We passed through the gate as a group, letting the mechanisms seal up behind us with a grinding and clanking noise.

The alpine air disappeared as we emerged on the other side, replaced with a humid heat and the rush of a river.

I took a deep breath, taking in the heavy scent of dirt, foliage, and... mana?

There was a tang in the air, like a faint metallic undertone - an electric charge.

But nothing about the place suggested any danger or immediate threats. It was a beautiful hilly, forest with the school somehow still in view. The river flowing beneath us was slow and shallow, and there were no signs of any traps or snares or visible danger.

But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was different. Just like in the plateau from before, there was a familiarity in the air, and a sense of unease crawling in the back of my mind.

The others seemed to pick up on it too, eyeing each other suspiciously as we moved ahead.

Aurora glanced at me as she walked by, nodding slightly. "Lux. Would you mind if we take a short rest?"

I nodded, frowning as we slowed to a stop. "You alright?"

She turned back, looking at the two injured cadets Elysia had beaten up in our clash over the keys. "Mhm. I am perfectly fine, but I'd like your back as I go over and tend to those two. They're kinda intimidating."

I shrugged, smirking as I leaned back against a tree briefly. "Alright, let's go then."

Aurora nodded, walking back toward them with her hands raised and a friendly smile. "Hello! Would you two mind if I take a sec to deal with your injuries? You seem pretty beat up, and I have a few healing skills under my belt. I could fix you right up."

The still unnamed orange-haired, tall girl and the boy with the katana and office business attire shared a look.

"Fine," the girl muttered as she rubbed her swollen eye. "Ugh..."

Aurora nodded, giving me a quick worried look as she walked up to the girl, gesturing at her to lower her head. "Alright. Let me take a look."

As she began to focus and gather her energy, I turned around for a second, pacing around the edge of the clearing.

I knew it was strange, but I couldn't help but feel a bit lost. We didn't know what the test was really about, and it seemed like we'd solved one problem, only to be faced with more.

"Heavenly Form: Soothing Light."

Aurora's eyes glowed a faint white as she held out her hands, and I watched the swelling and bruising around the girl's eye steadily fade away.

I smiled as I continued to pace, turning my attention to the river. It seemed like there was something there, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

The entire layout of the jungle funneled the river to a single point, and there was no outlet.

Hmm.

I turned back toward the orange-haired girl, putting on a diplomatic smile as I approached her with my hand extended. "Hi. I'm Harmonia Lux, but everyone calls me Lux. What's your name?"

She eyed me warily, but then sighed and shook my hand. "Vanna Dia."

Vanna... Dia?

Vanadium?

"Oh... are you Neo Dymium's teammate?"

She let out a snort, shaking her head. "Yeah. Did you run into her in this exercise or something?"

"Ah, yeah." I laughed. "She was a bit... feisty."

"Yeah, well. That's her alright. She's always like that."

"So, do you guys have more teammates waiting out there?"

Vanna shook her head. "Nah. Neo and I are partners in crime, but she's the one who usually takes charge in stuff like this. She's not here right now, though."

"Well, I don't know if the paths we took are linked up or if they're tied to our personal energy signatures or anything. But I should probably tell you we er... we did kinda leave her and three other standard admissions students tied up and frozen in blocks of ice back there."

Her eyes widened in surprise as she raised a brow. "Wait, what? You left Neo like that?!"

"Hey, she started it!" Elysia called from behind us, walking up to stand next to me.

I chuckled, shrugging. "It's fine. They should be out and on our tail soon enough."

"Um... okay?" Vanna replied, eyeing me suspiciously. "You know, Neo and I had some pretty strong opinions about the whole guaranteed admissions for emergency contract survivors thing."

"That's understandable." I smiled, nodding. "But hey, if we're working together for now, we might as well make the most of it, right?"

She rolled her eyes, shrugging. "Makes a girl wonder. Be straight with me, how bad was the city out there anyway, Lux? We heard about it in the aftermath and saw the footage, but it's all a mess."

"Oh, it was..." I started, biting my lip as I looked away. "It was pretty bad. Really, really bad. Way worse than you can imagine. Even the fearmongering didn't do it justice."

She clenched her jaw, looking at me with a serious expression.

"It had to be, to produce a bunch of rookies like you guys. You know, Neo and I trained and studied for years to be here. And here you guys just came popping out of nowhere. I mean, the ice queen over there just ran me over outright and made all of my training look like a joke. It's not fair."

I let out a small sigh, trying to keep my face from betraying my feelings. "Yeah. I can totally understand that. It's hard to feel like you've worked hard and earned your place only to see people who got their powers just pop up and flip everything on its head."

She eyed me cautiously, raising a brow. "Huh. I didn't think you'd get it."

"Well, it's not something I can control. And I can't speak for all of us, but I'm not here to put anyone down or cause trouble. I'm here to learn and grow with everyone. I have a long way to go."

