Luke's grip was firm and strong, tough even. Elgan could feel the callouses in his palms which contradicted his not-so-muscular appearance.

Halting the handshake, Luke proceeded to introduce the other three students.

"These are Nero, Opal, and..."

The two nodded respectively, Nero and Opal both with matching short gray hair and equally emotionless expressions, the first covered the lower section of his face.

"I'll go train on my own. See you later Luke."

The last one interrupted in a cold tone, only his deep marine blue hair visible as he turned around and started walking away.

'What's up with him?'

Elgan thought as his attention returned to the tall youth, his expression contorting into a scowl. Only after a couple of empty seconds did he speak in an apologetic manner, like that of a father excusing himself for his child's behavior.

"Excuse him, he has some. Circumstances."

A pause in his voice. He let out a long sigh and continued.

"You should have this day free to roam and familiarize yourself with the workings of the floor. But, feel free to ask anything if you feel lost or need anyone to show you around."

...

Luke's words hang in the air once more, Coupled with Elgan's slow social mind, he didn't know if being wary of the young man would lead him anywhere... Upon the very few interactions with all the people here, it had been the only occasion he hadn't felt weirded out, which was. Weird.

Extending his working hand forwards in thumbs up while faking a smile on his face, Elgan lamely declined the proposal.

"I see. Well, in that case-"

Interrupted yet again.

"Actually. I have a question."

Elgan's index finger pointed at the now empty platform, Nieve and the puddle of black fluid was nowhere to be seen.

"How do they work."

Luke's black pupils followed, a glint of understanding showing on his face.

"This is the first time you enter a Summit I suppose.

He said for himself. Next facing upwards along the foot of the nearby cliff.

"It's fairly simple to understand... There are about one hundred Arenas placed all around this dome, from the hills down below, to the peak. All of them pose various unique challenges for Fragmented to spar and practice with."

Luke raises his shoulders.

"Per the lack of specialized personnel, they are the only viable option to train masses of unique individuals adequately..."

He laughed softly after he noticed me staring at the nearby Arena, to my surprise, however, Nero was the one to answer

"I wouldn't do it if I were you."

His voice wasn't distorted in the least. Luke resumed speaking.

"You already saw the battle... Though the difficulty of the challenge is customizable to a certain extent it won't do miracles. I wouldn't try unless I was confident in not getting beaten to a pulp."

Luke pointed at the base of Summit.

"I recommend you to start bottom up, that way you'll get a smoother progression."

Elgan's gaze hovered over the white-leaved trees in the distance, falling on the lowest Arena.

...

'That is... My place.'

Elgan lost himself in the distant expanse below them.

"Though if you want to try, I won't stop you."

Luke remarked before the two of them locked eyes. Both Neo and Opal were already descending down the silver path, only when they couldn't listen did he speak again. His smile dissolved and his eyes turned somber, his voice a little colder.

"You better work hard..."

He turned around following the pair his hand raised, gesturing goodbye. His lips moved one last time before disappearing behind the walls of solid stone, but Elgan didn't hear his words. The rock grew silent.

...

"What do you think?"

Nero asked in a low volume as he heard Luke approaching from behind. Despite hearing the question perfectly he didn't get an answer immediately, in fact, Luke hesitated to answer at all. He limited himself with a short answer after being sure Elgan wouldn't hear.

"His smell is too strong."

Nero chuckled at the predictability of his response without commenting anything else, allowing the girl to join the conversation.

"He is far too inexperienced. Two, perhaps Three months. He won't make it either way."

Opal said, her ruby-colored eyes gazing at the distant gate. A slight frown on her face.

| Tssk |

"Sending children to wage a war."

Nero murmured under his mask. The three continued walking in absolute silence...

...

'Work hard.'

The echoes traveled through the stone breaching Elgan's ears again and again.

Work hard...

