The room grew quiet except for the faintest sound of their breathing. Each of them had their corner, but now the air felt tense, like they were waiting for someone to move first.
Hui stood up without a word and positioned herself near the wall, her back almost brushing the rough stone.
She didn't need to announce what she was doing—her presence began to thin almost immediately.
Her figure blurred into the shadows, the dim light catching less and less of her outline.
Haoran narrowed his deep purple eyes, lips pressed thin.
"She's at it again. You realize you're making the rest of us look bad?"
Hui opened her eyes briefly, calm as ever.
"The world won't go easy on you because you're slower. It doesn't care if you're embarrassed."
Then she closed them again, sinking back into stillness.
Grimm watched her carefully, his own breathing steady.
'She's syncing her rhythm with the environment again. Every draft, every flicker of light… it's all part of her pattern. If she wasn't here, I wouldn't even think someone could hide like that in plain sight.'
"Alright," Haoran said suddenly, pushing himself forward. "Let's see how I do."
He straightened his posture and sank low, his breathing quieting. Unlike Hui, he relied on confidence—his shoulders were squared, his movements deliberate.
Slowly, his presence faded, though not nearly as seamless as Hui's. He looked at Grimm afterward, smirking.
"How about that?"
Grimm tilted his head slightly, unimpressed.
"It's good, but you're too stiff. You look like a statue. If someone threw a rock at you, you'd give yourself away."
Haoran's smirk faltered. "You're saying that because you're about to show off."
Grimm didn't reply. Instead, he stood up and stepped into the same space.
His breathing was soft—sloth breathing—but what made it different was his composure. He didn't overthink his posture. He didn't tense up.
He simply existed in the dim room as if he belonged to it. His outline blurred, not as sharp as Hui's but smoother than Haoran's, flowing with a natural rhythm.
Qin blinked, her eyes darting back and forth.
"You— you're not vanishing like Hui, but… you're harder to focus on. Like my eyes don't want to stay on you."
Hui opened her eyes then, watching Grimm quietly.
"Composure under pressure. That's your edge." She said it simply, like a fact.
Grimm raised an eyebrow.
"So I'm not bad then?"
"You're decent," Hui replied flatly, though her lips almost curved into a smile.
"If Haoran's problem is stiffness, yours is efficiency. You conserve too much—sometimes you need to shift presence, not just erase it. A shadow that never moves looks suspicious."
Grimm nodded slowly, absorbing her words. 'She's sharp. Even when she critiques, she's thinking about practical combat, not just the exercise.'
The room settled again, each of them practicing one after the other.
The rhythm of their breaths became the rhythm of the room, each adapting, correcting, testing.
For the first time since being shoved together, it felt like they weren't just four strangers forced into a group.
...
The sound of the iron door grinding open made all four of them tense up.
The dim corridor beyond stretched into shadow, and from it came the sharp tap of boots. Crow's tall, lean frame emerged, his black coat dragging faintly against the floor.
His mask caught the lantern light as he looked over them.
"Up," he said simply.
None of them dared to hesitate. Qin was the first to hop to her feet, restless as always.
Grimm rose calmly, dusting his palms on his trousers, while Haoran straightened his collar like he wanted to look composed.
Hui, as usual, was last—measured, deliberate, but sharp-eyed.
They followed Crow back into the hall. It had been a week since the last test, and in that time, they had gotten used to each other's breathing, rhythms, even tempers.
Qin and Grimm sparred so often that their knuckles carried faint bruises. Haoran sometimes joined them, adding his own sharp precision.
Hui refused, but her eyes absorbed everything, her presence the quietest in the room.
When they entered the hall, the heavy doors shut behind them with a dull thud.
Crow stood at the center, lanterns casting his shadow long and stretched. He turned, mask tilting.
"You've had time," he said, voice steady and low.
"Show me."
The four exchanged glances. Grimm took the lead, sinking into the practiced breathing. His outline blurred into the wall's dimness.
Hui was next, vanishing more cleanly than the rest, her presence so thin it felt like a whisper of air.
Haoran shifted his stance, becoming rigid but sharp-edged, disappearing into the backdrop of shadows.
Qin crouched, her breathing uneven at first, but her energy masked just enough to make her outline flicker.
For a moment, they were four ghosts in the hall.
Crow closed his eyes. "Pathetic."
The word hit them harder than a shout. Then, without opening his eyes, he walked forward, slow but deliberate.
His boots echoed, and each step brought him closer—not searching, but moving directly.
Grimm held his breath as Crow's shadow fell across him. 'No way he can—'
The next second, Crow's boot landed squarely on Grimm's instep. Not hard, but precise.
