The third sunrise in the Wild Grid looked nothing like morning.
The sky was pale orange, but the light felt tired—like even the sun was done with everyone's nonsense.
Rynn sat on a cliff ledge, chewing on what might've been bread if you squinted.
Jun sat beside him, holding a tiny fish on a stick over a flickering fire.
"You think this thing's edible?" Jun asked.
"It's moving," Rynn said.
"That's enthusiasm," Jun replied. "I respect that in food."
Lyra groaned from the shade of a rock. "You two are hopeless. This is an exam, not a camping trip."
"Feels like both," Rynn said. "Except the camping part's hosted by sadists."
She snorted but didn't argue.
---
The Map
Kael appeared out of nowhere, quiet as dust, holding a holographic pad.
"Found something," he said.
Jun jumped. "Where did you—how long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough to know you tried to eat a live fish," Kael said, scrolling through data.
Lyra stood. "What's that?"
"Map fragment," he said. "Shows the Grid's center. That's where they drop the relic cores."
Rynn frowned. "So, like, a final destination?"
Kael nodded. "Exactly. The problem is—"
A distant explosion cut him off.
---
Smoke on the Horizon
They climbed the ridge. Smoke twisted upward from the valley below.
Dozens of contestants fought in a chaotic ring of sand and light, relics flashing.
Rynn counted at least three bodies on the ground.
Lyra's jaw tightened. "Looks like the Guild found their entertainment."
Jun looked sick. "They're killing each other over cores. How many are there?"
Kael zoomed in on the hologram. "...Five."
Rynn stared. "Five relics. For a hundred people."
The silence that followed said everything.
---
The Center
When they reached the heart of the Grid, the sun was already dipping low.
The relics glowed faintly on raised pedestals, each one pulsing like a heartbeat.
Dozens of examinees circled them—tired, hungry, desperate.
Rynn could feel the tension like static in the air.
The Guild drones hovering above projected the same message over and over:
> "Only five may pass this stage. Elimination by any means is permitted."
Jun blinked. "Wait—did they say five?"
"Yup," Lyra muttered. "They're not even pretending this is fair anymore."
Kael sighed. "The Guild doesn't care about fairness. It cares about results."
Rynn's grip tightened. The world suddenly felt very, very small.
---
The Chaos
The first scream came before anyone moved.
A bolt of relic energy streaked across the clearing. Then another.
The crowd erupted.
Fire, wind, shards of glasslight—people fighting not for glory, but for survival.
Jun ducked behind a rock. "I vote we don't participate."
Lyra's scanner beeped rapidly. "Too late. They're spreading the fight this way."
Kael's voice stayed calm. "Stick together. Don't go for the relics. Go for distance."
They started to move when a stray explosion tore through the ground beside them.
Rynn fell hard, rolling until his head hit the dirt.
Through the smoke, he saw one of the contestants—a girl with short white hair—trying to crawl toward a relic pedestal.
Someone reached her first.
A man twice her size.
She barely screamed before he struck her down.
The relic core fell beside her, glowing faintly.
The man reached for it, but it shattered.
Light spilled upward, then faded.
> "Unstable," Kael muttered. "She wasn't chosen."
Rynn's breath caught.
"Chosen?"
Kael's expression didn't change. "Some relics reject people. They're not compatible."
---
The Realization
When the smoke cleared, only a handful of contestants still stood.
Guild drones descended, recording everything in perfect silence.
One voice boomed overhead:
> "Five remain. The rest are disqualified."
"Disqualified," Jun whispered. "That's one word for it."
The drones began carrying the bodies away. Efficient. Indifferent.
Lyra turned away. "Let's go."
Rynn didn't move. His eyes stayed fixed on the broken relic and the girl who'd reached for it.
She'd been maybe sixteen.
Barely older than him.
He felt… nothing. Or maybe too much to name.
Just the distant hum of the Grid and the whisper of that voice again:
> "Learn."
---
End of Chapter 5
---