Lumis blinked, completely lost as Draziel stared at the glowing leaderboard hovering mid-air like a divine proclamation. Faint pulses of light shimmered around the black text, casting reflections on the wooden walls of the cabin.
Outside the small window behind them, the sun had started to dip, bleeding soft amber across the rugged landscape. The wind howled low beyond the distant cliffs—wild, echoing, like something ancient stirred.
Inside, however, the room was quiet. Just the crackle of the hearth behind them, and the faint ticking of a pendulum clock mounted high on the stone wall.
Lumis's expression was blank—more like a confused than someone who had any idea what was going on.
"Uh… can you explain that again?" he asked, scratching his head, his silver-blue bangs falling over his eyes. "Like, briefly—and in a way I can actually understand?"
Draziel raised a brow. He looked like he was trying not to sigh again.
"Alright," he said, voice low and firm. "I'll explain. So listen carefully this time."
He gestured toward the glowing projection.
"This leaderboard ranks everyone based on how fast they clear a trial. The less time you take, the higher your rank. And the better your rank, the better your rewards—items, reputation, power boosts, access to secret realms… everything."
Lumis didn't answer. His gaze was distant, unfocused.
How do I even tell this guy I can't see anything? he thought. No system window. No stats. No inventory. Nothing. Am I the only one this broken?
"Hey." Draziel waved a hand in front of his face. "You listening?"
Lumis blinked and straightened. "What? Yeah—sorry. I was just thinking about something."
Draziel narrowed his glowing dragon eyes, clearly unconvinced, but he let it go.
"Anyway," he continued, his tone more serious, "there are two main ways to clear a trial: as a Covenant… or Unbound."
He started to pace, boots tapping softly on the stone floor.
"In a Covenant, everyone shares the same clear time. Doesn't matter who did what—the system ranks the group as a unit. It's efficient. Safer. Most of the top ten on the leaderboard? Teams. Big-name factions. Coordinated elites."
"But Unbound…" He stopped and looked directly at Lumis.
"That's a different beast. No healers, no backline. Just you against the trial's full power. The monsters. The traps. The environment."
The flames behind them cracked as Draziel pointed back at the board, his expression growing sharper.
"That guy—Void Walker—he did it alone. And he still cleared the trial in just over an hour. Third fastest time out of tens of thousands. Do you get it now?"
He turned back to Lumis, golden eyes glinting like molten steel.
"This isn't just some strong player. This is someone who went in with no one… and beat out most of the legendary households. That level of power? That's not normal."
Lumis swallowed. His throat felt dry.
"…So you're telling me," he said slowly, "he did what covenant couldn't, without any help… and faster?"
Draziel nodded once, sharply. "Exactly. This isn't just a rank. It's a warning."
From outside, the faint cry of a winged beast echoed across the sky, distant but chilling. The Trial grounds were waking again.
And Lumis, still sitting on the edge of that bed, realized just how far he was from understanding this world—or surviving in it.