Chapter 180

Monday, January 20th, 2042

Special Forces Training Camp, Soul Canyon.

Yesterday, all 127 Cadets appeared in the final test, and by midnight, the results were out based on each cadet's performance in the last 45 days.

Keith was in his room right now, going through the files that had been sent to him by Six. And these files contained information on the best Computer and Intelligence Experts who had managed to pass the Final Test and chosen the Dragon Corps as their next destination.

As the Team Leader of a Phoenix Cell, he now had to choose one of them. Seven males and three females were in the files, along with all the necessary information about their lives up till this point.

After much deliberation, he picked up three of the ten cadets, and then instead of reading their profiles, he watched their videos and recalled their behaviour during the last 45 days.

It only took him a few minutes to decide on the Computer and Intelligence Operative for his Cell. And he helplessly shook his head.

There was one only of them whom he truly wanted.

He needed someone who was immensely talented, and someone who could be loyal to him alone or, at least, much more than to the country.

Keith then sent a message to Six through the watch that he had been given last night after the Final Exam, and immediately received a reply.

He could meet the people he had asked for in a few minutes.

After reading the message, Keith tidied up the table and then put the files in the incinerator, burning them all to ashes.

He was wearing a new uniform today, a different colour. Black and Grey were what the members of Dragon Corps wore, and though he was going to be a nominal member of Dragon Corps from now on, he would be wearing the same uniform.

As he exited the room and walked down the hallway, some cadets cordially greeted and congratulated him for passing the Final Exam with the highest marks in history. Of course, he could have chosen to go low-key, but there was no fun in that here. Besides, to score less, he would have had to lose in combat matches, and he was not fond of losing or drawing against his opponents.

Keith had impressed Dragon Seven too after stealing a win against him, something no one else in his batch had managed to accomplish. But comparing him with the rest around him was not really fair.

When he entered the chamber where his future Cell members were waiting for him, he found all of them, except for Zor, wearing solemn expressions and visibly drained. It was the same for almost all the Cadets because the last test was something that most had not been expecting.

To pass the last test, each Cadet was handed a dagger, and then they were asked to cut the throat of the person that was blindfolded and on their knees before them.

The cadets were not told who these people were. No answers were given, and most hesitated. Even the ones who had taken lives before hesitated a little since killing someone with a firearm and killing someone by cutting their throat were two very different things

Keith had only briefly looked at the young man in front of him, who tried to get up on his feet to make a run for it when he heard what the Instructor had ordered the Cadets to do, and then he had stepped forward and grabbed him by his chin, pulling his face up as he slowly slit his throat with the sharp dagger.

The coldness by which he executed the man chilled the hearts of many, but it also gave courage to some Cadets who stepped forward and completed the task as swiftly as possible.

Julian and Naomi had never killed a person before in their lives, and thus, they were still in shock at what they had done yesterday.

At the end of the last trial, the instructors informed the cadets who the people they had just killed were. And all these people were criminals on death row. And some were terrorists who had not been turned into court by the Special Forces.

The words did lift some weight from the hearts of the cadets, but Keith and a few others had never cared about what they had done. To him, even if it was an innocent person, he would have still killed him if that was what was required to pass the test.

Keith also knew that not all of these people were criminals, and some of them were the sons of terrorists who may have not done anything harmful yet.

"Team Leader!" Zor was the first one to look his way and respectfully greeted him. His words prompted the other three to get up on their feet too.

Julian and Naomi were not surprised that it was Keith who was going to be their Team Leader. They had been briefed by the Phoenix Agents this morning, where they were told that they had been selected for the Phoenix Programme and that a Cell Leader had asked for them on his team. Though Keith's name was not taken, they knew that it could only be him.

But that was not the same for the last member of their Cell.

"Senpai!" The cute Korean girl excitedly smiled at him, and despite himself, Keith smiled back at her.

