I arrived at Training Ground Seven exactly three minutes late.
Garrick gave me a disapproving look but said nothing. The others were already warming up, Morrigan was having Lisette practice defensive formations, Kieran was meditating with his bandages glowing faintly, and Garrick was doing one-armed pull-ups on a training bar that looked like it might snap under his weight.
"Sorry I'm late." I said with slightly out of breath.
"We noticed." Garrick grunted between reps.
"Vespera left instructions for us. Team coordination drills."
He dropped down from the bar and handed me a scroll. I unrolled it to find Vespera's neat handwriting:
"Training Exercise #1: Capture the Flag, Special Edition.
Rules
1. The field has been divided into four zones, each containing environmental hazards.
2. A flag has been hidden somewhere in the training ground.
3. You must work together to find and capture it within two hours.
4. Oh, and I've released some training constructs to make things interesting. Try not to get too injured.
, V"
[ ANALYZING TRAINING PARAMETERS... ]
[ THIS EXERCISE TESTS: COOPERATION, PROBLEM-SOLVING, COMBAT COORDINATION, AND STRESS MANAGEMENT. ]
"Training constructs?" I looked at Kieran.
"Please tell me those aren't what I think they are."
Kieran tilted his head, his bandaged eyes seeming to focus on something beyond the visible.
"Magical automatons. I can sense... four of them. Each roughly equivalent to a C-rank monster in terms of threat level."
"C-rank?" I felt my stomach drop.
"But we're first-year students!"
"We're also the 'suicide squad,' remember?" Morrigan said cheerfully, though there was an edge to her voice.
"The Headmaster doesn't believe in going easy on us~"
Garrick cracked his knuckles. "Good. I hate boring training."
[ SURVIVAL INSTINCT SUGGESTS OTHERWISE, BUT COOPERATION IS MANDATORY. ]
[ ANALYSIS: THIS IS YOUR FIRST REAL TEST AS A TEAM. ]
I took a deep breath and looked at the scroll again.
"Alright, we need a plan. Kieran, can your eyes locate the flag?"
"Potentially, but I'd need to remove my bandages completely. The strain would leave me vulnerable for at least ten minutes afterward."
"So that's our last resort." I turned to Morrigan.
"Can Lisette sense magical objects?"
The doll's head tilted, and Morrigan translated.
"She says the entire field is saturated with magic. Finding one specific source would be like finding a needle in a haystack made of needles."
"Great." I rubbed my temples.
"Garrick, how do you feel about being bait?"
He grinned. "My favorite role."
"I thought you'd say that." I pulled out a piece of chalk from my pocket, something I'd grabbed from a classroom earlier.
"Here's what I'm thinking..."
I sketched out a rough map of the training ground on the stone floor.
"The field is divided into four zones, which probably means four different types of hazards. Forest zone, water zone, fire zone, and... let's guess earth or stone zone."
[ LOGICAL DEDUCTION SKILLS: IMPROVING. ]
[ CONTINUING ANALYSIS. ]
"Vespera hid the flag somewhere, and she's testing our ability to work together. That means the flag is probably in the most dangerous zone, requiring all our skills to reach it."
"The fire zone." Kieran said quietly.
"I can feel intense heat emanating from the eastern section."
"Perfect. So here's the plan. Garrick, you draw out the training constructs. Keep them busy, but don't try to fight all four at once. Kite them, make noise, be annoying."
"I'm great with it." he confirmed.
"Morrigan and Lisette, you provide support for Garrick. Slow down the constructs, create obstacles, do whatever you can to keep them from overwhelming him."
"Oooh, we get to play~" Morrigan clapped her hands together.
"Kieran, you and I will search for the flag. Your eyes can detect magical traps and hidden dangers. My job is to actually retrieve it once we find it."
"A sound strategy." Kieran agreed.
"Though I should warn you, if we encounter a construct while separated from the others, our combat options are limited."
"Then we'll have to be smart about it." I looked at each of them.
"Everyone clear on the plan?"
Three nods (and one doll nod).
"Good. Let's move out."
_______________________________________________________________________
The training ground had transformed.
Where there had been an open field this morning, now stood four distinct zones, each radiating a different type of danger. The northern section had become a dense forest with trees that moved and shifted.
The western section was flooded with water that bubbled ominously. The eastern section glowed with barely contained flames. And the southern section had turned into a maze of stone pillars and crumbling walls.
[ ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSFORMATION DETECTED. ]
[ VESPERA'S MAGICAL CAPABILITIES: EXTRAORDINARY. ]
[ NOTE: THIS LEVEL OF REALITY MANIPULATION REQUIRES IMMENSE POWER. ]
"She really went all out..." I muttered.
