Lyana did not take her eyes off the transparent board.
The name was still there. Engraved in grey light, fixed, not erased by the crowd or hidden behind shoulders.
"Ryan Darvin."
The name echoed in her head like a sound in a deep well. Darvin. Not an ordinary family. She knew this name. Everyone knew this name – in the academy, in the capital, even in the palace corridors. Darvin was not a hereditary noble title, but it was heavier than any title. A name built on blood, service.
Ryan's older sister, Liara, was engaged to the kingdom's prince. It had not been announced yet, but the nobles knew. They knew as they knew that rain follows clouds. They whispered about it in dark corridors, exchanged glances at banquets, wrote their plans on paper that never saw the light.
Ryan stepped forward after his name was called.
As he moved forward, Ryan noticed some students looking at him.
'What's this? Why are they looking at me?'
Lyana stood frozen in place, as if she were fixed in position. She was looking at Ryan. Her head was spinning.
She thought,
'It's him'
He was there. Standing like stone, looking at the grey entrance, not looking at her. His black hair was slightly long, falling over his forehead. His face was pale, as if he hadn't seen the sun in days. He wore the dark blue robe like everyone else, but he was different. There was something in his stance, in the way his arms were crossed, in the silence that surrounded him like a wall.
It was him.
She had not been mistaken. Not a hallucination. Not a ghost.
He was Ryan Darvin. The boy who had held a sword to her neck in The Back. The boy who had frozen the floor and turned her guards into statues. The boy who had shot an ice arrow toward her shoulder.
She felt a lump in her throat. She remembered suddenly. Liara. Ryan's older sister. Engaged to the kingdom's prince. And Lyana herself – she was close to that prince. She had known him since childhood.he was Her brother.
she whispered.
"Oh no."
She was the reason. If she hadn't gone to The Back that night, if she hadn't distributed food to the children, if she hadn't interfered in Ryan's fight with the man who was beating Ella... he wouldn't have held a sword to her neck. She wouldn't have used her blinding light against him. Lena wouldn't have attacked him with her knife. Sorin wouldn't have nearly killed him.
She was the one who started it all.
And if the guards had succeeded in killing him, she would have been the reason for the death of Liara's brother.
She had to be careful.
*******
After finishing the division, Professor Darius pointed to an entrance behind him.
Ryan had never seen it before.
It was circular. Massive. Made of grey stone that reflected no light. It was over ten feet in diameter, its edges carved with symbols Ryan did not understand. Some were shaped like animals, some like stars, some like eyes that followed you wherever you went.
It resembled a mirror, but reflected nothing – only grey, as if swallowing everything it saw. Looking at it caused a slight dizziness, like staring into a bottomless well.
the professor said.
"This is the door,It takes you to another dimension. A safe place to fight. If you die there, you will return here. You won't truly die. But the pain will be real. The fear will be real. "
He looked at the students. Some knew what the door was. They stepped forward confidently, unafraid. They had entered it dozens of times, knew its taste, knew its danger, knew it wouldn't truly kill them.
Others – like Ryan – were seeing something like this for the first time.
a student behind him whispered.
"How?,How can such a place exist?"
No one answered.
Ryan was thinking. Was it A rare element? An ancient technique lost for centuries?
He remembered Professor Lorian's words about legendary elements. About things no one understands, yet they exist.
Perhaps this was one of them.
He didn't know. But he knew one thing: whoever could create such a place could create many things. And that was more frightening than any fight.
********
The professor spoke:
"Group One"
The first group stepped forward toward Professor Darius.
They walked with confidence – some knew each other, some tried to hide their nervousness. Kayan was at the front, walking as if he owned the world. Lin was behind him, silent, her blue eyes moving slowly. Celine was on the side, smiling a small smile, as if she knew something others didn't. Mara was beside her, close as a shadow that never left her body.
And Ryan was at the back. As usual.
They stood before the professor. Darius looked at them with his cold grey eyes, then pointed to the circular entrance behind him.
"The rules are simple. You will face another team in another dimension. Five against five. Duration: one hour. The team with the most members remaining at the end wins."
He looked at the group.
"The winning team earns points. Points determine your ranking in the academy, your privileges, and even your participation in upcoming competitions."
Some students raised their eyebrows. Others already knew this.
But Ryan did not know.
'Points?'he thought.
No one had told him this before. Mira hadn't mentioned it, and he hadn't read about it in the books he borrowed from the library. He knew the academy had a ranking system, but he didn't know it depended on points earned from fighting.
he asked himself.
"What are these points for?"
But he decided to think about it after he earned those points.
Professor Darius raised his staff. Struck the ground.
Above the grey entrance, transparent screens appeared. They glowed with cold light, showing different landscapes. A dense forest. A barren desert. Stone ruins. Snowy mountains. Each screen displayed a different location within the other dimension.
"These are the arenas you will fight in. They are chosen randomly. You cannot choose the battlefield."
He looked at the group.
"And the team they are facing is Team Seven."