I moved first.
Not toward them.
Through them.
My body dropped low.
The nearest hunter reacted immediately.
His right foot shifted.
There.
I saw the opening before he realized he had created it.
I slipped past his extended arm and drove my shoulder into his side.
THUD!!
He staggered.
Not far.
Just enough.
Another hunter was already there.
A fist came toward my face.
I tilted my head.
The punch missed.
My hand caught his wrist.
I pulled.
He resisted.
So I released him.
The sudden absence of resistance disrupted his balance.
He stumbled forward.
Straight into the path of another attacker.
BOOM!!
Their shoulders collided.
For half a second—
the formation broke.
I didn't waste it.
I stepped through the gap.
Three meters.
Two.
One—
A blade of compressed energy appeared beside my neck.
I twisted.
The blade passed through empty air.
A second strike followed immediately.
I blocked it with my forearm.
Pain shot through my arm.
Too strong.
I used the force instead of fighting it.
My body rotated.
The attack carried me around the hunter.
My heel struck his ribs.
BAM!!
He slid backward.
But before I could follow—
someone was behind me.
I didn't turn.
I ducked.
A fist passed over my head.
My claws touched the floor.
I spun low.
My leg swept across the ground.
The hunter jumped.
Exactly as I expected.
I smiled.
Too predictable.
I rose with him.
My palm struck his abdomen.
BOOM!!
His body flew backward.
But I didn't watch where he landed.
Because the others were already moving.
Ten opponents.
Ten bodies.
One battlefield.
And now—
I was inside their rhythm.
The next attack came from my left.
I moved right.
Another came from the right.
I stepped forward.
A third descended from above.
I lowered my body.
The strike passed over me.
My movement continued.
Step.
Turn.
Slide.
Strike.
No wasted motion.
The difference was subtle.
I wasn't becoming faster.
They weren't becoming slower.
I was simply beginning to arrive where their attacks weren't.
A hunter lunged.
I shifted.
Another followed.
I shifted again.
A third tried to intercept me.
I stopped.
His eyes widened.
He had expected me to continue moving.
I didn't.
His attack passed beside my shoulder.
I drove my elbow into his chest.
CRACK!!
He retreated.
But another had already replaced him.
No gap.
No pause.
Their formation adapted.
Good.
So did I.
I stopped trying to break the entire formation.
Instead—
I attacked its connections.
Whenever one fighter moved forward, another had to compensate.
Whenever one retreated, someone else filled the space.
That was their strength.
It was also their weakness.
They trusted the pattern.
I only needed to make the pattern betray them.
A hunter attacked.
I evaded.
Another came immediately behind him.
I didn't retreat.
I stepped toward the first.
He expected me to escape.
I didn't.
Our shoulders nearly touched.
His eyes widened.
I turned.
The second hunter's attack passed between us.
He froze.
I pushed the first fighter into his path.
BOOM!!
The two collided.
Not heavily.
But enough.
The rotation hesitated.
One heartbeat.
That was all I needed.
I broke through.
The chamber erupted behind me.
Energy tore across the floor.
The hunters recovered almost instantly.
I glanced over my shoulder.
They were already reorganizing.
No frustration.
No panic.
Just adaptation.
A laugh escaped me.
"So you can learn too."
A new pair charged.
This time—
I didn't wait.
I rushed them.
Their expressions changed.
The first swung.
I ducked.
The second kicked.
I caught his ankle.
For an instant, his balance disappeared.
I pulled him forward.
His companion instinctively adjusted to avoid hitting him.
That was the mistake.
I released the ankle.
My fist drove into the first hunter's stomach.
BAM!!
He bent forward.
My knee followed.
THUD!!
He stumbled back.
The second recovered.
Too late.
I stepped inside his range.
Palm to chest.
BOOM!!
He flew backward.
The surrounding hunters moved immediately.
Six.
Then eight.
Then all ten.
They stopped rotating.
They surrounded me.
My smile faded.
That was new.
The formation changed.
They had abandoned the rhythm I had been exploiting.
Now they were adapting around me.
Auras rose.
The chamber trembled.
The gravity pressed harder against my body.
My muscles tightened.
My breathing became heavier.
The hunters spread apart.
No obvious pattern.
No predictable sequence.
They had understood what I was doing.
Now they were removing the weakness.
I stared at them.
Interesting.
Azharyon's voice came from somewhere beyond the battlefield.
"Now watch."
I didn't look toward him.
My eyes remained on the ten.
The first hunter disappeared.
Then another.
Then another.
They weren't attacking together.
They were attacking from different timings.
One arrived early.
Another late.
Another waited.
Another changed direction halfway through.
No rhythm.
No repetition.
Ordered chaos.
I moved.
A strike grazed my shoulder.
Pain flashed.
Another hit my ribs.
I twisted away before it landed fully.
A third attack forced me backward.
I landed.
The floor cracked beneath my feet.
My breathing grew heavier.
For the first time since I had understood their formation—
I was being pushed.
Not because they had become stronger.
Because I had become predictable.
My eyes narrowed.
So that's what they wanted.
They weren't trying to overwhelm me.
They were forcing me to rely on the pattern I had learned.
The realization came quietly.
I smiled.
"Good."
I wiped the thin line of blood from my mouth.
"Then I'll stop predicting."
I closed my eyes.
Only for a heartbeat.
The chamber disappeared.
No hunters.
No formation.
No strategy.
Only sound.
Footsteps.
Breathing.
Energy.
Pressure.
Movement.
My eyes opened.
The world returned.
But I wasn't looking for patterns anymore.
I was watching intent.
The nearest hunter moved.
I stepped aside.
Another attacked.
I ducked.
A third changed direction.
I followed.
Not because I knew what he would do.
Because I felt the decision before the movement finished.
My body moved naturally.
No calculation.
No hesitation.
The first strike missed.
The second missed.
The third—
I caught.
My fingers closed around his wrist.
His eyes widened.
I pulled him forward.
He collided with another hunter.
BOOM!!
The formation cracked again.
But this time—
I didn't chase the opening.
I waited.
Because another attack was coming.
I turned.
Blocked.
Countered.
Moved.
Again.
And again.
The battlefield became faster.
Louder.
More violent.
Yet inside my mind—
Everything became strangely quiet.
Across the chamber, Zephyrax's expression changed.
Azharyon noticed too.
He smiled.
"He stopped chasing the pattern."
Zephyrax's eyes narrowed.
"He's reading them individually."
Azharyon nodded.
"That's the difference."
Back inside the formation—
I smiled.
I finally understood.
Ten opponents did not mean ten attacks.
It meant ten decisions.
Ten instincts.
Ten intentions.
And every decision left a trace.
I didn't need to understand all ten at once.
I only needed to understand the one standing in front of me.
The next hunter lunged.
I stepped forward.
Our eyes met.
For the briefest instant—
I saw hesitation.
I moved.
My fist struck his chest.
BOOM!!
He flew backward.
The remaining nine attacked immediately.
I lowered my stance.
Energy crackled across my skin.
The pressure increased.
The chamber shook.
And yet—
I was smiling.
Because this was no longer about surviving ten opponents.
It was about learning how to read ten minds moving through ten bodies.
And I had only just begun.
The hunters charged.
I charged too.
This time—
neither side waited for the other.
The collision came like thunder.
BOOOOOOM!!
And somewhere beneath the roaring chamber—
the trial answered.