Chapter Eight: Luck

At night, moonlight poured into the small room. Inside were two youths: one was Loran, the other a blue-eyed boy. The room wasn’t very large; between the two beds stood a table. The conditions were still simple, but they were—no question—many times better than the underground trial cell.

After all, Loran was now one of the Blood Cage’s trainees.

“Creak~~~”

The iron gate opened, and a knight walked in, placing two small bottles and a roll of gauze on the table. He said evenly, “Loran, these are the medicines and bandages. The medical officer will be here shortly.”

“Thank you.”

Loran nodded, but he couldn’t feel gratitude from the bottom of his heart. After all, everything he had witnessed—the brutal rules inside the Blood Castle and the events that led to his mother’s death—were all inextricably linked to the Blood Castle.

Soon after, a medical officer arrived. She was a short woman wearing the empire’s dark-blue female uniform dress, efficiently treating and dressing Loran’s wounds. A pleasant scent lingered about her. When she crouched to bandage him, the rounded curve of her hips and the slim line of her waist were fully visible, leaving the two teenagers speechless.

After finishing the bandaging, she looked up and gave a meaningful smile: “Your wound is a bit deep, so it’s best not to use your right hand for three days, and I’ll come by every day to change your dressings—if you can survive tomorrow’s lesson.”

Loran frowned slightly. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The female medical officer stood up, reached out and gently rubbed Loran’s brown tunic, and smiled, “I heard you killed a trainee today. Not bad—hope you manage to survive.”

“Thank you…” This time, Loran truly felt grateful from the bottom of his heart.

…

After the medic left, the small room fell quiet again.

The blue-haired youth lay at the head of the bed, staring at the moonlight outside the window. After a long while, he turned his face to look at Loran and said, “Hello, my name is Scarlett. What’s yours?”

“Loran.”

“Oh…” Scarlett smiled. “I watched your match today. Reiga is a very talented trainee— I didn’t expect you could actually beat him.”

“Hmm…” Loran fell silent.

“How did you end up here?” Scarlett asked, then suddenly realized how abrupt the question sounded and said, “I’m sorry, Loran — you must have gone through something unpleasant…”

Loran lay on the bed, staring at the pitch-black ceiling, and said, “I come from the northern woods of Ailan City. They… they killed my mother and dragged me here. That’s all there is.”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

Scarlett sat up and said, “Many people in the training camp have had experiences like yours, but most of them are already corpses now — they didn’t even get the chance to grieve.”

Loran clenched his fists, the image of his mother being killed replaying in his mind over and over. After a long moment he let out a deep breath and said, “Scarlett, how did you end up here?”

Suddenly, Scarlett grew a bit excited and said, “I come from the Red River City, which is a bit larger than Biran. My father is a blacksmith, and I awakened a star vein at seven, soon after gaining the ability to wield star-source power. So when I came of age, my father sold off more than half our assets to send me to this Blood Castle.”

Loran was somewhat stunned: “There actually… are people who voluntarily come here to undergo training?”

“Of course.”

Scarlett’s eyes brightened with excitement; a fanatical hope gleamed in them as she said, “The Blood Cage is a paradise for many young imperial trainees. So many powerful figures have emerged from there. They say every year it produces a few Sky Knights, and every five years it even yields someone with the strength of a Radiant Knight. For a commoner’s child like me, if I miss the chance of the Blood Cage, I fear I’ll never in this life get to touch that kind of power, to become such a supreme being.”

Loran looked at him: “Even if there’s a very good chance I’ll die here?”

“Yes.”

Scarlett said, “Every year many recruits enter the Blood Prison, but fewer than thirty percent come out alive, so I firmly believe I will leave here alive and become a true powerhouse.”

“Well then… I wish your wish comes true.”

“Mm!”

Scarlett smiled at the corner of her mouth and said, “Loran, we’ve been placed in the same group. From today on we are partners, and only by joining hands can we survive a place like the Blood Prison where the weak are eaten by the strong. So, no matter how much pain and hatred you endure, you must pull yourself together—only by growing stronger can there be hope. We have to work hard together!”

“Okay.”

Loran nodded and said, “Scarlett, I don’t have an awakened Star Source power. Aren’t you afraid I’ll hold you back?”

“No!”

Scarlett’s face was resolute. “As long as you treat me as a friend, I’ll treat you as my best friend. Even if you don’t have Star Source power, we’ll survive together.”

