The sun was already dipping behind the forest canopy, painting the sky in streaks of orange and deep purple. My body was heavy, my clothes clung with sweat, and every breath felt like sandpaper in my throat. But this was it.The last stretch of the survival test.
Squad Zero.me, Sakura, and Mikio had made it this far without collapsing. Barely.
Sakura's nine-tailed fox aura still shimmered faintly around her, though her movements had slowed, each step more of a shuffle than a bound. Mikio's flames were gone for now; he'd burned through most of his reserves earlier when we were ambushed by that pack of constructs. Now he moved quietly, his eyes sharp, relying on sound to read the environment. And me? My shadow had thinned, its form sluggish against the dirt. Every time I stretched it now, my legs trembled.
But giving up wasn't an option.
"Ten more minutes," Sakura muttered, her voice carrying both relief and dread. "Miss Clarissa said we only need to survive until the clock runs down."
I grunted in reply. Ten minutes felt like an eternity when your energy was running on fumes.
That's when the trees ahead shifted, the shadows deepening unnaturally. I froze, raising a hand for the others to stop. My shadow rippled instinctively at my feet, responding before my brain could.
"Something's coming," I whispered.
The forest air grew heavy, too still. Then a figure stepped out from between the trees. Broad-shouldered, his stance calm but dangerous. Behind him, two others emerged.
Cloud Nine.
Fuji, with his calm eyes and an aura like a mountain. Mikasa, her glasses glinting as her spirit eyes locked onto us, already evaluating. And Talia, her feathered wings twitching as though eager to burst free at the first sign of danger.
My stomach tightened. This wasn't an accident. The test was designed for encounters like this.
Mikasa said softly, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Squad Zero made it this far."
Sakura stepped forward despite her exhaustion, nine tails flickering faintly behind her. "We don't need trouble. Just stay out of our way."
Fuji's lips curved into the faintest of smiles. "If only it were that simple."
The air between us thickened, the unspoken challenge clear. The instructors wanted us to clash. To see how we'd handle it.
Mikio clicked his tongue. "Of course it had to be them."
Before words could devolve further, the forest ground trembled.Loud footsteps, deliberate and heavy. From the opposite side, three more figures emerged.
New Moon.
Jackson, with his unsettling grin and that faint shimmer of blood already forming along his arm. Yuki and Suki flanked him, moving with eerie synchronization, their aura flowing like a perfectly rehearsed dance.
"Looks like we found ourselves a little party," Jackson said, his voice too casual, like this was all a game.
The nine of us now stood in a rough circle, tension crackling in the air. I could feel my heartbeat pounding against my ribs. Squad Zero was tired, but so was everyone else. None of us had it easy.
Miss Clarissa's voice echoed in my memory: "Survival is not just about the wilderness. It's about encounters. Rivals. Conflict. Sometimes, surviving means deciding who walks away."
Great. So this was the final test.
"Do we fight?" Sakura asked me quietly, her voice trembling but determined.
I didn't answer right away. My eyes flicked over Cloud Nine.Fuji's solid presence, Mikasa's rifles that glowed faintly with aura, Talia's restrained but deadly wings. Then to New Moon.Jackson's blood dripping lazily, Yuki and Suki crouched like coiled springs. All strong. All dangerous.
A three-way standoff.
"Depends who moves first," I muttered.
And as if the world heard me, Jackson chuckled. His blood whipped outward, forming sharp threads that lashed toward the nearest target.Fuji.
Chaos erupted.
Fuji's arm hardened with stone-like aura, blocking the crimson whip with a single swing. Sparks flew. Yuki and Suki blurred instantly, vanishing and reappearing behind Mikasa, their blades flashing with aura speed. Mikasa spun, rifles forming in midair, her glasses glowing as she tracked them perfectly.
Sakura let out a gasp. "This is insane!"
I grabbed her wrist, pulling her back as Mikio roared. Sound erupted from him, a blast wave that cracked branches and shoved Yuki and Suki backward mid-strike. He staggered afterward, gripping his chest, already pale from the recoil.
Talia's wings burst open then, feathers scattering like shards of light as she lunged at Jackson. He grinned, meeting her with a shield of blood that hissed against the sharp edges of her feathers.
It was like the entire forest exploded into violence at once.
And we were in the middle.
"Stay close!" I barked, my shadow surging outward instinctively to form a barrier around Sakura and Mikio as stray bullets from Mikasa's rifles streaked past. My knees buckled at the strain, the barrier flickering. Too much light from the setting sun made it weak.
Sakura's tails glowed faintly, her eyes narrowing. She lifted her hands and suddenly the chaos dimmed, just for an instant. A wave of emotion or lack of it washed over us. My panic dulled, my nerves calmed. It was her nullification ability, even if she didn't fully understand it yet.
"Go!" she shouted.
I didn't hesitate. I lunged forward, my shadow stretching like blades toward Yuki and Suki, forcing them to veer off their assault on Mikasa. My legs burned as I kicked, aiming for Suki, but she moved like smoke, her blade grazing my arm. Pain shot through me.
Behind me, Mikio let out a ragged yell.Fire exploding from his hands, forming the half-shape of a burning goddess's hand. Hand of the Goddess. The flame slammed toward Fuji, who met it head-on, his body solidifying like granite, absorbing the impact with a grunt.
Even weakened, Mikio's power made the ground quake. But he collapsed right after, the backlash hitting him hard.
"Mikio!" Sakura screamed, darting toward him, her tails lashing protectively.
My shadow wrapping around them defensively while I faced the chaos ahead. Blood, fire, stone, feathers, aura bullets.it was all colliding in flashes, each squad refusing to give in.
But I could see it now. This wasn't about winning. It was about surviving. About showing we could hold our ground, not necessarily tear the others apart.
So I planted my feet, drew every ounce of strength left, and slammed my shadow into the dirt. It burst upward, forming a wall that separated us from the storm of attacks. My vision blurred from the effort, my knees locking as the barrier held just long enough.
"Enough!" I roared.
Maybe it was desperation, maybe it was the faint spark of my emotion-control ability kicking in but for a second, everyone froze. Their eyes flicked to me, shadows stretching unnaturally under the blood-red sunset.
Then, as if on cue, a loud horn blared through the forest.
The signal. The end of the test.
The chaos stopped, powers fading one by one. Breathing ragged, shoulders slumped, we all stood there in silence. Squad Zero. Cloud Nine. New Moon. Nine bodies, exhausted, battered, but still standing.
Miss Clarissa's voice carried across the clearing, amplified by some unseen device.
"Well done, students. You've survived not only the wilderness but each other. This concludes your survival test."
Relief hit me like a tidal wave, my legs nearly giving out.
But her next words froze the air in my lungs.
"Rest well tonight. Tomorrow, the practical training begins. And if you thought today was harsh… you haven't seen anything yet."
The forest was silent again, but the tension between squads lingered. And as I helped Mikio back to his feet, Sakura leaning against me, I realized something:
This wasn't just training anymore.
This was war in the making.
And for Squad Zero… it was only the beginning.