I let out a slow, tired breath, my fingers tightening around the leather hilt of Tempest. The air around the blade warped slightly, a faint crackle of my new Expert Low power humming against the steel.
I looked at the wall of nearly three hundred candidates forming a tight circle around us. Behind them, thousands more were watching like vultures.
Seriously? I thought. They really want to do this right now? We just saved their lives from a Grade 5 mental trap, and they want to hunt us for points?
"If any of you bastards takes a single step forward, I'm not holding back," Alice growled, lifting her longsword back onto her shoulder. Beside her, Roan tilted his silver spear forward, his eyes turning cold.
But before the first strike could land, a shift in the air made everyone freeze.
The crunch of loose gravel broke the silence. From the ruined stone trenches, a single figure stumbled into the clearing, drawing the eyes of the whole crowd.