Aurora giggled as she moved her glowing hands over Vanna's shoulder, healing a cut there. "Same here, really. Lord knows I still have a lot to learn."

Vanna blinked in surprise, glancing between us. "Um. Yeah..."

She nodded slowly, crossing her arms. "Well, you seem like you're taking it seriously. Neo and I... aren't so sure about some of the other emergency contract holders we've met."

"Oh?" I asked in surprise.

I did wonder if there was something that didn't involve me which contributed to their opinions about us.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Vanna sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Yeah. Frostburn's been a loudmouth and a jackass, and we've run into him the most. There are a few others who were also kinda rubbing it in and not quite so graceful about things."

"Ah."

I shrugged, not sure how to respond.

"But you two are different from them," Vanna continued. "You're—"

"No," I cut in, shaking my head. "I'm not."

She eyed me with a frown. "You're not? What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm not any different. I'm not flaunting things or rubbing it in your face or anything. I'm just doing the best I can with the circumstances I was put in. And the same goes for most of the people here who took up the mantle to save themselves and the people around them."

She nodded, studying me curiously. "Maybe. But I'll reserve my judgment for now."

Aurora stepped back, lowering her hands as her eyes returned to normal. "Alright, your injuries are all fixed up. Now, let's start over, shall we?"

Vanna shrugged, holding out her hand. "Yeah, sure. I'm er, Vanna Dia. Nice to meet you, Lux. And you, Aurora. You guys seem nice."

"We can definitely get along, Vanna," I replied, shaking her hand. "Just don't jump me like Neo did."

Aurora waved at the boy with the pocket protector and the katana. "Hey, you! Let's get you patched up too."

He nodded, looking at the ground as he walked toward us. "Y-yeah. That would be nice, thanks. I'm um, Clipboard by the way."

"Clipboard? Really?" I blinked in surprise.

He shrugged. "My team has an office theme."

"Well, that's interesting. Are you Telegraph's teammate?"

"Yup. I take it you ran into him along with Vanna's teammate? Kid in a business suit? Suave voice practically made for negotiating?"

I smiled awkwardly, nodding. "Yeah... you could say he's a bit frosty. He took it pretty well though, unlike Neo Dymium."

"Ah, yeah. He's always taken Ls pretty well. Goes on about how it's always a lesson in disguise."

Aurora smiled, holding out her hands. "Now come on then, let me take a look at your ribs."

He blushed, looking away as he held up his shirt. "Um, yeah. Please do."

"So, we're all getting along now?" Elysia asked as she crossed her arms, leaning by my side.

Vanna frowned, eyeing her warily. "I suppose we can... for now. Say, you're with the emergency contract holders, right?"

To Elysia's credit, her expression didn't falter. I blinked up at her, smiling slightly as she looked at me with a wink.

She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. "You could say I am."

"Where did you learn to fight like that anyway?" Vanna asked, raising a brow suspiciously.

Elysia shrugged, looking away. "My family is very involved in the combat training for the Threat Class Certification Program. Even if I weren't a magical girl, I'd probably still qualify as a Pioneer with specialized skills in multiple disciplines."

Vanna's eyes widened in surprise. "Huh. That sounds impressive. So you're a martial artist or something?"

"Yes, I am," Elysia smiled, winking. "Don't let the pretty dress and hair fool you. I'm a bit of a scrapper."

Vanna chuckled, shaking her head. "I mean, I found out the hard way, didn't I? I didn't expect you to close the distance as quickly as you did and trap my weapon."

"Hey, you're not too shabby yourself," Elysia replied. "No hard feelings, right?"

"Nah, you got me good. And I deserved it, to be honest."

Vanna was... surprisingly reasonable.

Maybe we could work things out with her partner later.

But for now, we had more pressing concerns.

The river, for example.

And the faint metallic tang in the air.

It wasn't quite mana, but it was definitely something.

Something was off.

And I had a feeling we'd run into a challenge just around the next corner.

So I carefully picked my way through the forest toward the river, keeping my eyes and ears peeled for anything unusual or out of place.

"Hmm," Elysia frowned beside me, narrowing her eyes as she studied the fast-moving current of the river. "Anything?"

"Nope. It just looks like any other river. Ditto goes for the forest."

I licked my lips, trying to ignore the feeling of unease that continued to rise within me.

And then, as we stepped up to the river edge, a large distortion rippled in front of us.

I took a step toward it, extending my hand, and suddenly a purple light flashed in front of us.

I paused, my heart skipping a beat as I felt my throat tighten as a massive oval-shaped purple portal appeared in front of us.

"Woah, woah, what the hell is that?!" Null blurted, throwing up his hands.

"AIIEEE not again! Not again!!" Vanna screamed, clinging to Aurora and hiding behind her.

