“Huh. Reasonable,” Arlok grunted after a long pause. Horren, arms crossed and gaze sharp with caution.

——Team-Based Combat——

* Each team consists of five members

* 4 Attackers – Can fight, defend, and attempt to steal from others.

* 1 Holder – Stores all collected Voidshards within their bracelet.

* Each formation shall consist of five participants. Of these, four are designated as active combatants, authorized to engage in offensive and defensive maneuvers, as well as to seize or reclaim resources obtained by others. The remaining member serves as the Holder. This individual is responsible for safeguarding the squad’s accumulated Voidshards, which must be stored in a single academy-issued bracelet for the duration of the trial.

——How Stealing Works——

* An attacker may attempt to steal Voidshards by touching the bracelet of an opposing team’s Holder and channeling the mana upon contact to activate the enchantment of the bracelet. Only one of the five members actually holds the team’s collected Voidshards.

* If the attacker correctly identifies the Holder:

* Their team steals 25 points’ worth of Voidshards. The targeted team loses 25 points.

* If the attacker chooses incorrectly:

* Their steal attempt gained nothing. The opposing team remains unaffected.

——Additional Information——

* The Holder cannot refuse a steal attempt—if an attacker successfully touches their bracelet, the attempt goes through.

* Attackers may target multiple squads. However, each Attacker can guess only one of the opposing squad's targets. If an attack on a squad fails, the Attacker cannot target that same squad again, though they may continue attacking other squads.

—Example Scenario:

1)There are 4 Attackers: A, B, C, and D.

2)They are trying to eliminate members of Squad X, which has 5 members: Enemy A, B, C, D, and E.

3)Attacker A targets Squad X and guesses Enemy A wrong. Attacker A can no longer attack anyone else in Squad X.

4)Attacker B targets Squad X and guesses Enemy B wrong. Attacker B can no longer attack anyone else in Squad X.

5)The same pattern repeats for all Attackers.

6)All 4 attackers have used up their one attempt on Squad X and all failed. This means Squad X is now off-limits to all those 4 attackers.

7)They must now choose another squad to target.

* The exam ends on Day 10 at exactly 12 Noon.

Yerin flipped to the final section, where the ink darkened as if emphasizing its importance.

——Bonus & Penalty System——

[!] Survival Bonus: Any team that remains active until the test ends without elimination receives +100 Points for each member survived.

[!] Close to Death: If a scholar is critically injured, resulting in forced elimination, the entire team suffers a -50 Point penalty.

[!] Bracelet Destruction or Loss: If the provided academy-issued Holder bracelet is broken or the Holder is eliminated, all accumulated points won't be lost.

Yerin set the parchment down impassively, her eyes scanning the others, and after a moment, her voice came low, laced with a trace of ironic humor.

“So… it’s just a resource-driven hunt, then,” she murmured, then smiled.

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Horren let out a groan, both hands rising to rub at his temples. “And paranoia,” he muttered bitterly, thick with resignation. “We’ll have to be on guard against stealing attempts from other squads every single day…”

Arlok, unfazed and grinning like a man who welcomed chaos the way others welcomed sleep, only leaned back slightly and let out a faint laugh. “Hey, enough being gloomy, this just makes it more interesting,” he said.

Ruvian said nothing, nor did Shima, both of them staring down at the parchment with intensity; they were reading more than just the words.

“So don’t die, don’t get eliminated, and don’t lose the Holder’s bracelet, simple. Ha!” Arlok added after a beat, the sentence falling from his mouth casually.

Horren shot him a glare. “Simple for you to say.”

Yerin, fingers idly tapping against the corner of the parchment. “We’ve got four hours before we’re dropped in,” she said quietly. “And in one hour, our designated location gets revealed. That leaves us precious little time. We need a plan before that.”

She glanced down again, scanning the contents one final time before speaking again, more to herself than to them, as if trying to wrap her thoughts into something solid enough to hand to the others.

“This test breaks into three main priorities,” she began.

“First, we accumulate points; without them, we’re worthless. Second, we avoid elimination. If we fall, it doesn’t matter how many points we have. Third, we protect the points we do have, which means guarding the Holder like our lives depend on it.”

Arlok crossed his arms and leaned back further, his gaze focused. “Alright then,” he said slowly. “Where do we start? What’s the first thing we need to do?”

