"Oh my god…"
The words slipped out of someone's mouth—quiet, stunned, barely above a whisper. But they captured what everyone else was thinking.
They stood there, scattered across the blood-soaked wall, weapons still clutched in trembling hands, breathless and bruised. Yet none of them could look away from the battlefield below.
The instructor stood alone, framed by smoke and flame. His sword was still burning. The corpse of the Bloodhound lay motionless behind him, its massive frame split open and smoldering. Beside it, the shaman's broken body had already begun to decay, its twisted staff shattered in two.
Noah swallowed hard.
He wasn't sure what stunned him more—that the instructor had won, or that he'd done it like it was nothing.
Nobody spoke.
Not even Ava, who always had something to say.
Not Devon, who usually cracked a joke just to piss someone off.
Even Amanda was still, her fingers frozen on the string of her bow, half-drawn as if she'd forgotten to breathe.
Then the instructor turned.
Flames still flickered along his arms as he walked back toward them, every step deliberate, unhurried. The same man who'd barked at them during training, who'd kicked Mark in the ribs for hesitating, now approached with blood on his blade and smoke trailing in his wake.
He looked… calm.
Almost disappointed.
When he reached the wall he jump up as if taking a normal step on the stairs. He then stopped just short of the closest student—James—and looked around slowly.
No one dared meet his eyes.
Until he spoke.
"…Not bad."
A few students blinked; unsure they heard him right.
"You didn't run. You followed orders. Some of you even used your brains." His voice was rough, but steady. "More importantly…"
He scanned the group again.
"…You didn't lose anyone."
A quiet gasp rippled through the students. It was only now, really now, that they realized: every single one of them was still standing.
Bruised. Bloodied. Burned.
But alive.
Even he looked surprised by that.
"…Huh." His lips twitched. Not quite a smile, but close. "Guess I don't need to break any legs today."
Laughter bubbled out of a few people—nervous, half-hysterical.
Then—FZZZZZT!
A sharp hum cut through the air, followed by a shimmer of crackling blue light.
Noah's head snapped upward.
"Oh, come on…"
Hovering above the battlefield like a smug god descending from the heavens was a familiar figure of polished chrome and glowing eyes.
"CONGRATULATIONS, SURVIVORS!" Rudy's voice boomed, far too cheerful for a battlefield littered with corpses. "I must say, I am pleasantly surprised! You all did so well! Barely anyone cried!"
The instructor look up glad to see his lord.
Rudy spun dramatically midair, clearly unbothered. "I mean, look at you! No deaths! Barely any permanent trauma! You've exceeded expectations! In fact…"
He paused.
Noah's gut tightened.
"…You may have just unlocked access to Phase Three."
Rudy's eyes flickered, his tone practically dripping with glee. "Oh, the lovely Phase Three! A real treat for you all."
Then, in an instant, he was moving.
Rudy shot up, twirling through the air in a dizzying loop, then swooped down so low that Ava had to duck to avoid getting smacked in the face. He zipped around like a child on a sugar rush, spiraling, flipping, and spinning so fast that even Noah started feeling secondhand motion sickness.
"As you see," Rudy announced, throwing his arms wide in the middle of a mid-air backflip, "I like to call Phase Three the Affinity Phase!"
He came to an abrupt stop just above them, his eyes glowing a little brighter. "Why, you ask?" He gasped dramatically, placing a metal hand over his nonexistent heart. "Because this is when you truly bond with your power! When you stop fumbling with your affinity like a clueless toddler and start wielding it like a warrior!"
He zipped to the left. Then the right. Then upside down.
Noah had to fight the urge to swat him out of the air like a particularly annoying fly.
"Right now, you're dabbling," Rudy continued, his voice taking on a patronizing lilt. "A little spark here, a flicker of mana there—maybe even a dramatic slow-motion spear throw." His gaze definitely flicked toward Noah.
Noah's jaw clenched.
Rudy spun again. "But that's not mastery! That's luck!" He paused, hovering upside down in front of Amanda. "Tell me, dear participant, can you use your affinity without thinking? Without hesitation?"
Amanda's eyes narrowed. "Not yet."
"Exactly!" Rudy snapped his fingers and flipped right-side up again. "And that is the problem! Because in real combat, you won't have time to think!"
His tone dropped into something lower. Something sharper.
"This is where you stop treating your affinity like some cool trick and start treating it like a part of you. By the end of Phase Three, your affinity should feel like an extension of your body. Like breathing. Like blinking. Instinct."
He paused.
Then, with a slow, eerie grin, he added, "Or, well… at least for those of you who survive."
The air around them seemed to shift.
No one spoke.
Noah didn't even have to look to know that some of the students stiffened, their hands clenching around their weapons.
Rudy let the silence stretch just long enough to be uncomfortable.
Then, as if nothing happened, he twirled midair and threw his arms out again. "So! Over the next few days, you will be tested. Not with simple sparring, oh no. Not with 'warm-ups' or 'controlled environments.'" His voice dipped into something mocking at those words.
"This time, your affinity will be pushed. Broken down and rebuilt. You'll be placed in real situations—dangerous situations—where you must rely on it. Not just to fight." He tilted his head, his eyes glowing just a little too bright. "But to live."
Noah exhaled slowly.
There it was.
The catch.
"This is where you sync with your power," Rudy continued. "Where you learn its limits. Its rules. Its price."
A beat of silence.
Then he beamed. "Doesn't that sound fun?"
Nobody answered.
Ava crossed her arms. "And what happens if we don't learn it?"
Rudy's grin widened.
"Well…" He tilted his head, voice dropping into something almost playful. "Then you're going to die in a very unfortunate and horribly painful way."
Another beat of silence.
"…Right," Ava muttered, rolling her eyes. "Figured."
Rudy clapped his hands. "Marvelous! I love when people catch on quickly!"
He spun once more before floating higher, his excitement still buzzing like an overcharged battery.
"But for now! Rest! Reflect! Think about how you barely scraped by today! Because after tonight…" His glowing eyes flicked down at them, his usual cheerfulness dipping just slightly.
"No more walls. No more safety nets. Just you, your affinity, and the reality of what it really means to wield power."
A heavy silence fell over the group.
Noah tightened his grip on his spear.
Amanda exhaled slowly.
Devon smirked, but there was no amusement in his eyes.
And for the first time since the fight ended, Noah realized something.
The tutorial?
It wasn't just about survival anymore.
It was about becoming something else entirely.
And whether that was a good thing…
Or something much, much worse.
They were about to find out.