# Chapter Four: Born from Darkness
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### [The Dark Cabin]
Jin sat alone inside the cracked wooden cabin, hearing nothing but his own breath… and the sighs of the earth beneath him. The decaying walls bore witness to his long days—and to a battle no one else could see.
***
In his hands rested a black book… not like any other. It had no scent of paper, but of burnt flesh and blood dried long before it was written. Its pages were not turned by fingers… but bled by souls.
***
His trembling fingers were no longer entirely human, especially his right hand… or what remained of it. That part of his body now housed darkness, transformed into a demonic entity with a will of its own. It resisted him, challenged him—at times, even mocked him.
***
Every movement of that hand was a struggle, and every moment was a reminder that he was no longer fully human.
***
But time had taught him. Screaming was useless. And weakness… was unforgivable.
***
With time, the struggle quieted—not because he won, but because the darkness accepted him. The hand submitted… but at a cost.
Its surrender brought no peace.
It was the declaration of a new era… of pain.
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### [The Training Begins]
He began to train.
***
The cabin was no longer a mere shelter—it became a battlefield. The cursed book's techniques, the ones no mortal dared to utter, Jin began mastering one by one.
Each exercise was like a forbidden rite.
Each spell tore away a piece of his humanity.
***
But something in his eyes had changed.
A glint… not of sorrow,
But of fire.
***
Hatred.
A silence bleeding with the thirst for vengeance.
***
"Even if my soul is the price… so be it."
So he said,
And so he began to be born anew.
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### [The Golden Capital]
Far from that forgotten cabin, a great fortress rose atop a mountain that towered over the ruins, surrounded by a golden city gleaming like the last spark of hope in a dying world.
***
This was the Golden Capital—the miracle that still stood, defying the jaws of oblivion. And at its heart stood the Academy of Heroes… a majestic citadel where the grandeur of the past met the hopes of the future. It was the last bastion, where seeds of hope were sown into the hearts of the next generation.
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### [The Gathering of Heroes]
In the grand courtyard, beneath a massive moon that refused to smile, hundreds of children gathered—humans, elves, dwarves, and half-dragons.
All came with one dream:
To become heroes.
***
On a high platform stood a man who looked as though he had stepped out of ancient legend. His white beard flowed like waves of time, and his eyes shone as if they had seen the unknown—and returned to warn of it.
***
He was Julius, the Great Sorcerer, the Headmaster of the Academy, and one of the rare few to have ever touched the essence of magic itself.
***
With a voice that pierced the stillness, he spoke as though thunder had borrowed his tongue to declare:
> "You are the final hope of this wounded world!
You are the light at the end of a dark tunnel!
It doesn't matter where you came from...
What unites you here is one goal—
To make a difference, to become the heroes history will remember!
Turn darkness into a weapon that protects the weak,
Not a dagger that betrays them!"
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### [The Chosen Ones]
But amid the excitement, there were those who saw nothing but weakness.
***
Her red hair blazed like embers, and her pink eyes glowed with unyielding pride.
Leona, daughter of the Dragon King, stood like a queen among peasants.
> "Pathetic… just empty screams before an inevitable fate. Disgusting."
***
Beside her stood a girl cloaked in gentle calm, golden hair drifting like a soft cloud, her features sculpted of light.
Liza, daughter of the Elf Queen, smiled lightly at Leona:
> "You do know your face betrays your heart, don't you?"
***
A cold glare was the only reply.
> "Just shut up… you idiot."
***
But Liza laughed. She was used to such cruelty and knew it was merely a mask hiding another fire.
***
At the front stood a young man carved as if from gold—his posture, his eyes, everything about him exuded dominance.
Aron, third son of the Human King, wasn't looking at the crowd.
He was looking down on it.
***
And at the far edge stood someone shorter, yet his presence matched them all. His orange hair was tied back, and in his grip rested a hammer that didn't seem heavy to him—instead, it seemed part of him.
Thorin, heir of the Dwarves, spoke little,
But the ground trembled when he walked.
***
They were the core of the new generation.
But the darkness… was watching.
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### [The Trial Begins]
In a sudden moment, Julius raised his hand, tapped the ground with a single finger—
And the earth beneath the students split open, swallowing them into a magical gate without warning.
***
They found themselves…
In a forest unlike any they'd ever known.
***
A dead land, bare trees whispering secrets, and air that seemed to feed on fear.
Howls.
Shifting footsteps.
Then a voice echoed from deep within the forest, as if rising from its cursed soul:
> "The entrance exam begins now!
Collect eight energy stones from level-four beasts, and fourteen from level-threes.
You have two days in this world… and only two hours in ours.
Begin!"
***
Silence fell.
Then the students scattered…
And the game of survival began.
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### [The Watchers]
And high above, within a surveillance chamber, Julius stood before dozens of magical screens showing every corner of the trial ground.
***
Behind him, the teachers stood in tense silence.
***
One of them spoke:
> "We see everything… every act of betrayal, every moment of honor or fall.
If anyone is stolen from… or killed… they've chosen the path of darkness."
***
Julius turned his eyes to one of the screens—
It began to tremble, then flashed with a massive explosion erupting in the middle of the forest.
***
Everyone's eyes narrowed on the screen…
While he simply smiled faintly,
And whispered in a voice barely heard:
> "…This is it."
***
### (To Be Continued...)
In your opinion... who will be the first to fall in this deadly exam?"