Arin's eyes sharpened.
"This is the opening," he said.
That was all the warning Team 13 got.
He moved first.
Arin burst over the ridge with Taren and Liora close behind him, heading for the left side of the clearing. At almost the same moment, Ren, Mila, and Kale broke from cover on the lower right, moving through the uneven ground and broken stone exactly as planned.
The reaction near the gate was immediate.
"Movement!"
"Left side!"
"No, two groups!"
The three teams guarding the clearing shifted at once. What had looked settled a moment earlier broke apart in an instant. Two boys on the left moved to intercept Arin's group. One in the center turned toward Ren's side. Another hesitated, caught between both directions.
That hesitation was all Arin wanted.
"Push!" Taren shouted.
He hit first, fast and direct, forcing the nearest opponent back a step. Liora slipped low from the side and cut into the space that opened. Arin did not stop to trade blows. He drove forward just hard enough to make the defenders tighten around him.
Behind them, the right side exploded into motion.
Ren's voice rang out first. "You ugly campers really waited all this time for us?"
A boy near the rocks lunged at him. Mila called the angle before the strike fully came, and Ren twisted away just in time. Kale followed half a step behind, tense and pale, but still moving.
The clearing lost all order.
Shouts rose from every side. Feet pounded across stone and roots. Someone yelled for the center to close. Another shouted to stop the right flank. For a few breaths, no one near the gate could tell which side was the real breakthrough.
That was enough.
Arin saw the gap first.
Not in the center. Not on the left.
On the lower right.
One of the teams had shifted too far toward him and Taren. Another had turned to block Ren. In that brief overlap, the line near the broken stone opened.
"Mila!" Arin shouted.
She was already moving.
Ren heard it too and turned at once, slamming into the nearest defender instead of retreating. The impact was ugly and reckless, but it stopped the other boy for just a breath. Kale froze for a fraction of a second, clearly seeing the same opening. Then greed flashed across his face and he moved too.
Too late.
Mila was faster.
She cut past the broken ridge and sprinted straight for the gate.
"Stop her!"
Two voices shouted it at once.
One boy broke from the center and lunged across her path. Liora intercepted him from the side hard enough to knock his balance away. Another came from the right, but Ren crashed into him before he could fully turn.
Kale's eyes changed.
For one instant, Arin saw exactly what the boy was thinking.
If Mila crossed first, it was over. The whole team would clear the trial. His own chance to take more for himself would disappear with it.
Kale turned.
Not toward the enemy.
Toward Mila.
Arin had expected that possibility from the start.
"Kale!" Ren shouted, hearing the shift too late.
Kale rushed through the confusion and reached for Mila's shoulder, clearly trying to drag her back or throw her off line for even a moment.
But Mila had been watching him long before that.
She did not even look surprised.
She dropped her weight, slipped past his hand, and drove her elbow back into his ribs as she passed. Kale stumbled hard, lost his footing on the uneven stone, and went down to one knee.
Taren laughed once, sharp and without humor. "Idiot."
But the delay had already drawn another defender in.
A tall boy from the gate line rushed forward and swung at Mila's side. This time she could not avoid him cleanly. The hit clipped her shoulder and spun her half off line.
Arin moved.
He broke through the last defender in front of him, took a strike across the arm, and drove into the boy blocking Mila's path. The collision sent both of them sideways across the stone.
"Go!" Arin shouted.
Mila did not hesitate.
She ran.
The gate's pale surface was only a few steps away now. Behind her, the clearing had become complete chaos. Taren was still fighting on the left. Liora had locked down another approach. Ren was cursing somewhere near the rocks while holding two people off at once. Kale had just regained his feet, but now his face held more shock than calculation.
One of the gate defenders made a last desperate grab for Mila's back.
He missed.
Mila crossed the glowing boundary.
A sharp tone spread through the entire clearing.
Trial Completion Confirmed
Team 13 — Qualified
Final Gate Condition Fulfilled
For a single stunned moment, everyone froze.
Then white light erupted around Team 13.
The forest vanished.
The clearing, the gate, the defenders, the noise, the blood, the tension—everything shattered like a broken reflection.
Arin's feet touched solid ground again.
He was back in the chamber.
His breathing was rough. Sweat clung to his skin. One arm throbbed where he had taken the last hit. Across from him, Taren was still half tense in his seat. Ren looked like he wanted to keep shouting at somebody. Liora had already steadied herself. Mila sat breathing hard, but her eyes were calm.
A second later, a separate chamber lit up nearby.
Kale appeared there alone.
His expression was dark.
So his score had been enough after all.
For a few breaths, no one spoke.
Then Ren leaned back and let out a long breath.
"I hate group exams," he said.
That broke the tension at last.
Even Taren gave a tired snort.
Arin sat there quietly, his breathing slowly evening out.
They had passed.
Not cleanly. Not easily.
But they had passed.
They had passed.
A notification flashed across Arin's terminal.
Time Remaining: 00:13:42
Team Score: 350
Qualified Teams So Far: 5 / 17
Current Rank: 3
Arin looked at it once and lowered the terminal.
Third place.
For now, that was enough.