Thorgrim Stormcaller

The clearing showed the aftermath of his crash. Broken trees leaned at odd angles where he'd plowed through them, their splintered trunks scattered across the forest floor. Scuff marks in the dirt showed where he'd hit and rolled, with disturbed earth and scattered debris marking his path.

I stood with my war mace in hand, its aura humming with concealed strength. The remaining five members of our exam group, Nyxa, Marcus, Lyara, Kael, and Caelum. Huddled loosely behind me, their auras flickering uncertainly beneath the oppressive weight of his azure blue haze. The energy felt denser than before, more concentrated, like it had been compressed into something sharper.

My gaze locked onto his stance. Legs shoulder-width apart, right shoulder forward, left hand tucked behind his back. Right arm extended toward me, palm up, fingers beckoning in that unmistakable invitation.

It was airtight. Every angle sealed, no openings I could see. The azure aura coiled around him like smoke, stirring unease in my chest.

He's Green Rank, but something's off.

I'd heard his teammates call him Rai during their earlier conversations. Now, watching him stand there with that smile, I realized I'd underestimated him completely.

He's dangerous.

Our coalition was shaky at best. Bound by the promise of points rather than any real trust. But that could benefit me. Let them test his capabilities while I observed and planned.

"Take him down!" I shouted at the exam group, my voice carrying across the clearing. "First one to drop him gets double shares!"

Hesitation gripped the cluster immediately. Nyxa's golden eyes remained on him. Clearly, staying back to assess him. Marcus shifted his weight, gripping his axe as he weighed his odds. Lyara tensed, her hand moving to her sword hilt.

They could all feel it too. That pressure radiating from his position, the sense that rushing in blindly might be the last mistake they made.

After a tense pause that stretched several heartbeats, Marcus's greed overcame his caution. He broke from the group with a roar, his broad axe raised high as his aura flared around him. The weapon gleamed as he charged across the debris-strewn clearing toward him.

As Marcus closed the distance, Rai's beckoning gesture faltered slightly. His expression shifted to what looked like mild annoyance, a small frown creasing his features at the interruption.

Marcus swung his axe wide as he reached striking distance, the momentum carrying what looked like a desperate bid for survival rather than any real hope of victory. But he never stood a chance.

Rai blurred into motion with explosive acceleration that left a faint afterimage hanging in the air. The rapid movement displaced air with a sharp whoosh, his feet scuffing the ground as muscle and aura combined in perfect synchronization.

The palm strike that followed drove into Marcus's chest with devastating accuracy.

What the hell was that technique?

I watched in stunned silence as the blow connected with Marcus's chest. The force compressed like a hammer strike, driving inward with perfect accuracy. Marcus's sternum buckled with a sharp crack that echoed across the clearing, ribs snapping from the kinetic transfer as the impact overwhelmed his body's defense. The shockwave rippled through his torso like a struck drum.

The exam sigils on Marcus's bracelet flashed immediately, activated by the force of the blow. A purple light whisked him away before he could hit the ground.

Rai straightened up, his manic grin stretching even wider across his face as he looked at the remaining members of our group. When he spoke, his voice carried an almost musical quality, as if he was savoring each word.

"You know what the best part about all of this is?" he said, his tone light and conversational after just crushing Marcus. "I don't need to worry about holding back."

His eyes swept across all of us, that hungry gleam dancing in his azure gaze.

"Because none of you need to worry about dying... right?"

The words sent a chill down my spine. Not because of what he said, but because of how he said it. Like the prospect of unleashing everything he had without consequence genuinely delighted him.

What kind of—

Kael tried to defend himself by unleashing a raw aura burst, his energy flaring outward in a desperate wave. Rai didn't dodge.

He walked straight into it.

The burst struck him head-on, washing over his frame in a torrent of unfocused energy. But instead of being knocked back or overwhelmed, he simply absorbed the impact. His feet slid back only a few inches as he maintained his balance.

For a split second, his eyes widened with genuine interest. That grin stretched even wider across his face, like he'd just witnessed something fascinating.

