SHIRT

All that is audible is the occasional wind rustling the leaves and trees; it is dark, silent, and serene.

From the bed: Incoherent mumbles,

Ari's eyes fly up, he sits up quickly, breathing heavy,

'What? Where am I!?' He looks around, and realizes he's in a hospital room.

He observes that he is still seriously injured and that his left arm is broken.

Ari lets his head fall back into the pillow,

'I lost, huh?' He stares at the ceiling, calmly,

Then the door swings open, it's a nurse,

"Ah! Ari! You're awake, I thought I heard some commotion." She smiles warmly,

Ari looks at her with tired eyes, "Yeah…"

She writes something down in her notebook quietly before speaking up,

"Apologies Ari, but Mr. Taiho requested you see him immediately after you wake up… I suggest you do that, but It kind of was a while ago…" She chuckles awkwardly,

He sits back up, he looks at her with a frown, "What do you mean a while ago?"

The nurse's eyes widen, "Hm? Oh, it's just that you were out for…"

She looks at the date on the wall, "About seven days now…"

Ari's eyes widen in shock, he looks down and frustratingly runs his fingers through his hair,

'I can't believe this… after all of that… I lose? Just like that?' His thoughts rapidly go through scenarios back to the moment he encountered Tlen, what he could have done to prevent defeat…

"Ari? Ari?" The nurse repeats, he hadn't noticed her talking to him as he was lost in thought,

"Right, sorry… thank you miss…" He gets up and grabs his usual attire from a nearby table,

"You can change here, I'll leave, goodbye, Ari." The nurse gives him a warm smile before exiting swiftly,

'Go see Taiho? For him to tell me I failed or what?' He thinks, annoyed,

As he finishes changing, he makes his way to Taiho's office, he knocks before entering,

"Why can't we go? It would be beneficial for everyone on the team, wouldn't it?" Hazu asks loudly,

'It's that guy… he's the number one ranked isn't he?' Ari thinks,

Taiho notices Ari, he leans back in his chair, glances at him for a second before returning his attention to:

"Hazu, you would only slow Brugger down if you went with him, besides, only Elites can enter the auction building, he won't even be inside."

Hazu rolls his eyes, he then notices Ari standing beside him,

"What's up?" He says before walking past him, exiting his office, annoyed.

Ari turns back to Taiho, "What was that about?" He asks,

Taiho dismissively waves his hand,

"Nah, it was nothing, just one of our instructors stepping away for a moment, Brugger, you probably know him."

Ari nods slowly, "Okay…" He pauses for a brief moment, "I heard from the nurse you wanted to see me?"

Taiho chuckles, he stands up, "Yes, indeed… I was very, impressed with your performance in my prison test, how did you like the realm I created?" He asks as he circles around him,

Ari stands in place, "It was cool," He says casually,

Taiho returns to his chair with an unreadable expression, he opens a drawer in his desk and throws him a card,

"You pass."

Ari frowns at the card, then looks back up at him,

"I pass? I'm confused… I lost, didn't I?"

Taiho chuckles as he starts resting his feet on the desk,

"Oh yeah, you lost. Horribly, but…" He emphasizes,

"You managed to collect 4/5 of your targets." He continues,

"That's a passing grade, I wasn't gonna pick one student out of uh… a thousand or however many there were." He says while waving his hands,

Ari puts the card in his back pocket, "Who else passed?" He asks, intrigued,

Taiho rubs his scruffy beard,

"Ehh… let's see… You, Monita, Tlen… I think that's it…"

"Only us three? What about Ayce and Claire?"

Taiho shows Ari a screen, results of the Prison Realm,

"Like you can see, both Monita and Tlen managed to get 5/5 targets, while Ayce and Claire here-" He scrolls to find them,

"-Had 4/5 like you, it came down to performance in the end. You had the hardest targets out of everyone, and you managed to get everyone's tag but Tlen's."

Ari blinks twice before averting his gaze back to Taiho,

"Say, what class does Tlen attend?" He asks, curiously,

…

Elsewhere, Saint and Prince have been training hard for the last seven days,

"Alright, Saint, you ready?" Prince asks, they stand in the middle of the woods, ready to spar.

Saint nods in return, he vanishes right before Prince's eyes,

"Hmph," Prince chuckles,

'I'll get you this time!' Saint thinks with confidence and seriousness as he creates distance,

Prince does a hand sign,

"Khan Style: Monarch Knock."

A shockwave snapped through the forest. The soil cracked like shattered glass beneath his punch, and with a thunderous boom, the earth caved inward. Dirt burst upward in thick columns. Trees were torn from their roots, hurled back like leaves caught in a gust.

In seconds, the once-dense woodland was ripped apart.

A wide, jagged hole carved into the earth, the size of a small pond. Chunks of rock and shattered trunks littered the rim. The impact had cleared a clean, circular space, a deep scar where nature once stood.

Wind whistled through the sudden open space, eerily quiet in the aftermath.

"Nowhere to hide now…" He says, chuckling,

Then, with a sharp whistle of air,

A tree flew at him from above, it tumbled through the air like a javelin, its roots still trailing chunks of dirt. From above, it came crashing down,

Prince raises his fist and strikes it down,

The impact was instant. Wood cracked, splintered, then exploded outward in a rain of bark and pulp, fragments scattering like shrapnel. But before the debris could settle…

Another tree came from behind.

Prince turns without hesitation.

He throws a second punch, clean and brutal, shattered it midair.

Then a third tree came, arcing from the side, twisting violently like a thrown spear.

He stepped forward and drove his elbow through the trunk, the force turning solid timber into flying splinters. The air was now filled with debris, shards of wood, dust, and stone.

Prince glances around, he doesn't see Saint anywhere, he turns around and tries to spot him, the dust and debris making it hard to see,

'Saint?! Where is he!?' Prince thinks shocked,

'Behind me?!'

Then from behind, from the dust, Saint emerges with a serious stare,

Prince turns around, but it's too late, Saint already lunged midair,

Saint catches Prince clean with a punch right to the cheekbone, sending Prince sliding back,

"Yes! I got you!" He thinks with a smile,

Saint falls clumsily after the punch,

Prince stays in his spot after the impact, he feels a burning sensation on his cheek, it's bruised.

"You got me…" He says humbly in shock,

…