Dawn in the Drassos Cradle did not begin with light—it began with drums.
Low, thunderous, relentless—beating like the heart of a coming war. Every trainee awoke before the sun crested the horizon, jolted upright in their bedrolls and cots. Today was the Sorting Trial—a simulated battlefield where units were formed, tested, and broken in the mud.
Victory meant advancement. Failure meant another cycle in the Cradle… or worse, reassignment to labor pits far to the east.
Throy dressed in silence. Around him, the Iron Vow was already moving. Elarin checked the laces on her boiled-leather bracers. Ralkon methodically wrapped cloth over his knuckles. Tharn cracked his neck and smiled like a man heading to a tavern brawl. Kel, quieter than usual, packed what little he'd hidden in his satchel—needle, thread, clean cloth.
They walked to the courtyard together. Not as five bodies, but as one.
The arena had been transformed overnight. Instead of the normal sand pits and sparring rings, it now resembled a ruined village. Broken carts, stacked crates, sandbag walls, mock barricades—all strategically placed. The outer circle was roped off for the drillmasters and Stormfang observers, who watched with cold calculation.
Thirty boys and girls stood in formation. Six groups of five. The Stormfang captain—gray hair, a bronze pauldron on one shoulder—stepped forward.
"Today," he said, "you are not pit-born. You are not failures. You are not rabble."
He paused.
"Today, you are iron in fire."
The roar that followed was expected. But what wasn't expected… was what came next.
System Notification
Trial Zone Identified: The Scorched Village
Objectives Loaded…
• Secure the Beacon Point – 50 Points
• Eliminate Rival Units – 10 Points per elimination
• Maintain Morale Over 80% – Bonus Reward
Special Condition Detected: Rival Nemesis Unit Present
Ashbinders – Led by Vekar
Dynamic Event Chance Increased
[Begin Trial]
Throy's vision flickered for a split second. His HUD lit up. He turned to his squad.
"We play it smart," he said. "Let the Ashbinders overreach. We stay alive, hold the beacon, and draw the others into crossfire."
Tharn grinned. "So… no bloodbath?"
Throy's smirk was thin. "Oh, there'll be blood. Just not ours."
The horn blared. The arena gate slammed open.
The trial had begun.
The Iron Vow moved like smoke.
While two other squads charged forward blindly, Throy led his unit through a collapsed alleyway to the south edge of the map. From there, they looped toward the beacon tower—a scaffold-like structure marked with crimson flags.
Already, fighting had broken out. Blunted steel on leather. Screams. Orders.
"Let them wear each other out," Throy whispered.
Elarin peered from the shadows. "Stormclouds coming from the west."
"That's not weather," Kel muttered. "That's Vekar."
Sure enough, the Ashbinders swept into view—disciplined, armored in polished chestplates, wielding reinforced short spears. Vekar led them directly toward the central tower, sneering at the chaos around him.
"He wants a spectacle," Tharn said. "Let's give him one."
They waited until Vekar's unit began climbing the scaffolding—two already posted on the high platforms, claiming the beacon.
Throy raised two fingers. "Now."
Ralkon and Elarin flanked left, pelting the structure with blunt throwing darts meant to disorient. Kel shouted false directions, mimicking another squad's call sign to sow confusion.
Tharn—gods help him—charged straight in with a war yell that echoed across the arena.
"FOR THE VOW!"
System Event Triggered: Tactical Assault
Advantage Gained: Surprise Attack
Morale Surge: +15%
Enemies Disoriented for 10 seconds.
Chaos exploded.
Vekar cursed as Tharn slammed into his flank, sweeping his legs out from under him and tackling him into the dirt. Elarin climbed the beacon frame like a spider, kicking one of the Ashbinders off the platform entirely.
Kel dragged an injured boy from a rival team out of the melee—earning a system prompt of his own.
Action: Aid to Combatant – +2 Squad Morale
Passive Unlocked: "Battle Healer I" – Minor HP Recovery Over Time (Allies in 5m Radius)
Ralkon, wordless and brutal, dropped two Ashbinders with blunt strikes to the head.
Then Throy moved in.
He caught Vekar recovering from Tharn's tackle and planted a boot in his chest. Vekar rolled with it, drew his sparring blade, and swung.
Their weapons clashed.
And for the first time… Throy saw rage in the other boy's eyes.
"You think this pit can make you a warlord?" Vekar hissed.
"I don't need the pit to make me anything," Throy replied, driving his elbow into the boy's jaw. "I make myself."
The fighting was brief—but decisive.
When the horn sounded again, the Iron Vow stood atop the scaffold, breath heaving, bruised but victorious.
The Ashbinders were broken.
Trial Completed: Victory Condition Achieved
Final Score: 82 Points
• Beacon Captured (First Team): +50
• Elimination of Rival Squad: +20
• Morale Sustained (92%): +12
Squad Ranking: #1
[Rewards Pending]
Title Upgrade Available: "Commander of the Unforged" → "Commander of Embers"
Perk Gained: "Iron Bond" – All squad members gain +2 to all base stats when fighting within 10 meters of each other.
As the squads were pulled from the arena and water was passed around, Throy stood alone for a moment, watching the Stormfang observers murmur to one another.
Then one of them—the captain from earlier—nodded to him.
Not approval.
Not praise.
Recognition.
He sees me.
For the first time, Throy felt it—not power. Not pride.
But momentum.
The climb had begun.
And the path ahead would only get steeper.