---
The Academy had layers—above ground was just a façade.
Beneath the marble halls and tech-polished floors, there were tunnels, vaults, and a sector known only as The Crypt.
Only a handful knew it existed.
Tonight, I was being summoned there.
Lucian, Ryker, and Vale stood in the shadows as I approached the iron door at the end of the east corridor. No guards. No cameras. Just a fingerprint scanner that shouldn't have accepted mine—but did.
Access granted.
Ryker: "This feels like a setup."
Lucian: "It is."
Vale: "Then we break the system before it breaks us."
We descended in silence. The air grew colder with each step—damp with secrets and old blood.
Finally, we reached the underground arena.
Circular. Stone. Ancient.
Like a gladiator pit.
Kael stood above, leaning on the rail with that amused smirk. But he wasn't alone.
Beside him was a masked man in all black leather, long scar running down the side of his neck.
My breath caught.
No.
"Ravan."
He was real.
Lucian noticed the tension in my body.
Lucian: "Who is he?"
I: "The reason I stopped being a child."
---
Kael's voice echoed.
Kael: "Welcome to the Trial of Shadows. You don't graduate until you survive it. Four enter. One leaves with answers."
Ryker: "He just say one?"
Kael: "Yes."
I: "Screw that."
Kael: "Begin."
Ravan leapt down—fast as death.
---
We scattered.
Ravan didn't hesitate. He came straight for me—blade out, eyes locked.
He knew who I was.
My real identity.
And he was here to expose me.
I rolled under his strike, kicked his knee, and backed off. Lucian stepped in with his silver batons, blocking Ravan's slash.
Lucian: "You're bleeding."
I: "Not mine."
Vale tapped into the underground's hidden systems, trying to disable the surveillance feeds.
Vale: "He's streaming this to someone else."
Ryker flanked Ravan from behind.
Ryker: "Then let's give them a show."
We fought in sync—despite the chaos.
Strike. Counter. Slash. Hack.
Ravan was trained in every art. A shadow of my past. The one who made me a weapon.
And now… he was testing me again.
---
Ravan (taunting): "You still fight like a girl."
My blood froze.
Did he know?
I: "Maybe because I am one."
And I kicked him in the throat.
He stumbled—shocked.
Lucian's eyes widened.
Lucian: "What did you just say?"
I tackled Ravan before he could react again.
But he grinned, whispering near my ear.
Ravan: "They'll know. They'll all know. Especially your little mafia prince."
He threw me off and vanished into the shadows.
Kael called off the trial before anyone could die—but the message was clear:
Someone knows my truth.
And now, so did Lucian.
---
Later that night, in the dorm:
Lucian stood by the window, arms crossed.
Lucian: "You want to explain what you meant?"
I: "…You already guessed, didn't you?"
Lucian: "I suspected. But I waited."
I turned to him, removing the binding wrap slightly from my chest.
I: "You were right."
Silence.
Lucian didn't look away. Didn't smirk. Didn't leer.
He simply said—
Lucian: "Then I guess we really are both hiding more than we admit."
I blinked.
I: "What do you mean?"
Lucian: "You'll see."
And just like that, my world tilted again.
---
End of Chapter 30