Did he just tank a full aura burst?

His head tilted slightly, studying Kael with the same focus I'd seen a scholar give to an interesting puzzle. Then his own aura began to shift, energy coiling around him as he seemed to process what he'd just experienced.

He burst forward in the next instant, closing the distance to Kael with that same explosive acceleration. His palm connected with Kael's chest, and I watched his aura flare outward in a burst identical to what Kael had just used? The combined force of the strike and the aura burst sent Kael flying backward into a tree trunk with bone-jarring force. The impact triggered Kael's exam sigils, and he vanished in a flash of light.

Isn't that what Kael…

"Everyone, now!" I roared, releasing the suppression on my aura as blue light blazed around my war mace. "All at once!"

This was it. No more testing, no more probing attacks. If we were going to take him down, it had to be with overwhelming force. He's too dangerous.

Lyara, Caelum, Raven and I charged forward as one massive assault, weapons raised and auras flaring. His grin widened as he saw us coming, but instead of retreating, he dropped into a combat stance.

My war mace, enhanced with Green Rank aura, cut through the air with a sharp whistle as it descended toward his skull. The weapon carried enough force to crater stone, its azure glow leaving a trail of light in its wake.

He bent backward at an impossible angle, his spine curving like a bow as the mace whistled overhead, missing his face by inches. Using the momentum, he flipped forward in a graceful arc, his body rotating through the air.

Lyara, anticipating his landing spot, had already drawn and fired an arrow at point-blank range. The projectile streaked toward where he would touch down with deadly accuracy.

But his hand shot out mid-flip, striking the arrow's shaft and deflecting it. The deflection sent the projectile spinning off course directly toward Raven, who was charging from his left flank. She had to abort her attack and bring up her dagger to deflect the redirected arrow as it whistled past her face.

The moment his feet touched the ground, he exploded toward Lyara with inhuman speed. She was already reaching for another arrow when Caelum stepped into his path, spear thrust forward to protect his teammate.

He spun like a dancer, letting the spear point pass harmlessly by his ribs. His knuckles drove into Caelum's wrist, striking the nerve cluster there. Caelum's hand went numb instantly, the spear falling from his hands.

Before the weapon could hit the ground, he snatched it from the air.

In that instant, Raven and I attacked simultaneously. She came in low with her twin daggers while I brought my mace up high.

He leaped straight up between our attacks, spinning in mid-air like a corkscrew. Raven glided beneath him while my mace whistled harmlessly overhead. At the peak of his spin, he used his rotational momentum to hurl the captured spear downward. The weapon punched through Caelum's boot and deep into the earth, pinning him in place. Caelum cried out in shock and pain, struggling to free himself.

He landed in a crouch just as Raven spun toward him, daggers flashing in rapid combinations as she tried to overwhelm him with speed and aggression.

He flowed around her strikes like water, blocking and redirecting each blade. His hands moved in controlled arcs, deflecting her momentum and throwing off her balance. When she overextended on a particularly vicious thrust, he swept her legs with a low kick.

While Raven was airborne and helpless, he caught both her arms and used her own momentum to spin her around. He grunted with effort and hurled her directly into Caelum, still pinned by the spear. They collided with bone-jarring force, both of them going down in a tangle of limbs.

As Raven hit the ground, he smoothly slipped one of her daggers from her grip.

Lyara had found a new angle and loosed another arrow, this one aimed directly at his center mass. Without even looking at the projectile, he hurled the stolen dagger in my direction. I was forced to bring my mace up to deflect the spinning blade. The impact disrupting my advance and throwing off my timing.

While I was dealing with the dagger, he turned and caught Lyara's arrow out of the air with his bare hand, his reflexes operating at incredible speed.

Then he exploded into motion toward Lyara, covering the distance in two bounds. She barely had time to drop her bow and raise her hands before his fist drove into her stomach. Lyara doubled over, gasping for air.

Behind him, Caelum finally managed to rip the spear from his foot with a grunt of pain. Blood seeped from the puncture wound, but he ignored it and charged forward with a roar of fury, spear leveled at his back.

