The Great Waterfall was the heart of the forest. The sound of thousands of tons of water crashing into the deep blue basin below was like constant thunder. The mist rose high into the air, making everything damp and cold.
Nara walked toward the edge of the water, his hands in his pockets. His eyes were constantly moving, analyzing the trees, the rocks, and even the falling water. Behind him, Riku and Reina were on high alert. They had 120 points, and they knew they needed a big win to finish the test.
"Something is coming," Riku whispered, his hand hovering over the water in the air. "And it's not a beast."
Nara didn't turn around. "I know. The air is changing. It feels... heavy."
From the opposite side of the clearing, three figures emerged from the dense fog.
It was Levi's group.
Levi walked in the center, his expression as cold and sharp as the sword at his hip. Shiro walked to his right, her white eyes glowing faintly in the mist. Elara followed, her staff gripped tightly.
As the two groups saw each other, the world seemed to go quiet. Even the roar of the waterfall felt distant. This was the meeting of the two strongest students in the academy.
Riku and Reina stepped forward, their Anym flaring up. Elara raised her staff, sensing the threat. The tension was so thick it felt like it could snap a tree trunk.
Levi stopped ten feet away from Nara. He didn't draw his sword, but the ground beneath his feet cracked slightly. The gravity-like pressure of his presence began to push against Nara's group.
Nara didn't flinch. He slowly took his hands out of his pockets. "You must be Levi," Nara said, his voice calm. "I can see your design. It's very... dense. Like a black hole."
Levi's eyes locked onto Nara's. For a long moment, neither moved. Levi could feel that Nara wasn't like the other students.
"You're Nara," Levi replied. His voice was low and carried a weight that made Reina shiver. "The "Architect". You aren't worth fighting yet. Not here."
Nara smiled a small, tired smile. "I agree. If we fight now, we might destroy the whole sector. It would be a waste of points. The finals will be a much better stage for us to settle this."
"Fine," Levi said.
Without another word, Levi began to walk. He didn't go around Nara; he walked right past him. The two leaders passed each other, shoulder to shoulder, just inches apart. The air between them hissed with static as their different Anym types brushed against one another.
Shiro and Elara followed Levi. Shiro stared at Nara as she passed, her white pupils tracking the Core inside his chest. Nara glanced back at her, recognizing the danger in her eyes.
The two groups moved in opposite directions, passing by each other as if they were nothing more than ghosts in the woods.
"Why did we let them go?" Elara whispered once they were out of earshot. "We could have taken their points!"
"No," Levi said, his voice firm. "If we fought that boy now, the mission would end for all of us. He is... DANGEROUS."
On the other side, Riku was shaking. "Nara, that guy... he's a monster. I felt like I couldn't breathe when he looked at me."
"He is strong," Nara admitted, looking at his palm. "But every structure has a flaw. I just need more time to find his. For now, we have work to do. We need 130 more points."
They moved toward the upper part of the waterfall, where the Anym was the most concentrated. Suddenly, the water in the basin began to swirl. A massive shadow rose from the depths.
It was a Deep-Sea Behemoth, a 100-point Purgatory Beast. It looked like a cross between a whale and a crab, covered in shells that were harder than diamond. It had six massive tentacles, each tipped with a jagged bone blade.
"One hundred points," Reina said, her skin shifting into its diamond form. "That gets us to 230."
"I'll handle the shell," Nara said. "Riku, Reina, take the tentacles."
The Behemoth roared, sending a wave of pressurized water at them. Riku stepped forward, his eyes glowing blue.
"Water Magic: Water Stillness!"
Riku grabbed the air, and the massive wave froze in mid-air, turning into a solid wall of ice. Reina leaped off the ice wall, her diamond fist glowing. She slammed into one of the tentacles, shattering the bone blade with a single punch.
The beast thrashed, its remaining tentacles whipping through the air like thunderbolts.
Nara walked toward the beast, stepping on the air as if he were walking on invisible stairs. He reached out and touched the massive shell of the Behemoth.
"Architecture Magic: Molecular Deconstruction."
A grid of golden light spread across the beast's shell. The structure of the diamond-hard armor began to rewrite itself. What was once the hardest substance in the world suddenly turned into brittle glass.
"Now, Reina!" Nara commanded.
Reina delivered a massive kick to the center of the shell. With a sound like a thousand windows breaking, the beast's armor shattered completely, exposing its soft core.
Riku didn't waste the opening. He pulled all the water from the air and formed it into a massive spear. He drove the spear deep into the beast's heart.
The Behemoth let out a final, bubbling groan and dissolved into a massive cloud of blue smoke.
Total Points: 230.
"We still need twenty," Riku panted.
"Look up," Nara said, pointing to the sky.
One Storm-Griffins were circling the top of the waterfall. it were 20-point beasts, fast and deadly.
Nara didn't wait for them to dive. He clapped his hands together, and the very space around the Griffin began to fold.
"Architecture: Spatial Compression."
The air around the bird squeezed inward. It looked like an invisible hand was crumpling a piece of paper. The Griffin were crushed instantly by the pressure of the air itself.
Total Points: 250.
The red card in Nara's hand began to glow with a blinding white light. A notification appeared in the air: GOAL REACHED. EXTRACTION INITIATED.
"It's over," Reina said, letting out a breath of relief.
A magic circle began to form beneath their feet. The blue light of the forest began to fade as the teleportation magic took hold.
Nara looked back into the dark woods one last time. He knew that while they were leaving, the real battle was only beginning. One from All, Levi, and Kael were still out there, and the finals would bring them all together again.
"See you soon, Levi," Nara whispered.
In a flash of light, Nara's group disappeared from the forest, becoming the first team to officially complete the test.
End of Chapter 16