The courtyard was eerily silent as Jason stepped into the ring for his final sparring session of the day. The air hung heavy with the st of sweat and blood, and the faint hum of cicadas served as a haunting backdrop.

  His body ached from hours of releraining, but beh the fatigue, something darker simmered—a bubbling, restless anger he couldn’t quite name.

  Talia stood nearby, her arms crossed as she observed him. “This will test your endurand trol,” she said, her voice calm but firm. She gestured to three assassins, each masked and armed with dulled practice bdes. “They will fight as a team. Show me you hold your own.”

  Jason’s jaw tightened, his fists g at his sides. trol. That w him. There was something inside him that resisted trol, a storm he couldn’t suppress. But he stepped forward, his muscles taut as he prepared for the onsught.

  The assassins didn’t waste time. The first lu him, bde aimed for his chest. Jason sidestepped, his movements sharp and instinctive. His fist shot out, catg the assassin’s ribs with a siing crack.

  The sed attacker came at him from behind. Jason ducked uheir swing and spun, his elbow smashing into their face. Blood sprayed from their nose, and they staggered back, groaning.

  The third assassin was faster, they threrecise kick, slig toward Jason’s neck. He barely mao block it with his forearm, the force rattling through his bones. A growl escaped his lips, low, guttural, animalistic.

  “Focus, Jason!” Talia’s voice cut through the haze.

  But he wasn’t listening. The world blurred around him, his vision tinged with red. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, drowning out everything else.

  The first assassin recovered and charged again, but Jason was already moving. He grabbed their wrist mid-strike, twisting it until the bde fell from their hand. Then, with a feral roar, he drove his fist into their jaw. The sound of cartige snapping was deafening.

  Jason didn’t stop. He yahe assassin forward, smming his ko their gut. They crumpled to the ground, coughing and gasping, but Jason didn’t even g them.

  The sed assassiated, their stance faltering as they saw the fire in Jason’s eyes. He pounced, his movements more beast than man. His fist collided with their temple, sending them sprawling.

  Before they could recover, he was on them, his fists raining down like hammers. Each strike was apanied by the wet, meaty thud of flesh giving way. Blood spttered across Jason’s knuckles, but he didn’t care.

  “Jason, stop!” Talia’s voice was sharp now, tinged with urgency.

  He didn’t hear her. The third assassin made a desperate move, swinging their bde at his back. Jason spun, catg their arm mid-swing. With a savage twist, he disarmed them and shoved them to the ground.

  Something inside him snapped. He grabbed the fallen bde and stood over his final oppo, his chest heaving. The assassin looked up at him, fear evident even behind their mask.

  Jason raised the bde, his hands trembling—not with hesitation, but with the sheer force of his rage.

  “Enough.”

  The single word cut through the chaos like a bde of its own. Jason froze, the bde h inches above the assassin’s throat. He turned, his bloodshot eyes log onto the figure standing at the edge of the courtyard.

  Ra’s al Ghul.

  The Demon’s Head approached with measured steps, his hands csped behind his back. His gaze was sharp, pierg, but there was no judgment in his expression. If anything, he seemed… intrigued.

  Jason’s chest heaved as he dropped the bde. It cttered to the ground, the sound unnaturally loud iense silehe red haze began to lift, leaving him staring at the bloodied, broken bodies around him.

  “I told you to stop,” Talia said, stepping forward. Her tone was stern, but there was a flicker of something else in her eyes—, perhaps.

  Ra’s held up a hand, sileng her. His attention remained fixed on Jason. “Remarkable,” he said softly.

  Jason’s hands were still shaking as he turo face Ra’s fully. “I—I didn’t mean to…”

  “You lost trol,” Ra’s interrupted. “You surreo the animalistiature whiaws within you.”

  Jason blinked, his breathing still uneven. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Ra’s stepped closer, his voice calm but anding. “The Lazarus Pit has left its mark on you. It has awakened something primal, something powerful. Most would be ed by it, reduced to madness. But you…” He gestured to the age around them. “You har. Unrefined, yes, but the potential is undeniable.”

  Jason looked down at his bloodied hands, his mind rag. The ahe rage—it had felt like a monster inside him, g to get out. But in that moment, it had also felt… exhirating.

  “You are wasted in group training,” Ra’s tinued. “From now on, I will train you personally.”

  Talia’s eyes widened slightly, but she said nothing.

  Jaso Ra’s gaze, his jaw tightening. “Why?”