He grabbed the stunned Lyara and pulled her directly into Caelum's path. The spear point punched through her side with a wet sound that made Caelum's eyes go wide with horror.

"No!" Caelum shouted, but before he could pull back, Rai drove his foot into Lyara's back, pushing her deeper onto the spear. The additional damage triggered her sigils immediately, and she disappeared in a burst of light before the wound could prove fatal.

Raven and I rushed him from opposite sides, trying to catch him while he was close to Caelum. But he read our approach, slipping between our attacks like smoke and going straight for the shocked spearman.

He leaped high into the air, his knee driving toward Caelum's face. The impact connected with a sickening crunch, launching Caelum backward. His sigils activated, enveloping him in light, before he could crash into the trees.

He landed and immediately sprinted back toward where Raven and I were recovering from our missed attacks. We both swung at him. Raven with her remaining dagger, me with my mace, but he flowed around our strikes.

With unbelievable timing, he caught Raven's wrist at the exact moment she stretched too far and pulled her directly into my mace's path.

My weapon connected with her ribs. Her exam sigils activated instantly, teleporting her away before my strike could cause permanent damage.

Before I could recover from the follow-through of my strike, he spun toward me. His palm drove into my chest, the impact lifting my three-hundred-pound frame completely off the ground. I flew backward through the air, crashing into a tree trunk with bone-jarring impact. The bark splintered under the force, and I felt something warm trickling down my face as I slumped to the ground.

He just launched me...

I pushed myself away from the splintered tree, blood trickling from my mouth and my ribs screaming in protest. Rai stood in the center of the clearing, not even breathing hard, his clothes torn but his stance relaxed and confident. That manic grin stretched from ear to ear across his face as wild laughter bubbled up from his chest.

"He took out four of us in such a short amount of time..." I muttered, staring at the empty spaces where my alliance members had been standing moments before.

I looked up at Nyxa, still perched casually on her tree branch. She fixed her golden eyes on him with unwavering focus, showing no concern for what had just happened to our allies.

"Nyxa!" I called up to her. "A little help would be appreciated!"

She didn't even glance down at me. "I told you from the beginning, Thorgrim. I'm here for my own interests, not out of loyalty to your promises." Her voice carried that same detached tone she'd used throughout our alliance. "If you want my assistance, perhaps you should handle your own problems first."

Her gaze never left him, studying him with the same calculating interest she'd shown since the moment we'd surrounded them.

Tree-hugging bitch.

Now it was just the two of us, standing in the debris-strewn clearing. My entire alliance, eliminated by this monster through choreographed tactics that had turned us against each other as much as he had beaten us directly.

Enough is enough.

I stepped forward, raising my war mace. The weapon's true weight settled in my hands as I released the aura suppression I'd been maintaining. Blue light flared around the reinforced steel head, revealing the density I'd been hiding.

His grin widened as he turned his full attention to me. The hungry gleam in his eyes suggested he'd been waiting for this moment.

Let's see how you handle this.

I charged forward, my mace cutting through the air with a whistle that spoke of serious kinetic force. This wasn't going to be like the quick skirmishes with the others. This was going to be a real test.

The first swing came down with enough force to crater stone. He sidestepped at the last possible moment, close enough that the displaced air ruffled his hair. My mace struck the ground with a thunderous crack, sending debris flying in all directions.

Instead of counterattacking, he simply moved past me, his eyes tracking my recovery with keen interest. His grin was still there, but something had shifted in his expression. A calculating gleam that made my skin crawl.

What's he doing?

I twisted my torso and swung horizontally, a sweep that would have taken his head clean off. He ducked under the swing with fluid grace, then circled around to my left side. Still no counterattack. He was watching, learning.

I launched a series of attacks, varying my approach to test his defenses. Overhead strikes, diagonal cuts, thrusts aimed at his center mass. Each one he avoided with minimal movement, his footwork was frustratingly clean.

Is… is he… studying me?

His smile widened as we continued the deadly dance. Not the casual confidence from before, but something hungrier. More intense. Like he was seeing patterns I didn't even know I had.

