Lucen wasn't sure if the Association had built the island to feel like a trap, but it worked.

Everywhere he turned, eyes followed him. Hunters leaning against walls, sparring in courtyards, perched on balconies, each glance sharp, curious, or openly hostile.

Not surprising. Word traveled fast in their circles, and anyone tied to a relic, much less corruption, was a lightning rod.

Kareth had shown him to a spartan stone barracks room: one cot, one trunk, one window overlooking the sea. Bare bones. Which suited Lucen just fine.

'Less furniture to break when someone decides they don't like me,' he thought, stretching his arms overhead before dropping onto the cot. The mattress was thin, but after days of pain and ritual, it felt like heaven.

He didn't get long.

A knock rattled the door, sharp, impatient. Lucen sighed. "Come in, or keep it down. I'm napping."

The door swung open.

The woman who stepped in didn't look like she'd come to nap. Mid-twenties, wiry build, cropped black hair that glinted faintly blue under the lantern light.

She wore reinforced leather plates instead of heavy armor, blades strapped across her back and thighs like she collected them. Her gaze raked over Lucen with open skepticism.

"You're the corrupted one." Not a question.

Lucen propped his head on his hand. "Depends who's asking. You a welcome committee, or the island's knife enthusiast?"

Her expression didn't change. "Liora. Rank S. Combat specialist."

Lucen sat up a little, smirking. "Nice to meet you, Liora. Want an autograph?"

Her jaw flexed, and for a second, he thought she might draw one of those blades. Instead, she turned sharply on her heel. "You'll join us in the training yard. No exceptions."

The door slammed behind her.

Lucen rubbed his temples. "Vacation, he said. Rest, he said."

The training yard was less yard and more arena. A circle of flattened stone carved into the island's center, scarred with old battles. Hunters ringed the edges, watching as Liora strode in with Lucen trailing behind.

Kareth was there, leaning on his spear like a statue. Varik stood beside him, arms crossed, expression as unreadable as ever.

"Trial?" Kareth asked Liora, voice carrying.

"Trial," she confirmed, eyes fixed on Lucen.

The crowd murmured.

Lucen raised a brow. "You could've just asked for a duel instead of dragging half the island to watch."

Liora's lips curved faintly. "Consider it an introduction. Prove you belong here, or prove you don't."

Lucen rolled his shoulders, mana already buzzing faintly at his fingertips. "Fine. But if I accidentally break your toys, don't cry to management."

The system flickered in his vision, recognizing the initiation.

[Combat Trial Initiated]

[Opponent: Liora, Rank S]

[EXP Reward: Scaled – Dependent on Performance]

The crowd backed up, leaving the two of them alone in the scarred circle.

Liora unsheathed twin blades, their edges humming with a faint resonance. "Come on, corrupted boy. Show us what makes you so dangerous."

Lucen smirked, his thoughts curling sharper beneath the surface.

'She's fast. Dual blades, light armor. She'll try to cut me down before I can build up mana. Which means—'

His eyes narrowed, mana circuits lighting beneath his skin.

"Fine. Don't blink."

She moved first.

One second she was across the ring, the next her blades blurred silver in a downward cross meant to split his guard.

Lucen slid back, sparks flaring as he snapped a [Soundlash] into the stone at his feet. The reverberation blasted him clear of the arc, dust exploding upward.

The crowd murmured louder.

'Fast,' Lucen thought, ducking under her second swing. 'But predictable.'

His palm flicked. [Shockweave Bolt.]

Arcs of lightning spat across the air toward her chest. Liora twisted, blades crossing, the mana resonance around them absorbed the brunt, but the impact still staggered her a step.

Lucen grinned. "Cute defense."

She was already moving again. And this time, faster.

Blades flashed. Lucen blocked one strike with a burst of [Frost Spire], ice jutting upward between them. She shattered it with her other blade, shards cutting across Lucen's arm. Pain flared hot, but he ignored it, twisting his hand open.

[Ignition Burst.]

Fire detonated outward in a tight ring. Liora rolled through it, singed but unbroken, her momentum carrying her back into close range.

The blades kissed his coat sleeve. Too close.

Lucen slid back, boots grinding sparks on stone. He smirked, even as his chest rose heavy with exertion.

'Yeah. She's not here to play.'

Kareth's voice rumbled from the sidelines. "Good. Push him. Let's see what he can do."

Varik didn't speak, but Lucen felt his gaze like a weight.

Lucen's grin sharpened.

"Fine. You want dangerous?" His mana circuits flared crimson. [Cataclysm Vector.]

