S Ranked Reincarnation: My Infinite Leveling System-Chapter 43: Before The Guild

Grandmaster Li’s voice, when it finally broke the stillness in the room, was not loud, but it filled every corner of the room. It was a low, resonant murmur, like stones grinding together at the bottom of a deep river.

"Ning Que." The name hung in the air, an accusation in itself. "The formal charges have been read. You stand accused of gross insubordination, of willfully disobeying a direct order to stand down. You are accused of leading your team into a battle they were not equipped to win. And you are accused," he paused, his ancient eyes locking onto Ning’s, "of failing in your most sacred duty as a leader: to bring your people home. We have heard the preliminary reports. Now, we will hear from you. Explain yourself."

Valerius shifted, his voice cutting in like a shard of glass.

"With all due respect, Grandmaster, what is there to explain? His orders were clear. He ignored them. A Hunter died. The facts are not in dispute."

"The facts are rarely the whole truth, Valerius," the Grandmaster countered, his gaze not leaving Ning. "I will have his words. Speak, boy. What possessed you to believe your judgment was superior to that of the Guild’s command?"

Ning’s jaw was a knot of tension. His hands, clenched at his sides, were slick with sweat. He forced them to relax, finger by painful finger, and met the Grandmaster’s stare.

"It wasn’t a matter of superior judgment, Grandmaster," Ning’s voice came out rough, scraped raw by grief and anger. "It was a matter of no choice at all. Your orders... they came too late."

A Hunter with a face like scarred leather scoffed.

"Too late? The command was issued the moment the Behemoth’s energy signature was confirmed. Your comms were active. Don’t insult this Council with lies."

"I’m not lying," Ning shot back, his voice rising. "Your intelligence was flawed! You thought it was forming miles from our position. You thought we had time to retreat and regroup. But it was already there. It rose from the blasted earth not two hundred yards from our camp. By the time the order to ’stand down’ crackled over the comms, we were already fighting for our lives. Linx was already engaged."

He took a ragged breath, the image of Linx’s final, defiant stand burning behind his eyes.

"What would you have had me do? Tell my team to drop their weapons and run while one of our own was being torn apart? Would you call that leadership? Waiting for a piece of paper to tell me it was okay to save my friends?"

"Your ’friend’ is dead because of your recklessness!" Valerius snarled, stepping forward from the pillar. "You escalated the situation. Had you followed protocol and initiated a tactical retreat,"

"There was no retreat!" Ning roared, his control finally snapping. He took a step forward, his body thrumming with a furious energy. "There was only the Behemoth and us. And death. Linx knew the odds. We all did. He didn’t die because I was reckless. He died buying us time. He chose to stand his ground. He made a sacrifice." His voice cracked on the last word, the sound echoing in the sudden, sharp silence. He lowered his head, the fire dimming to a smoldering ember. "A sacrifice I couldn’t prevent. We weren’t strong enough. I wasn’t strong enough. That’s my failure. Not my decision to fight."

A low murmur rippled through the assembled Hunters. Some faces remained impassive, but on others, a flicker of something, begrudging respect, perhaps, could be seen. Grandmaster Li raised a single, gnarled hand, and the room fell silent once more. His expression was unreadable, his eyes ancient wells of knowledge.

"There is truth in your anger, Ning Que," the Grandmaster’s voice rumbled, softer now. "And grief. It is a heavy burden for a leader to carry." He leaned forward, his elbows resting on the polished wood of the great table. "But leadership is not defined by the choices made in the heat of battle alone. It is defined by the consequences that follow. And the consequence here was the loss of a fine Hunter."

The Grandmaster’s gaze swept over the Council.

"However, the circumstances have... shifted. The reports from the aftermath, the nature of this Behemoth... it bears a signature we have seen before. A corruption." He spat the next word as if it were poison. "Tao."

Ning’s head snapped up. The name was gasoline on the embers of his rage.

"This creature," the Grandmaster continued, his voice hardening into granite, "was not a random beast. It was a weapon. And the man, or the thing, that calls itself Tao is wielding it. He has infiltrated our city, perhaps even this Guild. He is a cancer, and he must be cut out. Your reckless, insubordinate, desperate fight... it has given us our first clear look at our true enemy."

Ning’s heart hammered against his ribs.

"Then let me finish it," he said, his voice a low, dangerous promise. "Give me the chance. I’ll hunt him down. I will make him pay for Linx. For everything."

"Your fire burns brightly, Ning Que," Grandmaster Li said, a hint of something like approval in his tone. "But a wildfire consumes everything in its path, including itself. Before you can be the Guild’s sword, we must be certain you will not shatter." He stood, the motion slow and deliberate, all eyes in the room following him. "You must be tested."

"A test?" Valerius asked, a pleased glint in his eye. "What sort of test, Grandmaster?"

"A trial of spirit. Of control," Li answered, his gaze returning to Ning. "You have faced the abyss, and it has stared back into you. We need to know if you are still whole. If your heart is steady enough to wield the power you possess without being consumed by the hate that now fuels you." He turned his head slightly. "Valerius. Prepare the Submersion Chamber. Standard protocols will not suffice. Use the Omega Variant."

Valerius’s cruel smile widened.