A mechanical screech echoed from the forest zone.
"That's our cue." Garrick said, rolling his shoulders.
"Come on, Morrigan. Let's go make some noise."
The two of them headed toward the forest, leaving Kieran and me to approach the fire zone from a different angle.
As we moved, Kieran spoke softly. "Edward, may I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"When you fought Garrick this morning, I noticed something unusual about your movements..."
Each step feels like he observed me deeply
"You fight like someone who's been weak their entire life. Every instinct is geared toward survival, not victory. It's... inconsistent with the Edward everyone describes from before."
My heart rate spiked.
[ WARNING: INTERROGATION DETECTED. ]
[ HE IS TESTING YOU. ]
"...I see....but people change..." I said carefully.
"Near-death experiences have a way of reshaping priorities and their mind."
"True. But change typically builds on what was there before. It doesn't replace it entirely." He paused at the edge of the fire zone.
"I'm not asking you to reveal your secrets. We all have them. I just want you to know... whatever you're hiding, it doesn't bother me. As long as you watch my back in that forest, I'll watch yours."
It was the same thing he'd said after our first meeting. But hearing it now, after everything I'd learned, it carried more weight.
"Thank you." I said honestly.
"That means more than you know."
He smiled slightly. "Now then, shall we brave the flames?"
The fire zone was exactly as hellish as it looked. Walls of flame erupted from the ground at irregular intervals, the heat so intense I could feel my skin drying out. The air shimmered and danced, making it hard to see more than a few meters ahead.
[ ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD: EXTREME HEAT. ]
[ RECOMMEND: STAY HYDRATED AND MINIMIZE EXPOSURE TIME. ]
[ CURRENT BODY TEMPERATURE: RISING. ]
Kieran walked ahead with confidence, his bandaged eyes somehow navigating the flames with perfect precision.
"This way." he said, stepping around a spot just before fire erupted from it.
"The flames follow a pattern. Once you see it, navigation becomes simple."
"You can see the pattern through the bandages?"
"I can see many things." He said calmly.
"There's a construct ahead. Fifty meters, moving in a patrol pattern."
I crouched low, trying to spot it through the heat haze. Sure enough, I caught a glimpse of something moving, a vaguely humanoid shape made of brass and flame, wielding a sword that burned with magical fire.
[ ANALYZING CONSTRUCT... ]
[ TYPE: FIRE ELEMENTAL GUARDIAN ]
[ THREAT LEVEL: MODERATE TO HIGH ]
[ WEAKNESS: WATER-BASED ATTACKS, COLD MAGIC, OR PHYSICAL DISRUPTION OF CORE. ]
'We don't have water or ice magic. And I'm definitely not strong enough for physical disruption.'
"We need to go around it." I whispered.
"Agreed. Follow me closely."
Kieran led us on a winding path through the fire zone, somehow always knowing exactly where the next flame would erupt and steering us clear. It was unnerving watching him navigate with such precision while supposedly blind.
After ten minutes of careful movement, we reached what appeared to be the center of the fire zone, a raised platform surrounded by a moat of molten... something. It glowed orange and bubbled like lava.
And there, on the platform, stood a flag pole with a silver flag fluttering despite the complete lack of wind.
"Found it." Kieran announced.
"Great. Now how do we get to it?"
[ ANALYZING OBSTACLE... ]
[ MOAT WIDTH: APPROXIMATELY 3 METERS. ]
[ JUMPING DISTANCE REQUIRED: 3.5 METERS TO ACCOUNT FOR LANDING SPACE. ]
[ HOST JUMPING CAPABILITY: 2.1 METERS. ]
[ CONCLUSION: IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT ASSISTANCE. ]
"I can't jump that far...."
"You don't need to." Kieran began unwrapping his bandages.
"I'll use my eyes to find the safe path."
"Wait, you said that would leave you vulnerable?"
"For ten minutes, yes. But if we time it correctly, you can retrieve the flag before the vulnerability becomes critical."
He finished removing the bandages, revealing those mesmerizing silver eyes.
"Trust me."
The moment his eyes opened fully, the world seemed to shift. I could see, actually see, lines of light connecting everything, showing the flow of magic, the structure of reality itself.
"What... what am I seeing?"
"A fraction of what I see constantly." Kieran said, his voice strained.
"The truth of all things. Now look at the moat."
I focused on the molten barrier. The lines of light showed that it wasn't solid, there were gaps, places where the magic was weaker, forming a pattern of stepping stones invisible to normal sight.
"There." Kieran pointed.
"Step exactly where I indicate. Don't hesitate, don't second-guess. The safe spots will only last a moment before shifting."
"You've got to be kidding..."
"Now!"
