Chapter 4: "The Beast Test"
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[Page 1 – Midnight Pulse]
Dormitory Aegis. Moonlight spills through cracked windows. Yui sleeps, twitching slightly.
A low growl echoes from the forest.
> Narration: He sleeps soundly... for the last time in a long while.
> Panel: Outside, a Spectral Beast — large, wolf-like, made of smoke and bones — slithers through the trees, headed toward the dorm.
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[Page 2 – Lucen Feels It]
Lucen, meditating outside, opens his eyes sharply. The air bends unnaturally.
> Lucen (thinking): "That mana… isn't human."
> He stands quickly, hand reaching for his weapon.
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[Page 3 – The Intrusion]
The Spectral Beast smashes through a warded boundary. Alarms don't go off.
> Lucen (growling): "A suppression seal… Someone helped it get in."
> Panel: Lucen disappears in a flash of silver light.
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[Page 4 – Dream Distortion]
Inside Yui's mind — he dreams again.
Same white void. This time, the glowing-eyed shadow steps closer.
> Shadow: "You grow. Good."
> Yui: "Who are you? Why are you—"
> Suddenly, the dream shatters.
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[Page 5 – Sudden Awakening]
Yui jolts awake — heart pounding. Something isn't right.
> THUD. Something lands on the roof.
A deep snarl.
> Yui (whispers): "Something's… here."
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[Page 6 – Predator in the Dark]
A massive claw slashes through the wall. Dust fills the air.
The Spectral Beast crawls inside, sniffing the air.
> Yui stumbles back, eyes wide.
> Yui (thinking): "It's hunting me."
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[Page 7 – Weaponless]
Yui grabs the only thing nearby — the wooden practice sword.
> Yui (thinking): "I can't beat that. But maybe… I can survive."
> Narration: The beast howls, lunging.
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[Page 8 – Holding On]
Yui dodges and swings. The sword breaks instantly. He rolls under a desk, breath ragged.
> The beast crashes through. Teeth grazing his shoulder.
> Narration: Every second. Every breath.
He endures.
> Pulse. That white light flickers again in his chest.
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[Page 9 – Lucen Intervenes]
The beast lunges—
BOOM. A silver shield smashes into its side. Lucen lands beside Yui, blade drawn.
> Lucen: "Still breathing. Good."
> Lucen's blade cuts through the beast, but it reforms.
> Lucen (grim): "Spectral. No wonder it got in."
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[Page 10 – The Cost of Power]
Yui grips a broken shard of wood, trembling but standing.
> Yui (panting): "Let me help."
> Lucen (glancing at him): "No. You'll die."
> Yui (quietly): "I need… to get stronger."
> Pulse. The light shines brighter.
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[Page 11 – Shared Strike]
Lucen fakes an opening. The beast charges. Yui jumps from behind, stabbing the light shard into the core hidden in the beast's ribs.
> Beast screeches—light bursts from its center—then silence.
> The beast collapses into black dust.
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[Page 12 – Aftermath]
Lucen looks at Yui, chest heaving.
> Lucen: "Reckless. Stupid."
> Yui: "But alive."
> Lucen (grinning faintly): "Barely."
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[Page 13 – A Warning Grows
Cut to: Kael watching through a magical orb in his dorm. He sees the beast die.
> Kael (furious): "He survived that too?!"
> Behind him, a darker, cloaked figure steps forward.
> Unknown Voice: "You want him dead?
Then you'll need more than monsters."
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[Page 14 – Last Panel]
Yui sits in the wreckage of his room.
In his hand — the glowing shard.
On his chest — the white light is no longer flickering. It's burning.
> Yui (thinking): "I won't wait for power to find me. I'll take it."
> Narration: Rank 0 grows in the dark.
It doesn't wait. It awakens.
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— END OF CHAPTER 4 —