Kaizen woke before anyone knocked on the door. His body was heavy, and his wrists still bore the prominent red marks from the ropes of the previous test. He had only slept for a few broken hours, filled with images of Draven trembling and Severus's cold voice echoing in his head. When the door opened, the two silent men entered without a word and motioned for him to stand.
Kaizen walked behind them through the narrow corridor lit by dim lamps. Every step reminded him that each day in this place was taking a new piece from him. He was no longer thinking only about survival. He was thinking about how to remain intact inside the machine that had begun to grind him down.
They entered a wide, dark hall. At its center was a circle drawn with white stone on the cold floor. Inside the circle stood Draven, his hands bound to a short iron pillar. His face was extremely pale, his eyes sunken, and his lower lip swollen from a previous beating. Beside him stood Severus, holding a long, thin dagger in his right hand, gleaming under the faint light.
"Step into the circle," Severus ordered in a calm voice that allowed no argument.
Kaizen entered the circle and stood directly in front of Draven. They were only two steps apart. Kaizen could clearly see the fear in Draven's eyes and the sweat dripping from his forehead despite the cold.
Severus looked at them coldly, then spoke:
"This is the Test of Betrayal. Draven was planning to escape with the others before you left the mine. He spoke behind your back, calling you a coward for refusing to join them. He described you as weak and afraid. Now you have two clear choices:
First option: beat him with your hands until he completely loses consciousness. The blows must be strong and continuous. If you do that, you pass.
Second option: refuse to strike. In that case, I will kill Draven in front of you very slowly using this dagger. And you will be subjected to a harsher punishment.
But there is one rule that cannot be broken: silence is not allowed. You must declare your choice out loud and justify it to Draven himself while looking into his eyes."
Severus paused, then added in an even colder tone:
"Begin now."
Kaizen looked at Draven for a long moment. Draven's face trembled, his eyes filled with tears and pleading.
"Kaizen… please… don't do this," Draven whispered in a broken voice, like someone on the edge of death. "We were comrades in the mine… we shared bread… we saw death together… please…"
Kaizen felt a familiar weight return to his chest, but it was different this time. It was colder, sharper, like a blade slowly turning inside his ribcage. He slowly raised his right hand, then lowered it again. He took a deep breath and looked directly into Draven's eyes.
"I choose the first option," Kaizen said in a calm, clear voice without any tremor. "I will beat you until you lose consciousness. I do this because refusal means your slow death before me, and punishment for me as well. You are not my friend, and you never were. You were just another face in the dark, like me. I strike you now because I want to continue. I want to remain useful. Weakness here means death, and death here does not come once… it comes every day."
Kaizen began to strike.
The first punch landed hard on Draven's cheek, snapping his head to the side as blood spilled from his lip. The second hit his chest, producing a dull sound as if something inside had cracked. The third struck his stomach, forcing Draven to bend forward, gasping. Kaizen continued striking with calculated force—not with wild rage, but with mechanical coldness. Every blow reminded him that he was paying the price. He heard bones breaking, flesh tearing, and Draven's groans gradually fading into faint sounds… then into complete silence.
He delivered twenty consecutive punches. On the twentieth, Draven collapsed fully unconscious, his body hanging against the pillar, his face smeared with blood and saliva.
Kaizen stood over the motionless body, breathing heavily. His hands were covered in blood, his knuckles aching. He felt no guilt. No anger. Only a wider, deeper emptiness inside his chest, as if another large piece of him had disappeared forever.
Severus watched him for a long moment, then slowly nodded.
"You have passed. You chose, justified your choice aloud, and executed it without hesitation. But remember, Kaizen: today you betrayed a man who knew you for years. Tomorrow, you may betray the memory of your brother. And the day after… you may betray what remains of yourself. That is the true meaning of betrayal—not betraying others… but betraying who you once were."
Severus gestured to the two men to take Draven. The unconscious body was dragged out of the hall, leaving a thin trail of blood behind.
Kaizen remained standing inside the circle. His hands still trembled slightly from the intensity of the blows. He looked at the blood on his hands, then raised his eyes to Severus.
"Do you feel guilt now?" Severus asked calmly.
"No," Kaizen answered with complete honesty. "I feel emptiness. As if something else inside me has died. Something that will not return."
Severus gave a faint, dark smile that did not reach his eyes.
"That is better. Guilt makes a man weak and unusable. Emptiness… makes you a vessel that can be filled with whatever we desire. Go now. Wash your hands. Tomorrow is the Test of Loss. Sleep… if you can."
Kaizen was returned to his small room. He lay on the hard bed, staring at the dark ceiling. His hands still carried the smell of Draven's blood, which he had not yet washed away. He tried to recall Mark's face clearly, but the image had grown more blurred. As if memory itself was beginning to erode.
He slowly closed his eyes.
He knew he was no longer the same slave who once dug deep in the mine just to survive another day.
Now, he was digging inside himself—pulling out everything that once held his humanity, and throwing it into the darkness.
And the ash was feeding—growing hungrier.
The ascent had begun.