[Target Eliminated.]
[System Sync Preserved.]
[Trial Segment: Cleared.]
Merlin breathed once.
Not relief.
Just confirmation.
'Next one'll be worse.'
He turned.
Three more fights still happening.
His wasn't the first.
It wouldn't be the last.
—
Merlin didn't move.
He sat where his shadow died, blade still resting against one thigh, breathing steady.
Across the chamber, Flint was locked in.
Not fighting with style. Just force.
Sword to blade. Elbow to ribs.
He wasn't trying to out-think himself.
He was trying to kill it before it could become him.
Merlin watched.
Not just to recover.
To measure.
'He's holding back. Still doesn't trust what he sees in it.'
Mae was further back.
Her shadow didn't move like hers.
It twitched. Mocked.
Dodged slow. Smiled too wide.
Every step it took was hesitation fed back into her body.
She was shaking.
Still fighting.
'Good,' Merlin thought. 'That's the first threshold. Survive the mirror. Then the rest follows.'
