The Maze of Predators

The third dawn at the Academy arrived cloaked in mist. A cold dew clung to the stone walls, seeping through the air with a damp chill. Bells tolled in the distance, their echo reverberating through the sprawling courtyards. The sound was not one of welcome, but of summons. Today was the first official trial.

Students gathered at the training square, their faces pale with equal parts excitement and dread. Some whispered nervously, others tried to puff their chests, feigning bravado. But no one was calm. No one—except Kael.

He stood near the back of the crowd, arms crossed, expression flat. His eyes swept over the other students, cataloguing every twitch, every tremor, every false smile. The Academy had no shortage of weaklings who had mistaken arrogance for strength. They would be the first to bleed.

An instructor approached, his cloak black as ink, his voice harsh. “Today marks your entry into the Maze of Predators. Within its walls, illusions will twist your senses, and beasts will hunt you. Your objective is simple—survive. Bring back the crystal core of the creature you slay, and your worth will be measured.”

The instructor’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the assembly. “Those who fail to return… will not be remembered.”

Silence fell. For some, it was terror. For Kael, it was confirmation. This place was no nurturing academy. It was a grinder, designed to sharpen blades—or break them.

The gates of the Maze loomed ahead, a massive arch of stone covered in carvings of snarling beasts and writhing serpents. When it groaned open, the scent of damp earth and rot spilled forth.

One by one, the students stepped inside.

Kael did not rush. He waited, watching as groups of frightened children clustered together. Safety in numbers—what a pitiful lie. The more bodies, the louder the noise. The louder the noise, the quicker predators arrived. Herds were only good for one thing: feeding hunters.

When the crowd had thinned, Kael entered the Maze alone.

---

The inside was worse than the outside suggested. The air was heavy with humidity, clinging like a shroud. Twisting corridors of moss-covered stone stretched endlessly, broken only by patches of creeping mist. Strange howls echoed in the distance, their origins unclear.

Kael’s footsteps were steady, unhurried. He was not concerned with illusions. He trusted no senses but his own, and even those he questioned. Every corner he turned, he paused, scanning the walls, the floor, the ceiling. The Maze wanted to consume the reckless.

\[System Alert: Survival Trial Initiated.]

\[Objective: Retrieve one Beast Core.]

\[Optional Objective: Eliminate rival participants.]

\[Rewards scale with difficulty of prey.]

The glowing text faded into his mind, leaving behind only the faint aftertaste of opportunity. Kael’s lips curved—barely noticeable, but real. The System rewarded blood. That was a law he understood.

---

Screams rang out somewhere deeper in the labyrinth. The sound was short-lived. Kael paused, listening intently. The silence that followed spoke volumes. Someone had died quickly.

He pressed onward, following the faint copper tang of blood in the air. His pace never changed, his expression never wavered. At the first turn, he found them: three students huddled together, their faces drained of color. At their feet lay another youth, throat torn open, eyes glassy with death.

Something growled in the mist.

The surviving students screamed, scattering. A blur lunged from the fog—muscles taut, fangs bared, eyes glowing with hunger. A Carrion Hound. Its hide was patchy, fur matted with filth and scars. Its stench was overpowering, a mix of rot and blood.

The beast lunged at the nearest student. The boy shrieked, stumbling backward. His dagger shook uselessly in his hands. He would not survive.

Kael moved.

He was not fast. He was precise. His dagger left its sheath with a hiss, and he intercepted the Hound mid-leap. Metal met flesh. The blade sank into the creature’s flank, sliding between ribs. The beast snarled, twisting, snapping at him with teeth meant to crush bone.

Kael’s grip tightened. He stepped aside, dragging the blade free in a single motion that sent blood spraying across the mossy walls. His expression never changed. The Hound staggered, whirling to face him.

Its growl echoed in the narrow corridor.

Kael did not hesitate. He lunged forward, blade low, striking upward into the beast’s throat. The dagger tore through flesh and cartilage, silencing the growl in a wet gurgle. The Carrion Hound collapsed, twitching violently, before going still.

\[System Notification: Carrion Hound eliminated.]

\[Beast Core obtainable.]

\[Reward: +15 EXP. Optional objective progression: 1/—]

Kael knelt, retrieving the faintly glowing crystal from the beast’s chest. Warm, slick blood coated his hand, but he felt nothing. No disgust. No thrill. Only inevitability.

