A deep, rumbling quake tore through the ground, jolting the terrain beneath us. Black’s shadow-horse stumbled slightly but quickly recovered. Just then, Bob’s voice boomed overhead, taunting us all, "Try your best, for only the first 50% to cross the finish line will pass this exam!" The announcement sent a palpable spark of panic through the air, fueling every hunter’s desire to push harder and faster. There was no room for hesitation now.

It was like… their ass was literally lit on fire.

A woman with her body practically glowing with aura blitzed past us, throwing a smirk over her shoulder as she called out, “Later, slowpokes!” Black urged his mount faster, and just as we caught up, I noticed movement above. A guy riding some kind of floating surfboard swooped down, effortlessly overtaking us as he coasted ahead.

I pressed my earpiece, speaking into it quickly. “Selena, heads-up. Two hunters approaching you—one’s a Fighter with a speed aura, the other’s a Maker, gliding on a surfboard.”

Her response was swift. “Copy that. Speed girl is already here… and she’s dumber than she looks.” A series of sharp explosions echoed in the distance, and I could only imagine Selena was already setting traps to keep her lead.

Black kicked his horse into an even faster pace, and soon we were neck and neck with the speedster woman again. Just as she shot a glare in our direction, she stumbled forward, sucked down to her knees in quicksand. We shot past her as she struggled, and I allowed myself a small, triumphant grin.

Who was the slowpoke now?

Following Selena’s directions was like navigating a minefield—but I trusted her. Her voice crackled through the earpiece. She was cool and steady. "Marsh up ahead. Looks like a harmless flower field, but don’t be fooled; it’s crawling with crocodiles. Avoid it."

"Got it," I replied.

“Black, marsh ahead that looks like a flower field,” I informed Black tightening my grip on him as he steered the shadow horse sharply to the right, avoiding the marsh. A few hunters veered too close, and the swamp’s trap activated, the once-pretty flowers snapping into grotesque, toothy grins. I didn’t look back to see their fate.

Selena continued, "Weird rain ahead. It’s dense, like iron droplets. Nearly tore my bike apart."

I informed Black again, who tensed, navigating us forward as I watched for any telltale shimmer or dark cloud. The sky darkened above us briefly, and a few heavy droplets clinked off the ground like metal. Black maneuvered us in a zig-zag, dodging the rain just as Selena had warned.

Then her voice came back, "River of lava from the left. It’s quick, but anticipate it."

Her informing me, and then me relaying information to Black continued like this for hours. Why wouldn’t I just give up the earpiece to Black to make it more efficient? I wasn’t doing it just so I could get a participation trophy… They trusted me to make the snappy decisions. More specifically, Selena trusted me to make the decisions and that was why she gave the earpiece to me.

Most likely, she did it in lieu of her bodyguard duties, though the earpiece was unnecessary since we had the tarot card.

We kept our eyes peeled, and sure enough, a molten river snaked out of the ground without warning, glowing red and deadly. Black leaped his shadow mount over the edge of it, landing us safely past the flow.

“Next up: gravity’s gonna reverse. You’ll feel a shift, so brace yourselves,” Selena warned.

A few paces ahead, I felt my feet pulling off the ground, weightlessness tugging us upward. Black adapted quickly, gripping the reins tighter, and we rode through it with a calculated leap, our sense of orientation reeling for just a moment.

Finally, Selena’s tone grew sharper. “Invisible walls ahead. Remember this pattern: hard right, sharp turn, then long left, and finally another right. The walls are static, so commit it to memory.”

I repeated it back to Black, and he nodded, guiding us with Selena’s directions. We maneuvered through the invisible maze, weaving right and left with each sharp turn. Each step through this nightmare obstacle course brought us closer to the goal, and Selena’s guidance kept us on the path to victory.

As we raced on, I sensed through the Soul Links I’d been planting that most of the hunters were hanging back, keeping their distance and avoiding any chance encounters. Everyone knew that antagonizing another hunter was a surefire way to end up sidelined in this race, so they scattered across the field, choosing safe paths where they could. But, as expected, that didn’t stop some from trying to sabotage us.

A harsh burst of static cut into my earpiece, followed by Selena’s voice, seething, “Motherfucker, someone just sent a missile my way! Good thing I’ve got a spare bike!”

Before I could even process that, I caught a glimpse of something sharp and deadly whizzing toward us. A missile—of all things—was homing in on our path, aimed with expert precision. Whoever launched it knew exactly what they were doing.

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“Black, faster! We’ve got incoming!” I shouted.

He gritted his teeth, urging the shadow steed beneath us to push harder. "This is the fastest I can go!" he ground out, his frustration evident.

The missile closed in, tearing through the air behind us. I clenched my jaw and prepared for impact, mind racing through options, wondering if we had a shot at dodging it or whether it’d be time to throw out some defensive trick up my sleeve.

As the missile closed in, I noticed a faint, almost invisible shimmer of aura outlining its edges—proof that it was a Maker’s handiwork. I only had seconds, but that was all I needed.

Channeling my aura, I extended it into Soul Chains, the corona of my twisting and snapping with a will of their own. Just as the missile got dangerously close, my chains shot out and coiled around it in a tight, controlled grip. I forced its propulsion to a dead stop, trapping it in mid-air. A second later, the missile dropped behind us like dead weight, fizzling out without so much as a spark.

