Chapter 104: Greed
The air was thick with tension, the murmurs of thousands of spectators blending into a dull roar. The sun hung high over the Bloodrose Arena, casting long shadows over the ancient stone. A hundred gates, glowing with an ethereal light, stretched in an endless line, each one pulsing with an unseen force.
At first, no one moved. The hundred glowing gates stood before them, an open challenge, yet every student knew the moment they stepped forward, their truth would be exposed.
Then, someone moved.
A girl with short brown hair took a deep breath and stepped through the first gate. Nothing happened. She walked through the second. Third. Fourth.
Then, by the ninth gate, she stumbled. A sharp pressure weighed on her shoulders. She grit her teeth, forcing herself forward, but as she crossed the tenth gate, she collapsed to the ground, gasping.
"No! No! No! I can do more, please one more chance!"
A murmur spread through the crowd.
Another student followed. He barely reached the seventh gate.
More and more stepped forward, some pushing past ten, some barely managing five. A few students reached twenty, but none went beyond thirty in the first few minutes.
Ned stood before them, inhaling deeply. He clenched his fists, feeling the familiar power surge through his body, his red Neba, his Zetten blood. He had been born different, gifted with something few others possessed. But was it truly a gift?
No, to him, it had always been a curse. A mark that set him apart, that made others look at him with fear, with hatred. But that was why he fought. He never wanted to rely on being special, he wanted to earn his power. He wanted to prove himself.