"Wah?!" Aurora jolted up. "Vanna, you're twice my size!"

Clipboard gulped, backing away too. "T-that can't be good, can it?"

"Stay calm, everyone," Elysia began, before glaring at the portal. "Ugh. Tesseract you just had to set off everyone's collective PTSD, huh? Seriously?!"

She huffed, before walking straight toward the portal. "Come on. I think this was just an intentional breather zone she set up for us. Let's push on."

We glanced at each other nervously as Vanna let go of Aurora, stepping back awkwardly.

"Well, that's uh..." She breathed, her hands shaking. "That's terrifying."

"Agreed." I nodded, shivering slightly.

Aurora glanced around the group worriedly. "Um. Is everyone okay?"

Elysia shrugged, standing with one hand on her hip. "Well.. as okay as I could be."

"Same here," I said, trying to force a smile.

The group gathered together as the boy with the pocket protector slowly approached, trembling a bit.

"This is so messed up," he whispered. "I just, I just signed up to learn to protect and serve people, y'know? But those monsters swarming everywhere."

"Yes, yes," Aurora nodded, patting his shoulder. "It's a bit much, but you'll be fine. We're all strong and capable. We all lived through it."

We approached the portal, looking around nervously.

I could feel my fingers twitch, and my hands were tense as I stepped in after Elysia.

The purple energy swirled around me, and I nearly lost my balance for a moment. And suddenly, I felt the ground beneath me shifting and the gravity around me changing.

"Aaah?!" Null gasped, falling flat on his face. "What the..."

Vanna was suddenly flying off, suspended in the air, and Elysia pulled me and Aurora together.

"Everyone, grab on!" she shouted.

"What is going on?!" Vanna screamed, her eyes wild as she began to drop.

But then, as fast as it started, it was over.

We were all dropped from the gravitational shift, and the scenery around us changed from the hilly, canopy-covered forest to a dark, misty plain.

A low, rumbling growl echoed from all around, and I immediately shifted into a combat stance.

And then we heard the shouting.

"Listen here you icicle-flying moron," a familiar voice echoed, snapping through the dense air and obscuring fog. "Will you fucking listen to me?!"

"Blah, blah, blah," came a condescending, youthful male voice in response. "All I'm hearing from this birdbrain is squawk, squawk, squawk. You must be missing a feather or two in that skull of yours."

The next moment, a furious rush of wind whipped around us, and the fog quickly cleared.

In the distance, we saw a fiery explosion, and a billow of snowy mist surged in response, covering the ground with a thick layer of white flakes.

But the cause made my blood freeze.

I'd only had a few nightmares since that night, but seeing the awful, glowing blue eyes and unnatural movements of a mass of shambling, shrieking, moaning monsters swarming over some fortifications on a hilltop brought it all back with a vengeance.

There were at least a dozen of them, and the figures of Raging Sparrow and Frostburn visible beyond them, frantically attempting to fend them off.

But what caught my attention was the lumbering, massive, hulk of a monster that lumbered at them in the back of the formation.

Its form was clearly of a balding human man, with torn clothes, wisps of brown hair and rippling muscles. It'd and swollen and mutated to a two-story tall giant, and the signature growling, blue eyes, and enormous clawed hands gave it away as a monster.

The day the world had gone to hell came rushing back to me in an instant. How I'd been helpless and unable to do anything as a rampaging monster tore through Refuge Zeta's walls, knowing Al was inside.

The old man who'd been torn apart by one of the wolf-like monsters as I fought in vain to defend myself. The sensation of fear and hopelessness as I watched the life drain out of him with nothing I could do about it.

And the same type of monsters were right in front of me.

I knew that it was probably some magically created clone or copy, but it didn't lessen the horror of the scene in front of me.

Suddenly, pop after pop went off around me as our transformed Nexus devices appeared, projecting a hologram in front of us.

APOPHIS PROTOCOL ENABLED

ABERRANT IDENTIFICATION CONFIRMED

CALLING DATABASE.... RAIJU network established.

ABERRANT TYPE: Juggernaut

ABERRATION PATHOLOGY: Mutation

BABYLON THREAT CLASSIFICATION: Marquis

TRAITS AND ABILITIES: High Magic Resistance, Berserker, Redundant Systems, Regeneration, Merge Evolution

"Oh hell no," Forest Willow muttered, eyes widening in shock. "I barely got away from one of those things."

The monster roared, stopping in place. Then, it slowly turned toward us.

I trembled slightly, the gears in my head spinning frantically as I tried to come up with a plan.

Elysia huffed, tilting her head with an annoyed look. "Perfect."

"Think you can take it?" I asked hesitantly.

She shook her head. "Alone? Well... that didn't turn out so well for me last time."

Before we could talk about it any further, a piercing screech echoed from our left, and a large flock of black birds took into the air.

And then, the ground underneath us exploded.