The training hall hadn't cooled since the last match. The acrid scent of ozone and smoke clung stubbornly to the walls, the floor still scarred with blackened scorch marks and jagged gouges from uncontrolled powers. Even with the nurse dragging the battered cadets out one by one, the First Division's twenty prodigies refused to relax.
This wasn't school anymore. It was survival practice.
Solarius stood silently in the center of the hall, a golden weight pressing on every chest. No words, no theatrics—just his presence. The room hushed without command.
"Next."
That single word, deep and absolute, echoed across the walls.
Team A stepped forward.
Haruto grinned like the whole thing was his stage. Crackling arcs of blue-white electricity danced around his fists, crawling across his forearms like living snakes. He let them snap loudly, intentionally drawing stares. "Try not to blink. This'll be quick."
Beside him, Ayaka bowed politely, frost trailing faintly from her fingertips before fading into the floor. She didn't look at Haruto, didn't share his bravado. Her pale eyes flickered once toward the nurse's office—where the last match's losers were still being tended to—and then back to her own hands. She exhaled slowly, steadying herself.
Their opponents stepped out from the opposite side.
Mei rolled her shoulders, stretching her slender arms, her lips curled in a mischievous half-smile. As she breathed, faint wind currents stirred around her, tugging at her short hair. "Don't underestimate me," she said softly, voice carrying just enough to sting Haruto's pride.
Behind her came Daigo—massive, stone already crawling across his skin. His body transformed into a walking fortress, each movement grinding like slabs colliding. He cracked his neck, glaring forward. No words. He didn't need them. His very presence screamed unyielding wall.
The contrast couldn't have been sharper: lightning and frost against wind and stone.
Solarius' hand rose slightly, golden aura spilling across the chamber. "Scenario: Apartment block. Twenty minutes. Police against robbers. Team A—you capture. Team B—you escape. Begin."
The countdown lights flashed green.
---
Haruto bolted instantly, a crack of thunder chasing his first step. He charged into the simulated building, boots smashing the tiles, sparks leaping from his trail. "I'll fry them before they take three steps!"
"Wait—!" Ayaka hissed, but he was gone. She followed reluctantly, frost blooming along her path in nervous bursts.
Inside, the building shifted into narrow hallways, splintered doors, cramped rooms with dim lighting. Perfect terrain for chaos.
Mei smirked, vanishing the moment Haruto rounded a corner. Echo Steps shimmered across the hall—afterimages flickering everywhere, each darting in different directions. Her laughter echoed unnaturally, bouncing off walls.
Haruto snarled, lightning bursting out in wild arcs, frying three of the illusions in an instant. "Cheap tricks! Show yourself!"
Behind him, Daigo slammed through a wall, his massive stony fist missing Haruto's head by inches. Plaster exploded, the floor shaking.
Haruto staggered, shocked at the raw force, before leaping back and firing a bolt directly at Daigo's chest. Sparks snapped violently against the stone plates. Daigo barely flinched, smoke curling, but his skin beneath began to redden.
Ayaka arrived late, eyes wide. She raised her hands, sending frost spiraling across the floor to slow Daigo's movements. Ice crawled up his legs, locking him briefly.
"Now!" she shouted.
Haruto didn't hesitate. Lightning coiled up his arms before launching into Daigo's frozen body. The current surged through the ice, amplifying the blast. For a split second, Daigo screamed, body shuddering violently, cracks running across his stone plates.
The cadets watching gasped.
But Mei was already in motion. Her body blurred, wind sweeping through the hall, slamming against Ayaka and breaking her frost control. Daigo staggered, but roared, smashing his stone fists down and shattering the ice with brute force.
"You'll pay for that!" he bellowed.
---
The fight spiraled into chaos.
Lightning lit up the cramped halls, reflecting off shards of ice. Mei darted in and out of vision, her afterimages multiplying until the space looked crowded with phantoms.
Ayaka tried to keep control, her breath ragged as frost spread uncontrollably, coating walls and ceilings, threatening to bury the whole floor in permafrost.
Haruto, overzealous, hurled a thunderbolt at an afterimage, the blast tearing half a wall apart. The structure groaned, smoke rising from blackened beams.
"Damn it, she's too fast!" he cursed.
"Because you're wasting energy!" Ayaka snapped back, frustration bleeding through her calm facade. She froze another patch of ground in Mei's path, forcing the speedster to stumble.
But Mei recovered mid-spin, wind cushioning her, twisting her body gracefully through the air before landing. Her smirk widened.
"Almost got me."
Meanwhile, Daigo kept coming. Each step thundered, each swing carved the air like a wrecking ball. Haruto blasted him again and again, arcs frying the stone plates until cracks glowed red. But the giant refused to fall, his stubbornness terrifying.
"Fall already, you bastard!" Haruto shouted, electricity snapping violently across his body.
"You first," Daigo growled, slamming his fist down. Haruto rolled away just in time, the ground caving under the impact.
---
Fifteen minutes gone. Both teams looked ragged.
Mei's breaths came shorter, sweat clinging to her skin. Daigo bled under his cracked stone armor, crimson seeping through.
Haruto trembled, his lightning growing unstable, arcs biting into walls dangerously. Ayaka's arms shook, frost climbing uncontrollably up her own skin.
And then, it happened.
Haruto and Ayaka, mid-chaos, synced. By accident.
Ayaka's ice spread across the floor in jagged veins, catching Daigo mid-charge. The frost crawled up his legs, locking him. Haruto, instinctively, unleashed his full current—lightning surging through the frozen network.
The blast was catastrophic. The entire hall glowed white-blue, Daigo screaming as his body convulsed violently.
Mei rushed in, screaming his name, but the shockwave threw her aside.
She hit the wall, leg caught in spreading ice, frozen solid. She howled in pain, clawing at her thigh.
Daigo roared again, smashing his fists down, breaking the ice—but the damage was done. His body cracked, bleeding heavily, his breaths ragged.
---
"Enough."
Solarius' voice snapped the world in two. His golden aura flared once, and all combat froze. Even Haruto's lightning fizzled out like water doused it.
"Victory—Team A."
The announcement fell heavy, not celebratory.
Haruto panted, grinning despite his exhaustion, arms trembling from the strain. "Told you… too easy."
Ayaka collapsed to one knee, frost clinging to her skin, shivering uncontrollably. Her eyes were glassy, her lips pale.
Mei cursed viciously, pounding the frozen floor. "Fuck! Fucking—shit!" Her leg throbbed purple beneath the ice.
Daigo slumped, stone plates crumbling away. Blood dripped steadily from his arms, his jaw clenched in silence.
The nurse rushed forward, assistants carrying stretchers.
Solarius said nothing for a long moment, his gaze sweeping over the wreckage—the shattered walls, scorched beams, half-frozen floors. His cadets. Children. Already looking like corpses on a battlefield.
Finally, his voice cut sharp as a blade.
"Strength without control kills more allies than enemies. Remember that."
No one dared respond.
The silence that followed was heavier than the destruction itself.