"As you command, Grandmaster. It will be my pleasure." He gave Ning a look of undisguised malice before turning on his heel, his boots echoing sharply on the stone floor as he departed.

Grandmaster Li looked at Ning one last time.

"Do not fail this, boy. Your grief can be your strength, or it can be the chain that drags you to the bottom. The choice is yours."

With a nod, he dismissed him.

Ning walked from the chamber, his mind a whirlwind. He stepped into the cold, open air of a stone courtyard, the weight of the Council’s judgment lifting, only to be replaced by the looming shadow of the test.

"Well, well. If it isn’t Rag Boy, fresh from the lion’s den."

He turned. Lian Zhen stood in the archway of a shadowed cloister, her arms hugged around herself. Her usual confident, teasing smirk was gone, replaced by a deep uncertainty. She wouldn’t meet his eyes.

"Lian," he said, his voice flat.

She took a hesitant step forward.

"I... I heard shouting. Are you... Are they going to expel you?"

"No," he said quietly. "They’re testing me."

She flinched.

"Oh." She finally looked at him, her eyes glistening. "Ning... I’m so sorry. I was wrong. About everything." Her voice dropped to a choked whisper. "It was me. I told Tao where you were going. I... I betrayed you." A tear escaped and traced a path down her cheek. "He said he could help us. He said the Guild’s leaders were corrupt and that he was trying to fix it from the inside. He promised no one would get hurt. I was scared... and I was so stupid."

Ning watched her, the raw anger he’d felt towards her for weeks slowly dissolving. He saw not a traitor, but a frightened girl who had made a terrible mistake. He saw a mirror of his own desperation.

He let out a long, slow breath.

"He lied to you, Lian. He lies to everyone. That’s what he does." He took a step closer, his voice softening. "Fear makes us do stupid things. I know that better than anyone right now." He managed a small, tired smile. "It’s alright. We’re still a team. What’s left of us?"

Lian’s breath hitched in a sob of relief.

"Thank you, Ning," she whispered, wiping her eyes. She looked as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "Be careful. In the test."

Without another word, she turned and melted back into the shadows, leaving him alone once more.

An hour later, Ning stood stripped to the waist in a sterile white chamber deep beneath the Guild. The air hummed with the quiet thrum of advanced technology and smelled of ozone and antiseptic. A technician with a cold, impersonal demeanor strapped sensors to his chest and temples.

"The Submersion Chamber tests a Hunter’s ability to maintain physiological and psychological control under extreme duress," the man recited as if from a manual. "The Omega Variant introduces a neural feedback component. It will simulate psychic pressure while your body is under physical strain. It’s designed to find your breaking point." He handed Ning a small, intricate breathing apparatus. "This will recycle your oxygen. Do not panic. The system will regulate it. Insert the nodules into your nostrils."

Ning did as he was told, the cold metal a strange and unwelcome presence. He was ushered into a large, transparent cylinder. The heavy door hissed shut, sealing him inside. For a moment, there was only silence. Then, with a low gurgle, water began to pour in from vents at his feet.

Cold. It climbed his legs, his waist, his chest. He focused on his breathing, the rhythmic in-and-out a familiar mantra. The water rose over his head, and the world outside the cylinder warped into a wavering, blurry tableau. The only sounds were the thumping of his own heart and the faint hiss of the breather.

He closed his eyes, steadying himself. Control, Grandmaster Li had said. Don’t let the grief be the chain.

The test began.

A low hum vibrated through the water, seeping into his bones. A light flickered in his peripheral vision. Then, it hit him.

It wasn’t a memory, not his own. It was a flash of sensation, the jarring impact of a sword against a shield he’d never held. The smell of scorched earth and an alien sky, purple and bruised. A woman’s face, streaked with dirt, screaming a name that wasn’t his.

His eyes snapped open. The water felt thick, oppressive. His heart rate spiked. The hum intensified.

Another flash. He was running through a forest of crystalline trees, the ground shaking with thunderous footsteps behind him. An immense, primal terror seized him, a fear so profound it felt like it was clawing its way up his throat.

No... this isn’t me. He fought against it, trying to push the foreign images out, to ground himself in the cold reality of the water. But pushing back was like trying to hold back the tide with his bare hands. The more he resisted, the more powerful the flood became.

Images, sounds, emotions, none of them his crashed into his consciousness. A burning city under a black sun. The feeling of immense power crackling in his hands. The bitter taste of betrayal from a brother he’d never had.

The system interface in the corner of his vision began to glitch, the neat lines of text fracturing into corrupted code.

[W@rN!n_g: Sýštem Intëgrîty Cømpromised.] [Detecting... Unkn0wn Mëmory Frag_ments...] [CÅSCÅDE ØV€RL0AD ÌMMIN€NT!]

He convulsed, his muscles locking up. He tried to scream, but only a burst of frantic bubbles erupted from the breather. The water was no longer a test chamber; it was a tomb, and it was drowning him in the life of a dead man.

Outside the cylinder, a technician’s voice rose in panic. "What’s happening? His neural output is off the charts! It’s not a simulation, it’s... something else!"

Another technician frantically jabbed at a console. "Vitals are crashing! He’s having a seizure! Shut it down! Shut down the feedback loop!"

"I can’t!" the first one yelled, his face pale with horror. "We’ve got a problem!!"