CHAPTER 176: TRAPPED.

(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don’t hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

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Before Orion could even open his eyes, his mind was already working.

Mana Sense flared outward in a disciplined pulse.

Protocol engaged automatically, sorting inputs, filtering noise.

Temporal Locus flickered for a fraction of a second — not to observe futures, but to anchor position.

And in that instant, a disturbing certainty settled in his chest.

They were no longer in the academy.

Not just outside it.

Far from it.

His eyes snapped open.

White.

That was the first thing he noticed.

White walls, smooth and seamless, curving slightly at the edges. The air was sterile, unnaturally still. Light came from three glowing panels embedded high in the walls, bathing the room in an even, shadowless glow.

And standing around him—

Twelve figures.

His classmates.

All upright. All alerting themselves at varying speeds. All positioned in what was unmistakably a loose formation.

Orion’s eyes moved once.

Count.

One... two... five... nine...

Thirteen.

Including himself.

Only the Combat Division.

He exhaled slowly.

His mind became a maelstrom — confusion and irritation blending into a sharp, controlled storm. The academy had taken them completely off-guard. One moment they were seated in their classroom, the next—

Gone.

Just yanked out of reality without warning.

Was that standard procedure?

He frowned.

He reached inward, recalling the mana signatures from moments ago. Doran. Rhaena. Both still vivid in his memory. There was no doubt. No trace of foreign interference, he could read their mana signature from distals away.

No impostor.

If their intent had been to take them by surprise, then this explained everything — the timing, the secrecy, even the choice of doing it the day after a massive party. Fatigue dulled instincts. Complacency set in.

They’d been conditioned.

Still... it was a dick move.

And it annoyed him more than he liked.

There were things he hadn’t wrapped up. Books he had planned to review — and possibly take. Notes unfinished. Preparations half-complete.

All of that was gone now.

He grimaced faintly.

’So much for going with the flow.’

Seris’s voice echoed in his mind, telling him not to overthink things. And now, in hindsight, the increased number of maids yesterday stood out like a beacon.

A dead giveaway.

He pushed the irritation aside.

Fast.

Because his classmates were still disoriented — eyes scanning, postures stiffening, instincts kicking in. They would recover, he knew that. A1 didn’t panic.

But he was still their de-facto leader.

If he hesitated, even for a second, it would ripple outward.

So he acted.

Orion released a sharp pulse of mana — controlled, precise, unmistakable.

Thirteen heads snapped toward him instantly.

Good.

He swept their signatures one by one, scanning deeply but efficiently. No instability. No internal disruption. No lingering disorientation beyond surface-level confusion.

Satisfied, he spoke.

"Anyone still lagging after last night," he said calmly, eyes sweeping the room, "speak now. Let’s get it out of you."

There was a brief pause.

Then Galen raised a brow. "How?"

Orion didn’t miss a beat.

"With a slap, of course," he replied dryly. "I assure you, Seris’ hands have restorative capabilities."

A ripple of chuckles broke the tension.

Seris lifted her hand helpfully. "Tested and proven."

That did it.

The tight edge in the room eased.

"Good," Orion said. "No one."

He shifted slightly, grounding himself.

"We’ve been through more confusing situations than this," he continued. "So we’re fine. Aren’t we?"

"Yes," they replied, nearly in unison.

"Good."

He turned, eyes scanning the room properly now.

"So," Orion said, "what’s our situation?"

Arlen was already moving.

"Enclosed room," he began, voice clinical. "Ten vents — evenly spaced. No visible doors. Three light sources. Walls are thick. No sign of life."

Orion nodded.

Despite his playful tendencies, Arlen was frighteningly sharp when it mattered. His innate skill only amplified it, but the observation itself came from experience.

"How thick are the walls?" Daenys asked, frowning.

She wasn’t bad at spatial awareness — just not great.

"I can’t tell," Arlen admitted, expression tightening as he turned to Orion. "I can’t sense past what we see."

Orion’s frown deepened.

Orion had a frown on his face, protocol worked with either what he could see, smell, hear, feel or sense with his mana sense or temporal locus.

And his original five senses went no further than the white walls they could currently see, mana sense was rebounding.

Temporal locus was scrambling, it was typically built for life, he could use it past the walls but not very far and what he could sense was disorienting as no life was present to act as a beacon.

It felt like Thaddeus all over again.

He tried again anyway.

Extending carefully. Slowly.

Nothing.

No fluctuations. No echoes. No distant signatures.

Just... absence.

"It’s nothing," Orion said after a moment. "I can’t see past it either."

Seris crossed her arms. "So I’m guessing the test is to escape."

"Yes," Galen replied. "And it’s far from the competition I was imagining."

"It’s not part of the competition," Erevan said calmly. "There are no other people here, if it was the competition, we’d have seen the so called outer nobles Miss Rhaena was referring to."

That landed.

Orion nodded.

"Erevan’s right," he said. "I doubt Miss Rhaena even knew about this place. Someone else is running this."

A pause.

"And I’m fairly sure," he added evenly, "that person is watching us right now."

Seris grimaced. "Creepy."

"And this person’s testing us before the competition?" Thaddeus asked with a raised brow.

"So it seems." Erevan agreed.

"How rude, why would they doubt us?" Daenys asked with a pout.

"That’s not even the most important question. Who test’s someone by locking them up?" Seris asked.

"If the person’s watching us, I really don’t think, talking about him/her is the best thing to do." Caelum said, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Right." Seris said with a sigh.

Orion smiled once — then his expression hardened.

"Alright," he said. "Let’s get out of here."