Ning Que sat alone in the room, his wrists bound by thin mana cuffs that sizzled against his skin. They were designed to prevent hunters from using mana to launch unforseen attacks, or prisoners in confinement. Ning Que scoffed, annoyed at the fact that they used it on him.
The walls in the room were black stone reinforced with iron veining, no windows, no light, just a single bulb overhead and the quiet hum of the surveillance rune etched into the far corner. It was colder than the medical room, but more than that, it was empty.
He'd been waiting for what felt like hours. No system voice. No menu. Just the echo of his own breathing. Somehow he preferred laying in the hospital bed. The system flashed in front of him.
{New Mission Approaching. Unlock mystery box?} The robotic voice echoed.
He paused, narrowing his eyes. He glanced at the surveillance rune, worried that it could see the system. But there's no reaction from it, so he assumed it doesn't. Ning Que looks back at the screen, and whispers, "Yes." It had been a while since he opened any of his gift boxes, and he could see he had earned 10 since his time in the trial room.
"I'll open those later." He said.
The mystery box floated out of the system and into the air, a faint blue light surrounding the edges. Then, it opened like a treasure chest, revealing a large red katana. It has symbols etched into the head, and the blade was as sharp as a razor. It glowed with red energy.
{New weapon: The Katana of Light}
"This is cool as hell." Ning Que muttered under his breath. The mana cuffs sizzled against him again, and he winced, cursing. Then, an idea came to his mind. "System. How do I break free from mana cuffs?"
The system processed for a while, and replied.
{Mana cuff resistance, level 6. Not attained yet.}
Ning Que narrowed his eyes. "How do I attain it?"
{Level 6 Quest: Defeat B-rank beast and survive 3 hours}
"What the hell?" Ning Que thought. He barely took down the C-rank beast in the trial room. What sort of set up was this?
Just then, the door opened with a hiss. The system's screen vanished, and Ning Que straightened up. He glanced up and froze. The katana was still in the air. "System, keep the katana in the safe." He whispered, but nothing happened. He cursed, hoping that whoever walked in didn't notice it.
Grandmaster Li entered first, followed by Elder Tao and the masked man. Two armed guards took position by the door, silent as always. A floating screen hovered behind them, already pulsing with Ning Que's vitals, system logs, and trial data. Ning Que resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
Grandmaster Li walked until he was standing across the table from Ning Que.
"You look better than you should," he said.
Ning Que shrugged. "Wasn't that the point of the trial?"
Tao scoffed. "The point was to assess your rank, not unravel half the Guild's foundation in the process."
Ning Que scoffed, lifting an eyebrow. "I have no idea what you mean."
Grandmaster Li raised a hand to silence them both. His expression was unreadable, but his gaze was sharp.
"Tell us everything," the Grandmaster said. "From the moment the trial changed. Start with the woman in white flames."
Ning Que leaned back in his chair, arms still cuffed. "You know more than I do. I didn't summon her. She appeared and spoke in riddles like an old lady should." He intentionally left out the part where she called him Reclaimer. Ning Que wanted to figure that out on his own.
"Did she name herself?" Tao asked.
"No."
"Did she give you an order?"
"No."
"Did she touch you?"
"Yes. Right here." Ning tilted his chin up. "On my forehead. It sparked something in my head, like a memory… but it wasn't mine."
Grandmaster Li nodded slowly, exchanging a glance with the masked man.
Tao folded his arms. "The memory. What was it?"
"A battlefield. I saw someone who looked like me, but he was older and stronger. He fought like he'd done it for a thousand years. His katana burned red. He told someone to seal the gates." And then it clicked. The Katana of Light. Why did the system give him that?
Silence.
Ning continued. "I didn't recognize the language, but I understood it. That's never happened before." That was a lie, but it was worth telling.
The masked man tilted his head slightly. "Do you feel… anything different since waking up?"
Ning considered that for a moment. "I feel heavier. Like something's sitting inside me that doesn't belong. But it's not hurting me, just feels like it's waiting for the right time to."
Suddenly, Ning Que's vision blurred. He flinched, shaking his head, but the vision was already there.
A flash of gold flickered across his eyes, and the room distorted for a second. A sharp ringing stabbed through his skull. Ning gasped, tilting his head backwards with his eyes pointing to the ceiling.
On the screen, his vitals spiked, raging out of control. Tension filled the room immediately.
"Ning?" Li moved forward, caution etched into his features.
A whisper echoed in Ning's ears:
"Commander…you must remember." It was a woman.
And then it vanished. Ning Que shot up halfway, breathing heavily. His heart felt like it was about to burst.
"It's her," he said. "The woman. I just saw her. Or something connected to her."
The masked man stared. "You heard a title. Did you?"
Ning Que snapped his head at the man. "How did you know that?" He questioned, but the masked man stayed silent.
Then the masked man cleared his throat. "Visions like these are only with one purpose, to reveal. Plus you mouthed something that sounded like a title."
"Commander," Ning repeated, even though he was dissatisfied with the masked man's answer. "She didn't say it before. Someone else did."
The guards drew their weapons instinctively, preparing to attack.
Grandmaster Li growled at them. "Stand down."
He turned to Ning Que. "What else did you see?"
Ning Que hesitated, trying to remember. He didn't see the woman's face, but he did see a few things that took shape in his mind.
"A burning field." He recalled, tilting his head. "People kneeling. They weren't human." Some of them were like the shadow beast from the trial room, faceless and with long tendrils as limbs.
"Beasts?" Tao asked, pale.
"No no. Not beasts. They seemed older "
Li exhaled slowly, then nodded at the masked man. It was time to initiate what he had in mind.
"Prepare the transfer logs," he said without warning.
Tao snapped his head at him, his eyes widening. "You're not seriously thinking—"
"We're sending him on a mission." Grandmaster Li said firmly.
"A mission?" Ning Que asked, disbelief spreading on his face. "Of what help would it be?"
"We're sending you to the outer sectors. A tunnel was reported yesterday in a place with no Guild activity within fifty kilometers. We'll send you and a team. Observe you in the wild, and on your own."
"You're using me as bait." Ning Que gritted his teeth.
Grandmaster Li didn't deny it. "If the seal's reacting to you, then we need to know how far it will go. And if something else is watching… they'll follow you."
Tao turned to the masked man. "And you support this?"
The masked man stepped forward, voice calm. "You forget what happened last time we tried to kill a Reclaimer, Li. It wasn't them who died. It was us."
*******
That night, Ning Que sat alone in a cold bedroom lined with gray stone. It didn't have windows, and was only illuminated by the dim yellow light in the corner. The rest of things were just a cot and a desk.
He leaned against the wall, resting his hands on his knees. The mana cuffs were gone, but so was the system.
Or so he thought.
{Would you like to view sealed memories?}
The screen hovered in front of him. "Where's the katana?" He barked. He was pissed that he didn't remember to put it back when Grandmaster Li and the others left.
{Katana of Light in Vault}
He stared at it as it appeared on the screen, relief washing over him. Then he stared at the previous question, his hand hovered over the 'yes' option.
Then slowly, he closed it.
"Not yet," he muttered.
He let out a long breath. Not of fear, but acceptance.
"Whatever I am… I'll find out myself."