YOU!

I let more of my aura flow into my mace, the weapon's head blazing with azure light. The next swing carried enough force to split a boulder. The air itself seeming to part before the reinforced steel.

He leaned back just far enough for the mace to whistle past his nose. Then immediately stepped forward again, close enough to strike but choosing not to. His eyes were wide now, drinking in every detail of my technique.

The grin had transformed into something that made my blood run cold. Wild and unhinged, like he'd found exactly what he'd been hunting for.

I disengaged, leaping backward to create distance. But he followed at the perfect range, maintaining the same distance without pressing an attack.

I swung my mace in a wide arc, using the momentum to build up devastating force. The weapon's head whistled through the air with enough power to pulverize stone.

He twisted at the last second. The mace passing close enough to his chest that it tore through the fabric of his shirt. But instead of backing away, he moved with the weapon's arc, like he was learning its rhythm.

His aura shifted, taking on qualities that felt disturbingly familiar. Like he was mimicking something he'd observed.

Is he adapting to my attacks in real time?

That thought died as I saw his movements becoming more fluid, more refined. His dodges started anticipating my strikes rather than simply reacting to them. The manic gleam in his eyes had intensified, and his grin stretched so wide it looked painful.

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He read my next feint perfectly, moving before I committed to the movement. His laugh bubbled up from his chest, wild and delighted.

"Yes," he said, his voice carrying the same manic edge that had appeared after the bear fight. "Show me more."

But I could feel it now. That familiar hollow sensation in my core. My aura pool was running dangerously low. All those enhanced strikes, all that power channeled through my weapon, it had taken its toll. The constant pressure of maintaining my aura while hunting and fighting had drained me more than I'd realized.

One more chance. Everything I have left.

I gathered every remaining drop of aura from my core, feeling the energy burn through my channels as I compressed it all into my weapon. The mace blazed with azure light so intense it hurt to look at directly. The air around the weapon shimmered.

"This ends now!" I roared, launching myself forward with every ounce of speed and power I possessed.

The burst of acceleration was everything I had left. My feet cracked the ground as I pushed off, my massive frame hurtling toward him like a cannonball. The mace rose high above my head, crackling with enough concentrated aura to level a building.

His eyes went wide. Wider than I'd seen them all fight. But it wasn't fear. It was pure, unfiltered excitement, like he'd just witnessed the most beautiful thing in the world.

The mace came down with the force of a meteor, trailing azure fire as it descended toward his skull.

He sidestepped at the last possible instant.

The weapon struck the earth with a sound like thunder. The impact sent shockwaves through the ground that knocked loose stones from nearby trees. A crater formed where the mace hit, debris flying in all directions.

Before I could lift the weapon again, his foot came down on the mace head, pinning it to the ground with casual ease.

I looked up to find an azure-eyed demon looming over me, that manic grin now split his face from ear to ear. Those eyes burned with an intensity that made my blood freeze.

"Is this really all you have to offer?" he said, his voice carrying a note of genuine disappointment that cut deeper than any insult. "I expected more..."

The words hit me like a physical blow. All my power, all my technique, everything that had built my reputation, and he was disappointed?

Fuck the mace!

I released my grip on the weapon and launched myself upward. My fist aimed directly at his smug face. If raw power with a weapon wouldn't work, I'd tear him apart with my bare hands.

His grin widened even further as he saw me coming, like this was exactly what he'd been hoping for.

His hands shot out and caught both of my fists in his palms, stopping my attack cold. The impact sent vibrations up my arms, but what shocked me wasn't the block, it was the strength behind it. This Green Rank had just stopped my full-power punch like it was nothing.

Isn't he… just tier 1 like everyone else?

But I still had advantages. Size, weight, leverage. I twisted my body and used my momentum to lift him off his feet, spinning him around before hurling him toward the nearest tree with all the force I could muster.

He hit the trunk with a solid thud, bark exploding outward from the impact. For a moment, I thought I'd finally landed a decisive blow.

Then he pushed off the tree and launched himself back at me like a missile.

