The giant claw of Chimera Shadow wrapped in dark energy stopped exactly a few millimeters in front of Yan Shuo's forehead. Not because Yan Shuo had succeeded in awakening his power, but because it was being held back by someone with one hand.
"Enough for today," a heavy voice was heard in all of their ears. It was Haoran's voice. "Team 4, you are declared a total failure. Medical evacuation will arrive in thirty seconds. I will handle this monster. You all remain here until assistance arrives."
Haoran then, in an instant, directly disappeared together with the Chimera monster.
Yan Shuo collapsed. His knees struck the cracked ground. His breathing came in gasps, his lungs feeling as if they were burning. He turned to the side, seeing Vat still clutching his chest with a face full of buried anger, while Elara only leaned her head against the ruined wall with drooping eyes that looked extremely tired.
They failed. Without meaningful resistance, without coordination, and most painfully for Yan Shuo—without a single awakened Stellar.
Half an hour later, Team 4 had already returned to the initial gathering point on the outskirts of Sector 7. The military anti-gravity truck was parked neatly, surrounded by the other teams who looked far fresher even though some of them had dust stains on their uniforms.
Vat sat on top of a steel logistics crate, his fingers still trembling because of the remaining rebound of his own electrical energy. He did not look at Yan Shuo, but his aura felt like a volcano ready to erupt.
"If only you hadn't stood there like a stupid statue," Vat suddenly hissed, his voice low but sharp. "I could have focused my attack without having to think about whether a burden like you would get trampled."
Yan Shuo, who was wiping a scratch wound on his arm, turned his head. "Thinking about me? You didn't even look back when I warned you about its energy shield! You attacked blindly because your ego was too big, Vat."
"Ego?" Vat stood up, sparks of static crackling through his black hair. "My power is everything here. The problem is that you have nothing! Zero! You are only a spectator in the middle of a battlefield!"
"And you, Elara," Vat turned toward the silver-haired girl who was casually staring at her fingernails. "That sword intent of yours... is it only as long as a toothpick? You're an elite student, but your attacks couldn't even properly scratch its wing membrane."
Elara slowly raised her gaze. Her silver eyes looked flat, neither offended nor caring. "The energy in that place was chaotic. I couldn't synchronize if you kept shouting like a possessed person. You ruined the frequency of the air."
"Oh, so now this is my fault?!" Vat laughed cynically, kicking a pebble beneath his shoe.
"Enough," Yan Shuo cut in, his voice sounding tired. "We failed because we were never a team. We were only three people who happened to stand in the same place."
The conversation stopped when Haoran stepped forward into the middle of the field. He no longer carried his paper cup of coffee. His hands were folded behind his back, and his black glasses gleamed reflecting the yellowing light of the late afternoon.
"Attention everyone!" Haoran called out. "Today's field practice has ended. Overall, your results were... fairly entertaining. But there is one team that truly showed what efficiency and elegance in battle mean."
Haoran shifted a large hologram screen in front of them. There the fastest completion time was displayed.
"First place: Team 7. Completion time: 22 minutes 14 seconds."
From the crowd of students, three figures stepped forward with very different auras. In the middle was Verayn. Her appearance was striking, contrasting with the dull ruins of the sector. She wore a brightly rainbow-patterned top, paired with layered colorful skirts that flowed gracefully every time she moved. Bracelet accessories and a flashy scarf around her neck made Verayn look like a walking festival in the middle of a war zone. But do not be deceived, her hand held a folding fan emitting an extremely dense energy aura.
To her left was Dorn. The man wore a gamer-style neon yellow jacket with futuristic circuit details. The modern gloves he wore kept blinking in rhythm with his heartbeat. His expression was serious, his sharp eyes seeming to calculate algorithms of death for every enemy he encountered.
And on the right was Vegas. He was the personification of Noxward's luxury. Wearing an elegant clean white suit with fine silver embroidery on the collar, Vegas looked like a prince who had just come out of a dinner banquet rather than a student who had just slaughtered monsters. His appearance was clean, neat, and radiated high-level confidence.
"Verayn, Dorn, and Vegas," Haoran praised in a flat tone yet with acknowledgment. "You receive a special privilege: two full days off from school. Use the time to relax, because after this, the curriculum will become more... inhuman."
Verayn smiled sweetly while playing with her scarf, while Vegas only nodded politely. Dorn, on the other hand, was already busy tinkering with the device on his wrist.
Haoran then turned toward the corner where Team 4 was. His gaze turned cold. "And for you... Vat, Elara, and Yan Shuo. Because you are the only team that returned empty-handed with a shameful coordination report, you receive a special gift: Special Training."
Vat clicked his tongue loudly. Elara only let out a long sigh, while Yan Shuo lowered his head deeply.
Classroom: Twilight and Distortion
That afternoon, the university building felt quiet. Most of the students had already returned to the dormitory or gone to celebrate their success. Yan Shuo sat alone inside Class 1H. He chose the seat closest to the large window facing west.
