The Xiani Arena thundered with the sound of metal grinding against metal, boots striking stone, and a hundred different heartbeats thumping out the same rhythm: survival.
Commander Xian's voice boomed across the battlefield like a hammer falling on glass. "You want to be part of the ADM Corps? Then prove it. Kill… or be forgotten."
Ten young recruits stood inside the iron-gated arena. Dust clouded the air. Blood from previous trials still stained the gravel beneath their feet. There were no speeches of honor. No time for second thoughts. Only the cold, brutal law of their world.
Yuji Kazehaya tightened his trembling fists. His dull gray ADM Gear ring pulsed faintly, barely flickering with energy. He stood beside Kai, a boy with sandy brown hair and a hopeful smile that didn't match the terror in his eyes. Around them, the other eight recruits tensed like cornered wolves, some already channeling their elements—Wind, Ice, and even rare mixed variations.
"They all have two-star gears… some even close to three," Yuji thought, sweat dripping from his brow. His body still ached from the prior tests. His mind… cloudy, distant. As if a part of him was asleep. Hidden. Waiting.
"BEGIN!" Commander Xian roared.
The battlefield erupted.
A storm of ice shards flew past Yuji's head as one recruit, Vord, launched a barrage of frozen spears from his palm. Another, Mila, released a whirlwind slash that sent two off-balance. Chaos. Screams. The clash of elemental power lit the arena like a battlefield of miniature gods.
Yuji ducked and rolled behind debris, panting. He couldn't use spells. His ring wouldn't respond. He hadn't loaded any Energy Bottles. Everyone else had the standard ten EBs granted before the match. But Yuji… his gear refused to even activate.
All he had… was instinct.
"Kai!" he shouted, seeing the boy hesitate. "Run! Stay back until the numbers drop!"
But Kai didn't run. He stepped in front of Yuji and smiled. "You're slower than me. I'll cover you."
A sharp whistling pierced the air. Then—
CRACK!
An ice javelin meant for Yuji plunged straight into Kai's chest.
"No—KAI!!"
The boy stumbled backward, blood gushing as his body collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. His eyes… still smiling.
Yuji froze.
A scream roared within him but never made it out. Something twisted. Unseen, like a lock inside his mind clicked open by grief.
But the battle didn't stop.
Five remained now. Mila, Zarn, Velto, Vord… and Yuji. The others had fallen to their own ambition. Lightning cracked. Blades clashed. The arena was a storm of rage, desperation, and violence.
Yuji ran.
Not from fear—but to buy time.
"Move! Think! Hide!" he whispered, ducking behind shattered pillars. Vord was tracking him, stalking like a predator. His two-star ring glowed, ready to unleash another ice barrage.
Yuji grabbed a rock and tossed it to the left.
Distraction.
Vord turned.
Yuji rushed forward and tackled him. They both fell, fists flying, dirt and blood mixing under their scrapes. But it was hopeless—Vord's strength, enhanced by EBs and his element, overwhelmed him.
Then—
CRACK!
A punch to the ribs.
CRACK!
A knee to the face.
Yuji collapsed, coughing blood.
Vord stood over him, grinning. "This is mercy, trash." He raised his hand.
Strike.
Yuji's world faded.
---
But he wasn't dead.
Not exactly.
Inside his mind, darkness formed. A foggy abyss where no wind blew, no light reached. Only the sound of… breathing. Not his.
A figure appeared.
Tall. Shrouded in black mist. Its face unseen—its voice, thunderous.
"I am the dark. Your true self. You are not wind. You are the storm that devours all."
Yuji's consciousness trembled. "What… are you?"
"I am you. Accept me… or die."
The figure extended a hand.
Yuji looked at it. At the blood on his hands. At Kai's smiling eyes burned into his memory.
He reached out… and accepted.
---
Outside, in the arena, Vord stood victorious.
Commander Xian turned, unimpressed. "Weaklings. Another waste of—"
CRACK!
A gust of wind exploded.
Everyone turned.
Yuji was standing.
Eyes blank.
Fog swirled around him. Not normal fog—black, heavy, vibrating like something alive. But… it felt like wind.
His gray ADM ring pulsed.
Yuji raised his hand.
"ADM Gear… Star One Ability…"
His voice was hollow. Dead.
"…Black Storm."
The arena darkened.
The temperature plummeted. A violent gust swept across the ground, lifting Vord into the air.
He screamed, twisting, choking.
"CAN'T… BREATHE!"
The wind had no oxygen. None. Just death.
Vord convulsed.
Then silence.
His body fell to the ground.
Yuji stood still, fog around him dissipating like mist in sunlight.
Commander Xian's jaw tightened. The other soldiers murmured. One whispered:
"What… kind of wind is that?"
Yuji collapsed.
---
Pain.
Sharp pain.
He awoke hours later in the back of a hovercraft. Commander Xian sat beside him, arms crossed.
"Still breathing? Good."
Yuji barely nodded, his head pounding.
"You passed," Xian muttered. "Barely. But what you did out there… unexpected."
The vehicle roared forward across the plains of Zeyrus. Towering ice cliffs glinted in the moonlight as they passed Sector 3. Ahead, a city glimmered with countless neon spires: Kahai City, capital of Zeyrus.
And in the heart of that city—AMD SECTOR 454.
The hovercraft landed. Massive gates opened.
Inside, thousands of other new recruits gathered—survivors from across the nation, all with something to prove.
Yuji stepped out, his legs still weak.
Giant digital screens lit up. Commander Xian walked to a podium and shouted:
"You all passed. Welcome to the first grade of the ADM Corps."
The crowd cheered.
"There are three grades in total. If you survive… if you excel… you'll be promoted. If not—"
He paused.
"You'll be forgotten."
The cheers died down.
Xian raised one finger and pointed at the map of the continent projected behind him.
"Five nations… all of them are rivals. Zeyrus is your home. But the others…"
His eyes narrowed.
"They are monsters. Devils in uniforms. And one day, you'll fight them."
Yuji clenched his fists, still unsure what he had awakened inside himself… but certain of one thing.
He had stepped into a war.
And this… was only the beginning.
BUT Yuji in his mind there is only one whispering: I AM THE DARK
---
END OF CHAPTER 4