The sun had long disappeared by the time Rudo followed the GPS coordinates Burns had given him. The path led deep into a shadowed forest, where darkness swallowed everything beyond arm's reach. Only the jagged silhouettes of trees remained—and the faint, unsettling impression of a figure watching him from between them.As he pressed on, faint golden lines along his uniform flickered to life, glowing softly in the dark. The dark-blue jumpsuit clung to his frame; its zipper rose into a high collar that could seal over his mouth. Thin gold streaks along the collar and shoulders shimmered with each step.Rudo muttered under his breath. "How far is this supposed to be? That old man didn't even tell me—and this GPS isn't helping. Who puts an entrance in the middle of the woods… at night?"A sudden flicker of light appeared ahead."Huh?" Rudo blinked. Spotting faint silhouettes moving in the distance, he gasped in relief. "Finally! People!"But as he drew closer, the air grew heavy—unnaturally thick. Whispered voices slithered through the darkness, overlapping like ghosts."Is that the disaster?"
"Why is it here?"
"Wait… they're letting it join us?"
"There's no way. Didn't it kill its own mother—and go on a rampage?"
"I thought they destroyed it…"The whispers cut through the silence like knives.Rudo clenched his fists, jaw tightening. Before he could react—BOOM!A deafening explosion ripped through the air. Everyone staggered, hands flying to their ears.A sharp, amused voice rang out behind him. "A disaster killing another disaster? Hah! How ironic."Rudo spun around.A tall, red-haired woman stood there, smoke curling faintly around her. A dragon tattoo coiled along her arm, and her golden eyes burned with explosive energy. She was fierce—beautiful, yet undeniably menacing.Before Rudo could react, she grabbed him by the head and lifted him effortlessly off the ground."Well, well," she said with a smirk. "You really are human… but your negative energy is off the charts.""Hey! Put me down!" Rudo shouted, struggling. "How are you this strong!?"She chuckled, eyes glinting. "Mmh. You're lively—I like that. What's your name, boy?""Huh? Rudo… Rudo Kurobine!" he barked.Her smirk faltered. "Kurobine?" she echoed, eyes widening. "You're Valora's kid, aren't you?"Rudo froze. "You… you know my mom?"She set him down slowly; her expression softened. "Yeah. She was a friend of mine." A small smile tugged at her lips. "How is she?"Rudo looked away, his eyes dim.She understood instantly. "I see," she murmured.Turning, she began to walk away."Wait—who are you?" Rudo called.The woman smiled over her shoulder—and vanished in an instant.Moments later, a booming voice echoed from a nearby rooftop."WELCOME TO THE EXTERMINATION EXAM!" it shouted. "I'm Leona Phoenix, your one-of-a-kind proctor—be grateful you have me!"Confusion rippled through the gathered students."Wasn't this supposed to be an entrance exam before the extermination exam?" one student muttered.Leona's eyes scanned the crowd until they settled on a young man. "Solven Staria, right? Part of the Sun-and-Moon family, trained from a young age. Surprise—you're even here taking the test. Given your status, you should've been automatically admitted. Damn… how the almighty clan has fallen."Solven's eyes twitched; a forced smile crossed his face. "Not even this is good practice. Besides, even if I had been admitted, I'd still wait to see who I'm working with. Hopefully they're strong… and not a burden."Leona chuckled softly, shaking her head. "Father-like son," she whispered. Then, addressing the confused students, she added, "I know many of you are puzzled by this sudden change. Usually, the extermination exam is preceded by an entrance test, right? NO. This is both the entrance and the exam. The elders discovered that we were giving you too much preparation, which led to strategies for passing. So everything has changed—you'll learn as you go. Don't know how to do something? Learn on the fly. This tests your ability in real time."The crowd went silent, shocked and terrified by the announcement.Leona's smile widened. "Good. Let the fear rise—it only makes things more hungry."Rudo, equally stunned, whispered, "The hell, Burns… You said I'd learn soul techniques here, not start an exam immediately."
