Once Kaelyra raised her hand, the platform beneath their feet began to glow, and texts upon texts of ancient script: runes began to form underneath each group.
"May fortune favor the skilled… Oh, and one more thing." Her voice rang out, echoing over the platform, "If you die in there, you die for real". Soon after she said those words, the world fractured.
There was no flash. No swirling portal. Just a sudden, sickening lurch—like the air had been ripped out of Piera's lungs. One blink, and he was standing on a bed of thick, dark grass in a place that didn't feel real.
Piera staggered forward as the lurch in his stomach faded. The world had changed, per se. The clean, open space of the testing platform was gone, replaced by a dense, foreboding forest. The trees were impossibly tall, and their twisted branches reached toward the dim sky, almost like they were trying to blot out the sun. A soft mist clung to the forest floor, coiling around their legs like snakes in wait.
"Everyone okay?" Auren asked, quickly scanning the group.
"I believe I am intact," Lex said, brushing some grass from his robe. "Though this land dost bear a most peculiar stench... perhaps the scent of death?"
Uriah raised a brow. "What's up with his speech?"
"Long story," Piera muttered, adjusting to the sudden shift.
They had barely begun to regroup when a faint ding echoed in the air, followed by a holographic projection appearing briefly before each of them.
[GROUP 16 - SCORE: 800 POINTS]
Time until location reveal: 9:52
"So... the countdown's already ticking," Syris muttered, hands already testing her arrows and testing the string of her bow. "We need a plan," Lex said firmly. "We shall stick together, stay on the move, whilst scouting for other teams we can hit before they shall find us. I shall take advantage of the chaos to snoop in and take a look at some of the other teams."
"Agreed," Elena nodded. "If we let others come to us, we're already at a disadvantage."
Piera kept glancing between the trees. There was movement. Distant—barely there. But he knew better than to assume they were alone.
"We can't afford to get ambushed," Elena said, her voice low, calm but firm. "Let's move. Staying in one place makes us a target."
Auren nodded. "Keep a tight formation. Piera and I will lead. Syris, take the rear." "I don't take orders," Karren muttered, "but yeah, I'll watch your backs."
As they advanced, the forest seemed to close in around them. The mist thickened, muffling sound. Even their footsteps seemed quieter than they should've been. Something about this place bent the rules.
"I hate this," Uriah mumbled. "I'm trying not to freak out, but this place feels… wrong."
"It is likely an enchantment," Lex said as he knelt, brushing a hand against the mossy ground. "These woods hath been laced with illusions. I believe it aims to deceive thine eyes and ears alike."
Before anyone could respond, a chilling scream tore through the silence. Everyone froze.
"That wasn't far," Syris whispered, drawing an arrow.
They weren't the only ones hunting.
—----------
*The same forest, not too far away*
"Looks like they were too weak," Thera said, tossing the body of a student to the side. Around her, eight more corpses lay scattered, blood soaking into the dirt. Her hands dripped red, but her face was calm, almost bored. She turned her head toward the faint shimmer of another group approaching through the trees. "Tch. More pests."
She raised her hand and pulled back the sleeve of her shirt. There, hidden beneath the fabric, something pulsed faintly on her forearm. A mark.
Not a tattoo. Not ink. It was deeper—almost carved into the skin itself, outlined in jagged, pulsating black like a wound that refused to heal. For a moment, it flickered.
—----------
Syris moved like a ghost through the mist, the string of her bow notched and eyes scanning the tree line. "We stick to the left ridge. High ground gives us better vision," she whispered.
"No complaints here," Karren said, rolling his shoulders and cracking his knuckles. "Just point me at someone when the time comes."
As they moved, the group naturally fell into formation—Piera and Auren up front, Syris and Elena to the sides, Uriah covering the rear, and Lex quietly gliding beside them like a ghost wearing.
They hadn't gone far before a crunch broke the silence.
Everyone froze.
The crunch came again—sharper this time. Not a branch snapping under weight. It was deliberate, it was as if someone wanted them to hear it.
