The ruins outside the city were silent when Oliver arrived, too silent for a place that once held thousands of people. The broken towers leaned over the cracked streets like tired giants, their windows reflecting nothing but the dull red glow leaking from distant Rift scars in the sky. Even the wind sounded different here, as if it whispered warnings instead of moving air.Oliver tightened the strap on his gloves and stepped forward. The System hovered faintly in his vision, lines of quiet blue text sliding across his sight every few seconds.[Tracking Hayes Energy Signature.][Signal Weak but Active.][Warning: Stealth Recommended.]Oliver inhaled slowly. He kept his steps steady and his breathing even as he walked deeper into the ruins. Every shadow looked like it wanted to reach for him. Every crack in the concrete made his skin crawl.He sensed movement behind him and stopped immediately.Iris slipped out from behind an old pillar, crossing her arms with a stubborn look. “You r

Rain poured from the night sky like a broken river as Oliver ran across the shattered academy courtyard.Each footstep splashing in cold water that mixed with soot and ash from the earlier explosions, and the storm seemed almost alive, as if the sky itself cried for what had been lost. The air smelled of burnt metal and broken wards. The walls trembled under the last waves of energy left from the raid, and despite the fires dying slowly in the distance.Oliver could feel only one thing in his chest, sharp and cold like a knife pressed between his ribs. The artifact was gone. He had failed.He reached the far end of the courtyard just as Iris caught up with him, her hair soaked, droplets sliding down her face like tears she refused to show. “Oliver, wait,” she said breathlessly, grabbing his arm. “We need to regroup first, Kael is calling a full lockdown, we need a plan.”Oliver pulled his arm free, voice tight and trembling. “There is no time for plans. They took it, Iris. The one th

The world looked different the next morning, as if the sky itself had been drained of color. Oliver walked across the academy courtyard with slow, steady steps, feeling the weight of every glance that followed him. Students stared at him like he was a walking omen. Some whispered his name with fear, others with suspicion. No one dared approach him. But none of that mattered. Not today.Because today, he was following the faint trail of energy left by Andre Hayes, and every part of his body felt tense, ready, and restless.He left before dawn, slipping past the half-functioning wards, past the cracked gates and the long shadows cast by broken lampposts. He did not tell Kael. He did not tell Iris. This was something he had to do alone. If he brought anyone else, Hayes would use them against him.The sky was hushed and almost bruised in color as he walked across the field, the grass cold under his boots. The System remained silent, but sometimes it flickered at the edge of his vision

Oliver opened his eyes to a world covered in silver mist.For a long moment he did not move. His breath formed small clouds in the cold air. A quiet ringing echoed in his ears, the after effect of teleportation. Slowly he pushed himself up from the damp ground and looked around.The testing zone was nothing like the academy training fields. Here the trees were towering pillars of strange wood, their branches glowing faintly like threads of moonlight. The soil was warm beneath his fingers even though the air was icy. Every direction felt alive, as if the entire forest was listening to their arrival.A soft rustle came from behind him.“Oliver,” Iris whispered. Her voice sounded small inside the fog. She knelt nearby, brushing dirt from her clothes. “We made it. It really sent us in.”He nodded slowly. “Stay close. The survival phase starts the moment we wake up.”The System confirmed his words. A clear notification slid across his vision:[Survival Exam – Day One Begins][Objective:

The sky above the Trial zone changed color before Oliver even reached the clearing. The mist brushed away like a curtain, revealing a sky streaked with deep red light. The clouds swirled like fire slowly twisting across the heavens. Even the air grew hotter, as if something enormous was breathing warm gusts into the forest.Rhea stopped walking and pressed a hand to her chest. “This is not normal weather.”Iris gripped her staff tighter. “It’s the beacon. The System said it would activate at dawn.”Oliver felt the ground tremble beneath his feet. Not enough to knock him off balance, but enough to make his muscles tense. The temperature climbed with every step they took. Sweat rolled down the side of his neck, and his breath came out warm.“It’s starting,” Oliver said quietly.They stepped out of the tree line and into a vast clearing shaped like a bowl of scorched earth. Blackened grass crackled under their boots. At the center stood the beacon, a towering crystal pillar glowing li