The Imperial System: Architect of an Empire

The battlefield stretched for nearly five kilometers.

Wooden forts.

Rolling hills.

Dense forests.

Narrow rivers.

Old ruins.

Everything had been designed to resemble an actual warzone.

From the observation tower, nearly every movement could be seen.

Every mistake.

Every brilliant decision.

Every leader.

Darius folded his arms.

"This trial..."

"...will eliminate more candidates than the march."

Walter looked surprised.

"More than the endurance trial?"

The old general nodded.

"Anyone can survive hardship."

He looked toward the battlefield below.

"Very few people know how to make others survive it."

Kael watched silently.

The system hovered before him.

"Battle Evaluation Mode"

Current Leaders Being Assessed:

• Leon Ashford

• Damien Ravenmoor

• Victor Ravenshade

• Elias Thorn

• Iris Hollow

Evaluation Ongoing...

Kael dismissed the screen.

He wanted to judge them with his own eyes.

The Lion's Charge

Victor Ravenshade's squad continued charging through the valley.

They had already lost their flag once.

Now...

Victor refused to slow down.

"We're taking theirs back!"

One of his teammates spoke up.

"We don't know where they are."

Victor pointed ahead.

"Then we'll find them!"

The older mercenary in his group sighed.

"That's not a strategy."

Victor ignored him.

Only moments later...

His squad entered another narrow pass.

The forest suddenly became silent.

The mercenary stopped walking.

"...Something's wrong."

Victor frowned.

"What?"

The man pointed upward.

"No birds."

"No insects."

"No sound."

Victor barely had time to react.

A rain of wooden arrows fell from both sides.

THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

Red paint exploded across several recruits.

They were "dead."

Victor spun around.

Another squad had surrounded them without ever revealing themselves.

Within minutes...

His entire team had been eliminated.

High above...

Walter laughed.

"That's twice."

Darius remained expressionless.

"He fights like a hero."

Walter nodded.

"Isn't that good?"

Darius shook his head.

"No."

"He fights like the story revolves around him."

"The battlefield doesn't care who the hero is."

The Builder

On the western side of the battlefield...

Marcus Wintermere examined a shallow river.

His squad looked confused.

"Why did we stop?"

Marcus knelt beside the water.

"The bridge ahead is too obvious."

"So?"

He smiled.

"We'll build our own."

Several recruits blinked.

"...Out of what?"

Marcus pointed toward the surrounding forest.

"There are enough fallen trees here to build a crossing in twenty minutes."

A former carpenter grinned.

"Now you're speaking my language."

Within minutes...

Half the squad gathered timber.

The others kept watch.

No one complained.

Everyone worked.

Watching from above...

Kael smiled.

"He sees obstacles differently."

Edwin nodded.

"Most people ask how to cross."

"He asks how to change the battlefield."

The Hunter

Deep inside the eastern woods...

Iris Hollow crouched on one knee.

She touched the ground.

Fresh footprints.

Broken branches.

A snapped vine.

She closed her eyes.

Listening.

Smelling.

Feeling.

Then she stood.

"They're nearby."

Her teammates looked around.

"We don't see anyone."

"You don't need to."

She pointed toward a cluster of bushes.

"Three scouts."

"One archer."

"They've been waiting for us."

The others stared.

"...How do you know?"

Iris smiled.

"The forest tells you."

Her squad quietly changed direction.

Avoiding an ambush without ever fighting.

Grom watched from a distant hill.

"...Remarkable."

The Farmer

Meanwhile...

Elias Thorn's squad wasn't winning.

In fact...

They were losing badly.

Their flag had already been stolen.

Half their members were exhausted.

One recruit wanted to quit.

Another blamed everyone else.

The group was falling apart.

Elias looked around.

Then quietly sat down.

Everyone stared.

"What are you doing?"

"Eating."

The others frowned.

"We're losing!"

"I know."

"So why are you eating?"

Elias tore a piece of bread in half.

"Because angry people make stupid decisions."

Silence.

He handed half to the loudest complainer.

"Eat."

"...What?"

"You're hungry."

"No, I'm not."

"You're yelling."

"That usually means you're hungry."

Several recruits burst into laughter.

Even the complainer laughed.

The tension disappeared.

Fifteen minutes later...

The squad had a new plan.

Not because Elias was the strongest.

But because everyone had calmed down enough to think.

Darius nodded approvingly.

"Leadership isn't always shouting orders."

Kael agreed.

"Sometimes..."

"...it's knowing what people need."

A Leader Emerges

Near the center of the battlefield...

Leon Ashford's squad approached the abandoned village.

He suddenly raised a fist.

Everyone stopped immediately.

"What is it?"

Leon looked around.

"They're watching us."

No one else saw anything.

The former thief whispered,

"I don't see anyone."

"You won't."

Leon slowly crouched.

Then picked up a small stone.

He threw it toward an empty rooftop.

Nothing happened.

Then—

WHOOSH!

A hidden net dropped exactly where his squad would've walked.

Several applicants hiding nearby stared in shock.

"How did he know?"

Leon smiled.

"My father taught me something before he died."

"When a road looks too easy..."

"...it belongs to someone else."

Instead of attacking...

Leon turned around.

"We leave."

His teammates looked confused.

"We're giving up?"

"No."

"We're making them chase us."

From the observation tower...

Even Darius looked impressed.

Kael noticed.

"You like him."

The old general nodded.

"He reminds me of someone."

"Who?"

Darius smiled faintly.

"The Emperor."

The words hung in the air.

Not because Leon resembled the Emperor in appearance.

But because he possessed something rarer than talent.

Patience.

As the sun began to sink toward the horizon...

The first day of the command trial drew to a close.

Some squads had been eliminated.

Others held multiple flags.

A handful remained evenly matched.

But one thing had become clear.

Kael wasn't discovering soldiers.

He was discovering future captains.

Future ministers.

Future engineers.

Future generals.

The foundations of an empire weren't being built with stone.

They were being built...

With people.

Far beyond the hills, hidden in the forest's shadows, the cloaked agent bearing the black serpent insignia watched the trials through his crimson crystal.

He whispered into the enchanted device.

"Report to Marcus Vayne."

"The Tenth Prince is not gathering followers..."

"...he is identifying leaders."

The crystal pulsed once.

The message disappeared into the night.

Marcus now knew exactly what Kael was trying to build.

And he had no intention of allowing it to succeed.

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