Shima stretched lazily. “Isn’t it obvious?” she said, voice slow and sing-song. “Who’s holding our points? That’s the core of everything. If the Holder goes down, we all do. That choice comes first.”

Horren groaned again, this time more forcefully, the sound raw with dread.

“Not me. Gods, not me,” he said, already shaking his head as if the thought itself had weight. “That kind of pressure? That’s not something I want any part of!”

Yerin chuckled, but there was no real humour in it, only acknowledgement.

“Fair,” she said simply, her tone turning sharper as she leaned forward once again. “But that leads us to the real question—who among us can take that role?” Her eyes narrowed slightly now.

“The Holder has to be fast—faster than anyone else. They need to escape before they’re cornered, vanish before they’re seen. Because once they’re caught, there’s no second chance. Everything we’ve gathered turns to ash in an instant.” Ruvian finally spoke decisively.

And for a brief second, no one spoke.

Silence settled over the group as they considered the options. They had discussed each other's strengths and weaknesses previously.

“Arlok is physically the strongest, but his combat style is brutish and direct—not suited for sudden retreats,” Shima said with the faintest tinge of resignation.

Arlok snorted, rolling his shoulder. “She means I don’t run away well. Fair. Also, this shorty here—” he jerked a thumb toward Shima, grinning, “—zips around with lightning like a hyper squirrel, good for hit-and-run offense, but for defense, she gets winded after thirty seconds.”

Shima kicked him under the table. The sound of his muffled yelp earned no sympathy. “Ouch!”

Shima continued, unfazed, “Horren’s reflexes are decent, but his face gives him away. He couldn’t lie to a blind mole rat, let alone carry the Holder’s burden without becoming a walking target. And he’s an archer… so he’s a deadweight at close range.”

Horren looked away, lips tight with agreement. Then, almost as if reluctant to speak it aloud, he mumbled, “Yerin… would’ve been best. She’s just better than the rest of us.”

“But I’m a Class A. If I carry the Holder’s token, every other team will know in an instant.” Yerin added.

And then, in that strange stillness that often precedes inevitability, they all turned almost involuntarily to the one who had said nothing at all.

Ruvian sat quietly, his expression calm and tranquil, his posture neither tense nor relaxed.

Shima tilted her head. “That leaves…”

Ruvian met their stares without flinching. Then, with the faintest shake of his head, he shattered the growing assumption like glass. “No,” he said, softly but without hesitation. “That won’t do either. Julian is targeting me… so he will come for my head.”

The moment he said it, the atmosphere changed.

The possibility that Julian might not stop at mere elimination. That if he found Ruvian… and if he is the Holder, Julian might shatter the bracelet.

A long hush settled over them again.

Ruvian, sensing the shift, raised his gaze slightly.

“Don’t worry,” he said, almost gently. “I’ve no intention of making any of you bear the fallout of my decisions.”

Shima’s voice broke the tension with careful neutrality, her eyes scanning him with curiosity just barely masking unease. “I see,” she said slowly, “so what’s the plan?”

Ruvian turned and looked toward Yerin, who holds the authority. Yerin met his eyes with the same calm she always carried, and gave him a small nod.

“Alright,” he said finally. “First, this isn’t just about choosing who is the Holder or who gets to play the part of the Attacker—those roles, while important on the surface, are distractions if we let them be.”

His gaze didn’t linger on any one face, yet it held the room all the same.

“This test… it’s not what it pretends to be. If we approach it like a game, just a matter of collecting points, of stealing them back and forth, we’re already playing into the academy's false rhythm.”

He paused as if giving them space to catch up.

“Don’t get blinded by the mechanics. The real challenge isn’t about who gathers the most points… it’s about who endures long enough to make it to the end of that island intact.”

His words landed gently but carried with clarity. And for a breathless moment, no one said anything.

And no one disagreed because what he said had reached past the noise of rules and roles and touched the deeper part of them that had forgotten that this test was more than just another exercise.

It was survival, written beneath the lines.

Then, after that silence had settled just long enough to become a shared understanding, Ruvian turned slightly to Yerin, purposeful.

“The map,” he said, softer now, but not less firm.

“The one the academy gave us earlier. Show it to me.”

PP= 3950

ME= 510