Burning.

It felt like we were burning - With each step we took, the heat only pierced deeper into our bodies. After opening the red door, we’d been greeted by nothing more than an empty corridor which we’d been forced to travel through since the door swung shut behind us.

In comparison to the dark paths of before, the method of blinding this time was a thick smoke which seemed to appear from nothing. It grew ever-thicker the further in we went, and my weakened lungs were already beginning to suffer while I restrained the urge to gag.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” Naomi called out, swiping at the fog in front of her eyes as she stormed on from behind me.

“You said you trusted me, so keep your word,” I affirmed - I had no way of knowing if we’d taken the right path or not, or if I’d condemned us to a fate of melting. But there was no point being pessimistic - The way back was locked shut, so the only option was to keep going.

“Still… It’s getting hard to see, and I think I’m gonna start choking if these fumes don’t disappear pretty soon.” Naomi began, picking up the pace as we jogged through the long stretch. “You know, if it gets any thicker, I might lose sight of you. It’s probably better if we keep each other close.”

With those words, I felt a soft hand wrap itself around mine. Ha, if it made her feel more reassured, I guess I didn’t mind. I wasn’t the biggest fan of physical contact, but I can only imagine the discomfort of being alone somewhere here far surpasses my own concerns.

“Guess you’re right,” I nodded as I tried to shake off the growing feeling that we were being cooked like fish on a fire. “Let’s hurry up. This corridor can’t last forever, but neither can we…” I tried to make light of the situation as Naomi nervously laughed behind me.

“Hey, Katsuro… What’s the most important thing to you?” She asked, catching me a little off-guard. This wasn’t exactly the time to ask a deep question like that.

So, I shrugged it off with a simple truth. “To save humanity.” I began, watching as she rolled her eyes with annoyance.

“You’re always so grandiose… Don’t you ever think it’s alright to prioritize things a little more personal? You’re not the prince or anything, you know?” She hit back, earning a stern glare from me.

“I don’t have to be a prince to know what I need to do,” I gritted my teeth, “I will save humanity, there’s not a single doubt in my body. But… to do that, we have to pass this examination. And quite frankly, I don’t know why you’re asking such an introspective question when this heat’s about to reduce us to ashes,” I laughed, trying to shrug off the question and focus on the task at hand before she gave a reply I desperately did not want to hear.

The trouble with these challenges wasn’t their physical tests. Not that those weren’t ridiculous themselves, but more that there was a much bigger threat. The fact that we had absolutely no way of knowing how, or even if, each challenge was solvable.

Picking up the pace, we soon fell silent. The only sounds leaking out came from the occasional cough as the smoke overwhelmed us. The feeling that your skin might melt is a horrible one, but I couldn’t help but remain calm.

Perhaps that’s the effect of putting your body through so much in such a short span of time? I must’ve been desensitised to the difficulty as all I could think about was the upcoming goal. I blinked rapidly as my thoughts blended with reality; I could finally spot an opening.

Carved in at a decent height on the left side of the wall, it would’ve been easily overlooked by most considering the intensity of the smoke and the speed at which we travelled. Fortunately, I’d been looking out for hints like that.

“Hey, Naomi, over here,” I motioned up to the wall. Initially, Naomi began to voice her annoyance that I’d broken our hand contact, but her lips quickly curled into a smile.

“How’d you even see that? Tall people really are lucky,” Naomi complained, in a light-hearted tone that didn’t exactly befit the situation.

“It’s too high for you to jump up to,” I muttered, as much to myself as to her, as I leaned forward and bent my back to provide her with a step-ladder.

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“Such a gentleman,” She grinned. Unfortunately, her attempt at messing with me was undermined by her rough spluttering as smoke engulfed us. Hopping onto my shoulders, Naomi easily lifted herself up to the top of the gap and glanced towards it.

“Looks like we’re nearly there,” Naomi sighed with relief as she stretched her arms out expectantly from above the ledge.

“Thank you,” I smiled as I leapt up, grateful for her support considering my right arm was far too weak to pull myself up on my own.

“Like you said before, no time to rest. Let’s get going,” Naomi wiped her hands as she helped me to my feet on top of the ledge.

In front of us was a short passage, with a row of rings at the top. At the very end lay a door titled ‘FINAL’, and it was that godly sign that empowered me to keep going. Similarly, the walls held some small circles which were presumably symbolic.