Back at the Extermination Camp
Leona's voice cut through the tension. "I'll explain the exam. It's very simple: you will come up here and take a piece of paper. On it will be a single disaster—the one you must find and execute. But it won't be that easy. There will be multiple disasters in the woods. You must eliminate extras on your own and then return to this spot within 120 hours. Anything else is a failure. Even if you get yourself killed, you fail. There will be no proctor protection in the field—it's a free-for-all. Oh, and the sun won't rise, so there is no rest. I recommend you finish fast—some of the disasters are great hunters. If you don't want to participate, leave now. You have ten minutes in the circle to decide. If you leave, you cannot join next year—and I can't guarantee the elimination unit will forget you since you know we exist. Questions? No? Good."
"In 30 minutes, the exam will begin. Still here? You're participating. If not, then you're not. Simple as that."
Everybody started talking to each other, questioning whether they should stay or not. Some were trying to make a plan for themselves. Others were already leaving the area.
But Rudo started to question himself. "Should I leave? But if I do, I won't be able to find the dragon. But if I get myself killed here, then this is all pointless. I don't know how to use soul. Damn it, Burns—this is all your fault."
25 minutes remained.
Rudo was shocked. "HUH!!! No way! Five minutes just passed just like that!?!"
"Hey, you."
A small voice appeared behind Rudo.
He turned and saw a girl, a little shorter but around the same age, with black-to-blonde ombré hair.
"Sooo, you're the human disaster everybody's been talking about. I thought you were scarier, bigger… uglier. Your soul's not really impressive either. I thought you'd be surging with energy."
"What are you talking about? Who are you? And why does everybody know I was named a disaster?"
"Are you kidding me? You're the first human to ever use more than 20% of negative energy without corruption. Of course everybody knows about you… well, not in a good way. They mostly fear you. In their eyes, you're a demon waiting to go on a rampage. And to be frank, I don't really trust you myself either."
Rudo looked dissatisfied. "Oh nooo, I'm sooo sad you don't trust me. Great. Everybody looks at me as an uncontrollable boy again."
"Boo hoo," the girl said.
"Forget all of that. Show me."
"Show you what?" Rudo said in confusion.
"Your soul, dummy. I want to see your soul."
"Huh? Didn't you say it wasn't interesting?"
"Yeah, but you were in a calm state, right? I want to see it in assault mode. I want to see how strong you are."
"assault, WHAT??? I have no idea what you're talking about."
The girl looked shocked. "Wait—you don't know how to use your soul, do you?"
"No," Rudo said.
"…"
"Excuse me!!! You don't know how to use your soul? How are you even here? How did you even unlock it? Not even that—how the hell did you even get past the wall?"
"I don't know. One moment I was going to die, and the next I'm here learning about this secret organization or whatever. Also, what wall? I didn't see any."
"Death? No wonder. Also, the wall that's around us—can't you see it?"
Rudo looked around and saw a visible wall surrounding the woods.
"WHAT THE HELL!"
The girl rolled her eyes. "You're an idiot. The wall is the reason no outsider can come in here and also the reason why it will stay dark here. But you can't enter it if your soul isn't unlocked. So this 100% confirms you're a soul user and a human, as only humans can enter. If a disaster even tries to touch it, they'll die immediately by the vow placed on it."
"Ohhhhh," Rudo said.
The girl sighed. "You're an idiot."
"Huh? What did I do? I was listening!"
"Yeah, you were listening, but you weren't taking in what I was saying."
"Huh?"
Then another boy appeared—the one who had spoken out about the exam earlier.
"They're trying to kill you, dumbass," Solven said.
"What?" Rudo said.
"Solven, let me explain. Come on," the girl said.
"The sudden exam change, the veil, having a Vermillion proctor, you not even knowing what soul is, the exam—this all rotates around you. They're trying to have you killed here. They think you're too much of a threat to be kept alive. This was probably Chair Iron and Wrath's idea. Hell, they'd have randoms killed just to kill you. Typical. But to be honest, they should have killed you."
The girl screamed, "HEY! You were eavesdropping on us, you creep!"
"Who the hell are you getting an attitude with? Be grateful I'm talking to you."
As they both started to argue—
15 minutes remaining…
Rudo stood there in disbelief. "Was this Burns' idea? No—this can't be. I haven't known him that long, and this doesn't seem like something he would do."
