The academy didn't calm down after Elden's announcement.
If anything, it grew louder.
Teams were all anyone talked about.
Who would group with whom.
Who was strong.
Who was a liability.
And most importantly—
Who would follow Raze Kyler.
Raze walked through the training grounds alone, hands in his pockets, ignoring the stares that followed him. Since the announcement, people had been watching him more closely—measuring him, weighing him.
Some with curiosity.
Some with resentment.
Some with expectation.
Leadership had a way of doing that.
He stopped near the edge of the field, eyes drifting toward the distant combat zones where students were already training harder than usual.
As usual, he trained Tamao.
Day after day, their sessions continued without interruption. Her control improved. Her reactions sharpened. When the topic of the activity finally came up, Raze asked her to team up with him.
She agreed without hesitation.
The week passed faster than expected.
Before anyone realized it, the day of the activity arrived.
Raze's team was decided.
Tamao.
Mia.
Rina.
He had asked Rina during the last meeting, and she had accepted with her usual unreadable smile. There were no objections—at least, not openly.
But Mia was different.
She stood quietly beside them, her expression calm, composed—
Yet something about her felt off.
Her gaze lingered on Raze a moment longer than necessary.
Suspicious.
As if she was thinking about something she hadn't said yet.
Everyone was shocked when Raze's team was revealed.
Not because of Tamao.
Not because of Rina.
But because of Mia.
Whispers spread almost instantly.
"Mia's on Raze's team?"
"Isn't she a class president herself?"
"Why would she agree to that?"
Some looked confused.
Others looked unsettled.
Unlike the others, Mia carried a reputation—steady, reliable, trusted. Seeing her align herself with Raze only deepened the mystery surrounding him.
This activity wasn't limited to a single class.
Students from other classes were involved as well.
And among them were familiar faces.
Borden.
Nichle.
Reid.
Old classmates.
Some had grown stronger.
Some sharper.
Some more ambitious.
Naturally, attention soon shifted to Leon's team.
Many believed it was the strongest lineup without question.
Leon stood at the center, calm and confident. Beside him was Suzu, her presence alone enough to raise expectations. But that wasn't all.
Leon had reached out beyond his class.
He invited Borden and Nichle—both experienced, both powerful.
A team built not on chance, but on calculation.
"That team's unfair."
"They're stacked."
"There's no way anyone beats that."
The assumption spread quickly.
Leon's team would take first place.
No one said it outright—but many wondered why Raze hadn't done the same.
Why he hadn't gathered power.
Why he chose this team.
Raze didn't react to the comparisons. He stood quietly with his group, hands relaxed, eyes scanning the field ahead.
Then—
Soft footsteps echoed across the ground.
Elden appeared.
The moment he arrived, the noise died down.
He looked over the assembled students once, then spoke.
"The field is prepared," he said calmly.
"From this point forward, there will be no fixed starting positions."
A pause.
"You will be randomly teleported across the field."
That single sentence changed everything.
Some students stiffened.
Others exchanged nervous glances.
"No team will know where another begins," Elden continued.
"And no one will know what they face first."
He lifted his gaze.
"Adapt. Survive. And lead."
The ground beneath their feet began to hum faintly.
Light formed beneath every student.
Raze felt the shift instantly.
So it starts now.
As the teleportation activated, the world blurred—
And the activity began.
Light swallowed Raze's vision.
For a fraction of a second, there was no ground, no sound—only a weightless sensation, as if reality itself had been peeled away.
Then—
His feet hit solid earth.
Raze opened his eyes.
Tall, twisted trees surrounded them, their dark canopies blocking most of the light above. The air was damp and heavy, carrying a faint metallic scent. The ground was uneven, littered with broken stone and thick roots that crawled across the surface like veins.
A forest zone.
Not ideal.
Not terrible.
Raze glanced around.
Tamao appeared a few steps to his right, slightly off-balance but steadying herself quickly. Mia stood farther back, already scanning their surroundings, eyes sharp and focused. Rina materialized last—silent as ever, posture relaxed, presence faint to the point of almost not existing.
No one spoke.
An awkward silence settled over the group.
Tamao felt it immediately.
She shifted slightly, opening her mouth as if to say something—anything—but stopped herself. Whatever she was about to say didn't feel right here. Not now.
So she stayed quiet.
They began moving.
Raze took the lead without announcing it, his pace calm and unhurried. The others followed instinctively, spreading just enough to avoid clustering but close enough to react if something went wrong.
Their footsteps were light.
Measured.
The forest felt wrong.
Too still.
Raze noticed it first.
A disturbance ahead—subtle, barely noticeable. The way the air moved. The way the ground felt slightly compressed near a cluster of rocks.
Something was there.
Rina noticed it at the same time.
Her eyes flicked in that direction for a split second before returning forward, as if nothing had happened.
Raze slowed.
Everyone picked up on it instantly.
They spread out a little more.
Then—
A low growl tore through the silence.
From between the trees, a figure lunged forward.
A Duskbeast.
Wolf-like in shape, but larger. Its body was covered in dark, jagged fur that looked more like hardened shadow than hair. Its eyes glowed faintly red, and its claws dug into the ground as it burst forward with explosive speed.
It didn't hesitate.
Its target—
Rina.
The beast moved fast.
Faster than most low-grade Duskbeasts.
Its jaws snapped open as it leapt—
But not fast enough.
At the final moment, Rina moved.
Her body blurred sideways, her presence vanishing completely as the beast's fangs tore through empty air. The attack missed by inches, claws slicing nothing but wind.
The Duskbeast skidded across the ground, twisting unnaturally as it tried to adjust.
Too late.
The battle had begun.
The Duskbeast snarled and attacked again.
It leapt forward, body twisting midair, claws aimed straight for Rina.
Before it could reach her—
Chains snapped through the air.
Tamao moved.
The metallic links wrapped around the Duskbeast's body mid-jump, locking around its torso and limbs with a sharp clang. The force of its momentum pulled against her, boots digging into the ground—but she held.
The beast struggled violently, snarling as it thrashed in the air.
Tamao didn't hesitate.
With a sharp pull and a twist of her wrist, she swung the chained Duskbeast sideways and hurled it across the clearing.
The creature slammed into a tree with a heavy crash, bark exploding outward as it dropped to the ground in a cloud of dust.
For a brief moment—
Everything went still.
The Duskbeast tried to rise.
It didn't get the chance.
Raze moved.
In a single step, he closed the distance, his dagger flashing once as it slid cleanly through the beast's neck.
The body fell limp almost instantly.
The fight ended as quickly as it had begun.
Rina exhaled lightly.
"…That wasn't very hard."
"Yeah," Raze replied.
His gaze shifted—to Mia.
She hadn't moved.
Not once.
She stood where she was, bow still lowered, eyes unreadable.
Raze turned back to the group.
"Let's go for the boss."
Silence.
Tamao blinked.
Rina turned sharply toward him. "The Solbeast? Wouldn't that be dangerous?"
"And how would we even find it?" Rina added.
Raze didn't slow as he started walking.
"Don't worry," he said calmly. "We can defeat it."
At that moment, Elden's voice echoed across the field, carried through the magical transmission.
"If you intend to challenge the boss," Elden said,
"there are markers carved into the trees. Follow them, and they will lead you to the Solbeast's territory."
Several students nearby stiffened at the announcement.
Raze didn't react.
He was already moving forward.
The hunt had begun.