The room was colder than the rest of the building—sterile, humming faintly with a mechanical pulse that made the hairs on Liu Xian's arms rise. He shuffled inside, hesitating at the threshold. The hallway behind him faded into silence as the heavy door slid shut with a hiss, sealing him in.
Two more armed men stood like statues on either side of the strange contraption in the center of the room. Their uniforms were dark, trimmed in silver, and they wore sleek helmets with visors that obscured their faces completely. They didn't move, didn't even seem to breathe, their hands resting on strange curved weapons holstered at their sides. Not guns. Not swords. Something in between.
Koro, still in dog form and moving a bit sluggish from his injury, limped in behind him and gave a small bark. "Go on. Step into the circle."
"The circle?" Liu Xian asked, eyes drifting across the room until he noticed a platform embedded in the floor. It was ringed with glowing lines, faint symbols etched into the steel like something out of an ancient spellbook mixed with alien tech. "What's it going to do?"
"Read your mana. All of it. Not just your surface levels, like the junk tech outside. This is the good stuff," Koro said, his voice a little more serious now. "Try not to blow it up," he added sarcastically.
Liu Xian gave him a look. "You're joking… right?"
Koro didn't answer.
"Of course you're not joking," he muttered, nerves bunching in his stomach like tangled wires. Still, he walked over, his footsteps echoing softly. His shoes felt too loud in the pristine quiet. He stepped onto the platform, the glowing lines flickering faintly beneath him.
The moment both feet hit the center, the floor pulsed. A low hum began to build beneath his soles, climbing through his legs like static electricity. His heart kicked up a beat.
"Hold still," a voice crackled over a hidden intercom. "Beginning mana read in three… two…"
Then the world felt like it shifted.
The light around the circle flared bright blue—so bright he winced. Lines of energy rose from the floor like strands of lightning, wrapping loosely around him, scanning him, tasting the air around his skin. It didn't hurt. But it wasn't exactly comfortable either. His hair stood up, his fingertips buzzed, and deep in his gut, something he'd always buried low—something raw and burning—began to stir.
His breath hitched.
The lights around him grew stronger, flickering faster, the lines of energy thickening.
In the observation chamber above, scientists murmured in quick bursts, papers rustling, machines pinging louder and louder.
"Mana levels are climbing—"
"Is that possible?"
"This has to be a malfunction—"
"No, no, the readings are clean. That's raw, unfiltered mana."
Liu Xian could feel it. Like a volcano underneath his skin. His lightning, the curse he'd hated his entire life, was no longer staying hidden. It was stretching, unraveling from the tight knots he'd forced it into for years. His fingertips sparked. One wild flash burst near his right hand, popping like a firecracker. He yelped.
"Do not move!" the voice shouted again, but he couldn't help it—his body jolted in reflex.
The platform reacted.
The light spiked with a sound like thunder. The air around him warped. Liu Xian screamed—not out of pain, but from the sheer pressure building in his bones, like the weight of something bigger than him was trying to claw its way out.
Koro barked loudly from the corner, limping closer. "Pull him out! Pull him out before he fries the system!"
But before anyone could react, the machine let out a loud beep… and powered down.
The lights vanished. The glow under his feet died. The crackle in the air disappeared as quickly as it had come.
Silence.
The light above flickered like it couldn't decide whether to live or die. Liu Xian stood in the middle of the wide testing chamber, shoulders slumped, sweat glistening down his temples. His breath came in short bursts, his lungs dragging in oxygen like it was broken glass. The mana test—whatever the hell that had been—had wrung him out like a rag.
He stumbled slightly, catching himself on the cold railing that circled the glowing platform he stood on. His fingers trembled, the tips still tingling from the magical feedback, and his knees wobbled with every shaky breath.
Then, he heard it.
A chuckle.
He looked up to see Koro grinning—wide, toothy, almost... proud?
"You did good, kid," Koro said, tail wagging slightly as he turned toward V97. "He's the real deal, alright. Now…" His voice turned cool, sharp, almost business-like. "Finish your part of the deal."
Liu Xian blinked. Wait. What?
What was Koro talking about?
V97 gave a nod and without hesitation, V79 snapped her fingers. One of the armed guards flanking the wall stepped forward.
"Wait—" Liu Xian's voice cracked. "What's going on?"
Koro didn't look at him.
"Koro?" he asked again, a tremble lacing his voice. "What… what are you talking about?"
The dog's ears flicked back just slightly. Not enough to be obvious, but enough for Liu to notice. Koro wouldn't meet his eyes. That tail, once wagging, now dropped low. Guilty.
"I'm sorry, kid," Koro said quietly. "But I wasn't entirely honest about the academy."
"What?!" Liu Xian stepped down from the platform, nearly tripping. "Koro, what the hell are you talking about?!"
"I want to be free." Koro still wouldn't look at him. "Free from this hell."
Liu Xian stopped. "What... Hell?"
Koro turned slowly, meeting his eyes for the first time. There was regret there. But it was buried deep under resignation.
"You will survive, I know you will."
Liu Xian's mouth opened, but no words came out.
Koro turned back to the clipboard man. "So, where's my—"
The crack of the gunshot shattered the air before Koro could even finish his statement.
Blood exploded from his skull.
It was loud. Deafening. But not as loud as the sound that followed—the thud of Koro's limp, furry body hitting the white tile floor. Half his head was missing, the other half leaking blood, brain, and bone onto the polished ground like someone had smashed a watermelon open.
His lifeless eyes stared at Liu Xian.
Wide.
Glossy.
Frozen in shock.
He was... Dead.