Black Sheep.
That's what the members of Group 7 called Talon Thornveil.
He was the eldest son of Cedric Thornveil, leader of Eldralid's most prestigious guild: Eternal Blades. Everyone expected him to inherit his father's talent, to carry the family legacy with honor.
But reality was different.
At twelve years old, every boy and girl in Eldralid received a ring they had to connect with. If they succeeded, they obtained two blessings: one was a type of magic that could range from the most common—arcane magic—to some type of elemental magic that only a few acquired, and the other was an invisible mana-dependent shield that protected the body, called the Holy Mantle.
Talon, at sixteen years old, had neither.
Meanwhile, his younger sister Roxanne, barely fourteen, already controlled electricity—the Thornveil specialty—with impressive ease, and was taking the exam without meeting the minimum age requirement due to her great talent.
The contrast was painful. Where she shone like a prodigy, he faded into the shadows of failure.
The exam to enter the Sentinel Academy consisted of facing real monsters in a Rift. Each apprentice had to wear an evaluation watch on their wrist: a device that not only recorded emitted magical energy, but also the number of points obtained for each creature eliminated. To pass, one had to reach a minimum number of points or achieve a certain amount of emitted magical energy... and come out alive.
Talon had deserted during training because of how weak he was. His absence had been notorious, discussed in whispers. Everyone knew he wouldn't become a sentinel.
But he had bribed Professor Edward to participate. Not out of ambition... but for survival.
His father had given him a simple ultimatum:
Become a sentinel or I'll kill you.
✦ ✦ ✦
The air inside the rift was dense and cold. It smelled of death.
The stone corridor opened into a wide cavern. And then they appeared.
Skeletons.
Dozens of them.
The group launched into attack.
Professor Edward, the group's supervisor, observed everything from beyond the combat's reach. His role was solely to evaluate, not to intervene. The rules were clear: even if a student were on the brink of death, the professor could not interfere under any circumstances. The exam had to be completely real.
Leander and Eryndor unleashed fire and wind, their combined magics pulverizing entire waves of undead. Aurora conjured arcane energy arrows that pierced cores with precision. Ludwig fired from behind, each arrow a certain shot. Beth cut with brutal efficiency because she imbued her sword with arcane magic, and Sarah created shields.
It was a one-sided massacre.
Everyone except two people.
Shin fought with visible difficulty. His arcane magic only allowed him one spell: Arcane Pulse, which powered up his dagger for a single strike. He had to get dangerously close, dodge, block, wait for the perfect moment. Each skeleton took him almost a minute.
And Talon... who was paralyzed against the wall, trembling violently.
A skeleton separated from the group, advancing directly toward him. Its steps echoed against the stone like death bells.
Panic seized Talon.
'No. I can't. I can't do this.'
His body trembled so much he could barely hold the dagger. He couldn't breathe. Air stuck in his throat, choking him.
The skeleton approached.
Five meters.
Four.
'MOVE! DEFEND YOURSELF! DO SOMETHING!'
Three meters.
The skeleton raised its serrated machete. Talon saw every detail.
Two meters.
And then he imagined it. The blade cutting his arm. Tearing flesh. Sawing through muscle. Breaking bone. The unbearable pain. Like when his father cut him to prove he would be capable of killing him, but multiplied. The pain that wouldn't end. That would go on and on and on—
One meter.
'I CAN'T! I CAN'T! IT'S GOING TO HURT TOO MUCH!'
The machete descended.
"TALON!"
Shin appeared like lightning, interposing himself between him and the monster. Blocking the machete with his dagger. Beyond their years-long friendship, both had made a mutual protection agreement before entering the dimensional rift.
"Arcane Pulse!"
A blue flash enveloped his weapon. Shin attacked desperately, driving his dagger between the skeleton's ribs.
But it didn't reach the core. The spell faded too soon.
The skeleton counterattacked with brutal force. Shin blocked, but the blow pushed him violently backward.
"Talon, you have an opening! Attack it!" he shouted.
Talon didn't move. He couldn't. He was frozen, staring with wide eyes as his friend fought alone.
Beth appeared from the flank, her sword pierced through the skeleton's core. The creature disintegrated into dust.
"I warned you it was dangerous, that you shouldn't go in, but you just wouldn't listen!" she shouted at Talon before running back into the main fight.
Shin breathed heavily, sweat rolling down his face.
Then he looked at Talon.
"I thought you'd overcome this. That you were no longer afraid to face monsters."
The words were a direct punch to Talon's stomach.
"I... I thought..." His voice broke.
"It doesn't matter." Shin shook his head. "Just stay back. Keep yourself safe. I've got you covered."
And he ran back to the battle, leaving Talon alone with his shame.
From the very first encounters, whenever Talon saw a single monster, no matter which, he reacted the same way, and combined with his inability to use magic and weakness, made him abandon training.