Naomi reached to climb up the ladder, preparing herself to swing across the room. Neither of us questioned the choice - Although the ground looked relatively harmless, they wouldn’t have added that extra challenge of the rings unless the former had problems of its own.

Unfortunately, I was about to find out - With my poor condition, I wouldn’t be able to traverse the rings so my only option was to travel across the floor.

“Hey, c’mon up,” Naomi urged, resting at the top of the ladder with an expectant expression. “I know your arm’s a little sore but I get a bad feeling about going straight across such an empty ground…”

I ignored her warning.

Like before, this was just another false choice. Besides, ignoring Naomi was a hobby of mine so I could always pretend I just hadn’t heard her later. To do that, I had to make the most of my chance now.

“Here goes nothing…” I threw a rock from my pocket across the ground, seeing if it would detect any traps. Nothing happened, so I applied some light, tentative pressure on the ground with my feet. “Still nothing, huh?”

“Katsuro, listen! It’s not worth it, there might be more serious traps you can’t see!” Naomi’s words fell on deaf ears as I sprinted across the platform. As I had anticipated, the circles on the left and right walls began to release rapid arrow strikes.

It was why I’d positioned myself in the middle, and maintained a careful view of the shooting spots. Glancing at them as I leapt like a hurdler, I noticed they had a blunt edge laced with a luminous purple solution. The blunt edge meant the likelihood of a lethal strike was much lower, but I was kind of curious why they would decide only now to choose a non-lethal option. Unless the solution itself was the deadly part, of course.

Not that I should really focus on that. I nimbly bounced across the floor, encouraged by the sound of Naomi’s frantic warnings as each arrow shot.

“Don’t worry about me, just focus on making it across!” I urged; Although she’d had a longer rest, she’d gone through the same challenges I had with an even earlier injury back against the first Shifter. I knew she could handle herself, but the idea of her falling and getting distracted because of me was not one I was prepared to stomach.

I couldn’t afford to look back and see if she’d actually listened, but the regular sounds of flesh against rings were reassuring. I was about three quarters across, with the end finally within my grasp.

Until the floor fell through.

As I jumped across, the floor disintegrated beneath my feet. Huge swathes of land sunk instantaneously, leaving just two thin beams across the ground. I was just teetering on the edge of one as the rest of the ground fell away.

I wanted to crouch. Lowering my centre of gravity would be perfect, but of course, I had no such luck. The arrows continued to fire, so I had no choice but to continue running forward on the narrow beam. My sense of balance was not perfect, but I’d trained my core stability to the point where it was just barely manageable.

Until the beam began spinning.

At first, it was a slow, barely-noticeable shift. And then it began to fully rotate. Even walking would be tough on its own but sprinting and even jumping were practically impossible. I stretched my arms out to either side for balance as I carefully tread forward, watching Naomi pass me from above from the corner of my eye.

“We’re so close! Just keep on going!” Naomi begged as she descended gracefully from the final ring to the ground in front of me, waiting for my arrival.

The ground was roaring with fervour. The beam was spinning with ferocity. The arrows shot with fury.

And yet, I reached the end.

With one final, desperate leap, I threw my body forward like a cannonball to smash haphazardly into Naomi. We staggered towards the wall as a collective, sighing and panting with relief as we watched the beam collapse into nothing.

I hadn’t realized it at first, the adrenaline and shock clouding my mind, but I soon felt it. Naomi’s arms wrapped tightly around my body as I pulled her close to me, staring into her delicate hazel eyes. They complimented her pretty face and a warm smile to create a picture I wish I could save forever.

”We made it. We finally did it. Dad would be so proud,” Naomi whispered, still catching her breath as she gracefully twirled a strand of her hair. It was obviously messy because of the trials, but for some reason, I couldn’t help but think it suited her even more than her usual style.

She was right. I had made it. I’d made it through each and every trial, and I couldn’t give that up now, even for such a heartwarming moment.

“The Commander won’t be proud of us unless we actually qualify. We’re in a race, so let’s save the hugging until we’ve actually made it.” I laughed it off, but my tone was marked by enough severity that she got the hint, reluctantly pulling her arms back.

For the first time in a while, I let myself truly smile as I pushed open the door titled ‘END’, my childhood friend right by my side.

Looking back, perhaps I was too naive.

I didn’t know all those trials were just a warm-up for the final show.

No, I didn’t know the true cruelty of the academy.