A flash of guilt crossed his face as he remembered his vow.
"Hey—both of you."
They stopped arguing and turned to him.
"Teach me how to use my soul." Rudo's voice was flat but desperate.
The girl went pale. "Fifteen minutes?! You want to learn a soul in fifteen minutes? It takes months—hell, even longer—to master it well enough to use in combat."
"I don't have months," Rudo snapped. "I've got what I've got. Teach me the basics." He met their eyes. "I can't die now. There's something I have to do before that."
Solven shrugged and started to walk away. "I really don't care about either of you. If you die, whatever, I didn't even come over here to help with all of that."
"You damn bastard," Rudo shot back, fed up.
"Jerk," the girl muttered.
Rudo locked eyes with her. "Teach me. I won't survive if I don't learn."
She studied him for a long beat, then sighed. "Fine. I'm not really a teacher, but I can show you the basics. Listen carefully. By the way—my name's Alice Beckham."
"Rudo Kurobine," he replied, extending his hand. "Nice to meet you."
Alice hesitated, then accepted his handshake. Her cheeks flushed faintly.
"All right!" she called, snapping back into business. "Let's get started."
"You're squeezing my hand!" Rudo whimpered.
Alice blinked, then smirked. "Oops. My bad. All right, tell me everything you know about souls."
Rudo paused, thinking. "If I remember… a soul is your source of energy. You control it. When you push it outward it makes an aura around you. But if you use too much, you burn out. All I really know is how to turn it on and off."
Alice grinned. "Good boy. Guess you're not completely hopeless."
"Hey!" Rudo snapped.
"Down, boy," she teased. "Now close your eyes. Feel that energy again. Shouldn't be that hard, right?"
Rudo shut his eyes and focused. "Okay… I got it," he muttered.
"Good. Open."
His eyes snapped open, a faint glow in them as a dark-blue aura flared around his body. He broke into a wide grin. "Ahaha—hell yeah!"
Rudo glanced at the aura, puzzled. "Wait—my soul's color… doesn't that mean my ability?"
"That's right," Alice said in the calm tone of a teacher. Then she cocked her head, surprised. "But not yet. Your ability usually shows up hours or even days after you first open your soul. And—your family name doesn't match any known lineage, so I can't tell you anything from that. You'll have to figure most of it out yourself."
Rudo's face fell. "Really? That sucks."
Alice shrugged. "Don't worry—abilities surface on their own. But we're getting sidetracked."
Ten minutes left.
"Okay, time's moving fast. Listen carefully—right now your soul is calm. That's great for recovery, but not for combat. In a fight you want an aggressive opening."
"How do I do that?" Rudo asked.
"Intent," Alice said simply. "Decide to attack."
She demonstrated. The calm, smooth flow around her hand snapped into an aggressive, spiky current.
"Watch." She flicked his shoulders—first with one hand, then the other.
Flick.
The left shoulder barely twitched. The right sent a sting through him. "Ow—that second one felt like someone hit my shoulder with a bat."
"Exactly. Imagine a punch." Alice's expression hardened. "You can dodge when you can, but you won't always be able to. That's where Soul Defense comes in."
Rudo swallowed, eyes wide. "So—you gotta avoid attacks… but also learn to block them?"
"Both," Alice said. "Balance is everything."
She raised her hand again. The aura around her right hand solidified—no longer swirling, but firm and unmoving.
"This is your defense," she said. "Simple name, simple purpose. It protects you from incoming attacks that you can't avoid. But don't rely on it too much—your body will still feel the impact, just less than it would without it."
She tapped her chest lightly. "It's best to reinforce your vital points—your head, heart, and spine. If you can dodge, do it. Never depend on defense alone."
Her gaze shifted, sharp and serious. "When two people using aggressive soul energy clash head-on, their attacks can cancel each other out. You can even balance both offense and defense at once—spread your energy throughout your body. For example: fifty percent defense, fifty percent offense. Or maybe forty-five and fifty-five, depending on what you need."
Rudo blinked. "W-wait… say that again?"
Alice sighed. "Basically—offense to fight, defense to block. Simple. Think of it like a meter. The more you.