They were dropped off one by one, class by class, at scattered points across the vast forest. No one could see the others—not a banner, not a soul, just the endless sea of trees. A device had been handed to each class representative: a glowing crystal the size of a coin, keyed to their pulse. A vote, or a single decision, would activate a withdrawal—teleportation out of the exam. Coward's way out, as some had whispered. Safety net, others called it.
For now, Class 1A moved as a unit. Their girls—each one with hair neatly pinned in disciplined buns—pressed forward into the wild.
It was the fourth month of the calendar—Riverbend, when summer's breath began to bake the earth dry and send the creeks whispering away into thirst. The air hung heavy with pollen and heat. Their first priority: water, and shelter.
They found both by midday.
A modest creek, just shy of a babbling brook, twisted through the underbrush. Britney had found it, and with no better options, they set up camp. The search for a cave suitable as a base followed, and fortune favored them: a half-collapsed stone hollow just up the hill, cool and shadowed, enough for sleeping shifts and a semblance of privacy.
Fishing was the morning's labor. Renn skewered a trout clean through with her spear, blood glinting on the blade as she smirked. Iris, more elegant, molded the earth into a dam, trapping silvery shapes like jewels in a bowl. Lily and Ivy returned with baskets of wild berries and nuts, stained fingers and satisfied grins.
The boys? They were fire duty—"living torches," someone muttered. A flint strike here, a fire spell there. The teasing was merciless.
Xenia and Clare knelt over a crude map, scribed on bark with soot. They marked paths, slopes, landmarks… and where the bear had mauled their lunch.
Yes. A bear.
The beast had lumbered out of the thicket just as they'd begun eating. It was hungry. It was angry. It was swiftly dealt with—barely. Roxanna had taken the lead, hacking at it with her crimson blade, drawing blood not just for victory, but for art. She now sat under a tree, Britney curled on her lap like a content cat, feeding her berries plucked from Ivy's basket.
"Why go looking for trouble?" Roxanna said. "Bear with the fruit and fishes."
"Ha," Lily laughed, climbing higher into the tree above. "You're unbearable."
"Pun crimes," Ivy added from a branch. "Arrest her."
Evening came. The cave was marked—boys to the left, girls to the right. Thin sheets of ivy and hanging roots gave the illusion of privacy. They spent the late hours practicing: Britney tried to hold a sphere of water steady between her palms; Renn and Iris made pit traps in the underbrush with shaped stone; Xenia molded darkness into a sleek staff, and Clare mimicked her with threads of light, to Xenia's barely contained irritation. Though lately, the two were never far apart.
Roxanna shaped a jagged knife from the dried blood she'd saved, flexing her fingers as it took form like sculpted glass. Lily and Ivy, with intertwined nature magic, filled the air with a honeyed floral scent—marking the area as theirs.
Austin and Robert sparred nearby, muscles coiled, claymore and longsword singing through the dusk. If they had it their way, this wouldn't stay a test—it'd become a war.
But the peace cracked—sharply, and fast.
Ivy, quiet as always, stiffened. Her kusarigama was in hand before Renn even ran into camp, breathless and wild-eyed.
"Heads up," Ivy said calmly. "Trouble."
Steel rang. Fire bloomed.
Austin and Robert were first out, weapons raised, Iris behind them with her halberd spinning. Britney had already vanished into the trees, scent-tracking with ice-cold precision, twin butterfly swords in hand. Roxanna stood at the cave mouth, whip uncoiled, teeth bared.
Then came the crash—Britney flew back through the trees, skidding across the dirt to Roxanna's feet. Her lip was bleeding.
Across the clearing stood Class 1C.
Four of them, armored and hungry. One held a glaive. Another, a polearm. The last two drew long swords with casual menace. Silent. No greetings. No posturing. They simply attacked.
Britney rose, summoned a halo of ice above them, ready to launch.
Their formation took shape fast: Austin and Robert at the vanguard, flame licking off their shoulders but unused—burning the forest was forbidden. Iris joined with her halberd, and Xenia spun her chained kama beside her like a dancer with deadly rhythm. Ivy and Lily braced side by side, a guandao between them like a third arm.
No fire. Only earth, water, shadow, and light. The air was thick with magic.
The clash was vicious.
Austin took a glaive to the ribs—stabbed through and dragged back. Britney was struck in the temple while shielding Roxanna. Then came the arrow—fire-tipped, legal by exam standards, and brutally accurate. It burned through Roxanna's thigh and out the other side. She screamed and collapsed.
"Cover me!" Britney shouted, already dragging her away.
Renn yanked Iris out of the fray, her wakizashi drawn, teeth gritted. Clare and Xenia vanished into the trees. Ivy and Lily filled the clearing with sweet-sickening flower scent, masking their escape. Robert and Austin turned and ran, bleeding but upright.
A total rout.
And as silence fell, one of the attackers—his face obscured by shadow—spoke with a smirk.
"See? Just a bunch of pandas. Hyped-up, soft, all bark and no bite."
He spit on the dirt.
"Tail between their legs, running. This exam's in the bag."