Morning in the Pit didn’t come with sunshine—it came with sirens.

WHRRRRRRRRRRRP!

Kael jolted awake as red lights spun overhead. His body still ached from yesterday’s arrival, but there was no time to stretch. A robotic voice echoed over the intercom:

“Class Zero, Report to Combat Sector 3. Evaluation begins in ten minutes. Late arrivals will be classified as deceased.”

Kael scrambled to his feet. Across the room, Reya was already dressed, spinning a knife between her fingers like she was bored.

“You’ll want to move,” she said. “Vera hates slow people. And dead ones.”

Kael grabbed his academy-issued uniform—black armor with broken seals where crests were meant to be—and followed her into the corridor.

Combat Sector 3

They emerged into a colossal underground chamber that looked like a war relic—jagged metal walls, bullet-scarred barriers, and a massive observation dome overhead. Kael spotted a few figures watching from behind the glass—students from the higher classes.

“They’re here to watch us fail,” Reya muttered.

Vera Kaine stood in the center of the arena, arms folded.

“Line up, rats,” she barked. “Today’s lesson: survive what’s coming, and maybe you’ll earn the right to still be breathing.”

Kael fell into line next to Reya, Silas, and a few others:

• Tomo Blaze, a lazy-eyed kid chewing gum with burn marks on his sleeves.
• Nika, a quiet girl with cybernetic limbs.
• Bran, a hulking brute who looked like he ate weights for breakfast.

Vera tapped her wrist device.
The floor trembled. Cracks split open.

From beneath the chamber, something rose—massive and twitching. A metal cage lifted a hulking creature into view. Eight feet tall. Skin like molten obsidian. Glowing red eyes.

“A Vokari?!” Kael gasped.
“No,” Vera smirked. “A half-bred clone. But it’ll kill you just the same.”

“Simulation Start.”

The First Fight

The creature charged.

The class scattered as claws slashed through the air.

Kael ducked, rolled, and barely avoided a backhand swing that shattered a concrete pillar like glass.

“Do something!” Reya shouted. She shot lightning at the beast, but it only staggered. Silas summoned a wall of shadowy arms to hold the creature in place, giving Bran enough time to deliver a bone-crushing punch to its leg.

Kael stood frozen, heart pounding. That pulse again. That… fire.

“Move, idiot!” Tomo yelled as he cartwheeled past, throwing a fireball that exploded sideways. The blast bent space for a second.

Kael’s instincts kicked in. He grabbed a steel pipe and ran in.

I’m not strong like them, he thought. But I can fight. I’ve always fought.

He leapt up, jammed the pipe into the beast’s eye socket—and the creature roared in agony.

Vera’s voice echoed through the chamber.

“Not bad… but let’s raise the difficulty.”

She pressed another button. The Vokari twisted—and split. A second form oozed out of it, smaller but faster, crawling on walls like a spider.

Oh, come on.

Kael Awakens

The new creature lunged at Kael, claws aimed for his throat.

Time slowed.

His vision flickered—once, twice—then exploded into burning white.

A voice inside him whispered:

“Let me burn.”

Kael screamed as fire burst from his back—raw, unstable, spiraling into a molten shield that vaporized the Vokari mid-air.

Everyone stopped. Even Vera blinked.

Kael fell to his knees, panting, steam rising from his skin.

Reya stared. “What the hell was that?”

Vera stepped forward slowly, studying Kael with cold curiosity.

“…Interesting,” she murmured. “Looks like you do have something inside you after all.”

Kael’s hands trembled. He couldn’t tell if it was from the power—or the fear of what he had just unleashed.