Lines of jagged red light burst around him, folding space into a collapsing funnel. The pull dragged dust, shards, and even Liora a half-step toward him before detonating outward in a concussive blast.

The crowd staggered back as the shockwave cracked stone.

When the dust cleared, Liora stood on one knee, blades braced in front of her. Blood streaked down her arm where shrapnel had cut through. She was still grinning.

"That's more like it."

Lucen straightened, chest heaving. His smirk stayed.

'Vacation, huh? Yeah, this is going to be real relaxing.'

—

The air in the arena was sharp with ozone and stone dust.

Lucen flexed his hand, letting the lingering glow of [Cataclysm Vector] flicker out between his fingers. His breathing was steady, but his veins still hummed like a struck bell, the echo of abyssal mana gnawing faintly at his edges.

Liora pushed herself back up to her feet. Her blades hummed faintly, resonant enchantments flickering brighter as if they, too, had been stung by the impact.

Her grin was still there, sharp as broken glass. "Not bad for a kid drowning in corruption."

Lucen tilted his head, smirk faint. "You call that drowning? You haven't seen me swim yet."

The crowd murmured. Hunters shifted along the ring's edge, whispers darting between them. No one had expected him to push her this far already.

Kareth's voice rumbled low from the sidelines. "Enough posturing. Fight."

And they did.

Liora blurred forward again, twin blades cutting arcs of silver. Lucen's system flickered warnings in his vision—

[Incoming Strike: Velocity 0.14s — Evasion Unlikely]

'Too fast to sidestep,' he thought, lips curling. 'So we take the hit differently.'

His palm snapped open. [Nullbind Grasp.]

Abyssal tendrils erupted from his shadow, seizing the flow of her mana mid-swing. Her right-hand blade stuttered, its resonance choking out for a heartbeat. Lucen ducked under the left slash and shoved his palm upward, firing [Piercing Flare].

The beam carved across her shoulder, tearing through leather plating in a burst of white light. She hissed, rolling sideways to shake the tendrils off, blood dripping from the cut.

The crowd gasped.

Varik's arms tightened across his chest, his expression as unreadable as ever. But Lucen caught the faint twitch of his jaw.

Liora wasn't backing down. She spun, her blades crossing to form a sigil as she channeled mana through them. Sparks hissed outward, forming a field that crackled like a storm condensed into a circle.

"Your tricks won't choke me twice."

Lucen grinned, sweat dripping down his temple. His mana thrummed, unstable. 'She's burning hotter now. Perfect.'

[Crater Bloom.]

He slammed a palm down, the ground under her erupting in a concussive blast. She vaulted upward at the last second, twisting midair, one blade striking down at his chest.

[Time Shear.]

The world stuttered. For less than a second, everything froze, dust hanging, her blade half an inch from his sternum. Lucen shifted just out of line, the blade missing by a hair's breadth as time snapped back into place.

Liora landed, her eyes narrowing. She'd felt it.

"You—"

Lucen didn't give her time. His fist snapped forward, abyssal energy curling around it like smoke. The punch caught her across the ribs, sending her sprawling across the ring.

The crowd erupted into noise.

"Enough!"

The word cracked across the arena like thunder.

Varik stepped forward, one hand on his blade, aura pressing down hard enough that even the air seemed to buckle. The noise from the crowd died instantly.

Lucen froze mid-step, his grin fading into something sharper, then looser, more casual. He raised his hands. "What? She asked me to prove it."

Liora spat blood onto the stone, still kneeling, her grin wild despite the crimson dripping from her chin. "He belongs. That's proof enough."

Kareth's eyes burned like coals as he scanned the damage, the cracks in the stone, the smoke still curling from Lucen's spells. "This was a trial, not an execution. You both went too far."

Varik's gaze lingered on Lucen. Cold. Warning. "And you especially."

Lucen shrugged, forcing his breathing steady as he wiped blood from his lip. "Guess I don't do half-measures."

The crowd shifted, murmuring again. Some impressed. Some unsettled. But none dismissive anymore.

For better or worse, Lucen had arrived on the island.

That night, alone in his barracks, Lucen leaned against the narrow window, watching the ocean's black horizon.

His system flickered faintly in the corner of his vision.

[Combat Trial Complete]

[EXP Gained: +32,000]

[Level Up: 56]

[Mana Pool: 410/410]

[Corruption Load: 41% — Stable]

Lucen exhaled through his nose. 'Stable, huh? For now.'

He smirked faintly at the waves below.

'Vacation, my ass.'

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