I ran forward and jumped. My foot landed on seemingly empty air above the moat, but it held, some kind of invisible platform formed by the gaps in the magical field. I jumped again, following Kieran's shouted directions.
"Left! Two meters forward! Right! Now straight!"
Each leap was an act of pure faith. One wrong step and I'd fall into that burning moat.
[ HOST HEART RATE: CRITICAL. ]
[ ADRENALINE LEVELS: MAXIMUM. ]
[ RECOMMENDATION: FOCUS ON BREATHING. ]
I made the final jump and rolled onto the platform, my heart hammering against my ribs. The flag was right there, within arm's reach.
But as I grabbed it, an alarm blared throughout the training ground.
[ WARNING: SECONDARY DEFENSE ACTIVATED! ]
The fire construct we'd avoided earlier appeared at the edge of the moat, its flame-sword raised. But that wasn't the worst part.
Three more constructs emerged from different directions, a water elemental from the flooded zone, an earth golem from the stone maze, and a wind spirit from the forest.
All four of them began converging on our position.
"Kieran! We've got company!"
"I see them." His voice was tight with pain.
"But I can't maintain my eyes much longer. The strain is too much."
I looked at the flag in my hands, then at the approaching constructs, then back at Kieran who was swaying on his feet.
[ ANALYZING TACTICAL SITUATION... ]
[ FOUR CONSTRUCTS, TWO OPERATIVES. ]
[ DIRECT CONFRONTATION: SUICIDE. ]
[ RECOMMENDATION: SIGNAL FOR BACKUP. ]
"How do I signal Garrick and Morrigan?"
"The flag." Kieran gasped.
"Wave it. The training exercise protocol includes a distress signal function."
I grabbed the flag and waved it frantically. A pulse of silver light shot up into the sky, visible from anywhere in the training ground.
The constructs moved faster, sensing their prize was about to escape.
The fire guardian reached the moat first, and unlike me, it simply walked across the molten surface as if it were solid ground. Its burning sword swung at my head.
I dropped flat, feeling the heat singe my hair. Rolling to the side, I grabbed a loose stone from the platform and hurled it at the construct's chest, aiming for what looked like a glowing core.
The stone bounced off harmlessly.
[ PHYSICAL ATTACKS INSUFFICIENT. ]
[ MAGICAL CORES REQUIRE MAGICAL DISRUPTION. ]
'Then we're screwed because I don't have magic!'
The construct raised its sword for another strike. I scrambled backward, but there was nowhere to go, I was on a platform surrounded by molten death.
Then a massive boulder sailed through the air and crashed into the fire construct, sending it tumbling off the platform.
"HEADS UP!"
Garrick landed on the platform with enough force to crack the stone, Morrigan riding on his shoulders.
"Did somebody call for backup?" he grinned.
Behind them, Lisette had grown to full size again and was engaged in combat with the water elemental, her spectral claws raking through its liquid form.
"Kieran's eyes are failing!" I shouted.
"We need to get him out of here!"
Morrigan hopped off Garrick's shoulders and rushed to Kieran, who had collapsed to his knees. She began chanting something in a language I didn't recognize, and a soft green glow enveloped him.
"Healing magic?" I asked.
"Stabilization magic." she corrected.
"His eyes burned out some of his neural pathways. This will keep him functional until we can get proper medical care."
The earth golem and wind spirit arrived simultaneously. The golem was massive, easily three meters tall, made of compacted stone and clay. The wind spirit was barely visible, just a vague outline of compressed air with glowing eyes.
"Edward, take the flag and run!" Garrick commanded.
"Get Kieran and Morrigan out. I'll hold them off!"
"Are you insane? There are four of them!"
"I've fought worse odds!"
He grabbed the fire construct that was climbing back onto the platform and threw it bodily at the earth golem.
"GO!"
[ ANALYSIS: GARRICK'S CHANCES OF SURVIVAL IF LEFT ALONE: 34.2% ]
[ HOWEVER, TEAM SURVIVAL INCREASES IF OBJECTIVES ARE SECURED. ]
[ DIFFICULT DECISION REQUIRED. ]
I hated this. I hated leaving someone behind. But Garrick was right, getting the flag and the injured Kieran to safety was the priority.
"Morrigan, can you help Kieran move?"
"Lisette can carry him!"
The doll shrank back to normal size and floated over. Somehow, despite her small frame, she lifted Kieran effortlessly and positioned him on her shoulders.
"Let's move!" I grabbed Morrigan's hand and ran toward the edge of the platform.
The moat was still there, still molten, still impossible to cross.
"Any ideas?" Morrigan asked.
I looked at the flag in my hands. Silver fabric, magical energy coursing through it.
'Edith, can this flag do anything useful?'
