The group walked quietly behind Nathan until they reached the place where they had been dropped off earlier. The waves were splashing in regular intervals and the seagulls were screeching up in the sky. But a sudden ruffle of leaves made everyone except Nathan snap towards the noise.

The expected group walked out of the bushes. Mark stood at the front, his three lackeys next to him and the last man trailing a few paces behind.

"So you brought a whole group with you? What did you bribe them with?" Mark eyed Maya's group with a grin.

Maya took up a battle stance, but when she looked behind her, she noticed Nathan was still facing the sea.

"You don't seem to like talking, so. . . "

"Sorry, I was just checking something," Nathan said calmly. He turned and approached the bully, stopping a few metres short. "Shall we get started?"

"Are they joining us?" The bully jerked his chin at Maya and her group.

"I'm not their father. If they want to join, they will, and if they want to pass, they'll leave."

"You'll need all the help you can get," Mark grinned maniacally. Then he launched himself forward.

Maya and her group watched him dash towards Nathan. He was surprisingly fast, but nowhere near as fast as the robot Nathan had demolished during the last exam.

"Nathan should be fine," Maya said to the others. "We'll make sure the rest of his group doesn't interfere with their duel. I'll take the one on the right. Manny and Simon, take the ones on the left. Ann, stay behind in case anyone needs help."

With that, everyone ran towards their assigned enemies. Maya had no troubles with hers. He talked big with his leader, but individually he was weak. Manny pummeled his enemy into the ground with a few blows and went to help Simon, who was struggling to defeat a knife-user with Capoeira.

On the other side of the beach, Nathan parried Mark's open-palm strike and struck his trachea. Mark stumbled back, losing his balance. Nathan was about to finish him with a kick to the head when a shining dagger entered his field of vision. It would have hit its intended target if Nathan had noticed it any later. He caught it in midair, then wheeled around and stabbed Mark in the trapezium. With a push kick, he shoved Mark away and looked into the forest in the direction the dagger had come from.

Manny and Simon continued their fight. Manny grabbed the enemy's hand, snapping his wrist like a twig. He hoisted the man like a bag of potatoes. Simon used this opportunity to deliver a kick to the man's abdomen. Blood shot out of his mouth and sprayed Simon's face. Manny dropped him to the ground and looked for the next target. But the battlefield had changed drastically since the start.

Maya had knocked out her enemy and sprinted towards Manny and Simon to regroup.

The mysterious masked person had walked out of the forest, accompanied by the obsidian-haired woman. A few metres to their right, another group of three emerged. The three men looked around, then at each other. Nodding, they all launched themselves at Nathan.

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Nathan dodged a flurry of attacks from the three enemies, noticing immediately how synchronised they were. The one in the middle, with a buzz cut, was clearly the leader of this group. The way they moved, he was always the one who tried to deliver the final blow. The other two were just trying to throw Nathan off and make him an easy target. Getting to the buzz cut man would be hard without getting rid of the two others first.

A fist flew for Nathan's head. Normally, he would have to dodge to the right to avoid a kick coming from behind. By doing that, though, he would be exposing his back to the leader and making himself vulnerable. He grabbed the attacker's fist and took the kick right into his lower back anyway. There was a sudden shock of pain, but the maneuver left his opponents startled enough to create an opening. With one brisk movement, Nathan twisted the arm he was holding and struck the exposed elbow. With a loud crack, the arm bent backwards. The man fell, screaming in agony.

Nathan turned back to deal with the person who had kicked him in the back. But before he had a move readied, he saw Ann removing her knife from the man’s eye socket.

“I’ll help you,” she said firmly. “You go from the right.”

Nathan had no time to be surprised. He started circling the buzz cut man from the right. While they had the man surrounded, Maya, Simon, and Manny were cornered themselves a few meters away. The bully and one of his men had already stood up, and together with the obsidian-haired woman, they kept Maya's group preoccupied.

The woman noticed Nathan and Ann circling one of her allies and ordered Mark to go help. The three-against-three brawl became three on one as Mark left and his lackey was beaten.

Maya's group was completely out of breath, but they still smiled. They were one troublesome woman away from victory. Maya was confident enough to spare a glance at Ann. Surprisingly, she seemed able to keep up with Nathan. But Maya had no time to think more. She dodged a fist aimed at her head and aimed a counterpunch. But the woman read her attack before Manny or Simon could step in and landed a punch to Maya’s gut.

Manny flew to Maya’s side, ramming the woman away. She flew through the air, falling five metres away from the fight. Luckily for her, the sandy surface padded her fall. But as she got up, Manny was satisfied to see she clutched her ribs.

Manny bent down to help his friend up. "Are you all right?"

"Y—yeah." Maya stood up shakily. "She sure packs a lot of punch for a woman."

They turned to look at the woman again, but she was nowhere to be seen. The group quickly took up a triangular formation to defend themselves from a sneak attack.

Nathan punched and kicked the buzz cut man, but he wasn’t giving up. He readied himself for a final strike as the man stumbled.

"Hey, I think it's about time you step in, Mike," a shout came from Nathan's right, where Ann and Mark had been fighting. Mark was clearly struggling. He had been nicked by Ann’s knives several times. Just as Ann was about to puncture Mark's brain through his eye, the last man from Mark’s group Quickstepped his way in front of her, slapping her hand away like a fly.

"Mark, Mark, Mark. I didn't want to interfere. I was hoping you'd think with your brain for once," Mike said contemptuously. "And now I've gotta clean up your mess. Your father's not gonna be happy about this."

Ann gathered her wits enough to attack the new enemy. But even though he never looked at her, her blade hit only his shadow. The man reappeared on her right and sent her flying with a kick to the abdomen. She landed a few metres short of Maya’s group, unconscious.

Maya broke formation to run and help her. As she did, Mike reached into a pouch attached to his belt, withdrawing a small silver ball. In one smooth motion, he lobbed it at her.

"MAYA!" Nathan's shout resonated.

As she looked up, she noticed the silver ball. She also noticed Nathan appearing out of thin air, right between her and the flying projectile. He looked at her, smiled, and vanished in the deafening explosion.