Chapter 14: One Year

Faylen let out an exhausted breath. 

His appearance looked pitiful as his head was being forcefully pressed down on by his opponent. The pressure on his head was so strong that the arena floor began cracking.

"Tch. Bastard!" Faylen shouted in anger, resisting with all his might. Yet it was futile.

The person who was casually resting his foot on the boy's head gave a smirk.

"Haha, Is this it? Is this what your strength amounts to? How boring, I thought you would've at least improved slightly by now."

The boy that was mocking him was named Asher. He was one of the Dragons that focused on the tiger body training method.

He and Faylen were currently sparring. However, despite both of them being one of the strongest kids within the Sanctuary, Asher had easily dominated the fight.

Asher sighed as he casually spoke.

"When will you give up? Winning is completely impossible when you're this slow!" 

Faylen gritted his teeth in anger. But he knew that his words were the cold truth. He had fought with him at least 100 times, yet he hadn't beaten him once!

The kid that was humiliating him was the strongest in all of the Sanctuary. Compared to him and everyone else, he would be labelled a true genius in fighting.

No one was his match! He was the most battle-hungry individual as well. Despite his strength, he still fights in the Crucible and never turns down a challenge.

After the fourth trial, around nine months had passed. During this time, Faylen had relentlessly trained to surpass him. But as he took one step, the boy had taken thousands! He was miles ahead of everyone.

As his head was being trampled on, he quietly mumbled to save any ounce of dignity he had left.

"I... forfeit."

Raising an eyebrow, a smile formed on Asher's face. "Hoh?"

Lightly laughing, he continued as he said,

"Sorry? I didn't quite hear you. Say it a bit louder."

"Tch, don't take it too far, bastard! Someone at the diamond stage should be able to easily hear that!" Faylen grinded his teeth. He knew that Asher was quite eccentric and liked to toy with his opponents. That was why none of the Dragons liked sparring with him. However, after Faylen had fought him for the first time and miserably lost, he wanted to get revenge! 

"Sorry, sorry. My hearing has gotten slightly bad." He replied with a grin, but he still kept his foot on Faylen's head.

"You!"

As Faylen felt like ripping the boy into a million pieces, a cold voice suddenly interrupted them.

"Just let him go, Asher. It's clearly your victory."

Asher casually turned his head, seeing a young girl with dark hair and emerald eyes. She looked like a vicious snake, sharp and venomous.

Asher coldly smiled.

"What if I don't?"

Knowing that starting a fight would be exactly what he wanted, the girl plainly replied, "Nothing. But I doubt resting your foot on his head is that enjoyable."

Asher narrowed his eyes.

"Tch. You're no fun."

He casually removed his foot as he walked off the arena.

Feeling the weight off his head, Faylen could finally let out a breath.

"Thanks, Kiana." 

He knew that if she didn't arrive sooner, Asher would probably still be toying with him.

She just gave a cold look in response.

Faylen gave an awkward laugh, but he expected such a response.

None of the Dragons were that close. They were like acquaintances. Nothing more.

Kiana suddenly spoke.

"Asher, do you know when the next trial will be happening?"

"Probably in two or three days." He shrugged.

"Any ideas on what it'll be?"

"It's likely going to be murdering each other again. The dire wolves have become too easy now. They only brought fear in the fourth trial. Nearly a third of the children had died at that trial." He casually spoke, reminiscing. He remembered how a dire wolf had managed to sneak up on him. Unlike regular wolves, dire wolves were far stronger. They were larger, faster and could easily hide in the dark. A place like the Sanctuary was practically their home ground.

Despite being slightly surprised, he still ripped the wolf to shreds.

Although him killing the dire wolf had been relatively easy, he knew that its strength wasn't something two or three people at the bronze stage could handle.

As time swiftly passed, the children eventually became stronger. Due to the ruthless way that the Sanctuary operates, there was no room for the weak. Now, the majority had learnt how to fight against dire wolves. 

Due to the dire wolves not being much of a threat anymore, after some time, Lord Thel suddenly made a new trial where the children had to kill each other. He picked a few strong children to be targeted, and all the other children had to hunt them down.

Usually, the Dragons were picked, but a few unlucky kids would also get selected. With the fear all the children had towards the Dragons, the unlucky kids were ruthlessly murdered.

Asher had noticed that in these last two months, the brutality of the trials had skyrocketed, much more so than in any other months. It felt as if Lord Thel was in a hurry.

After getting the information she wanted, Kiana quickly left.

Asher yawned as he mumbled, "It's really boring here. I want to see the outside world again. But that man is really scary."

Asher helplessly sighed. 

Despite his strength, his instincts told him that the strength between him and Lord Thel was separated by a giant chasm. The difference was like heaven and earth. He stood no chance.

Thus, he had just let things take its course as he waited. They seemed to be being trained for something. Eventually, they may be let out.

Faylen scoffed.

"Feeling sentimental?" He lightly mocked, before continuing, "I don't even know why you go to the Crucible. All of them are just wastes. They don't compare to us."

"Haha, I just go there to not become rusty. As I always fight you, you've become too predictable."

Faylen clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"But not all of them are wastes." Asher suddenly spoke.

"Hm, what do you mean? Is there someone that's strong?" Faylen had a perplexed expression.

"I don't know. He forfeited before I could fight him."

"Huh, isn't he just a frightened mice like the rest then? How could he be strong?"

Asher had a thoughtful expression before responding, "No... Despite him not leaking any battle intent, my instincts told me he was dangerous. I've been observing him for a bit, and he simply caught my eye."

Faylen felt like Asher was joking, but he wasn't sure due to his serious expression.

"Dangerous? Don't make me laugh. Do you feel threatened by him? What's his name?"