We collided in the center of the clearing, fists flying as we traded strikes at point-blank range. But it quickly became clear that something had changed. Where before he'd been content to dodge and study, now he was fighting back, and landing hits.

His fist connected with my ribs. "One," he called out cheerfully, like he was keeping score.

I swung at his head, but he ducked under the punch and drove his knee into my stomach. "Two," he announced, his voice carrying the same delight.

What the hell?

I tried to grab him, to use my size advantage in a grapple, but he slipped away like smoke and landed an uppercut to my jaw that made my vision blur. "Three!"

Every technique I threw at him, he seemed to expect. With every opening I tried to create, he was already moving to counter. It was like fighting someone who could read my mind, who knew exactly what I was going to do before I did it.

His elbow caught me in the temple. "Four!"

I staggered backward, my head ringing from the impact. Blood trickled down from a cut above my eye, and I could taste copper in my mouth. This wasn't possible. I'm considered being stronger than most Green Ranks amongst my peers. I had years of experience, superior aura reserves, every advantage that should have mattered.

But he kept coming, kept landing hits, kept calling out numbers like this was some kind of game to him.

There has to be something...

My eyes darted around the clearing desperately, looking for any advantage I could use. That's when I spotted them. Two others he'd teamed with were watching from the edge of the clearing. The swordsman and the beastkin archer watching on the sidelines.

If I can't beat him, maybe I can distract him.

I dove for my mace, my fingers wrapping around the handle as I rolled past where it lay embedded in the crater. Without hesitation, I spun and hurled the massive weapon toward his teammates with all the force I could muster.

He didn't even turn to look.

The swordsman stepped forward immediately, placing himself between the flying mace and the beastkin. His blade flared with golden aura as he drew it in a perfect arc, the enhanced edge meeting the spinning weapon with a sound like thunder. There was not a single change in his expression.

The mace split cleanly in half, both pieces spinning away harmlessly to crash into the trees behind them.

Before I could even process what had happened, iron fingers wrapped around my face like a vice. He lifted me off my feet.

"Cheeky bastard, aren't you?" His voice carried a note of genuine disappointment.

Then he drove my head into the ground. The impact sent shockwaves through my skull, dirt and debris flying everywhere. But he wasn't finished. He lifted my head again and slammed it down once more.

"You know," he said conversationally, as if we were sitting at a camp fire, "I really had high expectations for you."

Another slam. My vision blurred, stars exploding across my sight.

"All that hype, the little tale your alliance came up with about killing a boar with one strike." His voice carried genuine disappointment, like a teacher scolding a failing student. "I thought you'd actually give me a real challenge."

Slam. The taste of blood filled my mouth completely now.

"For a moment there, I almost got what I wanted," he continued, his tone almost wistful. "But once we started fighting one-on-one? I was very mistaken."

Each impact sent waves of pain through my skull. I could feel consciousness slipping away, my aura completely depleted, my body broken and battered.

"Maybe this was just a bad matchup for you," he continued, his tone almost sympathetic. "Or maybe I was just unlucky with the group I entered the rift with. Weak test takers make for disappointing fights."

"Such a waste," he said with one final, devastating slam.

The world exploded into light as my exam sigils finally activated, whisking me away from the clearing and the monster wearing a Green Rank's aura.

Luna Nightwhisper

I couldn't move.

My bow had slipped from nerveless fingers sometime during the fight, lying forgotten in the dirt beside me. My entire body felt frozen, locked in place by what I'd just witnessed.

What the hell was that?

The massive warrior who had terrified me with his aura, who had commanded an entire alliance of fighters, who had seemed so impossibly strong just minutes ago… Rai had just beaten him into the ground like he was nothing.

Not beaten. Dominated. Humiliated.

His increasingly manic grin had stretched wider and wider as the fight progressed, like he was watching the most entertaining show of his life. The way he'd studied Thorgrim for half the fight, learning every pattern, every weakness. The casual disappointment in his voice as he'd slammed that man's head into the ground over and over.

"Weak test takers make for disappointing fights."