“Mm!”

Under the moonlight, two boys made a promise.

…

The next morning, warm sunlight poured over the bedside and fell across Loran’s face, bringing a wave of warmth. He had almost forgotten what sunlight felt like. These past days had been like a nightmare, allowing him to see his mother again in his dreams and return to his home—only to open his eyes and, seeing the gray, dim trainee dormitory, realize that it was all real and that he could never go back.

A sharp whistle blew, jolting all the youths awake. Not long after, Loran and the others hurriedly washed and dressed, wearing their trainee uniforms as they assembled on the square outside the dormitory area. The number was the same as yesterday—still around one hundred.

“Today is an incredibly important day for you!”

A middle-aged man wearing the badge of an Earth Knight stood before the trainees, raised an eyebrow, and said, “Yesterday’s lesson tested your courage. Today’s lesson will test your luck. Everyone, according to yesterday’s groups, each group stand together, then separate completely. Alright, do it immediately!”

At once, the trainees in the square divided into five small groups, and among them, Loran and Scarlett stood side by side, the faces of the two boys marked by nervousness and anxiety.

A few minutes later, a group of apprentice knights came over, each holding a pitch-black jar, and the ground knight smiled and said, “Inside this jar are two balls, one black and one white. Whoever draws the white ball passes; whoever draws the black ball—sorry, fate has played a trick on you. Begin, first group!”

“Ah?!”

A group of youths were utterly astonished.

Group one: two young boys stepped forward. One reached into the jar and drew out a small ball, but it turned out to be a black ball.

“I…”

His eyes were filled with horror; he was completely frozen in place.

“Pf!”

The apprentice knight holding the jar flicked his right hand, drew his sword, and plunged it straight into the boy’s chest. The killing was unusually ruthless, and with a pitiful groan, the first group went from two people to one.

Everyone was stunned when they saw this scene.

“You… you can’t do this… you can’t do this…” a young man had already had a breakdown.

“Hmph, someone without strong willpower thinks they can become an Aporian?”

The mounted knight in the center of the square snorted coldly and said, “Continue. Second group, begin choosing your fate!”

In the second group, another boy chosen with the black ball was beheaded.

When it came to the third group, one of the black boys grit his teeth and didn’t even reach into the jar for a ball; instead he turned and raced toward the nearby city wall, attempting to flee. With a thunderous “pong” his whole body erupted with deep Star Source power, and he sprang up nearly three meters in a single bound. But before his hands could reach the top, a continuous “puff puff puff” sounded in the air — the knights guarding the wall had already reacted, drawing war bows and loosing arrow after arrow imbued with Star Source power into the boy’s chest, killing him on the spot!

The third group—the remaining boys became the lucky ones, but they were also left stunned with fear.

…

“Loran…”

Scarlett gritted her teeth, sweat soaking her face, and said, “Only one of us can survive.”

Loran frowned: “…”

At this point, resistance was futile. There was a local knight present, more than ten grand knights, and a group of knights on the city walls—let alone this group of youths, very few people in the Empire could break out of such an encirclement.

In the end, the jar was brought before Scarlett and Loran.

Loran reached out.

“Wait, Loran!”

Scarlett’s mouth twitched suddenly as she said, “Let… let me take it first, okay?”

“Mm.”

Loran withdrew his hand and took a step back.

Scarlett raised her hand tremblingly, as if her palm had lost all strength. She fumbled in the jar and finally pulled out a small ball—an ebony, round sphere.

“Ah…”

He looked at Loran with a face full of shock.

Loran looked back at him: “Scarlett, go in peace…”

“Plop!”

The knight drew his sword with such speed that only a streak of blade could be seen. A red line appeared at Scarlett’s neck, then blood veins spread and fresh blood sprayed out. With a buzzing sound, Scarlett opened her eyes wide, feeling only a blankness before her. Life force rapidly drained from her body, consciousness vanished swiftly, and she collapsed limply. A youth who possessed second-tier Astral Power had just lost his life.

Loran lowered his head to look at Scarlett on the ground, clenched his fists tightly, and remained silent.

He knew that before gaining sufficient strength, any resistance was futile, but one day he would overthrow it all, trample this tyranny underfoot, and crush it to powder!

…

In the sunlight, corpses fell to the ground one after another; every squad had been reduced to single individuals. In just one morning, the number of trainees living in this courtyard was cut in half.