Their names appeared on the leaderboard by midday.
[Zone 4B] Current Score Rankings
1st, Nclai Azrael / Lyra Wyrden, 540 pts
2nd, Dullian Vraek (Solo), 410 pts
3rd, House Thorne Squad (4), 360 pts
The projection hovered above every checkpoint stone. And the moment their score updated, the other students saw.
Some whispered. Some clenched their fists. Some took it as challenge.
......
Lyra leaned over the next boulder, breathing heavier than before. Her clothes were marked by streaks of green ichor. The snake-beast they'd just slain was still curling in its death throes nearby.
"I'm going to punch whoever made these things immune to fire."
Nclai didn't respond. He was already carving off the Sigil Core embedded in the serpent's skull. It shimmered faintly with stored mana.
+80 Bonus Points Acquired
Score Total: 620 pts
Current Standing: 1st
Lyra stood again, stretching her shoulders with a groan. "We're making enemies with every sigil we grab."
Nclai looked up. "Let them try."
She raised an eyebrow. "You've got a little murder in your voice today."
"I don't like being chased."
They moved again.
......
The jungle canopy thinned slightly as they approached the ruins of a broken observatory, a good checkpoint location and a place where students could rest or defend more easily.
Other teams were already there, three squads and one solo B-rank.
The moment Nclai and Lyra entered the clearing, all eyes shifted to them.
One group, red-haired nobles from House Argen, stood up immediately. Their captain, a tall boy with long lashes and a curved saber, offered a polite nod.
"Azrael. Wyrden."
Nclai said nothing.
Lyra offered a half-wave. "Hey."
The captain smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"You two are doing well. Scoring like that, it paints a target, you know?"
"Then they can aim better," Nclai said, stepping past.
Lyra followed, her voice low. "That one's fake nice. Let's keep moving."
But they didn't make it far.
By the time they cleared the eastern edge of the clearing, another group waited, this one masked in gray leather, foreign academy uniforms under illusion cloaks.
Not from their school.
Not part of the test.
......
The ambush came fast.
A flicker of shadow across the trees. Then a blur. A knife screamed toward Nclai's neck...
Clang.
Lyra deflected it with the flat of her blade. "They're not students."
The second attacker came from above, short-blade aimed for Nclai's back.
He didn't dodge.
He commanded.
"Stop."
The assassin froze mid-air. For 3 seconds. Just enough.
Crack.
A snap of blood twisted upward and shattered the man's ribs.
But there were three more. And they were fast.
Too fast.
......
"Lyra, move! "
One came at her blindside. She parried, pivoted, stabbed upward...
But not fast enough.
A thin dagger slipped past her side, shallow but clean.
She gasped, stumbled back, and her foot caught a loose stone.
"Damn it..."
Her back hit the ground.
The second assassin raised his blade.
"Lyra."
......
Nclai's world narrowed.
Blood Control: Activated
He didn't flick.
He ripped.
A wave of blood poured from the serpent corpse behind them, ribbons, claws, spikes forming in mid-air and launching at once.
The assassins turned, but it was too late.
Slash. Crack. Tear.
Two dropped. One more escaped into the trees.
Nclai was already kneeling beside Lyra.
She clutched her side, biting her lip.
"I'm fine," she hissed. "Not deep..."
"You're dropping out," he said flatly.
She tried to argue.
He didn't let her.
He yanked the Recall Crystal from her pouch and activated it.
Emergency Recall Activated
Lyra Wyrden – Extraction in Progress...
A circle of white light wrapped around her. She looked at him, frustrated, but also afraid.
"Nclai..."
"I'll finish it."
She vanished.
......
The forest was silent again.
No students.
No allies.
Just blood on leaves.
Nclai stood alone now.
And from the cracked sigil core at his feet, a faint red glow rose once more, his blood responding to him without command.
He clenched his fist.
His voice was cold.
"Let them come!"
......