  Ra’s allowed a small smile. “Because you could be great, Jason. If you learn to wield your bloodlust, to temper it with discipline, you could bee a on the likes of which this world has never seen.”

  Jason didn’t respond immediately. He wasn’t sure if Ra’s words were a promise or a threat. But deep down, he couldn’t deny the allure of it—the aster the sting inside him.

  “I’m in,” he said finally, his voice steady despite the chaos in his mind.

  Ra’s nodded, his expression unreadable. “The us begin.”

  *****

  It’s been a couple of days sihen and Ra’s only had him engage in physical training so he could master his body. But today, he was to finally engage in bat training.

  Jason stood in the ter, his fists ched at his sides. His body still ached from days of ditioning—push-ups until his arms gave out, running until his lungs burned.

  Yet, none of that pared to the nervous energy coiling in his stomach as he faced his oppo, a veteran League assassin bck, whose calm expressiorayed nothing.

  “Begin,” Ra’s al Ghul’s voice rang out from the sidelines, sharp and anding.

  The assassin struck first, closing the distan a heartbeat. Jason barely had time tister the movement before a fist smmed into his ribs. The impact drove the air from his lungs, aaggered backward, clutg his side.

  “Too slow,” Ra’s observed, his tone devoid of sympathy.

  Jason grit his teeth and lunged forward, throwing a wild punch. His oppo sidestepped with ease, grabbing Jason’s wrist and twisting it painfully.

  Before Jason could react, a kick swept his legs out from under him, sending him sprawling to the ground. The coarse sand bit into his skin as he rolled, coughing.

  “Get up,” Ra’s ordered.

  Jason pushed himself to his feet, his hands trembling with both exertion and frustration. The assassin waited, motionless, his stance a perfebination of offense and defense. Jason’s mind raced. He had no formal teique, ny, but instinct urged him forward.

  This time, he feinted a right hook and pivoted sharply, aiming a k his oppo’s midse.

  The move caught the assassin off guard, earning Jason a grunt of pain as the knee ected. A flicker of triumph fshed in Jason’s chest, but it was short-lived.

  The assassin recovered almost instantly, grabbing Jason’s leg and yanking him off bance. Jason hit the ground hard, his vision swimming. The assassin loomed over him, pressing a ko his chest.

  “Yield,” the assassin said coldly.

  Jason gred up at him, defiant, his breath ing in ragged gasps. “Screw you,” he spat.

  A faint chuckle escaped Ra’s. “Enough. Let him up.”

  The assassin released Jason, who rolled onto his hands and knees, spitting out sand. His body throbbed with pain, but a fire burned in his chest, a refusal to give up.

  Hours ter, after being given only a brief respite, Jason was summoned again. His muscles screamed in protest as he stepped bato the arena.

  This time, a younger, less experienced oppo faced him. Jason thought he might stand a ce, but Ra’s had made ohing clear, no oppo in the League was weak.

  The sed fight began with a blur of motion. Jason tried to focus, watg for openings. His oppo moved with fluidity, every strike precise and trolled. Jason blocked a series of punches, his arms abs the brunt of the blows.

  Then it happened. His institutive muscle memories began to serve as his guide. All he had to do was assimite the situation and take the initiative.

  When his oppo aimed a kick at his head, Jason ducked and tered with a swift uppercut that snapped his oppo’s head babsp;

  Without thinking, Jason followed up with a low sweep, taking the younger fighter’s legs out from under him. His oppo hit the ground, and Jason pounced, pinning him with an elbow to the chest.

  For a moment, Jaso a surge of pride. He’d do. He’d won.

  But his oppo wasn’t done. With a burst of strength, the younger assassin bucked Jason off and scrambled to his feet. Jasoated, and that split-sed dey cost him. A flurry of strikes overwhelmed him, ending with a powerful kick to the sternum that sent him crashing into the dirt.

  “Still raw,” Ra’s ented, stepping forward. “But there is potential.”

  Jason groaned, clutg his chest as he struggled to sit up. “Potential? I just got my ass hao me. Twice.”

  Ra’s leaned down beside him, his expression unreadable. “A, you dispyed moments of brilliahat uppercut was instinctual. The sweep, effective. These are the fragments of a warrior buried within you, Jason. We will uh them.”

  Jason looked up at him, his jaw tightening. “Then teach me how to fight.”

  A rare smile tugged at the ers of Ra’s lips. “Oh, I io. For now go and take a shower, it will be meal time soon. Also ensure you get plenty of sleep.” He left as Jason remained on the floor a while longer as Ra’s made his exit.