The test had already begun- and he hadn't even realized it.
Seth mentally cursed himself. The thrill of receiving Vince's message had clouded his judgment. He should've asked why Vince hadn't come in person. Why send a message in such a cryptic way- via a flying arrow, no less?
Because it was never just a message, it was a signal, a warning. And now, it was too late to rethink things.
The rustling grew louder. The growls- closer, deeper, and numerous.
His grip on the short sword tightened.
He drew in a slow, steadying breath, forcing his racing mind to quiet. The familiar pulse of adrenaline coursed through his limbs, sharpening his senses. His muscles tensed- not in fear, but in readiness.
'Focus, breathe, move when they do.'
He couldn't afford another misstep. Vince wouldn't have set this up lightly. Whatever was coming from that tree line… it was meant to test more than just his reflexes. It was meant to push him- force him to dig into everything he'd learned, everything he'd become.
The bushes parted, eyes glinted in the shadows.
Seth's gaze narrowed.
'Let's do this.'
Seth's heart thudded in his chest, but he didn't freeze.
Dire rats- ugly, rabid and unrelenting and this time, there was no one else. No backup. No lucky hit to bail him out, just him… and five of them.
They skittered forward, low to the ground, spreading out like predators in sync. Foam bubbled at their jaws as they snarled and hissed, hungry for flesh. His flesh.
His fingers flexed over the sword's hilt.
He could feel the fear, yes- but it wasn't the kind that made him cower. It was the kind that forced clarity. A fire lit beneath the fear, this wasn't The trial of blood and iron anymore. He wasn't that same boy who barely made it out alive.
He was stronger now- trained, sharper.
"I don't need luck anymore," he muttered to himself.
The first rat lunged fast, and erratic. Seth side-stepped, narrowly avoiding a snapping jaw. The sword came down in a diagonal arc, catching the creature's flank. A spurt of dark blood painted the grass, but it wasn't a killing blow.
The others didn't wait.
Another charged from the side, claws outstretched.
Seth dropped low, pivoted, slashed up- felt the blade bite into soft underbelly. He rolled with the motion, barely avoiding a bite from the third.
It was chaos. They didn't attack one by one- they came all at once, a frenzy of fur and teeth.
'Adapt Seth, flow.'
He remembered Vince's words. He let his body move on instinct, every strike powered by the countless hours of repetition, the bruises, the exhaustion. The training was paying off- and this time, he felt it.
Pain lanced through his shoulder as one of the rats clipped him with a claw. He gritted his teeth but didn't let the wound slow him.
There were four left now. Maybe three if that first one bled out.
He could do this.
He would do this.
The chaos raged on.
Seth ducked under another lunge, the fetid stench of dire rat breath brushing past his cheek as he twisted away. One more down- he'd managed to hamstring it with a lucky backswing, and now it writhed uselessly in the grass, shrieking.
But there was no time to celebrate. The remaining two came at him with renewed fury, their bloodlust seemingly fueled by the death of their own.
One struck from the left- he pivoted, raising the short sword just in time to block its swipe. The force of the impact rattled up his arm, but he held firm, driving his boot into the rat's side and sending it sprawling.
The other leapt high, claws extended. Seth instinctively threw his arm up, catching a shallow slash across his forearm as he brought his blade across in a clean, ruthless arc- cleaving open the rat's throat in a single motion.
Four down.
Chest heaving, limbs trembling from exertion, Seth turned just in time to meet the final one.
This one didn't hesitate- it lunged, jaws wide and eyes gleaming with wild hunger. It crashed into him, and Seth brought up his short sword with both hands.
CLANG!
The creature's jaws snapped shut around the blade, teeth grinding against the metal as it thrashed violently, trying to rip the weapon from Seth's grip. The force of its impact knocked him backward a step, and for a moment, it was a struggle of raw strength- beast versus boy.
But Seth didn't falter.
With a grimace, he let go of the short sword, now locked in the rat's maw, and reached back with one hand.
His fingers curled around the hilt of the dagger sheathed behind his waist- the very same one he had taken from the assassin. The blade that had once taken a life... now, it would preserve his.
With a savage growl of his own, Seth plunged the dagger into the dire rat's gut.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Over and over, teeth clenched and face twisted in a mix of fury and desperation, he drove the dagger in until hot blood sprayed across his hands and the rat's body convulsed violently.
It squealed, a shrill, choked sound- then went still.
Seth panted, still straddling the creature's lifeless form, his hand trembling around the hilt of the dagger now buried to the hilt in flesh. His other hand was bloodied and cut from the struggle, the short sword still trapped between the rat's jaws.
The field was quiet again, save for the wind rustling the grass.
He stood slowly, breath ragged, body aching- but alive.
This... was only the beginning, he realized.
And he had passed the first part of the test.
Then, without warning, another arrow zipped past and, just like before, embedded itself in a nearby tree.
He pulled his shortsword from the dire rat's corpse, its blade still slick with rancid blood, and made his way to the tree. With a swift motion, he yanked the arrow free and unrolled the note tied to it.
Seth's eyes widened in disbelief as he read the message:
"Get ready for the second wave."