FISTBOUND. I Ascend With Every New Upgrade.

The silence after the fight was heavier than the violence itself. Levi sat on the cold concrete floor, blood drying against his skin, his breathing ragged. The taste of iron lingered in his mouth, and his limbs twitched with exhaustion. Yet deep within, something stirred. The Core was quiet now, but not dormant. It pulsed like a second heartbeat.

[Core Sync: 42%] [Physical Stabilization in Progress…]

Every breath was agony, but he embraced it. The pain meant he was still alive. Still fighting.

The door creaked.

Not the hiss of mechanical guards or the slow groan of danger. A new sound. Lighter. Measured.

Levi forced his head up.

A girl stood there.

She couldn't have been older than seventeen. Pale skin. Shaved sides, black hair tied into a short, efficient braid. She wore a tactical cloak over what looked like standard issue Rebirth Academy fatigues. But her presence didn't match her size. Her eyes—gray, calm, ancient.

"You survived," she said simply.

Levi coughed, a sharp sound. "You came to kill me too?"

"If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't have heard me coming."

She stepped closer. A small patch was sewn into her collar: Echelon 4.

"I'm here to extract. You're being transferred."

Levi blinked. "Transferred... where?"

She looked around the ruined cell. Blood. Shattered implants. The scent of melted flesh still hung in the air.

"Somewhere you won't be killed for sport. At least not officially."

[System Notice: Core Sync Stabilizing - Network Detection Enabled] [New Zone Detected: Rebirth System School - Tier Echelon Network]

A buzzing filled Levi's skull. New data. New systems. New names.

[Welcome to Echelon Network - Candidate Classification: UNBOUND POTENTIAL]

He looked up at her again. "Why now? Why me?"

"Because you survived Viktor. And because the Reign family filed a withdrawal. You won. Even if you weren't supposed to."

She extended her hand.

"Come on. We have a lot to do, and you're behind. The others started training months ago."

Levi stared at her. Then slowly took her hand.

The girl pulled him up like he weighed nothing.

[System Uplink Established - Syncing with Rebirth Core Campus Interface] [Loading Profiles... Loading Courses... Loading Combat Echelon Hierarchies...]

They walked through the underbelly of Viktor's arena. It wasn't just an arena, Levi now realized. It had tunnels. Layers. A labyrinth built to weed out the weak.

"You have a name?" Levi asked.

"Jin," she said. "Jin Dae."

"You a student?"

"Something like that."

She opened a steel hatch that led to an old transport lift. The walls hummed. There were old etchings, symbols Levi didn't recognize. But the Core recognized them.

[Ancient Combat Glyphs - Archive Memory Locked. Access Condition: First Tier Trial Completion]

Jin eyed him sideways. "You feel that too, huh?"

"The Core talks to me."

"It talks to all of us. Just not everyone listens."

The lift shook and began its ascent.

"You'll meet others soon. Everyone at Rebirth has a story. Pain. Rage. Something broken. That's why the system picks us."

Levi nodded slowly. "Then why you?"

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"I killed my instructor."

Levi stared.

She shrugged. "He deserved it."

The doors opened.

Light.

For the first time in what felt like months, Levi saw the sky. Not the choked haze of Bus Town, but real sky. Open. Vast. Clouded in shades of dawn.

A transport pod hovered nearby, sleek and marked with the Rebirth insignia. Guards flanked it, but they didn't raise their weapons.

Jin nodded toward it. "This is your second life, Lupin. Don't waste it."

He walked forward. Every step felt heavier. Not from pain.

From purpose.

As the pod rose into the air, Levi looked down at the arena compound. It shrank into shadow, swallowed by distance.

He closed his eyes.

"Lilith... I'm not done yet."

[Core Leveling Path Unlocked: Juggernaut Tree - Subbranch: STONEHIDE] [New System Trait: Battle Persistence - Continued Combat While Fatigued Grants Stat Growth Post-Fight]

The journey had just begun.

But even in the quiet hum of the pod, Levi couldn't shake the tension coiling in his gut. The Rebirth School was not a sanctuary—it was a crucible. A place where system users were forged or shattered. He didn't know what waited beyond those gates, only that it would test him in ways no pit ever had.

As clouds gave way to towers of chrome and glass on the horizon, he caught a glimpse of others like him—training grounds, open dueling rings, simulation domes. Power radiated from every structure. From every person.

Jin leaned beside him, watching.

"Welcome to the deeper game, Lupin. Hope you like pain."

Levi narrowed his eyes.

"I don't like it. I use it."

She smiled slightly. "You'll fit in."

The pod dipped slightly as it approached the docking station, and alarms echoed faintly in the distance—some kind of alert.

"Get ready," Jin muttered.

"For what?" Levi asked.

She glanced at him with a wry expression. "Orientation day. Rebirth-style."

As the pod landed, Levi could see a massive coliseum-shaped building in the center of campus. Its roof was open to the sky. He could already hear the sounds of combat from within.

The path ahead was written in bruises, in fractured bones and sharpened will.

And Levi would walk every step of it.