Gates

Sezel's thoughts spiraled into chaos, 'If we can't come out without destroying the heart of a gate , then doesn't it mean we would be trapped inside?' The thought gnawed at him, his crimson eyes narrowing as the teacher's voice cut through.

"The Gate isn't that cruel, it gives you time. From what we have observed there is about five hours gap between the destruction of the heart and closing of the gate." the teacher confirmed, his tone grim.

'Why can't this baldy tell everything in one go?' Sezel scowled inwardly, frustration simmering.

"So," the instructor said with artificial cheer, "you enter the gate, harvest Spirit essence, destroy the heart, and return. Simple." 

Simple, he said.

In theory, it was simple, but the reality was far from being simple. The Spirit Realm wasn't a quiz to pass—all the above-mentioned tasks were to be done inside the enemy territory, the lair of countless Spirit beasts ready to kill and devour the moment they saw humans.

And worse, the beasts weren't confined within the realm. Gates are two-way arteries. The moment a gate opened, Spirit beasts could bleed into Earth too. So the protection of a gate also becomes crucial.

Sezel thought of all this and wondered how many slayers were needed to work at a time to accomplish all the tasks.

'The world indeed needs Slayers, I see.' But Sezel had already made up his mind, 'I will become a teacher just like the baldy.'

A sudden voice snapped Sezel back to the present. Loud, shamelessly cheerful, like an alarm clock that punched you awake.

"Yo! How are you all today?"

Raelion stood in the doorway, grinning beneath black sunglasses that looked surgically attached to his skull. He didn't step inside. He didn't need to.

'Can't this bastard come silently.'

Raelion pointed backward. "Get up, everyone. It's time for your first practical class."

Excitement rippled through the class, eyes alight with anticipation. Sezel didn't share their joy, but he followed the herd all the same. The Captain led them to a stark room, its center dominated by a scuffed fighting ring, its edges worn by countless battles.

Sezel gulped hard, 'What are we going to do here?'

The captain clapped his hands. "Sit in a circle around the ring."

Once the group was positioned, Raelion hopped into the arena like an announcer for a bloody circus.

"Today," he said, voice booming, "we will have a little fighting session."

A murmur rippled through the crowd.

'Wait... what?'

Before Sezel could, another asked the question hesitantly, "With whom?"

Raelion laughed. "Who else is here? You will fight in pairs. You just have to make the opponent's back touch the ground and you win."

Another voice called out, "Aren't we supposed to fight Spirit beasts? What's the point of beating up fellow slayers?"

Raelion's expression darkened. His next words came in a whisper sharpened by frost. "The biggest threat inside a gate… are humans."

The room froze.

Sezel's breath caught, 'Humans? How?' Sezel blinked, taken aback. What did that mean? He wasn't alone—every other recruit stared with furrowed brows and visible confusion.

Raelion too stared back at them with a confused expression. "Didn't Hanes explain? A gate opens in three separate places simultaneously."

Gasps erupted. Everyone present in the room looked at him, eyes wide with shock.

"Except an S-Rank one. S-Rank gates open only at one place, well that's what we can say, we don't have much data on them." He added, but that did nothing to help the situation. 

Three simultaneous openings meant Slayers from different nations could converge, fighting for the same resources. An all-out war for Spirit Essence.

"Listen, the gate expeditions are actually small-scale battles between nations to gain an upper hand with an abundance of resources. And Spirit Essence... that's the gold everyone wants." He paused as if trying to collect his words. "Spirit realm is a bloody mess."

Sezel's heart skipped a beat. So at last, everything eventually circled around the gates and the Spirit realm. The cataclysm was sure both a tragedy and a boon to humankind, a curse humanity couldn't escape.

'This... This is messed up.' His heart thudded against his ribs, each beat sharp and erratic. His chest rose and fell like he'd been running.

Raelion pressed on. "Spirit beasts can only be killed by Spirit energy. Rank 1 slayers can't channel it externally—they have to fight with their bodies."

'Hmm, Rank 1 can only use Spirit energy in their body so that makes sense, but fighting those monsters with bare hands is like telling a bull to run you over.' Sezel grimaced at the mental image.

"Rank 2 and above project Spirit Energy through weapons," Raelion continued. "Rank 3 and higher wield the abilities provided by Fables, their bodies akin to Spirit Energy itself, killing beasts however they choose."

Sezel's mind flickered to his Golden Fable. 'So, that means I can kill the Spirit beasts however I want.' But a doubt lingered—the Rank 0 stats.

Sezel was never this confused in his life. He was surrounded with questions, and most of them were about himself.

The practical class pressed on. Raelion paired students for duels, revealing their Spirituality Ranks. Among the 200 new Slayers, only ten were Rank 4, and one—Krono Silvia—was Rank 5, the sole Rank 5 in a decade of batches.

The current active number of Rank 5 slayers fell between 25 to 30 globally; others were either dead or retired because of old age.

As expected, Krono was undefeated. All the duels he fought ended in seconds. Sezel had been observing him from the start, but he was unable to even see any moves the guy made.

His breath hitched as he saw him defeat about a hundred others just as soon as the matches started. He just disappeared and then the other slayer was gently placed on the ground, blinking as if waking from a dream, defeated before he could even realize.

'Too fast, what is he even doing?' His mind spiraled into chaos, brought back to reality by the captain as he announced his name.

Everything inside him went still.

He moved toward the ring like gravity had doubled. Every step felt stretched, heavy, unreal.

Now it was his turn to fight Krono. He slowly walked into the ring and gulped hard. Their eyes met, and he felt a weird sensation, his instincts screaming as the guy disappeared into thin air.