The space between fights had gone quiet in a different way now, not exhaustion exactly, more like the recruits had settled into watching each other the way people study something they're trying to memorize.
Jin was already scanning the remaining names when Daehyun stepped forward, catching him before he could call the next pairing.
"Actually," Daehyun said, glancing toward Areum, "I want to fight her."
Areum blinked, caught off guard. "Me? I already went."
"I know," Daehyun said. "I still want to test something."
Jin's brow lifted slightly. "Test what?"
Daehyun rolled his shoulders, and a length of chain slid out from beneath his sleeve, coiling loosely around his forearm with a faint metallic hiss. "Metal conducts heat," he said. "I've been wondering all morning whether that actually matters in a real fight, or if it's just something that sounds true. Figured the only way to know for sure is to find someone who can actually set my chains on fire and see what happens."
