The field shimmered before us — a sprawling expanse of runic light stretching a hundred meters across.
Dozens of glowing sigils floated in midair like suspended suns, humming with raw mana. The air smelled of lightning and ozone, and faint distortions rippled like heat waves across the ground.
Colonel Zhang stood on a raised stone platform overlooking us.
"This trial measures precision, speed, and control. The runes ahead are traps and gates — some will explode, others will restrain, and a few will distort space itself. You must cross to the end without fainting or losing control of your energy. Any use of flight or high-tier mobility techniques will result in immediate disqualification."
He raised one hand and pointed to the far end of the glowing field, where a massive obsidian slab pulsed like a beating heart.
"Only those who touch the Obsidian Gate will pass. Survive, and you will have proven your control."
The moment he dropped his hand, the world erupted.
Mana surged through the field — beams of golden light slashed upward like whips. The ground split, releasing flashes of blue flame that hissed and arced like serpents. Dozens of recruits bolted forward.
Instantly, the first explosion went off.
BOOM!
A boy in red robes was thrown backward, his body rolling across the ground before he vanished in a shimmer of teleportation light — disqualified.
Alex and I exchanged a glance.
"Left side," I muttered.
He nodded. "You take the traps; I'll handle distortions."
We leapt forward.
The first row of sigils flared beneath our feet, spinning in patterns that revealed overlapping formations. I saw the faint symbols for compression and discharge — mana bombs. I raised my hand, channeling fire mana through my fingertips.
"—Ignis Veil."
A thin sheet of flame burst from my palm and wrapped around the rune, containing the explosion before it detonated. The heat seared my arm, but I kept moving, twisting midair to avoid the next flare of blue lightning.
Beside me, Alex danced through the distortions with a grace that bordered on inhuman. Each step he took bent space slightly, his movements leaving faint silver afterimages. The first time he had used that ability, it was uncontrolled — now it flowed like water.
We passed three fields in a blur, leaving trails of burnt ozone behind us.
Around us, chaos reigned.
A group of eastern cultivators — the strong ones from the endurance trial — tried to brute force their way through with pure qi reinforcement. Their bodies glowed crimson, but the moment they hit a reflective barrier, the energy bounced back and blasted them backward.
"Idiots," Alex muttered.
I grinned. "Overconfidence kills faster than traps."
Halfway through the field, the formation lines changed color — glowing from blue to purple. That was bad.
The purple sigils pulsed in sequence, and suddenly the air turned viscous. Time itself seemed to stretch. My movement slowed, every heartbeat dragging like syrup.
"Temporal rune," Alex said grimly, voice distorted as though through water.
My thoughts were sluggish, but instinct kicked in. Fire mana burned time — the property of acceleration was one of flame's hidden aspects. I pushed my mana outward in short bursts, heating the air to destabilize the rune's influence. The sluggishness faded slightly.
"Alex, boost me forward!"
He nodded once and slammed his palm into the air. Space twisted like glass, creating a burst of compressed pressure that shot me forward like a bolt.
I hit the next platform and rolled, narrowly avoiding a collapsing gravity field that crushed the stone tiles into dust.
By the time I regained my footing, my heart was pounding like a war drum. Every sense was alive — each rune, each distortion, each thread of mana in the air sang to me.
The Obsidian Gate loomed only fifty meters ahead.
Then the field shifted again.
The sky darkened, and a monstrous construct rose from the ground — a humanoid guardian made of molten rock and lightning, easily five meters tall. Its eyes glowed white-hot as it drew a sword forged of pure mana.
I cursed. "They didn't say anything about a guardian!"
Alex's expression hardened. "That's the final test."
The golem charged, the ground trembling under its weight. Each step shattered the tiles.
I sidestepped its first swing — a massive arc of lightning that scorched the air where I'd stood a heartbeat before. The shockwave threw debris everywhere. I countered with a burst of flame from my palms, blasting upward into its chest. The explosion lit up the entire field — but when the smoke cleared, the creature still stood, its molten body reforming.
Alex appeared behind it, spatial ripples forming around his fists. He slammed both hands into the creature's back, bending space at the point of impact.
CRACK!
The golem staggered, its upper torso twisting unnaturally before it regenerated again.
"It's regenerating from ambient mana!" Alex hissed.
"Then we'll drain it faster than it can absorb!"
I let the fire surge from my core — crimson flames turning golden as they drew on every ounce of mana I had. The air shimmered with heat distortion. Alex's aura expanded in turn, warping the field around us into a storm of rippling light.
The golem raised its blade for a killing blow—
We moved simultaneously.
"Blazing Step!"
"Spatial Rend!"
The world became a blur of heat and distortion. I flashed upward, slamming my burning palm into the golem's chest as Alex tore open space itself beneath its feet. The creature screamed as the void swallowed its lower half, flames devouring the rest.
When the explosion faded, nothing remained but molten slag.
I hit the ground hard, breathing raggedly. My mana reserves were nearly empty. Alex staggered beside me, sweat running down his jaw.
We looked up — the Obsidian Gate pulsed softly, only a few meters away.
"After you," he said hoarsely.
"Together," I replied.
We touched the gate at the same time.
The moment our fingers met its surface, the field went silent. Every rune deactivated, every glow faded into darkness.
From the platform above, Colonel Zhang rose slowly. The faintest trace of a smile touched his lips.
"Remarkable," he said softly.
The rest of the recruits collapsed in exhaustion around us — fewer than twenty had reached the gate at all.
And as we stood there, panting amid the fading sparks of battle, I could feel it again — that weight of destiny pressing down, whispering that this was only necessary.