"Wait a bit," Auren whispered, raising a hand. The group halted instantly. Syris slipped behind a tree, arrow ready. Piera narrowed his eyes at the treeline. From the mist, eight figures emerged.
Their uniforms were crisp, barely stained by the travel through the forest, and their expressions carried the smug, cold confidence of those used to being obeyed. They wore the insignias of high houses stitched into their collars—House Renvale, House Solmere, House Vagnir. Powerful names.
"Well, well," the one in front said, his voice laced with amusement. "If it isn't the mutts pretending they're wolves."
He was tall, with pale red hair and a long scar running from his chin to his ear. "House Renvale," Piera muttered under his breath. "That's Alric."
"I see you know your betters," Alric replied, his lips curling into a mock smile. "How quaint. Now, let me make this quick for you lot: walk away. Drop your points, and you don't get hurt."
"You've got jokes," Karren muttered, cracking his neck.
"This isn't a joke," another noble said—this one dark-skinned with gold rings on each finger. "This is how it's supposed to be. Nobles belong in Kriel. The rest of you? You're a mistake."
Elena stepped forward, eyes locked on the speaker. "Say that again. I dare you."
"Oh, the street rat barks," the gold-ringed noble said, laughing. "Cute."
"Enough," Auren snapped. "We're not handing anything over."
Alric's smile faded. "You think this academy is for everyone? Just because you passed the written tests or survived the first exams, you're suddenly equals? You're not. This place wasn't built for commoners. It's ours."
Lex's voice cut through, cold and sharp. "Thou art fools, blinded by thine arrogance. Nobility without honor is but vanity wrapped in silk."
Uriah snorted. "Okay, that one was kinda cool."
Alric raised his hand, and the four nobles behind him fanned out, weapons drawn. "Last chance," he said.
No one moved.
Then Elena threw the first punch, or rather, shot the first arrow.
She released the string, the arrow grazing the noble in the ear. He stumbled back, surprised—and then it erupted.
Auren tackled one of the attackers to the ground, wrestling for control. Piera ducked under a swinging blade and swept the attacker's legs out from under them, pinning them to the dirt.
Syris's arrow flew—clean, fast, and sharp. It buried into the shoulder of a charging noble before he could reach Lex. Lex, to his credit, spun and delivered a knee to the man's stomach, murmuring something about "divine judgment" as the guy crumpled.
Karren was grinning. "Finally!" he shouted, slamming his fists together and diving into the fray with reckless abandon.
For a few long seconds, chaos ruled.
Uriah got grazed by a knife—nothing serious—but in return, shot a bullet at point blank, straight to the shoulder.
Auren pinned his opponent and growled, "You think bloodlines make you better? Earn it, like the rest of us."
Elena was relentless. Every movement was sharp and controlled. Her opponent couldn't keep up. She moved like someone who had been fighting for survival long before this exam started. "Kill them not," Lex shouted, slamming his fist into a noble's stomach and kicking at another's face. "There's a possibility that the instructors want us to test our restraint. They might even give higher points for knocking out without murder."
Eventually, it was over.
Seven of the nobles lay groaning or unconscious on the forest floor. Alric was the last to fall—Piera slammed a heavy branch across the side of his head after a short scuffle, and he dropped like a sack of bricks.
Everyone stood still, catching their breath. The mist felt thicker now, and the silence after the fight felt almost louder than the clash itself.
[GROUP 16 - SCORE: 2400 POINTS] Time until location reveal: 7:42
Lex tilted his head, looking down at Alric. "Shall we take their boots as trophies?"
"No," Piera sighed. "Let's just go before more show up."
The group began to move again, their footsteps crunching over leaves and blood-soaked dirt. The mist hadn't thinned; in fact, it was thicker now, the environment adapting like some living thing reacting to their presence. Piera glanced up, noticing tiny flashes of light occasionally pulsing in the air.
"Drones," he muttered, pointing to one that zipped overhead, its sleek black frame barely visible through the haze. "People, most likely instructors, are watching."
"More like analyzing," Lex replied, his voice low. "These things don't just observe what thou doest, they measure every movement and decision that ye make."