Meanwhile, the combat continued. Skeletons fell like flies before the group.
But for Shin. Each skeleton was a battle. He blocked desperately. Dodged by centimeters. Attacked with his only spell that barely did damage. Small cuts began to accumulate on his arms and legs.
He was exhausting rapidly.
And all to protect someone who couldn't even move.
Another skeleton approached Talon. This one had a spear. More reach. More dangerous.
Talon tried to raise his dagger. Force his legs to move. To do something. Anything.
The skeleton raised its spear, preparing to thrust.
And Talon saw everything in slow motion. The sharp point of the spear. How it would pierce through his stomach. How it would come out his back. How his entrails would spill out. The pain. The pain that wouldn't end until he died.
The dagger fell from his trembling hands with a metallic clink.
"TALON!"
Shin appeared again, exhausted, sweating, bleeding from multiple small cuts to block the spear's attack with his dagger.
But he didn't have time to use his Arcane Pulse.
The impact was brutal. His dagger vibrated so hard he almost dropped it. He retreated several steps, losing his balance.
Another skeleton—one with a rusty machete that had been fighting Sarah—saw the perfect opening.
It lunged forward.
And pierced deep into Shin's side.
CRUNCH.
The sound was horrible. Flesh tearing. Muscle ripping. Bones breaking.
"AGHHHHHHHH!"
Shin's scream tore through the cavern's air. A scream of pure, searing agony.
Blood gushed instantly, soaking his clothes, dripping to the floor in rapidly expanding pools. Shin fell to his knees, his dagger slipped from his numb fingers. He pressed both hands against the wound. Blood filtered between his fingers like an unstoppable river.
His face contorted in pain and tears burst from his eyes.
"SHIN!" Beth ran toward him like lightning and with her sword beheaded the skeleton that had wounded him.
She destroyed the other one too with a clean slash, panting furiously.
"He needs a potion! NOW!" she screamed toward Talon.
Everyone turned toward the backpack on Talon's back.
Talon stared fixedly at the scene. The blood. So much blood. More blood than he'd seen in his life. Shin's face twisted in agony. His screams still resonating. The spear had pierced through him. He'd seen exactly how the metal point tore through flesh. He'd seen how Shin fell. He'd heard that scream.
'If I had fought... that would have happened to me. That pain would be mine.'
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" Beth screamed, her voice breaking. "GIVE HIM THE DAMN POTION!"
Talon didn't move. His feet were nailed to the ground.
'It hurts. I can feel how much it hurts him. If I get closer... if something attacks me while I walk toward him... I'll feel that same pain. That unbearable pain...'
"TALON!" Aurora screamed while destroying two more skeletons with arcane arrows. "MOVE YOUR ASS RIGHT NOW!"
Nothing.
His legs didn't respond. He was in complete shock, paralyzed not only by fear of monsters but by absolute terror of the pain he had witnessed.
Shin coughed. Blood burst from his mouth, rolling down his chin.
"T-Talon..." he whispered weakly. "It's okay... it was just a small scratch, I'll be fine."
Talon knew it was a life-threatening wound.
But he couldn't move.
'I can't. I can't. I can't.'
"Damn it!" Aurora ran toward Talon with fury in her eyes.
She opened the backpack violently and extracted a healing potion quickly while Talon remained paralyzed.
"USELESS! YOU'RE A DAMN WASTE OF SPACE!"
She ran back to Shin and poured it over the wound.
The healing magic began its work. Slow. Painfully slow.
Shin gasped, sobbing, tears of pure pain rolling down his cheeks. His body trembled violently.
"You'll get better, Shin..." Beth held his hand tightly. "Hold on. Please, hold on."
Leander approached after pulverizing five more skeletons with a fire explosion.
"This is absurd." He looked at Talon with absolute disgust, with revulsion. "You can't even bring a potion when your own friend is bleeding to death in front of you. How can you be so useless? The nickname Black Sheep suits you perfectly."
"Leave him alone," Shin murmured weakly as the potion finally closed the wound. "Just... leave him..."
"Leave him?" Leander laughed bitterly. "You almost died. AGAIN. For him. Protecting that piece of useless trash. And you still defend him?"
"He's... my friend..."
"Your 'friend' is a burden that will end up getting you killed if you keep this up."
Shin didn't respond. He had no strength.
The group regrouped and continued advancing after making sure Shin could walk.
Talon stayed behind. Alone.
Shin turned toward him before walking away with the group. His eyes already showed deep mental and physical exhaustion from the many times he'd been injured.
As the others faded into the darkness, Talon felt a chill run down his spine.
For an instant, he swore someone else was there, watching him from the shadows of the cavern.
He whirled around immediately, his heart pounding hard... but there was no one.
Whatever it was, it had vanished too quickly.