(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don't hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

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The world solidified around him in a flash of blue light.

Caelum Chronos steadied his footing before his senses expanded outward. The air was cold and crisp, the terrain uneven, rocky plains stretching into narrow ridges with few trees scattered along the horizon.

He inhaled once, slow and deliberate, then exhaled. No dizziness, no distortion lag. The teleportation had been clean.

His gaze flicked downward. The faint glow of the sigil stone pulsed against his palm, the number "1" written on its surface.

"Let's see how this goes," he muttered.

He slipped it into his pocket and began walking. The ground underfoot was coarse and dry, every sound sharp in the quiet. A small breeze blew past him, carrying the scent of dust and stone.

He didn't move quickly. His pace was balanced, measured, fast enough to cover distance, slow enough to register movement.

His eyes constantly scanned, noting every flicker of shadow, every indentation on the terrain.

A few minutes passed before he caught it, faint energy residue, lingering like smoke after flame. He crouched, fingers grazing the air above the rocks. Mana traces, recent.

"Someone's close." He said, his eyes narrowed.

He turned toward the direction of the flow, his senses sharpening. He moved without noise, using the terrain to his advantage, slipping behind a ridge.

A flicker of light appeared ahead, a brief burst of mana, uncontrolled. Someone was trying to manipulate it without full restraint.

He peeked around the ridge. A boy, older than him by maybe two years, stood near a cliffside, clutching his sigil stone nervously, scanning every direction. His stance was tense, untrained.

'Could be a trap,' He thought.

Caelum watched for a few seconds, then straightened, stepping forward.

The boy jerked in surprise, turning toward the sound. "Who's there?!"

Caelum didn't answer. His eyes were calm, his body relaxed, his steps even. The distance between them closed a little by little.

'Why's he so scared?' Caelum thought, suspicious.

"You— you're from Magnum 1," the boy said, recognition flashing.

"Stay back!" The boy shouted.

"The whole point of the trial is to come closer," Caelum said lazily.

The boy raised his hand clumsily, mana flickering at his fingertips, weak, uncontrolled. A flare shot forward, burning out midway before it even reached Caelum.

'Did he just try to shooy mana out of his hands?' Caelum thought, exasperated.

The boy froze, realising the futility.

Caelum stopped three paces away. "You're wasting energy," he said simply.

The boy gritted his teeth, stepping back. "I'm not giving you my sigil!"

"I didn't ask for it," Caelum replied.

The boy gritted his teeth and lunged forward. The attempt was sloppy. Caelum shifted aside, his arm moving once, controlled and smooth. The boy dropped to one knee from the counter, wind knocked out of him.

Caelum crouched, looking him in the eye. "Save your strength next time."

He took the sigil stone from the boy's loosened grip. The glow brightened and shifted to two points. When he looked up again, the boy had already begun fading from the field.

Caelum straightened and looked ahead. The horizon shimmered faintly. A distant pillar of light pulsed at regular intervals. A shrine.

He didn't head toward it immediately. Shrines attracted attention, and attention led to trouble. Instead, he turned east, toward a narrow ridge formation that would give him height and vision.

The climb wasn't difficult. Loose stones slipped beneath his boots, but he moved lightly, keeping balance. From the top, he saw the faint outlines of others in motion, small figures in the distance, flashes of mana as they fought.

He stayed there for a while, studying the landscape. Then, faint voices caught his attention. Down below, three students were chasing another across the flat ground. The lone one stumbled often, the others laughing as they closed in.

Caelum began descending quietly, picking his path to avoid loose rock. The moment the chase neared his position, he stepped out from behind a boulder. The two pursuers froze, startled.

"What— who are you?" one managed.

Caelum didn't answer. His hand moved once, quick but simple. A short strike to the first's abdomen, a sweep to the second's leg. Both fell.

The third participant, the one being chased, stared wide-eyed, unsure whether to thank him or run. Caelum turned away without a word.

He stepped closer to their bodies before searching them and taking their sigil stones, his expression placid throughout.

He quickly merged them before turning back to the wide-eyed student.

The boy stiffened, realising Caelum wasn't going to let him go,

'Of course he wouldn't, this was a trial after all.' The boy thought bitterly.

Still, he refused to give up; he definitely couldn't fight Caelum; he wouldn't fool himself; hence, the next best thing would be

"Wait! I'm not going to fight back. I know I don't have any chance of winning, but please hear me out." He quickly said, his eyes clinging with desperation.

Caelum tilted his head, intrigued.

The boy noticed he'd gotten Caelum's attention and quickly started speaking.

"If you defeat me, you get just one sigil point, but if you spare me, you can keep me as a prisoner, we'll work together, and if possible, share whatever sigil points we get, of course, with you getting the majority. And in the scenario we meet someone we can't beat, you can use me as bait." The boy explained.

"You'd willingly use yourself as bait," Caelum asked.

"Yes, without hesitation. What do you think?" The boy asked.

"I would have considered it, but I doubt you'd be useful either as a partner or as bait," Caelum said matter-of-factly.

The boy's face paled, his mouth opening to speak, but Caelum didn't give him the opportunity before making quick work of him.

When he finished, Caelum climbed back up to his vantage point and checked the sky. The faint glow of compression light shimmered high above. The first boundary shift wasn't far.

After a while, he began moving toward the east, silent and composed, the plain stretching endlessly ahead.

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