Shadowblade:Rise of the Outcast

9:

Every second feels like an hour. Three dolls are after her. Their movements are random, but hard and destroying. Kael could not keep avoiding, so he learned to hold back. Adjust the position of the body. Rotate when hit so that the collision is spread. 

Sweat flooded his face. Blood flows from the lips and temples. But his eyes remained burning - lap and firmly. 

On the edge of the arena, Aria Moonveil watched from afar, standing on a small tower with several sect elders. His gaze was fixed only on Kael. 

"The child has not touched the stage of core formation, but his endurance is extraordinary," whispered one of the elders. 

Aria did not answer. But he saw the way Kael fell, then rose again. The way he holds the blow cleverly, sacrificing the body that is not vital. It's not just surviving. That ... adaptation. 

Time continues to beat. Some participants have fallen, rolling out of the arena while crying or fainting. There are only seven people left. 

And Kael is still standing. 

His breathing was heavy. His knees trembled. But his gaze was not shaken. 

The last doll hit him from behind. Kael was thrown as far as two meters, crashing into a stone. The world around him began to spin. But in the dark, he heard a voice from within him - deep, far, like a living shadow. 

"Prove that you deserve to have my strength. Rise, the heir to Shadowblade."

Kael gripped the ground, pulling himself standing. Blood flowed from the nose, but he chuckled. 

"If this is called brutal training ... I have felt it since birth," he murmured softly. 

And right when the ancient horn bell was blown from a distance - when the exam time was over - the alike was still standing. Stagger, but standing. 

Varun looked at him. For the first time from the beginning of the exam, the man nodded slightly. 

"Enough for today," he said. "Those who are still alive ... Continue to the next stage."

Kael fell to his knees. But not because of surrender. He only ... calms his breath. 

The sky began to get dark, and the fog began to creep back. 

Aria got off the tower, approaching Varun. "What do you think?"

"The child ... is not the type that only follows the plot. If he survives in the second stage, he can be something that is ... difficult to control," Varun answered. 

Aria looked at Kael from a distance, who was now sitting leaning on the stone while binding the wound on his arm. 

"There is a time, we need something like him."

----

The training field in the dark sky sect today is more crowded than usual. Outside students who have just passed the bloody selection now face the next challenge: duel to determine ranking and training rights. 

Kael stood in the middle of the stone arena surrounded by sect students. Some are still wounding the wound from the previous exam. In front of him, a burly man with a bald head stepped forward. His face was decorated with a mocking smile. 

"So you are said to make the dolls difficulties? Very weak appearance," said the man, twirling the metal stick in his hand. 

"His name is Gorran," whispered one of the students. "Senior third -level student. Likes to demean new students. Many are out because they are beaten too hard."

Kael just took a breath. His feet are stable. His body was still full of wounds, but his eyes remained sharp. 

"Don't faint in the first blow, boy!" Gorran jerked the ground and darted. 

Dugg! 

Kael barely had time to avoid when a metal stick hit his chest. He was thrown back, hit hard ground. 

Brukk! 

"Ughh ..." Kael vomited a little blood, feeling his ribs cracked. 

A festive laugh exploded among the audience. "What do I say! The outside student is just an exile!"

Gorran approached Kael who had not yet risen. "Just back before I kick out of the sect, losers!"

Kael rolled his head, spit it to the side, then slowly stood up. 

"Not finished yet."

"Still stubborn?"

Wuss! The stick grabbed again. But this time Kael moved. 

Brakk! 

With fast reflexes, Kael twisted his body to the side, and his kick hit Gorran's knee from the bottom. 

"Arghh!" Gorran roared. The balance is shaken. 

Kael kicked again— "Dugg!" - This time to the ribs. "Khh - Bangsat!" Gorran cursed while being dragged back. 

The audience suddenly fell silent. 

From behind the shadow of the stands, Aria Moonveil paid attention without expression. But his eyes watched Kael sharper. 

Gorran rose angrily. "You're looking to die, huh?!"

The stick brought red. He distributed essence to the end - something that Kael could not do. 

Kael gritted his teeth. His breathing was getting faster. In him, something throbbing ... the shadow moves wildly behind his skin. 

"Use me."

"Let the shadow dance."

Kael closed his eyes for a moment, then opened with a different highlight. The shadow in the ground swayed not according to light. 

"Now ... it's my turn."

Wuuusss! 

Kael's shadow jumped from the ground, elongated, then ensnared Gorran's ankle like a black whip. 

"Haah?! What is this—"

Kael kicked forward— "No!" - And the shadow pulled Gorran towards his own kick. 

"BUAAGGHH !!" Blood squirt from Gorran's mouth. He bounced and rolled twice. 

Some students stood up from their seats. "That ... that's not an ordinary technique!"

Kael looked at his blackened hand half. Essence around him suddenly cools. The shadow under his feet trembled as if life. 

Gorran crawled, his face panicked. "K-you ... you're not an ordinary student! That's a black essence ... that—!"

"Enough!"

Aria's voice was heard from the edge of the arena. All immediately silent. 

Aria stepped in. His gaze was fixed directly on Kael. 

"The fight is over. Kael Draven wins !!"

Gorran seemed to want to protest, but did not dare to speak. He held his chest, then limped away the arena. 

Kael looked down respectfully at Aria, then walked slowly. 

But in his heart, he knew: this is just the beginning. The sound of shadows is now clearer. Whisper in every corner of his mind. 

"You just opened one door. There are many more darkness waiting ..."

---

That night, Kael sat on a flat stone outside the training hall. The night breeze swept his hair wet sweat. After the duel that almost killed him, his body crumbled - but his mind was much more chaotic. 

He closed his eyes, trying to calm the turmoil in him. Shadow Essence on his body continues to chill, such as demanding to be released further. But precisely when he drowned in silence, the world around him changed. 

"Kael ..."