## CHAPTER 44: Thoughts
The dappled sunlight of the Forbidden Sector played across Caspian face, but he hardly noticed the beauty of the shifting gold on the forest floor. He moved with a rhythmic, feline grace, his boots barely making a sound against the mulch. Around him, the atmosphere was uncharacteristically light for a survival exam. Caspian was part of a balanced quartet: Casel, a mountain of a boy with a heart of gold; Lyra, fiercer fighter; and Elisa, whose quiet demeanor hid a wellspring of supportive magic.
Unlike the tension-filled groups of his other "misfit" friends, Caspian team was operating like a well-oiled machine. They had already secured three rubies—a vibrant red, a deep sapphire blue, and a pale sun-yellow.
"Are you sure we haven't missed the last one?" Elisa asked. Her voice was soft, like the rustle of leaves, carrying a gentle worry that always made Casel want to stand a little taller.
"No, we couldn't have," Lyra replied, her eyes darting between the thick barks of the ironwood trees and the jagged rock formations lining their path. "The Proctor said they could be anywhere—clinging to a branch, tucked into a knot-hole, or buried any where. We just have to keep our eyes peeled."
Caspian remained at the lead, his hand resting habitually on the hilt of his sword. While Lyra focused on the search, Caspian mind was a whirlwind of dark conjectures. He wasn't thinking about rubies or grades. He was thinking about the empty desks back at Althelgard Academia—the missing students. There was a rot beneath the surface of this school, a shadow that moved when no one was looking.
---
The sudden hum was the only warning.
From behind a massive, moss-covered trunk ahead of them, a creature erupted into the clearing. It didn't crawl; it flew with a heavy, droning vibration that rattled the fillings in Casel's teeth. It hovered ten feet above the ground—a bee, but twisted by the sector's mana into a titan sized version. It was a hundred times its natural size, its compound eyes shimmering like multifaceted obsidian, and its stinger was the length of a cavalry saber, dripping with a translucent, amber venom.
"Is that... a bee?" Casel yelled, his feet rooting to the spot. The sheer scale of the insect was beyond anything the academy's bestiary had prepared them for.
"Let's go!" Lyra reacted instantly. She stepped forward, her hand on the hilt of her sword. But before she could even take a step, Caspian moved.
To the others, it was a blur of silver. Caspian didn't just charge; he vanished and reappeared. He passed the bee's flank with a speed that defied the eye, a single, sharp *hiss* of steel escaping its sheath. He landed bee-hind the creature in a low crouch, his back to the monster as he smoothly clicked his sword back into its scabbard.
For a heartbeat, the bee remained suspended in the air. Then, a thin red line appeared across its thorax. With a wet, heavy sound, the creature's lower body slid away, followed by the rest of its massive form. It hit the ground in two distinct pieces, neon-yellow fluid gushing into the dirt.
"W... wo... wow," Lyra stammered. The slaughter had been so clinical, so fast, it felt like she was watching a master at work. She shifted her gaze to Caspian, who was standing up and dusting off his knees.
"His reaction time... it's beyond ordinary," she thought, her brow furrowing.
"Who is he? Really? Who are all of them?" She felt a prickle of intrigue.
"That was amazing!" Casel cheered, breaking the tension as he rushed past Lyra to clap Caspiy on the shoulder.
"I found the ruby!" Elisa's voice drifted from the far side of the clearing. She was pointing at a massive fallen log, where an orange-tinted stone was wedged deep into a hollow at the base of a standing tree.
Lyra shook off her shock and stepped toward Casel. "Can you and Elisa go get it? If anyone can move that tree trunk to clear the gap, it would be you."
Casel grinned, cracking his knuckles with a loud *pop*. "On it. Come on, Elisa!"
The two moved toward the log, leaving Caspian and Lyra standing alone in the center of the clearing.
---
The silence between Caspian and Lyra stretched, becoming heavy and awkward. Caspian gaze was fixed on the horizon, his eyes distant once more.
"What is he thinking about?" Lyra wondered, her eyes lingering on his profile.
"It's like his body is here, but his mind is somewhere else"
She realized that if she didn't speak, the air would turn to lead. "You were really fast, Caspian," she said, trying to sound casual. "If I had blinked, I would have missed it entirely."
"I'm not even the fastest," Caspian replied absently.
Lyra eyes widened. The sheer nonchalance of his statement was more shocking than the kill itself. Caspian blinked, the sound of his own words finally catching up to his ears. He snapped his head toward her, seeing her stunned expression, and realized he had let his guard down. He felt a sudden, frantic urge to laugh at his own stupidity, but he suppressed it, clearing his throat.
"I meant... I'm not the fastest in the school," Caspian corrected, trying to smooth over the blunder.
Lyra wasn't't buying it. She crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing into slits. "His reaction... he's trying to change his words," she thought.
"Do you have anyone in mind?" she pushed, her voice laced with suspicion.
"Who is faster than you?"
"Hmm," Caspian hummed, rubbing his chin as he searched for a plausible lie. "That guy in Class A... the one with the blonde hair? I've kind of forgotten his family name."
Lyra face went dull. She had been expecting him to name one of the other misfits—Zerav, or Silas..
"Forget it," she said, frustrated.
"A..."
Caspian started to speak, but the word was cut short by a sound that felt like the earth itself was being torn in two.
---
*THUD.*
A gargantuan sound erupted from the forest ahead, followed by a violent tremor that nearly knocked them off their feet. It was as if a giant had stepped onto the land from a great height. Dust clouds billowed through the trees, thick and choking, obscuring everything beyond twenty feet.
Caspian and Lyra drew their swords in a synchronized flash of steel, their bodies dropping into defensive stances. They stared into the swirling grey haze, waiting for the nightmare to emerge.
As the dust began to settle, a massive figure loomed through the gloom—then another.
"Are you seeing this?" Lyra whispered, her knuckles white on her hilt.
"Yes," Caspian responded, his voice cold and focused. "You take the one on the left. I'll take the right. We meet Casel and Elisa on the other side."
"Got it," Lyra agreed.
They were a split second from lunging into the haze when a familiar, soft voice echoed from within the dust cloud.
"I've got it!"
Both Caspian and Lyra froze, their blades wavering. It was Elisa's voice, but it sounded... different. Empowered.
Before they could process the confusion, a **BOOM** of such titanic proportions erupted that it sent a visible shockwave rippling through the forest. The air turned into a physical hammer, slamming against Caspian and Lyra. They crossed their arms over their faces, digging their heels into the dirt as the force threatened to toss them backward like autumn leaves.
When the shockwave subsided and the dust cleared instantly, the scene revealed was breathtaking.
Elisa was clinging to the trunk of a tree for dear life. Her hair was a wild, tangled mess—the ultimate "bad hair day"—but the disarray only served to highlight a raw, savage beauty on her dazed face.
But it was Casel who held their attention. He was standing perfectly still, his massive frame unfazed by the blast. His hands were stretched out together before him, palms open, as if he were holding the echoes of the explosion. His eyes were glowing with a pale, electric intensity.
"**Magnification...**" Casel whispered, his voice booming with a strange, metallic resonance.
"**THUNDER CLAP.**"