The orange-red light of the late afternoon sun entered the classroom, creating long shadows across the marble floor. Yan Shuo daydreamed, watching dust particles dancing under the light. His mind was empty. He felt like a fraud. How could someone who yesterday only thought about factory targets be here, and tragically, still be the failed party?
Scrape.
The sound of a chair being pulled broke the silence. Yan Shuo startled and turned his head. Haoran was already sitting in the chair in front of him, facing him directly. The man was not wearing his black glasses now.
"Why did Teacher come here?" Yan Shuo asked softly, his voice hoarse. "Want to give me extra punishment now?"
Haoran smiled faintly. A smile rarely seen, containing neither mockery nor authority, but something more human. "Of course not. I only wanted to see whether my student has already given up or is calculating loan interest in his head."
Yan Shuo only remained silent, looking back out the window.
"Yan Shuo," Haoran called gently. "You know, a seed that has just been planted into the soil will not immediately grow into a big tree overnight. It needs pressure from the soil, proper moisture, and time to break its own shell."
Haoran leaned back. "Even a baby elephant that has just been born, although destined to become ruler of the forest, will not be able to search for food on its first day. It will stumble repeatedly, its trunk will feel heavy and awkward, and it needs the protection of its herd."
Yan Shuo looked at Haoran in confusion. "What do you mean, Teacher? I couldn't even bring out my Stellar earlier, when I was almost dead. I really am… empty."
Haoran did not answer immediately. He slowly removed his black glasses and placed them on the table. For the first time, Yan Shuo saw Haoran's eyes clearly. They were not the eyes of an ordinary human. His pupils were perfectly cubic in shape, continuously rotating slowly, with geometric layers glowing dimly.
"Look carefully," Haoran whispered.
Instantly, the atmosphere inside the classroom changed. Yan Shuo felt his ears ringing. The sunlight that had entered in a straight line suddenly curved. The desks around them seemed to lengthen and shorten unnaturally. The air before his eyes shimmered like ripples on pond water. The space around them was completely distorted.
"You remember my power?" Haoran asked.
Yan Shuo nodded stiffly, his hands gripping the edge of the desk. "Spatial Manipulation... Teacher can control space."
"Exactly.. It is impossible for you to forget that so quickly," Haoran replied. "This is the place you will use to train. And this is the punishment for your failure. You will not leave here until you can 'touch' your chessboard yourself."
Yan Shuo wanted to ask, wanted to protest that this was too sudden, but his tongue felt numb. The silence in this distorted space felt very dense, as if time itself had stopped.
"I will observe you from above," Haoran's voice sounded distant, even though his figure was still sitting in front of him. Slowly, Haoran's body faded, becoming particles of light flying upward.
Yan Shuo looked up. The classroom ceiling had disappeared, replaced by a stretch of starless sky colored static gray. There, far above, Haoran appeared to be sitting casually in the air, as if an invisible chair supported him. He opened a book and began reading, completely unconcerned with the panic on Yan Shuo's face.
A Different World
Meanwhile, elsewhere, the other members of Team 4 were living lives different from Yan Shuo. In the dormitory building, Vat Diante was sleeping soundly. His extraordinarily tidy room became a silent witness to his exhaustion. The electricity in his body had completely gone out, leaving behind a young man who looked fragile beneath the blanket. He dreamed of greater lightning, lightning that could destroy anything so that he would no longer need to fear weakness.
In a secluded university garden, Elara sat alone on a wooden bench. She gazed at flowers whose petals froze because of her presence. She was not sleeping, yet her silver eyes stared blankly at the sky. Her sword intent trembled softly at the tips of her fingers, trying to find the resonance lost in that earlier battle.
Back inside the distorted space of Class 1H, Yan Shuo tried to stand. The moment his feet touched the floor, he felt a strange sensation. The floor felt like rubber, yet at the same time as hard as steel. He walked toward the classroom door, trying to open it.
But the door did not exist. In the place where the door should have been, there was only a marble wall continuously rotating in a circular pattern. He tried to shout, but his voice only returned to him as a dull echo.
He remembered Haoran's words before the distortion happened. "This is the place you will use to train."
Yan Shuo muttered softly, his voice trembling. "This... this is no longer a classroom. This is a space created by Teacher. A labyrinth."
He sat back down on the floor, trying to regulate his breathing. He closed his eyes, trying again to call that point of light. This time, there was no threatening roar of Chimera Shadow, no insults from Vat disturbing him. There was only terrifying silence.
Think, Yan Shuo. Use your logic.
He was a laborer. In a factory, if a machine jammed, you did not hit it with anger. You looked for which part was out of sync. You searched for a gap to insert lubricant. You followed its workflow.
"Container..." he muttered. "Teacher said my body is the container. And Moon Chess is what is inside it."
He began imagining this room as a giant chessboard. If Haoran was the player who created this board, then Yan Shuo was the piece. But in Moon Chess, a piece is not merely an object that is moved. A piece is the owner of the square it occupies.