Chapter 18: Origin Fire Test [lV]

"Sir, we got our hidden piece."

The young soldier, who was sitting with his legs crossed while his cheek rested on his palm, stared into the void as if everything in his sight was devoid of any secrets.

"Hmm. Maybe this is our chance to completely overturn our passive situation."

"Yes, sir."

The butler bowed and turned back to exit.

The young soldier calmly stared, and the words escaped his mouth as the butler was about to exit the hall.

"I don't want a mishap."

The butler nodded and disappeared from the hall, leaving only the young soldier.

The next moment, the young soldier also disappeared as if he had never been there, but his words echoed, proving someone's existence a second ago.

'Now, every chess piece lies in my hand...'

'I want to see how they escape our grip.'

...

'Help us! Help us!'

'I don't want to die!'

'You bitch! Why don't you give me your husband?'

'Why? Why? Why? Why did my sister cheat with my husband? Why?'

'I don't want to live!'

'Help me!'

'Power! I need power! I'll even trade my soul!'

Soundly sleeping on the comfy bed, Sam turned from one side to the other while covering his ears, a low whisper escaping his mouth.

"Argh! Who's whispering in my ear..."

As time passed, a frown started to resurface on his face, and suddenly, he sat up on the bed.

"Who's doing this?" he murmured, turning his head left and right.

"What was that?" Whispering under his breath, he massaged his temple.

Getting no clue, he fell back onto the bed, but it didn't take him long to wake up again.

This time, his eyes squinted, and something clicked in his mind.

'Don't tell me I can hear...'

An ominous foreboding filled him, but steadying himself, Sam decided to give it a go.

As his eyes closed and he focused on his ears, his frown deepened.

'Die! Everyone should die!'

'I'm saved!'

'Please, God! I want to die!'

Panting, his eyes snapped open as the overwhelming sound of curses filled his ears.

'Do I have to live with this all the time?'

His eyes stared blankly into the void, unable to comprehend what to do.

"There must be some way..."

Creak!

As he searched through his thoughts, the door faltered, and the butler stared at him.

"Follow me."

"Ok!"

Getting up from the ground, he followed the butler while suspicion rose in his heart. His suspicion was confirmed when the butler, without glancing back, asked,

"Your official training will start from here, so it would be better if you learn properly if you don't want to be assassinated."

Gulp!

Swallowing hard, he hummed and followed carefully.

Dumbly staring at the scenario before his eyes, he took in the sight.

Roughly around 70 to 80 men his age were training while masked soldiers inspected their training.

Crack!

The whip split the air, and one of the trainees was thrown into a world of pain.

'Hiss!'

Sam sucked in a cold breath of air just by imagining what was going to happen to him in the near future.

"This is your training area," the butler spoke coldly, unaffected by the view.

"Yes, sir."

"Go and fit yourself in. It would be better if you do it early."

'Though the words may carry some warmth, his tone...'

He shook his head and strode toward the area, where he was stopped by a masked man.

"Purpose?"

He blinked twice before understanding.

"Manager."

"That's your area to train!"

"Hmm."

Nodding, Sam strode toward the right corner of the training hall, where eight young boys were training, and two instructors were guiding them.

"Sir!"

"Undress yourself and join now."

With only one piece of clothing left, he stood and waited for instructions.

"What are you waiting for? Go and do as they are doing!"

The instructor spoke coldly, and Sam, embarrassed, stood behind a boy and followed his steps.

Standing behind them, he saw a fireball the size of a thumb materialize before his eyes. He noticed that the other young boys had already materialized numerous fireballs, and their sizes were much bigger than his.

'So this is how it feels to be left behind.'

This motivated him more. Clenching his fists, he focused entirely on the fireball and tried to materialize another, but as soon as the second one appeared, the previous fireball extinguished.

Without admitting defeat, he repeated the process again and again but lost miserably every time, with only a single fireball flickering before him.

The instructor stood beside him, staring at him the entire time.

As Sam thought that the whip was about to kiss him, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Try to split it."

He saw that the instructor had only spoken a few words before moving on. Shaking his head, he glanced at the fireball with a contemplative gaze.

After numerous thoughts passed through his mind, he took a deep breath, stared intently at the thumb-sized fireball, and started his first attempt.

The intensity of the fireball's flickering increased with every passing moment. As a tiny mass of fire separated from the fireball, it extinguished quickly, not even giving Sam enough time to comprehend what had happened.

'Am I taking the wrong approach?'

Pondering over his thoughts, he decided to try another approach.

This time, a stable fireball the size of a thumb materialized before his eyes. Using his mind, he forced his will to split the fireball in two.

His eyes glowed, reflecting the flickering of the fireball.

Suddenly, as if driven by a powerful force, the fireball split, but the pieces scattered and left nothing behind.

'Success.'

A faint smile graced his face.

Without overthinking, he repeated the process again and again until he could easily split the fireball in two.

"Everyone, stand properly in your line!" the instructor command