowned slightly.
'Strange… there doesn't seem to be a pattern. Most of the kids look the same—thin, pale, scared.'
But then he noticed one particular group. A cluster of children stood out... not because of their behavior, but because of their size. They were larger, sturdier, their builds more developed than the rest.
'So they're sorting us,' Grimm thought, gaze narrowing. 'That group… is strength?'
The torchlight flickered over the cavern walls as more children pressed their palms to the stone, the line thinning with each step.
Lian, standing close, didn't speak, but Grimm caught the way her eyes flicked toward the groups too. She had noticed the same thing.
...
When Grimm's turn came, he stepped forward slowly. The stone loomed tall before him, its surface smooth and faintly cold under his palm. For a heartbeat nothing happened—then—
Vmm—
A dim light pulsed from within, crawling across the stone's veins like liquid fire.
Grimm squinted at the glow, unsure what it meant, but the masked figure behind the slab shifted slightly as if studying something only they could see.
After a moment, the figure raised a hand and pointed toward a side path.
Grimm obeyed, stepping away from the stone. He glanced back just enough to notice that the group he was being led to was small—barely twenty children gathered there.
Compared to the cluster of sturdier kids on the far side, his group looked almost fragile.
He pressed his lips tight. 'So… that's how it is. They're measuring something, sorting us like cattle. But what do they see?'
Soon after, Lian approached the stone. Her slim hand pressed against it, and once again the veins lit up, a pale glow spreading across the surface.
The masked watcher assessed silently, then motioned in the same direction Grimm had been sent.
She walked over without hesitation, joining the group next to Grimm's group at the edge. For a moment their eyes met. Lian didn't speak, but the corner of her lips curved ever so slightly.
Grimm folded his arms, gaze flicking across the larger groups, then back to the faintly glowing stone.
'If the big ones were sorted for strength, then what about us? What did they see in me? In her?'
When the last child pulled their hand away from the stone, the masked man in the center stepped forward. His voice carried sharply across the cavern.
"You are divided into three groups—A, B, and C."
At once the murmurs of children rose, but one look at the figures in masks silenced them again. Grimm watched carefully. From what he could see, Group A was filled with the tallest and broadest children. They numbered well over a hundred.
Group B, where Grimm stood, had fewer... no more than forty. They looked mixed, not too strong, not too frail, caught somewhere between.
And then there was Group C. Grimm's gaze flicked there. Only around twenty-five stood in that line, smaller frames, sharper eyes. Lian was among them, calm and unshaken, as if she had expected this result all along.
The masked man raised his arm, pointing toward the cavern wall. With a loud grinding noise—
Grrrkkhh—
—stone shifted, revealing three dark openings carved into the rock. Each was marked with a symbol above, faintly lit by the torches.
"These are your sectors. From this moment, you belong there. Group A, to the left passage. Group B, the middle. Group C, the right. You will live, train, and fight in your sector. Step forward."
Grimm clenched his fists lightly, eyes narrowing. 'Sectors, groups, sorting us like tools… this isn't just survival. They're shaping us into something. But what?'
Children shuffled nervously toward their respective holes, torches flickering against the rough walls.
Grimm exhaled slowly, then followed his group into the middle passage. His last glance caught Lian slipping into the right-hand path with her small cluster, her dark hair vanishing into the shadows.
As soon as Grimm stepped through the narrow stone passage, the air shifted.
The flickering glow of torches was gone, replaced by a steady radiance that seemed to come from nowhere.
Or rather, from strange hovering spheres of light that floated along the walls, glowing faintly like captured stars.
The ground beneath his feet was no longer rough rock. It was tiled... smooth, pale, almost metallic in sheen. The sudden change made him pause.
'This… isn't a cave anymore.'
The others who entered with him were nowhere to be seen. Silence stretched around him, leaving only his own echoing footsteps. The facility-like corridor felt sterile, empty, and wrong.
He took a cautious step forward.
Clack.
A faint symbol bloomed on the tile beneath his foot, glowing faintly before linking to the next tile.
Grimm froze, watching carefully. The mark was strange, lines and curves twisting in a way he didn't recognize.
Then he stepped again.
Clack.
Another symbol appeared. It connected to the first with a thin glowing line.
He frowned. He didn't understand the meaning, but the pattern was familiar. He narrowed his eyes, memories surfacing.
It was almost like that old game from Earth. Safe steps forming chains, symbols warning of something hidden just nearby.
His heart tightened.
Then somewhere ahead, a wrong step might mean more than just losing points.
'It might mean losing my life.'
Grimm inhaled deeply and steadied himself, scanning the floor like he was looking at a giant puzzle board.
'Alright... Let's test this carefully.'