The jungle erupted into pandemonium. Moonlight cut the top canopy into shattered pieces, illuminating the battlefield in silver lines and darkened shadows. Four teams clashed with each other in a storm of Qi and ferocity, their powers flashing against metal and each other as mechanical beasts spilled across all directions.
The traps Lian's team had laid earlier spring into action almost all at once: webs cinched tight, swiping vines, and sonic blasts shaking the clearing. But instead of neat command, the collision of the four groups made it something vicious.
"Hold formation!" Lian yelled, spinning on a web line as Xia Yun's lightning seared the air. His reflexes caught him, danger sense drawing him aside as a bolt split the tree trunk he had been sitting upon.
Below him, Zhang Wei slammed iron fists into the ground, breaking apart a trio of mechanical wolves that had rushed their flank. Sparks showered his hardened arms, but he grinned through the strain. "More metal for me!"
Mei Ling extended her hands, thorned vines erupting from the soil, snaring Guo Fen's insect swarms and a drone that whirred dangerously close. "Keep them busy, I'll cut their angles!" she shouted.
Daiki pulsed sound waves in sharp bursts, disrupting Nara Kei's illusions, briefly revealing Xia Yun's actual movements. Lian swung low, flinging webs across her path, but Xia twisted, lightning coating her arms to burn through the sticky strands.
"You think tricks will hold me?" Xia's voice rang like thunder. "You'll have to do better, Webster."
Through the clearing, Rui and his crew were sculpting their own battleground. Blades of wind screamed like ghostly scythes, slicing drones in two and keeping both Chen's and Xia's teams at bay. Rui moved with precision, his grin unwavering even under the mayhem.
"Drive them back, don't give them a chance to catch their breath," Rui directed, his voice steady despite the tempest.
Tao Lin trailed, threads of water cutting broad arcs, destroying machines and smothering Chen Hao's smoke screens. Kira Hong deflected a jet of flame from Zhou Ping's fire injectors, redirecting the power in an eye-searing burst that forced Zhou to lift his face to shield it. Shen Qiu dodged through chains and vines, momentum sending him in whirling patterns that made him nearly inaccessible.
Chen Hao braced himself, iron skin ringing like steel as Rui's wind slash struck him square in the chest. The impact sent him stumbling, but he planted his feet, grinning despite the sting. "Not bad, Rui… but I'm not folding that easy!"
Luo Yan's chains lashed out, sparking as they wrapped around Shen Qiu's ankle—only for the boy to pivot midair, momentum snapping the chain taut and nearly yanking Luo off balance. Han Bo coughed within his smoke, trying to obscure Rui's sightline, but Rui's wind blades tore the haze apart.
Fei Min leaped aloft, frog legs folding under him as he launched himself into a powerful arc, thundering towards Rui. Rui squinted for the first time as he twisted, deflecting a blast of air just in time to send Fei off course.
The clearing was a storm of piled skills: vines, chains, lightning, wind, smoke, insects, water, webs—all coming together with a thunderous crash as the jungle itself groaned under their impact.
Lian dropped with Mei Ling, his hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. "If we don't redirect this, we'll be sandwiched."
Mei Ling's vines stretched tightly, cutting through the smaller drones but not strong enough against the wave of Qi attacks from both sides. "What do you plan to do?"
"We need to turn their momentum on each other," Lian said quickly, danger sense buzzing in every nerve. His gaze flicked to Rui, then to Xia, then to Chen's embattled squad. "Trap zones can redirect. Rui's arrogance will drive him forward, Xia's pride won't let her step back. If they collide—"
"—we survive in the middle," Daiki finished, understanding. His sonic wave spread again, momentarily disorienting both Xia's illusions and Rui's precision timing.
"Zhang!" Lian called. "Clear me a path!"
Zhang roared, iron knuckles striking the ground, a jolt to the terrain that splintered a line through the fighters. Lian shot out a web line, swinging wildly, placing strands at strategic positions. Every swing planted threads across trees, intersecting in cautious placements.
Mei Ling offered vines, interweaving them in the webs to support the snare. The snare was not made to catch—it was made to divert.
Seconds later, Rui's wind slash cut through the clearing, and Xia Yun charged forward with lightning arcs. Their attacks slammed into the web-vine net. Instead of stopping, the threads pulled taut, bending the force sideways. Lightning arced into Rui's water ally Tao Lin, forcing him to stagger, while Rui's wind blast tore straight into Zhou Ping's fire jet, exploding in a violent burst of steam.
The sudden clash of friendly fire made both teams falter.
"You!" Xia snarled at Rui, glaring with sparks dancing across her arms.
Rui's smirk sharpened. "You should thank me for not ending this already."
The jungle erupted again, but now Xia and Rui were locked onto each other, their rivalry overriding the machines swarming around.
Chen Hao seized the moment. "Team 3, come on! Let's rack up points while they're distracted!" He pounded a drone with a hammering kick, Luo Yan's restraints pulling another into Fei Min's deadly kick. Han Bo covered their perimeter in smoke again, tightening their bottleneck.
Lian pulled his team back just enough, breathing hard as his webs vibrated with residual energy. "Stay mobile. Let Rui and Xia chew each other apart—we'll hunt points and strike only when the opportunity is perfect."
For hours, the night raged. Mechanical beasts kept arriving, forcing moments of uneasy cooperation before dissolving into chaos again. Lian's team excelled at disruption and survival, never fully engaging unless absolutely necessary. Rui's team dominated direct fights, but Xia's refused to give ground, their rivalry crackling like the storm itself. Chen's squad lingered in the margins, opportunistic, snatching points from fallen machines whenever possible.
Last, weak light began to trickle through the canopy. The first strands of dawn curved across the treetops, washing the mist in pale gold. The forest floor lay littered with glittering wreckage: crushed drones, torn vines, broken webs, burned trees.
The four teams stood facing each other in a frayed standoff, sweat-stained, bruised, battered. Their wristbands flashed final counts.
The moment the sun burst fully over the horizon, a piercing tone shrieked across the jungle. The test was complete.
All combatants were frozen. The metal shriek of the machines ceased, their engines dying simultaneously. Silence reigned, broken only by panting breaths.
Lian fell to one knee, web lines limp against his skin. His chest rose and fell, but his eyes were still sharp, watching both Rui and Xia as the rush of adrenaline wore off.
Rui smoothed his jacket, wind Qi swirling around him as if he hadn't sweated at all. "Hmph. That's it? I expected more." But even he was shaken, his arms trembling with overuse.
Xia wiped at a smudge of blood on her lip, lightning crackling feebly down her hair. Feral grin. "Don't flatter yourself on this account. Next time, Rui. next time, you will fall."
Chen Hao fell to the ground with a thud, iron skin folding back into flesh. "I don't know about you two, but I could use ten breakfasts after that." Luo Yan collapsed beside him, chains clanking feebly.
Mei Ling let out a breath, vines pulling back into the earth. "We made it through. That's all that matters."
Daiki tugged at his headset, smiling weakly in spite of his weariness. "And perhaps made more points than people knew."
Lian checked his wristband. Their overall score wasn't the highest, but it was good. They hadn't crushed—but they hadn't shattered either. They'd lasted.
He looked over at Rui and Xia, competition still smoldering in their eyes, and experienced something swell in his chest. This assessment had been brutal, but it was only the beginning.
As the instructors' drones descended to sweep them up, the jungle radiating in the light of dawn, the students of Class 1-C knew one thing with absolute certainty: the academy would demand more of them than they'd ever imagined.
And only those who grew stronger—through competition, strategy, and resilience—would be at the top.
The Jungle Test was done. But their wars had just started.