A warm hand touched my shoulder, making me jump. Sol was standing beside me, his expression concerned as he looked down at me.

"Luna? You okay?"

I blinked, confused for a moment, then realized I was on my knees in the dirt. I hadn't even noticed my tail wrapped tightly around my waist in a defensive posture. When had I fallen? When had I stopped being able to stand?

"I... I didn't realize..." I stammered, accepting his outstretched hand as he helped pull me to my feet. My legs felt unsteady, like they weren't quite ready to support my weight.

Sol picked up my bow and handed it back to me, his movements calm and controlled. "Come on," he said quietly. "Let's go check on Rai."

As we walked across the debris-strewn clearing toward where Rai was standing, I kept glancing at Sol, wondering why he could be so composed after we'd just witnessed what we had. He seemed completely unaffected, like watching our teammate systematically destroy an entire alliance was just another day in the forest.

How is he not shaken by this?

But as we got closer to Rai, I caught the expression on Sol's face. It wasn't the calm indifference I'd thought I was seeing. His eyes were fixed on Rai with a look that was part curiosity, part calculation, and something else that made my skin crawl.

It was almost predatory. Like he was seeing Rai in an entirely new light.

The look in his eyes seemed to say: Have you been holding out on me, you bastard?

When we reached Rai, Sol was the first to speak, his tone casual despite everything we'd just witnessed.

"Well, you got what you wanted, right?"

With a heavy, disappointing sigh, Rai said, "Way to rub it in… I feel like I wasted so much time here…"

"Also, if you didn't need us, why use us as bait in the first place?" he asked, a joking edge to his voice that somehow made the question even more unsettling.

Rai chuckled, wiping blood from a small cut on his cheek as he turned to face us. "Yeah, don't act like you weren't itching for a little something yourself, Sol."

I looked at Sol, expecting him to deny it, but he just rolled his eyes without disagreeing. There was no shock, no outrage at being used. He seemed mildly exasperated at most.

"We could have gotten eliminated," Sol pointed out, though his tone suggested it was more of an observation than a complaint.

Rai waved that concern away dismissively, spitting out blood. "Please. I know for a fact you could have taken them all down yourself if you were in better condition." His voice carried absolute certainty, as if he were stating an obvious truth rather than making a wild claim.

I stared at Sol, finding that hard to believe. Sure, he was skilled, but an entire alliance? Then I remembered how his sword had cut through Thorgrim's massive mace like it was made of paper. He split a weapon with ease that shouldn't be cut by a basic sword.

People aren't supposed to be able to do that so casually.

"Great," I said, my voice flat with resignation. "Somehow I've gotten myself mixed in with two lunatics."

Before either of them could respond, Rai's head snapped toward the tree line. His eyes narrowed as he called out, "So, you gonna keep lurking or are you gonna come down?"

There was movement in the branches above, and then the dryad. Nyxa, if I remembered what Thorgrim had called her, dropped gracefully to the ground. She walked toward us with a sultry confidence, her golden eyes fixed entirely on Rai as a soft chuckle escaped her lips.

"Well," she said, her voice carrying an amused purr, "that was certainly entertaining."

Rai's expression had gone neutral, though I could still catch traces of that disappointed look from when he'd been fighting Thorgrim. Like the victory had left him unsatisfied rather than triumphant.

Nyxa reached him and began walking in a slow circle around him, her fingers trailing along the torn edges of his shirt where the fabric had been shredded during the fight. Her touch was deliberate, almost possessive, as she traced the open areas with obvious interest.

"I'm Nyxa," she said, her voice carrying that same purring quality. "And you, my dear, are absolutely fascinating."

Her golden eyes never left his face as she continued her circuit around him, her fingers finding each tear in the fabric like she was cataloging his battle damage.

"Tell me," she continued, her tone conversational but loaded with curiosity, "how exactly does a human manage to catch Wisps so effortlessly? During our hunts, I was essential for that task, yet you..." She paused, leaning closer to examine him more carefully. "Your aura is exquisite, but it's almost nonexistent unless I really focus."