Asher chuckled. "I've learnt to always trust my instincts. That's what separates me from weaklings like you."

"You! Fight me again, bastard!"

"Anytime."

As Faylen was barking at him like a dog, he had completely forgotten their conversation. 

Asher, however, had a thoughtful expression. 'Luck... You are very interesting!'

A few weeks ago when he participated in the Crucible, at the fourth round, he had met him.

Despite him being able to sense someone's battle intent, using it to predict their stage. He couldn't sense anything at all from him. He was completely transparent, like a shadow. But his instincts were screaming at him that he was dangerous.

His instincts had never lied to him, so he wanted to battle against the boy. But when the round started, he immediately forfeited. 

Asher felt extremely dissatisfied with the results.

After the Crucible, he tried to find some information about the boy he fought.

Surprisingly, he discovered that he didn't forfeit because of him. Maybe he did, however, he learnt how Luck had a history of forfeiting at the fourth and fifth rounds.

Asher knew that the third round's victory rewarded you with herbs, so he was intrigued. He guessed the boy got what he was after and didn't want to continue fighting anymore.

He also found rumours on how he used to be labelled the weakest kid in the Sanctuary who had survived because of his dogsh*t luck, giving him his nickname. But Asher was sceptical. Lucky things happen once or twice, however, any more and that turns into one's ability. In a year, with each trial being more difficult than the last, he had survived every single one of them! He was definitely hiding his strength!

He came up with this conclusion. And he was confident that it was the truth.

Even if his guess was false, he still felt that the boy was very dangerous. Just the way his abyss-like eyes gazed at him had caused him to want to have a bloody battle! He knew that those were the eyes of a natural predator. A killer that can take a life without thinking much of it.

Yet he was hiding his strength, acting like a wolf in sheep's clothing, patiently waiting for something.

...

Luck was currently in the midst of his sixth cycle of training today.

Throughout the months, the lines of his body had become more noticeable. His rigorous training had made his body look relatively sturdy. Now, he looked like an average boy who had a hobby of doing sports occasionally. 

After the fourth trial, his life had been very monotonous and boring. Being underground and filled with bloodthirsty children, he didn't bother trying to connect with any of them — simply focusing on getting stronger and exploring the Sanctuary.

Luck had simply been doing the spider and owl body training methods. He would also frequently exercise, honing his entire body to build stamina and his latent strength. 

With all the fighting in the Crucible, and him killing some children in the Trials, he has completely adapted to this place

Compared to his prior malnourished and pathetic appearance, his current appearance looked much more pleasing to the eye. Due to the lack of sunlight, his skin was still pale. However, he knew that this wasn't due to any illness.

Still, compared to all the children who also trained just as hard, he still looked the weakest. But he knew that this wasn't the case. He had simply developed the muscles where it was necessary. The spider body training method focused on stability, so too much muscle would hinder his movements.

Luck knew that his body had grown into a killing machine, capable of taking lives with a casual wave of his hand.

Finishing his sixth cycle with relative ease, Luck took a sip out of his waterskin.

Feeling something lightly touching his shoulder, Luck observed his black hair. Time had flowed swiftly since he's transmigrated here. His black hair had now reached his shoulders. 

He guessed he had lived in this place for at least nine months. A whole year if he were to account for when this body arrived at this place.

With the darkness and solitude that would drive many to the point of insanity, Luck remained indifferent. He was used to holing himself in his lab and doing countless experiments in solitude. Such a situation wasn't any different. He was merely doing experiments on himself this time, training his body.

During this time, he randomly looked for an exit at no fixed time to not bring any suspicion. He quickly discovered that this place was very mysterious. The work of magic was definitely being used!

It was like the Sanctuary was a magical labyrinth. Although the Sanctuary was massive and had many tunnels which led to various areas, the exit was no where to be seen. It was completely sealed off. Yet Luck found it strange that the cloaked man could gather all the supplies like herbs, food and water.

As for the magic part, he eventually came to this conclusion as he had searched for the spiralling staircase that leads to the aptitude ceremony, but he couldn't find it no matter how hard he searched.

Realising this, Luck tried to find anything strange that could indicate the existence of magic. To his disappointment, in nine months, he hadn't found anything apart from some inconspicuous engravings or runes on the walls at random areas of the Sanctuary.

These runes were similar to the indentations on the floor where the aptitude ceremony was.

He had attempted deciphering them for at least 4 months now, but it was fruitless. After a few more days, he gave up. Even if he did decipher them, what could he really do?

Those runes, even if they had the secrets to escaping the Sanctuary, probably required some sort of magical energy for them to react and work...

Luck gave a deep sigh as he clenched his fists.

He hated the feeling of being controlled. Yet Luck could do nothing against something so mysterious as magic. 

It was incomprehensible!

The cloaked man held the lives of all the children in his palm.

Life essence and real magic seemed to be completely different concepts. Although both were supernatural, unlike life essence, Luck had absolutely no idea on how to acquire magic. The novels he's read in his previous life usually mentioned how magical energy existed everywhere and sensing it required a great deal of focus or talent. Either Luck's talent was terrible, or there was a different method to acquire magic. Luck hoped it would be the latter.

Just thinking about how he may be able to use magic and defy logic made him rather excited. Unfortunately, his main priority at the moment is to escape this place. However, so far, it's beginning to look hopeless.

But Lately, Luck noticed that the cloaked man seemed much more hurried. He was providing out more herbs and making all the children fight more frequently. It seems something was pressuring him from the outside.

That was Luck's guess. 

Perhaps he had a deadline to train the children into capable warriors.

After dressing himself in his torn, dirty rags, Luck walked out of his cave.