From atop the towering tree, Azriel crouched, his crimson eyes narrowing as a strange ripple coursed through his gaze.
The pupils shifted. Three crescent moons overlapped, forming a pattern that radiated a silent menace ,he used Sanreon his awakened eyes.
The world sharpened. Distance meant nothing now. By using the trace ability of Sanreon. He could see the faint twitch of a frightened hand gripping a dagger twenty meters away. He could trace the breath of students hiding behind massive roots, their bodies trembling with the effort to suppress their presence. He could count every beast lurking in the underbrush, their fangs dripping saliva as they stalked their prey.
Trace doesn't just slows time of amplifies the vision and reveals the flow of mana itself. He can predict attacks he can predict movements just by seeing the flow of mana.
Some students had already gathered together, forming shaky alliances. Others fought desperately against the island's beasts, blades clashing, spells sparking in panic. A few crouched in shadows, waiting like scavengers for the right chance to strike.
From his vantage point, none of them noticed the predator silently watching from above.
"Pathetic," Azriel murmured, his voice carrying no warmth. "So loud, so desperate."
With a blink, the triple crescents faded, his eyes returning to their natural bloody hue. He tapped the surface of his academy watch. A faint hum echoed as a translucent screen spread into the air before him, revealing the topography of the island.
Jagged cliffs marked the edges. Rivers wove through the jungle like silver veins. At its heart lay the glowing emblem of the Main Island, pulsing faintly like a beacon.
Distance: 20 kilometers.
Azriel closed the map. His lips curled faintly upward.
"Not far."
He stepped from the tree. Chaos energy rippled through his body as he dropped, landing without a sound on the forest floor. Without sparing a glance for the students groaning and bleeding behind him, he began to walk a silent shadow threading through the chaos of the jungle.
The trial had begun. And with each step Azriel took toward the main island, the balance of prey and predator tilted further toward slaughter.
---
Azriel walked calmly towards the main island his steps unhurried. Suddenly the air cracked with a hiss of a bullet. The shot whistled past his ear. He didn't flinch he simply turned his crimson gaze toward the treeline.
The sniper froze. Just that look was enough to send icy fear crawling down his spine.
Before Azriel could even move, the rest of the ambush revealed itself. A swordsman charged from the front, blade flashing. At the same moment, a spear-wielder lunged from the back, their timing perfect.
They moved toward him he stood still and then he twisted his body by ninety degrees. Chaos started sulging through his veins and as the both sword and spear came close to him, his hand gripped them and then with a sound like shattering glass, the spear splintered into dust, the sword reduced to a jagged hilt in its master's stunned grasp.
He didn't pause. His fist slammed into the swordsman's gut air and blood bursting from his mouth as his body was hurled backward. A heartbeat later, Azriel pivoted, his kick smashing into the spear-bearer's arm with bone snapping force. Both figures vanished in flickering light, teleported away as their damage crossed the fatal threshold.
And by seeing all this the sniper panicked. He turned and ran.
But Azriel's eyes narrowed, and chaos gathered in his legs.
In ten seconds he crossed Five hundred meters. The ground blurred beneath him.
The sniper barely had time to scream before Azriel came down on him from above, his fist hammering him into the dirt. The impact left a crater and then, just like the others, the boy's body dissolved into motes of light.
And then his watched buzzed. He checked and it showed his score 30 points. After checking he closed his watch.
Azriel straightened, dusting off his hands as if swatting away an insect. His stride resumed, utterly unchanged, as though nothing had happened. His gaze never once shifted from the path to the main island.
---
At another point on the island, far from Azriel's path, a silver radiance glimmered amidst the jungle's shadows.
Lily stood tall, her cascading hair silvery strands streaked with crimson clinging to her face where blood from the battle traced delicate lines across her skin. The contrast only deepened her beauty, making her look like a warrior born of moonlight and carnage.
Before her, the corpse of a tiger-like beast twitched one last time. Its massive frame was split open, her blade lodged deep in its heart. With a sharp tug, she freed the sword, flicking the blood from its edge in a graceful arc.
She exhaled slowly, chest rising and falling, her breath fogging in the chill air.
Her watch lit up with a faint chime.
Points: 70.
A small, satisfied smile touched her lips. She closed the display and adjusted her grip on the blade. Unlike many who had scattered in panic, Lily's eyes burned with quiet determination.
The distance was barely ten kilometers that separated her from the main island. Her teleportation had dropped her near the heart of the trial. Fortune favored her, but she knew better than to waste it.
She walked scanning the treelines,her steps deliberate as she began the march toward the main island.