He had read her profile and he knew how much of a fan she was of the Japanese Animes, and out of all the 127 candidates, she was arguably the most cheerful one. However, she was a very skilled and highly intelligent person and her cheerful personality usually threw people off and made them less wary of her, which she was not shy of using to her advantage.

"Good afternoon, Iseul, Zor, Julian, and Naomi. Welcome to the Phoenix Corps!" He greeted them by their names, and the cute girl frowned.

The name he used was her birth name, not the one she had on her credentials, and Keith did not miss the fear that briefly flashed in her eyes.

Of course, he knew that she was interested in him, which was part of the reason why he had picked her up, and Iseul was now worried that he knew everything about her, even the heinous things that she had done.

"You have already given your consent and there is no turning back from this now." He seriously said. "We will be escorted by the Phoenix Agents to an unknown location after dinner tonight. A new Training Camp where we will be taught and tested for 180 days before we can enter the field. If the last 45 days were Hell for you, then you are in for a rude awakening once the training of the Phoenix Corps starts." He smiled at them. "But cheer up because we will also be learning things that they don't teach to the Dragons and the Tigers."

Zor nodded his head and both Julian and Naomi were okay with his words.

"Are the other Phoenix Cells going to be training together with us?" Iseul curiously asked, and Keith faintly smiled at her.

"You want to know how many Cells are there?" He knowingly asked and watched her tense up. "There are three more Phoenix Cells from our batch, and no, we will not be training together with them. Each Cell will be trained in a different location to build up solid team coordination within each cell. But yes, we will be meeting the other Phoenix Cells at the end of 180 days." He informed them all. "Now, I am not supposed to tell you what I am about to say, but since I don't want any of you dying on the first day, know that the first test and training is a Survival Test. So, eat well tonight." He devilishly smiled, and all of them tensed up.

Keith then proceeded to open the silver briefcase that was placed on a table inside the room and then called forward each of them, giving them a watch similar to his.

"If anyone of you is found disclosing anything about our Team or the Phoenix Corps to those who are not supposed to be aware of these things, I will personally kill you." He coldly said.

Julian and Naomi could sense that he was very serious about what he had just said, and they felt chills up their spines even though they would never talk about these things with outsiders.

Keith was just too different thah what they had believed him to be. And in the last few days, they had realised that they pretty much knew nothing about him.

"The rest of you can go back to your rooms, Iseul is staying. You will only leave your rooms when I send you a signal on your watch."

"Yes, Team Leader!" Zor, Julian, and Naomi saluted him in unison before taking their leave.

"What do you want to talk about, Senpai?" Iseul sweetly smiled at him when they were left alone in the room.

"It felt good, right?" He knowingly smiled at her, and her eyes widened in surprise when she understood what he was talking about.

Her heart had nearly stopped, but then the smile on her face ceased and her light brown eyes narrowed.

"What are you talking about, Senpai?"

"The sharp and cold dagger against the soft throat that you so 'nervously' slit yesterday." He lightly smiled. "You enjoyed it. Did not you?"

"No, Senpai. I did not enjoy it." Suddenly, a sweet smile crept on her face. "What was it like for you?"

"Nothing." He stared into her eyes and then leaned near her ear, which caused her body to turn stiff. "Had you run the knife a couple of centimetres lower on his throat, a beautiful fountain of blood would have sprouted from him." He whispered and then turned around to leave the room.

Isuel watched him leave the room with conflicted feelings welling up in her heart, but there was an unmistakable fear and curiosity in her light brown eyes.

A sweet smile crept on her face again when she managed to suppress her emotions.

"You are even more interesting than I thought you were, Senpai." She giggled and then left for her room, looking forward to seeing him tonight and in the times to come.

[Author's Note: This is the last chapter of the Introductory Volume. There is going to be a Time-Skip of over two years and in the next chapter, Keith is finally going to meet Ye Tian. Oh, and our dear System is coming back live!

I hope you guys enjoyed the first Volume because I had a lot of fun writing it up.

Do share your thoughts about the introductory volume in the comments below.]