Behind him, the surviving students gasped.

“You—you killed it…” one whispered, eyes wide with awe and fear.

Kael turned his head slightly, gaze flat. “Do you want this core?”

The boy froze. His lips moved, but no words came.

“Then take it.” Kael tossed the core into the boy’s trembling hands. The student looked down at it in disbelief, clutching it as though it were salvation.

Kael turned away, wiping his blade on the beast’s hide. He had no need for weaklings’ gratitude. What he wanted was their fear. Their relief would bind them more tightly than chains. And in time, their reliance would crush them.

The Maze had only just begun.

---

Hours passed. The screams grew fewer. The stench of blood grew stronger. Kael moved silently, his expression unchanging, his blade ever ready. He encountered beasts, illusions, even other students who thought ambush might grant them an easy core. Each ended the same way: blood spilled, and Kael walked away unscathed.

\[System Notification: Optional objective progression—3 eliminated.]

\[Reward scaling increased.]

The System’s cold voice was not praise. It was acknowledgment. Proof that his path was correct.

Eventually, Kael reached the heart of the Maze: a wide, circular chamber, its walls slick with moss, its floor littered with bones. In the center stood a beast far larger than the Carrion Hound.

A Direfang. Twice the size of a man, its muscles coiled like steel, its jaws lined with teeth that glistened with saliva. Its eyes burned with a predatory hunger that marked it as the apex predator of this trial.

Other students were already there—six of them, surrounding the beast. Their weapons trembled in their hands as the Direfang growled, pacing in a slow circle.

Kael did not announce himself. He simply stepped into the chamber, watching.

The students glanced at him, relief flashing in their eyes. They mistook his presence for alliance. How foolish.

The Direfang lunged. Chaos erupted. Steel clashed against claw, cries filled the chamber, blood sprayed across the stone. Two students fell instantly, their screams cut short as jaws snapped shut around them.

The survivors fought desperately, their attacks frantic and sloppy. The Direfang batted them aside like insects, but their distraction was enough.

Kael moved.

He darted forward, precise and silent, his blade cutting across the beast’s hind leg. Blood poured forth, but the Direfang did not falter—it turned, snarling, lunging at him with murderous intent.

Kael’s eyes narrowed. He did not retreat. He stepped closer, sliding beneath its snapping jaws, dagger flashing upward into the soft flesh beneath its chin. The blade sank deep, severing veins, tearing through sinew. The Direfang reared back, howling, blood cascading from its throat.

Kael climbed its body like a shadow, driving the dagger into its skull again and again until the beast convulsed violently, then collapsed with a thunderous crash.

\[System Notification: Direfang eliminated.]

\[Beast Core obtainable.]

\[Reward: +50 EXP. Rank advancement progress increased.]

The survivors stared at him, trembling. One dropped his weapon, falling to his knees. “H-he saved us…”

Kael met his gaze. His expression was flat, voice colder than the stone beneath their feet. “Saved you? No. I spared you. For now.”

He tore the glowing core from the Direfang’s chest, its light reflecting in his eyes. Without another word, he turned and walked away, leaving the others kneeling in the blood-soaked chamber.

Their relief would fester into fear. Their fear would grow into chains. And in time, when he chose, those chains would strangle them.

---

When Kael emerged from the Maze, his cloak was soaked in blood, his blade glistened red. The instructors waited, their expressions unreadable as they noted his return.

Few students had survived. Fewer still carried cores. But Kael walked out with three—one from the Hound, one from a rival, one from the Direfang.

Whispers rippled through the crowd of survivors. Some looked at him with awe, others with terror. None dared approach.

Kael ignored them all. His gaze was on the instructors. Their eyes lingered on him longer than most. Interest. Suspicion. Perhaps even unease.

Good.

The trial was over, but the game had only begun.

And in this game, Kael Ardyn would never play the hero. He would only ever be the predator.

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