[ ANALYZING MAGICAL PROPERTIES... ]
[ RESULT: FLAG CONTAINS SHIELD-TYPE ENCHANTMENT. ]
[ ACTIVATION WORD: "SANCTUARY" ]
"Worth a shot. SANCTUARY!"
The flag flared with brilliant light and expanded, forming a circular barrier around us. The barrier touched the moat, and the molten liquid receded, creating a safe path.
"Run!"
We sprinted across the temporary bridge, the flag's magic holding back the deadly heat. Behind us, I could hear Garrick roaring as he fought the constructs.
We made it to the other side just as the flag's magic sputtered out. I turned back to see Garrick surrounded by all four constructs, his body covered in burns and cuts.
But he was smiling.
"Is that all you've got?!" he bellowed, grabbing the earth golem's arm and using it as a club to smash the fire construct.
[ UNIT 'GARRICK' COMBAT CAPABILITY: EXCEEDING PREDICTIONS. ]
[ BERSERKER TRAIT ACTIVATED. ]
[ HIS POWER INCREASES WITH INJURY. ]
The wind spirit tried to attack from behind, but Garrick spun and caught it somehow, actually grabbed the compressed air and slammed it into the ground hard enough to disperse its form temporarily.
The water elemental surged forward, trying to drown him. Garrick opened his mouth and drank it.
"What the hell?!" I shouted.
"Enhanced physiology!" Morrigan explained.
"His body was modified to absorb elemental attacks and convert them to strength!"
Sure enough, Garrick's muscles seemed to swell even larger. He grabbed the earth golem with both hands and lifted it overhead despite it being twice his size.
"TIMBER!"
He slammed the golem down onto the fire construct with devastating force. Both constructs shattered into pieces, their magical cores cracking.
The wind spirit reformed, but it seemed hesitant now. The water elemental tried to retreat back to its zone.
Garrick didn't let them. He charged the wind spirit, his fist somehow connecting with its intangible form, and the impact created a shockwave that dispersed it completely.
The water elemental fled, dissolving into the flooded zone.
Garrick stood alone on the platform, breathing heavily, covered in wounds but victorious.
He saw us watching and raised both fists in triumph.
Then he collapsed.
"GARRICK!"
I ran back across the moat, which was already starting to reform. Morrigan was right behind me.
We reached him just as his eyes were closing. Up close, I could see the extent of his injuries, severe burns, deep gashes, and what looked like several broken bones.
[ SCANNING UNIT 'GARRICK'... ]
[ CRITICAL INJURIES DETECTED. ]
[ IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION REQUIRED. ]
"Morrigan, can you stabilize him?"
"I'm not that skilled yet..." she said, panicking.
"Lisette, help!"
The doll set Kieran down gently and moved to Garrick. Her small hands glowed with that same green light, but it flickered weakly.
"It's not enough." Morrigan whispered, tears forming in her eyes.
"I'm not strong enough..."
I pulled out the communication crystal Seraphine had given me.
"Seraphine, if you can hear this, we need medical help at Training Ground Seven. NOW!"
The crystal pulsed once, acknowledging the message.
Seconds later, the training ground's magical barriers deactivated. Real medics rushed in, actually prepared, as if they'd been standing by.
"We've got them!" one medic shouted.
"Get the healing mages here!"
Vespera appeared in a flash of gold light, her expression unreadable as she surveyed the scene.
"Well..." she said calmly.
"That was certainly educational."
"Educational?!" I shouted at her, all fear momentarily forgotten.
"Garrick almost died! Kieran burned out his neural pathways! This was supposed to be training, not actual combat!"
"And you all survived," Vespera pointed out.
"You completed the objective, coordinated as a team, adapted to changing circumstances, and demonstrated resourcefulness. That is the point of training."
"But!"
"Garrick knew the risks. So did Kieran. So did you." Her golden eyes fixed on me.
"In six days, you'll face worse than training constructs. Would you rather learn your limits in a controlled environment, or discover them when a real monster is trying to eat you?"
I wanted to argue, but I couldn't. She was right, and I hated that she was right.
The medics were already working on Garrick and Kieran. Morrigan sat next to them, Lisette in her arms, looking small and scared.
[ TEAM STATUS: SEVERELY DAMAGED. ]
[ RECOVERY TIME: MINIMUM 24 HOURS. ]
[ TRAINING EFFICIENCY: SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED. ]
Vespera placed a hand on my shoulder. "You did well, Edward. Your tactical thinking saved lives today. Hold onto that skill. You'll need it."
She vanished, leaving me standing in the wreckage of the training ground, holding a silver flag that suddenly felt far heavier than it should.
_______________________________________________________________________