The Faultline Guardian rose like a monolith ripped from a collapsing star.Metal plates shifted across its body in jagged layers, forming a crude but overwhelming armor.Mana bled from the cracks in its frame—unstable, volatile, alive.
Its eyes flared with violent crimson.The temperature dropped.
Even in a simulation, the killing intent felt real.
Jarek's bravado evaporated.
"No way… that thing's Tier C. We're only supposed to fight D's."
Aria's voice remained steady, but a faint tension tightened her jaw.
"The simulation is malfunctioning. Or someone raised the parameters."
Elias said nothing. He already knew the truth.
Simulations didn't "malfunction."Not here. Not in the Cadet Regime.
Someone wanted them pushed to the edge.
Or broken.
The Guardian crouched.
Metal groaned.
Then it launched forward with impossible speed.
Jarek barely had time to react.
"One—!"
His arm came up far too slow.
"—shit!"
The Guardian's massive fist slammed down where he had just been standing, crushing the floor into a crater.
The shockwave sent Jarek skidding backward across the metal tiles, gasping for breath.
Aria's eyes glowed faintly.
Her mind accelerated.
Her breathing slowed.
She moved before thought could form.
"Left!" she shouted.
Jarek stumbled aside just in time as the Guardian's second strike shattered the space where his skull had been.
Aria ducked under its arm, her hand brushing against its plating in a calculated motion.
Time bent around her touch.
The Guardian's joints stiffened for a fraction of a second—long enough to create an opening.
An opening Elias took instantly.
He moved with no hesitation.
No wasted motion.He slid under the Guardian's arm and drove his metal shard deep into the exposed joint along its ribs.
The Guardian roared, twisting violently.
A shockwave burst outward.
Aria leapt back.Jarek got thrown to the ground.
Elias watched the Guardian carefully, eyes tracking its shifting mana patterns.
The System whispered to him.
Weak point identified — Core instability detectedPrecision strike recommended
A faint blue glow pulsed beneath its chest plates—a core of compressed mana, unstable and volatile.
But reaching it required getting past a creature whose arms could tear steel.
Jarek scrambled to his feet.
"Ward! What the hell is wrong with you? Getting that close—"
Elias didn't answer.He didn't need to.
Aria had already noticed the same thing he had.
Her gaze flicked to the pulsing light under the Guardian's armor.Then to Elias.A silent exchange.
She understood.
But Jarek didn't.
"How do we even hurt this thing?!" he shouted, backing away as the Guardian's shadow swallowed him."This is too much—it's impossible!"
Aria's voice cut through him like frost.
"Then step aside."
The Guardian charged again.Aria moved first, slipping between its legs in a narrow roll.Her hand tapped the back of its knee—predicting the motion before the creature even shifted its weight.
It staggered.
Not much.But enough.
Elias was already there.
He moved faster than he should have.Faster than a Torch Bearer.But not fast enough to draw suspicion.
His shard slashed across the exposed joint in the Guardian's side.
Sparks burst into the air.
The Guardian roared, spinning violently.
The shockwave hit Elias square in the chest.
The world blurred.Metal slammed into his back.
Pain ripped through him—
—but no fear touched his eyes.
Pain was familiar.Pain was information.
Jarek rushed over.
"Ward! You alive?!"
Elias sat up slowly, breath steady.
"Yes."
Jarek blinked."That should've broken your ribs—"
Elias stood.He didn't respond.
Because the Guardian was turning, its crimson gaze locked onto him now.
It sensed priority.Threat level.Intent.
Aria's voice came from behind him.
"Ward. Your movements—"
She didn't finish.Her words trailed into silence, swallowed by thought.
She was assessing him.Calculating him.Reconstructing his patterns.
He couldn't let her read too deeply.
The Guardian crouched again, plates grinding, mana bleeding through its cracks like molten light.
Twenty tons of killing instinct focused on him alone.
Jarek panicked.
"It's targeting him! Do something!"
Aria's jaw tightened.
"We need to destabilize the core. If it charges again, the mana flow will spike. When it does—"
But Elias was no longer listening.
The System flared inside him like a second heart.
Echo Absorption: ChargedNearby death signature detected — Guardian Core unstablePotential absorption value: High
His fingers tightened around the shard.
He stepped forward.
Jarek grabbed his arm instantly.
"Are you insane?! That thing will crush you!"
Elias looked at him.
Calm.Detached.Cold.
"If it crushes me," he said quietly, "you're next."
Jarek froze.
Elias tore his arm free and sprinted directly toward the Guardian.
Aria's eyes widened.
"Ward—!"
The Guardian lunged, fist descending like a falling mountain.
Elias didn't slow.
He slid beneath the blow, boots skidding across metal.His shard flashed upward in a narrow arc, driving into the fissure beneath the core.
The Guardian convulsed violently.
The chamber trembled.
Mana flooded the air.
Aria seized the opening.
She moved with perfect precision, her hand tapping the creature's collapsing knee.Time warped around her touch—
—and the Guardian faltered.
Elias slammed his palm against the core.
A burst of light erupted.
The world shook.
The Guardian exploded into a storm of dust and fragments.
A cold message unfolded before Elias's eyes.
Spiritual fragment absorbedMajor combat memory obtainedMinor physical reinforcement obtainedMinor mana attunement obtained
He exhaled slowly.
The chamber fell silent.
Jarek stared at him in disbelief.
Aria watched him with unreadable eyes.
Not fear.Not admiration.
Understanding.
Dangerous understanding.
Elias lowered the metal shard.It was bent now.Almost broken.
Footsteps echoed behind them as the chamber reconfigured for phase three.
Aria stepped closer.
"You're not what you appear to be," she said quietly.
Elias met her gaze.
Neither of them blinked.
"But neither," he replied, "are you."
Her breath caught—a small, almost invisible reaction—before she turned away.
The chamber doors rumbled open.
Phase three awaited.
Jarek swallowed hard.
"Guys… I really hope phase three is easier."
Elias almost smiled.
It wouldn't be.
And he wouldn't have it any other way.