The Trial of the Second Floor wasn't a test of strength—it was a hunt.
Twenty participants had been scattered into a dense, ever-shifting forest of stone and glass. The rules were simple: only four may pass. The rest would be consumed by the Tower.
Seo Joon crouched in the brush, blade drawn low, watching as two fighters clashed beneath a flickering crystal tree. Their movements were erratic—wild and desperate. Blood marked the ground.
He wasn't here to interfere. Not unless they came for him—or for her.
A distant, panicked shout cut through the forest.
Yu-ri.
He moved before he thought, shadows trailing behind him like forgotten memories.
---
Cha Yu-ri ducked under a slash, rolling across the glass-strewn floor. Her wooden spear—already cracked from the last skirmish—snapped in two as it met the brute's axe.
Her attacker, a beast of a man from a fireborn clan, grinned as he advanced. "You're weak. You don't belong in the Tower."
She spat blood. "And you do? You can't even finish off someone half-dead."
He lunged. She jumped sideways—but her legs gave out. The axe came down.
Clang!
A black blade blocked the strike mid-air.
Seo Joon stood between them, his eyes cold.
The brute snarled. "Another coward protecting scraps? Fine. I'll kill you both."
Seo Joon didn't answer. He just raised his sword—and moved.
---
The clash lasted seconds.
The brute swung with brute-force arcs. Seo Joon weaved through them like smoke, the edge of his blade flashing in the dim light.
Steel kissed flesh.
Once.
Twice.
Then, in a single, fluid strike—Seo Joon's sword slashed upward in an arc too fast to track. Blood sprayed. The brute's axe clattered to the ground as he fell backward, eyes wide in disbelief, throat sliced clean.
Yu-ri blinked, stunned.
"That…" she whispered, "wasn't normal speed."
Seo Joon turned, face unreadable. "Are you hurt?"
She looked down at herself—scratched, bruised, but breathing. "Nothing major."
He offered a hand. She hesitated, then took it.
"I could've handled him," she said.
Seo Joon smiled faintly. "I know."
---
They didn't speak again until they reached the clearing where the crystal tree rose tall, marking the end of the trial. The remaining participants—only two others—waited there, injured and wary.
The four survivors had made it. But the Tower didn't celebrate.
Instead, a stone obelisk emerged from the ground. On it: names of the fallen. Names of the survivors.
Except…
Seo Joon's was marked as Nameless One.
Cha Yu-ri's name flickered briefly, then solidified—Rank 17: Cha Yu-ri.
She looked at Seo Joon. "Why didn't it show your real name?"
He stared at the obelisk. "Because I buried that name a long time ago."
---
Far above, hidden behind veils of starlight and old magic, Watchers observed the scene.
"His movements," one whispered. "No hesitation. No delay. That wasn't just skill—it was suppressed instinct."
Another replied: "He hasn't awakened yet. But when he does…"
The third, oldest voice, smiled beneath its hood.
> "When he does, even the Tower will tremble."