Zach’s chest heaved as he scanned the chaos around him.

The relentless rain of iron spears hammered the ground, each one leaving a crater in its wake.

His grip tightened on Ivonah, her shallow breaths a reminder that he couldn’t afford hesitation. The cube glowed faintly at the hilltop.

With limited options and time slipping away, Zach made a split-second decision. He reached into his pouch and pulled out the red marble.

He gritted his teeth, squeezing it with all his strength.

“Let’s see if this works,” he muttered, hurling the marble at a confused Calder.

Then it expanded to the size of truck.

For a split second, the battlefield seemed to pause.

The silence shattered when Reina erupted from the haze, her electrified spear glowing. She rushed at Zach like a bolt of lightning, fury etched across her face.

She snarled, thrusting her spear toward his chest.

Zach sidestepped with practiced precision, parrying the strike with his sword. The white arcs on his blade flared to life.

“You're annoying as hell, you know that?” he said coldly, stepping back and taking a defensive stance.

“Turn the opposite direction and I wouldn't seem annoying. Me and Calder need to win this. We already did you and your friends a favor, warning y'all about the beasts,” she spat.

"I appreciate the warning. I really do. Besides, what's with you and Calder? You two look similar... brothers and sisters? Incest?"

"Oh, go fuck yourself!" She lunged again. Her movements were wild but deadly, the spear’s lightning seeking to overwhelm him.

Zach’s eyes narrowed. He was done playing around.

With a quick pivot, he parried her next strike and closed the distance in a single step. His sword hummed with a blinding surge of energy as he deflected her spear to the side.

Then he struck.

His knee shot up with brutal precision, smashing into Reina’s chin with enough force to lift her off her feet. The impact echoed like a crack of thunder. Reina’s eyes rolled back as she crumpled to the ground in a heap, her spear falling lifelessly beside her.

Zach exhaled sharply, shaking his leg as he glanced down at her unconscious form.

He didn’t waste time gloating. He grabbed her unconscious body, and jumping to the side, avoiding the raining iron spears.

He wondered about the Dern fellow. But he didn't have the luxuary to play super hero. Reina was being an asshole, but she and Calder did help them out. The least he could do was return the favor.

He dashed upward. Moving as fast as he could.

A bolt of lightning zapped over Zach's head.

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Calder.

Zach grimaced, throwing Reina to his left shoulder. He gripped his sword tighter. Calder was in a different league than Reina, and he knew it.

Zach said, "Let’s not make this personal. Besides, only one person can win the race. Me taking out Reina doesn't really matter since you two would have end up fighting for the win.”

"Really?" Calder dashed to the side, avoiding an iron spear. "What about and your teammates?"

"I would apologize before taking the cube. This is more than a simple test for me."

"Then let's fight. Instead of a race, let's make this fair. Let's give us both a fair sho--"

"Fuck that." Zach swiped the ground, sending a white arc at it. The ground exploded and lifted smokescreen for Zach.

"You Jackass!"

Zach turned back to face the cube, running at it as fast as possible.

The rain of iron spears didn’t stop, the deadly projectiles slicing through the smokescreen like silent predators. Zach zigzagged, his instincts honed to a razor’s edge.

It almost seemed like the iron spears became much more precise whenever he started moving.

A spear slammed into the ground to his left, dirt and shards of metal flying in all directions. He twisted sharply, narrowly evading another that whistled past his ear.

When he ran past a tree branch, he bit it off, absorbed it, and made water in his mouth for him to consume.

As he ascended the hill, the spears grew more concentrated, their impacts shaking the earth with each strike

A sudden flash of lightning illuminated the mist for a brief moment, revealing Calder closing in.

*I wonder what took him so long? Was he contemplating if to give up or not? Hm. I should have thrown Reina for him.*

“Zach!” Calder bellowed, sending another bolt of electricity.

"Keep trying to hit me with those shit. When it blasts a hole through Reina's chest, I hope you know you would be the one to blame for it!"

Then there was no more electricity.

It then dawned upon Zach that it seemed like he was holding Reina as a human shield.

Well, fuck me.

"I'm not holding her as a hostage, I'm just saying!" Zach clarified.

He was close now, the cube just a few yards away. But as he approached, a deafening roar filled the air.

From below the hill were more people. Ones that weren't there before the iron spears began falling.

They were all united, their weapons raised and aimed in his direction.

Zach’s heart raced. They weren’t going to let him take the cube without a fight. His mind worked furiously, calculating his next move. He couldn’t rely on distractions anymore; it was all or nothing.

As the weapons charged and the air filled with the hum of impending energy blasts, a bolt of lightning was directed in their direction.

Zach was shocked. Turning back, he saw Calder with a mean mog. "I don't want them to hurt her. Jackass."

Of course, it didn't stop all the attacks. Above Zach was nothing but an endless amount of iron spears, much faster than before, much bigger than before. And they were making that familiar sound of missiles.

Zach lunged forward, grabbing the cube with both hands. Then the spears hit him.

However, the instant his fingers made contact, a surge of energy pulsed through him. His new skill, quantum entanglement, activated without hesitation, forming an invisible link between himself and the cube.

The attacks converging on him affected the cube, but the cube took no damage. It being unaffected by the change being made to Zach's body, in turn made Zach not be affected by the spears.

A thunderous CRACK resounded, louder than anything before.

"The test is over."

The voice rang out with finality, silencing the battlefield. The iron spears ceased their rain, the mist cleared completely, and the glowing cube in Zach’s hands dimmed.

Zach staggered, his body trembling from exertion. He glanced down at Ivonah on his back and then over at Ivory’s dead body in the distance.

The ground rumbled, and the forest canopy above began to retract, revealing a massive opening. Thick ropes descended, swaying gently as the voice continued.

“Climb.”

From the thick ropes, military personnel also dropped, taking Ivonah, Reina, and others.

"Hey, those iron spears!" Zach grabbed one of the personnel. "Explain why was there iron spears."

"Go up. They'll answer your questions."

"No no. If you can answer, just tell me."

"You'd rather me waste time trying to answer something I don't know, or attend to the injured?"

Zach went silent. He didn't know?

He moved to the nearest rope. His muscles burned, his body screaming for rest, but he didn’t stop.

When he reached the top, he found himself in a brightly lit chamber filled with uniformed old men. They clapped slowly, their expressions unreadable.

“Well done,” said a tall man at the center, his tone devoid of warmth. “You’ve completed the test. First to finish.”