Leon arrived at the designated point panting. Exhaustion fell on him as he saw how crowded the place was after struggling to navigate his way there.
Hoping to find a gap in the students, he saw Jade. Standing there with his group in a cool and collective stance.
He drifted his eyes from them to the stark, granite plaza that pulsed with countless footsteps.
Then, as he politely pushed them, he saw Vera brushing her hands against a guy's chest in a sarcastic manner.
In return, the guy just stood there grinning as if Vera was one way or another trying to force him under her spell.
But as Jade appeared from behind the guy, Vera dropped her act and ran toward him, flung her arms around his neck, and kissed him.
When they vanished from Leon's sight as he moved forward, he saw Tiger smirking while cracking his knuckles.
Seeing the look in Tiger's eyes, Leon knew he was the main reason for that knuckle crack.
A sharp chimed echoed, snapping every gaze upward to the towering screen above their heads.
A proctor in a severe uniform appeared on it, turning the chatter into a diluted silence.
"Welcome, awakened and unawakened students," the proctor's voice boomed like a wild wind across the plaza. "Your first trial begins now. Survival in the shattered lands."
The proctor's voice died, stirring the plaza into a heavy silence that pressed against Leon's ribs.
Leon waited, drumming his foot against the floor. Then, as he finally heard his name, he inhaled deeply and stepped forward.
The word the proctor stated hung in the air like fire. The Shattered Lands. A place from nightmares and history lessons, a scar on the world where the last great war had broken.
Where the beast breeds their younglings.
A low hum filled the plaza as star-shaped symbols flared to life beneath their feet.
The tiles lit up, letting lines crawl across the stone and turning the whole floor into a glowing teleportation array.
Blue-white light glowed from it and splashed across the students' faces, letting their in-depth fear stand out.
Leon's heart hammered as the restless energy burning in his chest reacted to the array.
As he whirled around, he caught Tiger's eyes across the platform. The larger boy's smirk was a promise of violence no god could stop. Jade stood emotionless, as if being sent to a death zone was an excursion.
Tilting his head slightly, he saw Vera clinging to Jade's arm as if she was afraid to let go.
A sudden feeling crushed on making him feel as if his body had been torn apart and reassembled it self, causing his vision blurry.
Then, everything turned silent.
No sign of the granite floor was seen. In it place, he saw a cracked crimson earth which crunched like bones beneath his booth as he walked on it.
The air there wasn't of any kind he had inhaled before; not even that of Dusthollow.
Tilting his head upward, he saw purple and sickly green light bruising across the stretched sky so heavily it looked like it was scraped straight from a movie. No sun. No star. Only a faint glow from jagged rocks that jutted like broken teeth.
Students bumped into one another and in a restless way, yet, he felt lonely.
Mr. Lee's words echoed in his mind the moment one broad shouldered student pushed him on the shoulder: 'Only the strong survive.'
A crackle of static made him jump from where he stood as small drone-like devices flashed a holographic message into the air.
[TRIAL 1: SURVIVAL.]
[DURATION: 48 HOURS.]
[OBJECTIVE: REACH THE EXTRACTION POINT.]
[WARNING: THE TERRITORY IS HOSTILE.]
The hologram flickered for a while, showing a map of the terrain with a single, pulsing waypoint then vanished as the drones zipped away.
'48 hours? No food? No water?' Leon's thoughts reeled as he stared at the pale faces of those walking near him.
When a skittering sound came from a canyon to his left, his blood ran cold. The creatures. They were here, too.
This wasn't just a test of endurance. Inst,ead it was a hunting ground, and they were the prey.
The air became thick as screams rose like a battle hymn.
Some flared back, stamping on each other, hoping to flee from what was coming. But as Leon turned, his heart seized.
Shreds of human flesh scattered like burning scraps in the wind. What he saw hit him so hard his knees trembled and begged him to collapse.
For a moment, he stood on the trembling legs, gasping as his breath also ceased.
Then, a sharp metallic stink coated his tongue, making him gag.
'No… no, no, no, no.' As a relentless thought filled his mind, he tore his gaze from its direction and inhaled deeply.
Then after feeling a bit okay, he began walking following the fading map memory in his eyelid.
The first trial had begun, and there was no way back.
The holographic message appeared with more menace as Leon moved a few meters away from the shredded flesh:
[PARTICIPANTS: 10000.]
[DEAD: 1500.]
Leon's face turned pale like a dehydrated seabed as he navigated the strange, twisted land.
He skirted ridges that rippled like frozen waves and avoided the narrow cracks that exhaled foul vapors hot enough to sting his eyes.
Finding himself in a field shimmering with jagged crystals, he felt a heavy presence shifting behind him. But once he turned, he could only see the raised crystals.
Sensing an impending weight in the air as shadows stretched toward him, he sneaked behind a square-pillar crystal, waiting to confront or flee from whatever was coming.
Cracks echoed through the crystals, rattling his bones—but when he checked, no one was there.
Making sure nothing and no one was waiting, Leon's eyes raked over the crystals one last time, tracing the long shadows they threw.
After that, the only sounds he heard were the ugly crunch of his boots.
Without hesitation, he lowered himself against the cold stone the moment one of the chittering creatures darted past him.
Clicking sound echoed against the stone like knives being dragged across glass as the creature slowed its steps.
Multilayered eyes scanned the terrain with a cold, insectile intelligence. Though it never turned directly toward Leon, he still held his breath as if it were the last source of hope.
When the creature vanished, he rose and cleaned the dirt from himself. Even as there was no creature around him, the atmosphere was still hostile, as if the world itself was waiting for him to falter.
As he scrambled down a steep slope, he heard a sharp, startled cry, followed by the sound of a struggle.
Quickly, he rushed towards the sound turning and jumping over debris until he reached a ledge. Immediately he peered over it, he saw Zoe, cornered against a rock face by two wolf-like beast with obsidian fur and glowing eyes.
He saw a shimmering barrier of hard light flickering between her and the beasts, stopping them in few inches away from her.
The moment he focused on Zoe's hand, he saw the barrier weakening with every impact the wolves made.
Every instinct told Leon to run. This was a trial. Only the strong survive. Helping her would drain him, make him a target, and offer no advantage.
But he saw the genuine terror in her eyes. It wasn't like the performative cruelty of Vera; it was the raw, real fear of someone about to die.