I exhaled, barely containing a grin. "That's one problem solved," I muttered, feeling Black’s tense breath ease just a little.

He glanced back at me, wide-eyed and slightly shaken. “Next time, maybe give me a warning before you pull a stunt like that,” he managed, his voice half-relieved, half-impressed.

I smirked, keeping my gaze locked forward. "Wouldn't want to spoil the thrill, would we?"

Revenge was practically a hunter's birthright, after all.

I wasn’t about to let that missile stunt slide. Petty? Maybe. But anyone who came for me had to expect payback.

I mentally sifted through the network of Soul Links I’d scattered across the hunters, feeling out the nuances of each one’s aura and attributes. Attributes had a way of revealing their owners, with a certain directness that made it easier to track them down if you knew what to look for. It didn’t take me long before I honed in on an attribute literally named "missile." Perfect.

The only problem was he was too far to reach with a Soul Chain. But my Soul Link? That still connected us, even at this distance. With a small grin, I expanded the Link. Gathering the aura from fifty hunters, I balanced it all carefully—equalizing it through my pores, bit by bit, before sending it back. Only this time, I added a twist: the “aura debt” would fall on missile-guy.

A quick mental flick, and it was done.

I imagined his face when the backlash hit, weighed down by the sudden strain of fifty hunters' aura debt on his system. Good luck managing that.

Hah. Suck it.

The race was chaotic, but with Selena’s updates coming through the earpiece, we managed to stay ahead. Each time Selena called out a new obstacle, I relayed it immediately to Black, and together we adjusted. My job was to stay vigilant, anticipate any curveball, and coordinate every movement with precision.

"Pitfall coming up, hard left!" I warned. Black veered sharply, his horse's hooves skidding just inches from the gaping pit.

Then came a downpour—not normal rain but lightning rain. The air crackled with static, bolts striking down at random. “Stay low, and head for cover!” I instructed, guiding us to an overhanging rock, where we waited out the worst of it.

Further along, we encountered trees that seemed alive, bending and reaching toward us like hungry animals. "Stay tight on my mark!” I barked, weaving our way through, narrowly dodging branches that swung like arms, trying to snare us.

Each trap seemed more creative—and more vicious—than the last, but we didn’t lose our pace.

As we tore through the winding course, we encountered no shortage of ambitious hunters, each using their unique powers and strange modes of transport to push for the lead. The speedster girl was back, tearing through the terrain like a bolt. She’d gotten close enough that I could almost feel her aura sparking as she prepared to overtake us. But I wasn’t about to let her steal the lead so easily. With a quick flick of my wrist, I let my Soul Chain fly, wrapping around her legs just long enough to trip her up, buying us the few precious seconds we needed to pull ahead.

A few minutes later, we bypassed a peculiar lineup of competitors. A literal horse bounded along, sleek and muscular; its aura confirmed it was actually a hunter in full transformation mode. We left it in the dust, passing next a strange figure wobbling on an old-fashioned bicycle. I couldn’t tell if it was bravado or sheer recklessness that had him riding that contraption, but it wouldn’t be a match for Black’s shadow beast.

Just as we cleared the cyclist, an even stranger sight greeted us: a hunter bouncing along furiously on a pogo stick, springing ahead with unsettling determination. I couldn’t help but marvel at his bizarre choice, though we left him behind as he struggled with each bounce.

Further down, a flash of light appeared, and a teleporter jumped into view, materializing in front of us one moment, then reappearing a few paces ahead the next. But without precise control, he was all over the place, vanishing and reappearing with a chaotic, frantic energy.

A loud snarl turned my attention to a risqué woman astride a massive wolf, its powerful strides keeping pace with us. The hunter’s eyes were fixed on me, a challenging gleam there, but her mount’s ferocity didn’t concern me—it was her lack of stability. The wolf stumbled as we rounded a sharp turn, and I watched as she fought to regain control.

The final stretch was becoming more chaotic, with hunters converging from every direction, their desperation driving them to unleash every ounce of speed and skill they had. I could feel the pressure ramping up as we hurtled toward the finish line. More hunters flooded in from the edges, joining in one last, frenzied push, but Black’s shadow beast plowed ahead, its hooves pounding the ground in rhythmic strides.

Selena’s voice crackled over the earpiece, “I’m already at the finish line. Hurry up!”

“We’re right behind,” I replied, my eyes locked onto the massive metal gates looming ahead.

With one last burst, Black urged his shadow horse forward, and we barreled through the entrance, crossing the line just as the gates began to close behind us. Black dispelled his horse, its shadowy form dissipating into wisps of darkness, and we landed on the ground. I straightened up, adjusting my jacket and aiming for a graceful finish.

Hunters were gathered around in various states of exhaustion, relief, and irritation. I felt a familiar tap on my back and turned to see Selena. She was smirking, giving me a look that was half-teasing, half-acknowledging. “Not too shabby,” she said, clearly eyeing Black’s drained state more than mine. Her remark had an edge of sarcasm; she knew how my abilities worked, leaning heavily on borrowed strength.

I gave her a shrug, brushing it off. Borrowed power or not, it had gotten me here.