Jean's voice had sounded like he'd swallowed a bucket of stress.
Shunya arrived at the city branch a few minutes later, slightly out of breath. "Alright, I'm here. Tell me the bad news before I start imagining giant death crabs in the combat arena."
Jean was pacing, arms crossed, brow furrowed so deep it could hide coins.
"It's not death crabs," he said flatly. "It's worse."
Shunya froze. "…Please tell me you mean 'worse' in an overdramatic mentor way, and not in the actual way."
Jean glanced at him, clearly not in the mood for jokes. "Tomorrow's combat test has been… modified. Headquarters decided that instead of standard one-on-one duels, you'll be in a multi-participant free-for-all."
Shunya tilted his head. "Like… battle royale?"
"Exactly. And," Jean's tone sharpened, "they've thrown in a few beasts into the mix."
Naomi, leaning against the wall, folded her arms. "Well, that's going to be messy."
