The compound's forest had that specific density of places designed to make it difficult to see too far ahead — the trees were not tall enough to block the light entirely, but tall enough for each clearing to be its own world, separated from the next by a curtain of branches and shadows.
Ishida Taro and Takashima Yui had learned to use it.
The remnant they had just defeated was medium level — three points — and had taken less time than expected, which was an indication that two days of silent training had produced something beyond mutual observation. Ishida's chains had contained it in the exact space Yui needed for the barrier to function as a funnel rather than a shield — not blocking but directing, forcing the remnant to move towards where the chains were already waiting.
Yui's vial glowed faintly as the point registered.
She looked at it. Then she looked at Ishida's vial, which glowed at the same time because they were linked.
"Good," said Yui, with her usual direct assessment.
Ishida did not respond, but he did not object either, which for Ishida was a form of agreement.
What neither of them saw coming was the hand that emerged from between the trees and took Yui's vial before she had finished putting it away.
Yui activated the barrier by reflex — too late. The barrier formed around the space where the vial no longer was, and the person holding it was already several metres away amongst the trees.
Shirogane Mei stopped at a distance sufficient to keep her outside the immediate range of Ishida's chains and opened her fans.
In the monitoring room, the screens showed the confrontation from three different angles.
Sendai Hana's first ability — Combat telepathy: Opens a mental channel with her team during a fight, allowing instant coordination without words. It cuts out if she loses concentration or takes a heavy blow.
Second ability — Mana radar: Can detect any mana source within a two-kilometre radius at all times. It requires no activation or concentration — it functions passively, like an extra sense. She knows exactly how many there are, where they are, and whether they are moving. It is the most effective early-warning system among hunters of her generation.
What the cameras showed was the consequence of those two abilities combined — Hana, standing in a clearing some two hundred metres from the confrontation, eyes closed and with a concentration that from the outside looked like stillness, but was in reality the constant processing of information arriving from every direction simultaneously.
She could feel Yui's mana. She could feel Ishida's. She could feel Shirogane's in front of them. She knew exactly when Ishida was going to throw the chains because the mana concentrated in his hands a second before they came out — and that second was enough to tell Shirogane.
"The chains are going to your right," said Hana, on the channel only Shirogane could hear.
Shirogane had already moved.
"Ishida's ability," said Kato, watching the screens with his arms crossed, "is more versatile than it looks. The chains aren't just restraint — they drain. The longer the contact, the less mana the target has left to respond with."
"And Shirogane knows it," said Yuna, beside him, eyes on the screen where Shirogane kept dodging. "That's why she won't let them near her. She's fighting at distance deliberately."
"Thanks to Hana," said Kagami, from the chair at the back.
"Exactly," said Yuna. "Hana's radar gives her information that no other hunter at her level should have in a fight. And the telepathy converts it into real time."
Kato nodded, looking at another screen.
"The problem," he said, "is that requires Hana to be concentrated and uninterrupted. If something breaks the channel—"
"Everything changes," finished Yuna.
In the forest, the confrontation continued.
Takashima Yui's ability — Barriers: Generates near-unbreakable mana shields that can protect herself, a specific area, or another person. The problem is the cost — a proper barrier drains her quickly, and once exhausted she is completely vulnerable. Which is why her perfectionism is not only a matter of character but of necessity — misjudging when and how to use the barriers can cost her everything in seconds.
Yui calculated in real time — every barrier she activated was a decision, not a reflex. The blade of cutting wind coming from the left: barrier. The one coming from above: dodge, not a barrier, not worth the cost. The one coming straight at her torso: barrier, no choice.
"Ishida," said Yui, without taking her eyes off Shirogane. "You take the chains. I'll close in with the barriers and contain her."
Ishida was already moving.
The chains shot out in wide arcs, covering the flanks of the space where Shirogane could move, reducing her options for dodging. Shirogane read them thanks to Hana and moved towards the only free space — which was exactly where Yui wanted her to be.
The barrier arrived as a wall rather than a shield — not protecting Yui but closing off the available space in front of Shirogane while the chains covered the sides.
Shirogane launched a blade of cutting wind directly at the barrier.
The barrier held. The cost was visible in Yui's expression — not pain but the precise register of how much mana she had spent in that second and how much she had left available.
"The chains are coming from your left," said Hana.
Shirogane turned and dodged them by centimetres.
"And from above."
Shirogane ducked.
The confrontation was two against one and Shirogane was holding it — not because she was stronger but because she had information that Ishida and Yui did not have. Every movement either of them made reached Shirogane before it reached her.
What changed everything arrived without warning from a direction Hana was not watching, because there had been nothing in that direction worth watching.
The remnant emerged from between the trees behind her — weak, level one, probably the kind that had been wandering the forest for a while without any specific direction — and the impact of its presence on Hana's radar arrived at exactly the same moment as the physical impact of something that struck the ground near her feet, making her lose concentration.
The channel cut out.
"Shirogane," said Hana, with the urgency of someone who knows exactly what has just happened and does not need anyone to explain it. "There's a remnant here. I'm going to have to cut off."
In the forest, two hundred metres away, Shirogane processed that in the exact second that Yui launched an offensive barrier and Ishida's chains came out from two simultaneous angles.
Without Hana's voice there was no anticipation.
