The team descended into the Sector's underground training simulation room—dubbed The Forge. Here, environments and threats were conjured from hard-light projections and combat programs. For Malric's final induction test, he would fight against his new teammates.
> "One-on-one rounds," said Mindshift, now in the control booth. "No lethal force. Winner is the one who lands a 'kill move' simulation. First up—Malric vs Redlock."
Redlock cracked his knuckles.
> "Let's dance, blood boy."
The fight began.
Malric dashed in with measured steps, avoiding flashy movement. Redlock played casual at first… until Malric nicked him across the cheek with a training blade.
Redlock grinned.
> "Thanks for the sample."
Suddenly, Malric's leg muscles seized. He fell to one knee, unable to move.
> "Paralysis through blood biofeedback. That's Hemolock, baby," Redlock said, pressing a hand to his chest like a theater actor.
Malric closed his eyes and whispered:
> "Kinetic Trace: Pulse Kick."
His body pulsed with stored kinetic energy, breaking the paralysis and launching him upward. In one smooth motion, he flipped and landed a blow to Redlock's ribs. The fight ended in a draw as Mindshift called it off.
> "Interesting adaptability," she commented. "He's not just strong—he learns."
Next came Echo Dash.
The room turned into a maze of vertical panels.
> "Hope you can keep up," she whispered, vanishing into a vault point.
Malric stood still.
Then he closed his eyes—and focused on the sounds. The faint buzz of air displacement. The static crackle of a vault forming. She zipped forward from above—but Malric sidestepped perfectly and countered with a palm strike.
> "You heard me?" she said, wide-eyed.
"I listened," he replied.
After Echo came Inertia, who altered the battlefield by making chunks of the ground heavy, while others were weightless.
Malric adapted again—using heavy platforms for cover, low-mass boulders as springboards, and dodging her mass-pinned traps with pure creativity.
> "You're annoying," she pouted.
"You're brilliant," Malric countered. "But you telegraph your shifts. I just followed the pressure drop."
The final round was against CoreFlare.
The floor melted beneath Malric's feet the moment it began.
Fire surged. Lava rose. Malric's eyes glinted.
> "You really think you can beat me with trickery?" CoreFlare roared, transforming into his Pyrocore form.
> "I'm not here to win," Malric replied calmly. "I'm here to survive."
And he did—just barely—dodging solar lances, tanking bursts with Kinetic Reinforcement, and using environment debris to scatter flame paths. After a brutal exchange, CoreFlare smiled and let the transformation fade.
> "He's in," he said, turning to the others. "No more tests. He's one of us now."
Mindshift nodded.
> "Sector Zero welcomes its final blade. Operation Blackdoor begins in 72 hours."
Malric wiped the blood from his brow.
> "Good. I'm ready to burn the world down."