DING~ DING~
The bell rang as the written exam came to an end. The answer sheets vanished on the spot.
Some students slumped back in their chairs with their shoulders sagging with relief or regret. While others stared at the blank ceiling as if they had fought with death itself for the past two hours.
Freya sighed while pulling her hair back into a rough ponytail. "I hope the next test is easier. I'd rather get punched in the face than make another decision like that."
"Don't tempt fate," I murmured to myself when I heard her words.
Because fate, which I had learned about, had a twisted sense of humor.
We exited the hall in a slow stream of silence. The crowd moved as if they were all leaving a funeral.
Outside, the stone courtyard was already starting to fill. The academy staff had begun setting up the next phase.
I caught Freya's muttered complaints drifting off as she joined a group of other exhausted candidates, but I didn't follow her. My eyes were elsewhere else — on the far side of the courtyard.
And standing just right there, framed by the glare of the midday sun, was the only person who didn't look like he had been dragged through hell and back by that exam.
Redmane Varian.
Even among a thousand hopeful souls, he was impossible to miss. His tall and broad shoulders, coupled with a wild mane of crimson hair, gave him away from across the field.
That stupid grin was still plastered on his face. That damned grin that made him look like he had already won something the rest of us didn't know about.
I could have walked away as I saw him. And I should have, but curiosity is a curse I've never managed to break.
So I drifted closer to him. He was leaning against a marble pillar with a boot braced against it and arms crossed like he had nowhere better to be.
His massive great sword was shining by his side. It was clearly well-maintained and loved by him. Redmane noticed me the moment I stepped into his range. Of course he did.
"Well, if it isn't the guy from the other day," he said, his voice was warm and rough like a campfire.
His eyes flicked over the numerous cadets who had come to take the exam. "How was the written test?"
I raised an eyebrow at his question. In the novel, this bastard placed third in the written test and first overall. He might act like a fool sometimes, but his brain was as sharp as a blade.
"I barely guessed a few questions," I lied without missing a beat. "Getting a zero is well within my expectations. What about you?"
He shrugged at my response and answered as if the exam was a walk in the park for him. "Wrote what I felt like. If they want me to lie, they can expel me now."
"That's one way to play it," I said while studying him. Up close, his presence was like standing next to a sun that might decide to go supernova just for fun.
"You planning to swing that thing at the next test?" I asked while looking at the massive blade by his side.
He tapped the hilt of his blade with one finger fondly. "If they're setting up what I think they're setting up, yeah. Nothing like a bit of blood to clear the mind after all that thinking."
Somewhere behind us, an instructor barked orders and a few students flinched. But Redmane and I didn't even blink.
"You look like you enjoyed the exam," I said.
He laughed at my remark. It wasn't a polite laugh. But a raw, open bark of amusement that made a few nearby candidates glance our way in irritation. "Enjoyed? No. But I respect it. It's better to know who is gutless before they start handing out swords."
He leaned forward slightly as his voice dropped severely low. "So tell me, what did you choose, Loki?"
I met his sharp red eyes with my own bright golden eyes, and said without any hesitation. "Something I can live with."
Redmane's grin widened at my response. He pushed off the pillar and clapped a heavy hand on my shoulder.
"That was a good answer. Try not to die in there, yeah? It would be a shame to lose someone interesting so early."
And with that, he stepped past me with his sword slung over his shoulder while whistling an old war tune that didn't belong to this place of marble and rules.
BOOM
Suddenly, a horn sounded from somewhere above. It was a single long note that silenced the restless murmurs in an instant.
A sharp voice cut through the courtyard's growing chatter like a knife through thin cloth.
"Attention, candidates!"
All eyes snapped to the row of examiners who had appeared without warning on the marble steps above us.
There were no horns or grand speeches this time. It was just a line of men and women in dark coats, each wearing the Academy's insignia at their collar: a single silver eye that seemed to watch everything and everyone at once.
The one in the middle, an older man with a bald head and a voice that brooked no argument, stepped forward. He spoke like this were the end of life for us.
"The written trial is over. Now it's time for you all to prove your worth in the battle of the Dominion."
A few candidates shifted uneasily at his words.
The examiner ignored it. "Your second trial is survival. You are allowed to team up, betray, and steal. There is just one rule that there is no rule.
If you were on the brink of death, you would be transported back, or if you lose your sphere."
Soon, many spheres floated and landed in each one of our grasps.
"You'll be sent into the test zone immediately. What you bring out — or if you come out at all — will determine your worth. The exam will end once only twenty percent of the people here are left."
His eyes swept over us, cold and bored. "No weapons will be provided this time. Find them, make them, or steal them. Whatever you need to do."
I felt Freya stiffen somewhere behind me. I didn't turn as my eyes stayed locked on the examiner's mouth.
"One last thing," he added before stopping almost like as an afterthought. "There will be no safe landing. If you can't survive the drop, you don't belong here."
I barely had time to register what he meant before the circle beneath my feet lit up. Faint runes etched into the courtyard stone flared to life in a cold blue glow.
Someone shouted from behind me, but the sound snapped off as the world blurred.
The ground vanished beneath my feet.
My stomach lurched into my throat for a second as the courtyard, the pillars, the sunlit stone — everything dissolved into blinding sky and roaring wind.
I wasn't standing anymore. I was falling.
The cold hit me first. It was a slap of air so sharp it stole my breath. My hair whipped across my eyes, and the world spun below me in a blur of sun and cloud.
I sucked in a mouthful of air that felt like knives scraping my throat. My heart punched against my ribs, faster than my brain could keep up.
Below me was an endless green sea — a jungle canopy that looked soft from up here but promised to shred bone and flesh like paper. Gashes of a river cut through it like silver scars. There were boulders and cliffs everywhere I looked.
Someone screamed nearby, but the sound was shredded by the wind. A shape tumbled past me, flailing and spinning out of control.
Maybe it was Freya, maybe it was someone else, but it didn't matter. No one could help anyone up here.
"HAHA!"
Somewhere above, a raw, wild laugh cut through the wind. It was Redmane, of course.
Even while plummeting to our possible deaths, that bastard sounded like he was enjoying it.
I forced my eyes open against the tearing wind while squinting through the sting. There were branches and rocks nearby.
'Think Loki, think.'
I thought to myself while tasting blood. My tongue must've bitten itself when I clenched my jaw. But the copper tang of the blood snapped my mind into focus.
I needed to aim for something — a break in the canopy, a river bend, anything that didn't promise instant splatter.
The air thundered in my ears. My limbs went numb from the rush as my fingers stiffened against nothing but wind.
I twisted my shoulders, forcing my body to tilt even a little.
The jungle rushed up to meet me, green and black and jagged.
There was no time to scream. And definitely no one to catch me.
The second trial had begun.