"Presence," Crow muttered. He turned slightly.
Hui froze as he stepped straight toward her. He didn't touch her, but his hand passed through the space she occupied as if brushing her shoulder.
"Body heat."
Haoran stiffened. Crow moved to him next, his foot stopping just short of where Haoran crouched.
"Blood flow."
Qin bit her lip, thinking maybe she'd last. But Crow angled his head and walked toward her corner, eyes still closed. She hissed when his fingers tapped her forehead through the shadows.
"Breath."
Finally, Crow opened his eyes. Behind the mask, his gaze swept across them, sharp and unreadable.
"To the blind, you are visible. To the deaf, you are loud. To the dead, you are alive. You are not yet invisible."
None of them spoke, but Qin's fists clenched. Hui's calm eyes didn't waver. Grimm swallowed, realizing Crow had dismantled their progress with ease. Haoran's jaw tightened, pride wounded.
But then Crow straightened, hands folding behind his back. "Still," he said, "for children, you are exceptional. A normal man would not even guess you were here. That is why…"
He let the words hang for a breath.
"…you will begin your first mission."
The air grew heavier.
Grimm's thoughts raced. 'A mission? Already? We've barely been here… Are we even ready?'
Qin's heart leapt in excitement. 'Finally. Something real. A chance to move, to fight—no more endless hiding.'
Haoran's brows drew together. 'A mission means risk. They're testing us with something dangerous.'
Hui simply studied Crow, her breathing steady. 'It doesn't matter if we're ready. Refusing isn't an option. Better to learn what the mission is before thinking further.'
Crow's mask tilted, and his tone dropped lower, more deliberate. "What you've learned so far is survival. Now you will learn purpose."
He let that sink in, then added coldly:
"You will either return with blood on your hands… or you will not return at all."
Crow didn't waste time. He stood in the center of the hall, his voice carrying in the cold stone room, sharp enough to slice through the children's half-formed courage.
"There is a rat," he began.
"A man within Black Moon gathering others under him, speaking of rebellion, of turning his back on us. He calls himself Moi—whether it is a nickname or a false name does not matter. What matters is his intent."
The children didn't move, but Grimm felt his chest tighten. 'A rat in Black Moon?'
Crow continued, tone low and cutting:
"You four will eliminate him."
Qin's lips twitched upward, almost in excitement. Haoran's shoulders stiffened, but he forced his face into calm. Hui lowered her eyes slightly, listening without expression. Grimm's pulse thumped against his scar.
Crow lifted his hand, fingers spread, and spoke slowly.
"In this world, there is an order of life. The more significant your soul, the more the world itself acknowledges your existence. You stand now at the [10th Rank: Awakened]. It is the moment when your soul takes its first step. At this rank, you are less than insects to true predators. Barely worth recognition."
His words were cruel, but they rang with weight.
"To rise, you must strengthen the soul core. There are many ways—absorbing souls, devouring them, fusing essence, destroying essence. Everything tied to the soul can be a stepping stone. But remember this: to increase your rank, your body and mind must be ready as well. Otherwise you will collapse."
He lowered his hand and let silence hang. Then, his voice hardened like steel.
"The one you are ordered to kill—Moi—he is not a child stumbling at the bottom like you. He is [8th Rank: Recognized]. His soul has been acknowledged by the world itself. Do you know what that means? The gap between you and him is not a step—it is sky and earth."
Crow paced, slow and deliberate, each boot tap echoing in the chamber.
"A [Recognized] does not need to prove his existence. The world itself announces it. His strength, his presence, his will—all are magnitudes beyond what you can imagine. If you were to face him today, you would not even understand how you died."
Grimm swallowed hard. 'Recognized… that's only the 8th? That means there are seven more above him… how high does this ladder go?'
Qin's smile twitched, but her eyes flickered. 'He's making it sound impossible. But they wouldn't train us just to feed us to a wolf, right? …Right?'
Haoran's jaw clenched as he tried to steady his voice in his head. 'Two whole ranks above us… and each rank is like a wall. We're barely standing on the first step, and they want us to topple a tower?'
Hui lowered her gaze further, her thoughts sharp and calm. 'So this is how they do it. They feed children impossible tasks and measure who survives...'
Crow stopped pacing, mask turning to face them.
"You are not expected to kill him tomorrow. Or next month. This mission will take preparation. At least two years of it. You will grow, you will sharpen your techniques."
His voice grew colder still.
"You will either cut his throat… or Black Moon will slit yours."
The weight of his words pressed on all of them.