Without anticipation there was reaction — and a reaction one second late was not enough.
The fight did not last much longer.
Shirogane was good — genuinely good, with a precision in her wind blades that made every one of her offensive movements a real threat. But Ishida and Yui were two, and without Hana's radar the tactical advantage that had sustained the confrontation until now had evaporated.
The chains found her when she tried to respond to Yui's barrier.
They coiled around her arms first — not squeezing, only containing — and then around her torso with the specific slowness of something that knows it no longer needs to hurry.
Ishida looked at Shirogane's vial.
Then at Yui.
"It's not necessary," said Ishida.
Yui looked at him.
"We're in a tournament," said Yui, with her usual directness.
Ishida did not respond immediately. He looked at the vial again — the points glowing inside, earned with more difficulty than he would have expected from a two-against-one.
Then he took them.
Shirogane's vial emptied. Yui's filled with those three points, and Ishida's at the same time because they were linked.
Hana defeated the remnant with two quick blades — not her blades, but those she generated with the fans she always carried as a backup when the telepathy channel was not active — and ran towards where she had sensed the fight ending.
She reached the clearing.
Shirogane was standing, the chains already dissolved, looking at the empty vial with that calm of hers that was not indifference but processing.
Hana looked at the vial. Then at Ishida. Then at Yui.
"I'm sorry," she said, with the specific sincerity of someone who knows exactly where they went wrong and does not need anyone to explain it to them. "The remnant appeared without a signal. I didn't anticipate it."
"It's not your fault," said Shirogane, before anyone else could speak. "We were unlucky." She picked up her fans from the floor and put them away. "We carry on."
Hana nodded.
Ishida's chains had fully dissolved. He looked at them for a moment — his hands, where they had been — and then looked at Shirogane with something in his expression that was not exactly an apology, but came close.
Shirogane was already heading towards the next path.
In another part of the forest, further east where the trees were taller and the clearings wider, Arimoto Kenta was surrounded by fire.
Not in a dangerous way — it was his fire, coming from his palms with that ease he had had since he learned to use it, forming a curtain between the team and the strong remnant they had been facing for several minutes.
The remnant was large. Not the kind of large that moves slowly — the kind of large that moves with enough force that its speed does not need to be exceptional to be problematic. It had natural armour on its torso and arms that Kenta's direct strikes had not fully managed to penetrate.
"It's not doing enough damage," said Kenta, maintaining the fire curtain while stepping back. "The armour absorbs it."
Chiho did not respond verbally. She had the mana bow materialised in front of her — that construction of pure energy that appeared from nothing when she called it, with the arrows already charged and aimed at the remnant that Kenta was containing with the fire.
She fired.
The arrow reached the remnant's right shoulder — the point where the natural armour was thinnest — and this time it did penetrate, leaving a mark that the remnant registered with a sharp movement that was not exactly pain, but came close.
"There," said Kenta, who had seen the same point. "The shoulder."
Chiho was already loading the next one.
Arimoto Kenta's ability — Flames: Generates fire directly from his hands and can shape it in different ways — projectiles, curtains, concentrated bursts. The intensity depends on the mana invested. At greater concentration the fire ceases to be heat and becomes something closer to pure energy that burns even what does not ordinarily burn.
Wada Chiho's ability — Mana bow: Generates a complete bow from pure mana — both the bow and the arrows materialise from nothing and disappear when she releases them or chooses to dissolve them. The arrows can vary depending on the mana invested — from simple projectiles to arrows that explode on impact or split into multiple ones before reaching the target. She always operates from distance, with a precision that fits perfectly with her calculating personality. In close combat it is her weak point.
The remnant charged at Chiho — towards the bow, which was the most visible threat — and Kenta changed the fire curtain for something more concentrated, launching a dense burst that the remnant had to go around rather than through, losing a second of speed.
That second was enough for Chiho to fire twice more — both to the right shoulder, both with more mana than the first, the second with the explosion-on-impact variant.
The remnant stopped.
Then it fell.
Kenta's vial glowed ten times — ten points at once, the maximum per remnant — and Chiho's at the same time.
Kenta looked at the vial with his usual energy.
"Here we go," he said.
Chiho put the bow away without saying anything. But she did not leave immediately — she waited for Kenta to finish checking the vial before setting off again, which was her way of not leaving him on his own, even if she was never going to admit it.
"The bow can be very interesting," said Kagami, from the chair at the back of the room, looking at the screen where Kenta and Chiho's vials were still glowing.
"They're very good," said Yuna, with something in her voice that was between professional pride and the relief of someone who has invested time in people who turned out to be what they had hoped they would be.
"Mine are going to win," said Kato.
Yuna looked at him.
"Even if one of yours wins," she said, "it's still a team with one of mine."
Kato considered that.
"Also true," he said, with a smile.
Tatsu watched the screens with his usual attention, not participating in the conversation, but registering everything.
Kaito and Amane Yūta: 24 points, read the central screen. Tsukino Hina and Harada Jin: 19. Ishida Taro and Takashima Yui: 27. Shirogane Mei and Sendai Hana: 3. Arimoto Kenta and Wada Chiho: 33.
Fifty was the target.
Seventeen points separated the team in the lead from second place. Twenty-six from the one in last.
The forest kept moving.