She stepped closer with each question, her body gradually pressing against his as she spoke. "How do you compress it so perfectly? And that technique where you tanked that aura burst, where did you learn something like that?"

A sweet, heady scent filled the surrounding air. My nose twitched as I recognized it immediately, pheromones. The dryad was actively trying to seduce him, her natural abilities flooding the immediate area with chemical signals designed to lower his guard and make him more compliant.

I found my gaze wandering to places it shouldn't. The curve of Nyxa's hips as she moved, the way her clothing clung to her form, how her thighs pressed against the fabric of her shorts. Her fingers traced along his exposed collarbone through the tears in his shirt as she pressed against Rai. My thoughts felt hazy, drawn to details that made my cheeks flush with heat.

What am I doing?

I shook my head sharply, my wolf instincts cutting through the mental fog.

Damn pheromones.

Sol waved his hand in front of his face with obvious distaste, like he was trying to clear away an unpleasant smell.

Rai's hand came up slowly, almost as if he was giving in to her tactics. His fingers traced up through her hair, moving behind her head in what looked like the beginning of an intimate embrace. I stepped forward, ready to intervene, when Rai moved.

Then his grip tightened aggressively in her hair.

He yanked her head down, forcing her to meet his eyes directly. His voice was calm, almost conversational, but there was steel underneath it.

"That's quite bold of you," he said quietly. "Trying to use your pheromones on me."

Nyxa grunted in pain, one hand flying up defensively while the other gripped Rai's wrist. The pressure he was applying was clearly visible in the tension across her face.

"I'm sorry," she gasped out, her earlier sultry confidence completely gone.

Rai's eyes never left hers as he spoke again. "Tell me, are you my enemy, or are you going to cooperate?"

"C—cooperate!" she said quickly, her voice strained. "I'll cooperate!"

Rai released her immediately, and she stumbled back a step, rubbing her scalp where he'd grabbed her. But I swear I saw color flooding her green-tinged cheeks, she was… blushing?

Is she actually… no, I don't even want to think about it.

I shared a disgusted look with Sol, who was shaking his head with obvious distaste at the entire display.

Rai said to us, "Go grab all the bracelets from where the others were eliminated," his tone casual as if nothing unusual had just happened. "I'll monitor our dryad here."

We spread out across the clearing, collecting the bracelets that their owners had left behind when a teleporter took them out. Each one still glowed faintly with residual energy, containing whatever cores and points their eliminated owners had managed to accumulate.

Sol and I worked methodically, gathering the scattered bracelets while Rai kept Nyxa in his sight. When we returned with our collection, Rai had already started the process of transferring cores from the various bracelets to our own. Sol also walked around to the unconscious ones and took their cores from their bracelets.

The familiar sensation of cores flowing between devices hummed through the air as points were redistributed. It was like a small windfall. Marcus's bracelet contributed 950 points, Lyara's had 1,100, Caelum's showed 1,100 as well, and Raven's contributed another 900. Each eliminated fighter had been doing well for themselves before running into Rai.

Rai picked up a particular bracelet, larger than the others ,and swung it around his finger casually.

"This was Thorgrim's," he said, glancing at Nyxa. "Were you in an official team with him?"

Nyxa nodded, still rubbing her scalp where he'd grabbed her. "Yes, we were partnered for the exam."

Rai activated the bracelet's display, checking the accumulated score. The numbers that appeared made his eyebrows rise slightly.

Sol leaned over to get a look at the display and let out a low whistle.

"3,600 points," Sol said, genuine appreciation in his voice. "Guess the alliance was worth it for himgr."

Rai looked at Nyxa with newfound interest. "You two have been busy. Seven Wisps, eighteen boars, sixteen wolves, and five hares. That's some serious hunting."

The total haul from all the bracelets was staggering. Over 7,650 points from the alliance members alone, not counting whatever Nyxa might have contributed to Thorgrim's impressive total.

Rai scratched his chin thoughtfully, letting out an exaggerated "Hmmm" as he stared at the collection of bracelets.