His hand bumped into a fist, the veins along his flimsy arms throbbing with vigor. The images replaying in his mind, the dance of steel performed by the swordsman. His gaze inevitably fell back to the Arena. The distant chirping of birds, far away clangors of metal. He was alone, no one would see.

Elgan stepped away from the cliff and neared the pristine circular field. The moment his foot pressed against its surface a blue light ignited. A bone white object ejected into the air from the center of the Arena, the black, metallic liquid coiling around it, forming the shape of a human in the air.

His holo-watch activated, the ethereal screen displayed one single message.

Set difficulty to the lowest intensity. Prepare.

'Prepare...'

That was all Elgan needed to hear. The black mirror of the dummy's surface reflects his body. His arms raised in a defensive stance. Fifty measly yards away from him, the shadow's legs touched the ground. Its body leaned forwards and sprinted toward Elgan without a second thought.

Struggle for survival.

The dummy started running towards him faster than any normal human could, the distance between them quickly reduced to a few feet, the guard's body animated, and the patterns in his posture were easy enough for Elgan to digest.

The young man was crippled, he couldn't see adequately, and neither could he use his right arm nor move as freely as he once had been able to. That didn't mean he couldn't put up a fight.

'A simple punch.'

A wide smile breached the shadow's empty face.

'Wha-'

The guardian's speed abruptly increased tenfold, its moves blurred in Elgan's mind as its fist made contact with Elgan's face.

| Bang |

He blacked out for a few seconds, awakening in the middle of the air. His head cracked as his body rolled over the hard stone like a ragdoll, leaving a faint trace of blood behind.

Error.

It had been an error. To think he could be able to fight this thing.

'Fuck...'

It had been a fraction of a second window that had saved Elgan from injuring his body further. His arms had instinctively reached to protect his face from the impact. If it hadn't been the case...

Elgan could almost hear the sound of his skull crashing under the pressure of that fist.

...

The moment his head rose from the ground, an intense beeping assaulted his ears. His mind felt dizzy to the point he may as well enter another coma. Unable to rise from the ground further, never mention standing up.

| Bsszzzz |

'Am I dying-?'

Elgan glanced left at the sound of something hovering. Flying around him like a damn fly. Elgan searched, and so he found. They both locked themselves in a long stare.

"A drone..."

Elgan thought as he glanced at the small machine. Two green, vertically disposed eyes, a pair of small pincers, and a red medical bag strapped on its back. All are attached to a rectangular head.

"e.J.A.D.?"

That is what... read. Strapped on his back.

"Is that your name?"

Like if understanding what he had just said, the drone performed a military salute with one of its pincers, before rapidly approaching Elgan's neck.

"You fu-cker! What are you doing?!"

Elgan tried smashing the thing like a bothersome mosquito but it was of no use, by the time he realized, the thing had escaped his reach, hiding somewhere behind the platform.

'What was tha~t-'

His head started getting heavy, sleepy, his eyebrows frowned, his body staggering to maintain equilibrium. He caressed the slight bump on his neck, his arms becoming nimb for a few seconds, then...

He was fine.

The dizziness disappeared together with the sleepiness, his head didn't hurt that much anymore either.

'Drugs?'

JAD was a healing drone...

Aknowledging that was the most likely posibility, Elgan didn't pursue 'revenge' any further. Thouugh the drugs had debilitated him for a few moments, he had returned to the same state before the battle. After he had regained his senses several seconds later, Elgan stood up with the help of a nearby rock. He faced the silver path, prepared to give on the challenge and descend to his rightful place, when...

["Where do you think you are going, you little shit."]

Staring in desbielief at the platform, Elgan observed as the shadow guardian stood up from his sitting position, his fingers moving, tempting him to attempt again.

["We are not finished."]

Elgan stopped in his traks. Staring at the black metallic surface of its plane face, bubbles arise, a hallucination, Elgan could see for a moment that same wicked smile.

["Not yet."]

'Are this things supposed to speak...'