Sol immediately moved to stand beside him, scratching his own chin in the exact same manner. "Hmmm indeed," he mused dramatically.

I felt a bizarre urge to join them, to scratch my chin and add my own thoughtful hum to whatever this ridiculous display was supposed to be. I resisted, but I couldn't explain why the compulsion was so strong.

What is wrong with these two?

Rai suddenly snapped his fingers and pointed at Sol. "Sol my good man! Use your incredible math skills and develop a hypothesis on how we should proceed with this situation."

I blinked, completely lost.

Math skills? What situation?

Sol clasped his hands behind his back and adopted an overly formal posture. "My good sir," he said in the most overdramatic voice I'd ever heard him use, "whatever could you be proposing?"

"I believe," Rai responded with equal theatrical flair, "that you could come up with a proper method of compensation for this young lady." He gestured toward Nyxa. "She didn't attack us after all. So, since she's willing to cooperate, it only makes sense we give her a cut."

Sol nodded sagely, stroking his chin again. "Well my good man, I do believe that giving her 1,500 points would be quite sufficient. According to my estimations, it would be right to assume that most solo examinees are in that range at minimum by this point in the exam."

Rai nodded approvingly. "Excellent analysis, my learned colleague."

I shared a bewildered look with Nyxa. Her expression clearly said, "These are the guys you grouped up with?"

My return look said, "You know anyone better?"

Rai started pulling cores from the collected bracelets, counting out just over 1,500 points worth and placing them in a neat pile. Then, almost as an afterthought, he tossed a wisp core on top of the stack.

"There you go," he said, gesturing to the cores. "Fair compensation."

Nyxa looked at the pile, then back at him with obvious confusion. "Why? You could have just taken everything."

Rai shrugged casually. "You didn't attack us. And you said you'd cooperate, so you can just follow us around now or go on your way. Up to you."

Does he see her being of use or something?

She looked down at her bracelet, checking the point total as she absorbed the cores. The numbers seemed to satisfy her because she sighed and stood up, brushing dirt off her clothes.

"Alright, I'll follow you," she said, her golden eyes fixed on Rai. "Mostly because I'm still very interested in you."

Rai dramatically covered himself with his torn shirt, gasping in mock scandal. "You scandalous woman! I barely got your first name. At least take me to dinner first."

A smirk tugged at the corner of Nyxa's mouth, her mood visibly lightening at his playful attitude. "That can be arranged. Do you like Greek?"

Sol suddenly stepped between them, crossing his arms and adopting a stern, protective stance like an overprotective parent.

"Now hold on just a minute," he said in an exaggeratedly serious tone. "This young man is barely of age, miss. I won't have you corrupting his innocent mind with talk of... dinner dates."

Rai peered around Sol's shoulder with wide, innocent eyes. "But Sol, she seems nice! And I do like Greek..."

"Absolutely not," Sol declared, putting his hand on Rai's forehead and gently pushing him back. "You're far too pure for such worldly temptations."

Nyxa laughed, a genuine sound that was completely different from her earlier sultry purring. "Well then, perhaps his guardian would like to join us? I know a lovely place that serves excellent moussaka."

Sol's protective stance immediately melted away as he turned to Rai with casual approval. "Now, Rai, this is a wonderful woman. Why didn't you tell me about her sooner?"

"I literally just met her five minutes ago," Rai protested with a grin.

"Excuses, excuses," Sol said, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "You really need to work on your communication skills." He turned to her. "Please take care of him, although you might have some competition."

The three of them started walking off together, their banter continuing as they moved toward the edge of the clearing.

"So about this moussaka," Rai was saying, "is it the kind with the béchamel sauce or—"

"Oh, definitely béchamel," Nyxa replied enthusiastically. "None of that inferior cheese-only nonsense."

"A woman of culture," Sol nodded approvingly. "Rai, I think we should keep this one."

I stood there in the middle of the debris-strewn clearing, absolutely dumbfounded, watching the three of them walk away like they'd been friends for years.

"What just happened?" I said to no one in particular, my voice echoing off the broken trees around me.

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