Reality's Beholder

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"Attention, cadets, this is your proctor. I'm glad to see that you've been performing well in this trial. I have an important announcement," he paused, then continued. "There are only twelve hours left until the end of this exam." As soon as he spoke, a giant countdown timer materialized in the sky, showing eleven hours, fifty-nine minutes, and a few seconds.

"Now, there's going to be a slight change in the trial," he went on. "The boundary no longer moves by days, but by the hour. It will also cover a larger area than before. If you don't want to get eliminated, it's time to start heading toward the center as quickly as possible. The boundary will stop moving at exactly a 1.5-kilometer radius from the city center. Good luck!"

"Guess we've got our work cut out for us," Lara drawled.

"You," I called out to the boy with the buzz haircut. "Do it again, for one last time."

"Alright, guys, our goal right now isn't to collect more flags," Tokito began. As the group's defacto leader, he knew how to get the point across. "We already have enough to rank us in the top five, maybe even the top three. Our current focus should be making sure we don't lose any flags. Understood?" We all nodded in agreement.

"You, give me the flags," I said to the three idiots who were holding them. I didn't trust them with the flags; they could easily be snatched away by other groups.

"What are you..." Lara started, but I ignored her and moved towards a wall several meters away from us, covered in overgrown plants and vines. I tore off a strip of a branch and returned to the group.

The others stared at me as I tied all nine flags around my waist using the vine, leaving out the last two I was originally holding.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tokito asked skeptically.

"Even if it comes down to our entire group being eliminated, I trust myself to outlast every single one of you," I replied calmly. It was a bit arrogant, but it was true. If it came to that, unless I encountered the she-devil, I could ensure no other cadet reached me—unless I ran out of essence. 'Maybe Jared could also do it, or anyone with a spatial bloodline, but it wouldn't be easy,' I mused.

None of them refuted me. They'd seen what I was capable of. In this group, only Tokito was stronger than me. Lara was also ranked higher and was faster and stronger base-wise, but once I used my "burden," I would win easily. As for the other three? Laughable.

We kept moving for another hour, but as fate would have it, we came across a top-ten ranker: Aurelia Snow, ranked ninth, along with two cadets I remembered were in the top thirty.

A moment of silence passed as both groups stood facing each other, until someone broke it. "How would you like to work with us?" Aurelia asked, her snow-white hair swaying in the windless air. I scanned her group again—they had exactly nine flags. There were ninety-eight flags in total, and we held twenty of them, which was a little more than one-fifth.

"An alliance?" Tokito asked.

"Hmmm," Aurelia nodded.

"What do you think?" Tokito turned to Lara and me. "I think it's feasible. We wouldn't be the only groups teaming up."

I nodded, though there was a high chance of betrayal. It was better to team up with her now than face groups that had already formed alliances picking us off one by one.

Lara didn't comment but gave a slight nod.

"What terms do you propose?" Tokito asked, turning back to Aurelia.

"We'll team up until the very end," she answered vaguely.

"Fine," Tokito agreed. It didn't matter when the alliance would fall apart—I was already planning to betray Aurelia's group anyway, and I knew they wouldn't be so naive as to not think about it.

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Meanwhile, while Adam's group formed an alliance, other groups were also joining forces.

"Ah, if it isn't my arch-nemesis," Owen said with a grin.

He and Jared's group of two were moving further from the boundary when they encountered a group led by a golden-haired girl. But what she said in response to his teasing left him dumbfounded.

"Let's form an alliance, your team and mine," she proposed.

Owen's jaw nearly hit the ground. Normally, she would have responded with something like, "I see you've lost all your group members; your incompetence never ceases to amaze me ," but now she was offering an alliance?

'What could she be possibly planning, it must be something bad no less. "An alliance?" he asked skeptically. "What are you plotting this time around?"

"Nothing, just a mutually beneficial alliance. I need capable hands, and you guys seem to need members," she gestured at their no existent members.

"We agree," Jared spoke before Owen could respond after mulling the matter for a bit.

"Hey, I didn't agree to that!" Owen protested, but Jared ignored him.

Owen might act foolish, but he wasn't stupid. He knew there was a huge chance of betrayal, and Ashley knew it too. And he knew he and Ashley never got along, but he also knew that other groups would be forming alliances too. So in the end, "Fine I agree" he agreed. Well, whatever happened, he'd face it when it came.

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Elsewhere in the ruined city, two more groups crossed paths. A silver-haired guy, Damien Ashbourne, and a guy with obsidian hair and eyes, Quinn Darkheart, stood a few dozen meters apart. Their groups stood behind them, watching the tense interaction. Quinn's eerie black aura alone was enough to send chills down everyone's spine, while Damien was surrounded by a crackling lightning aura. Neither made a move; both were confident in their strength but knew it wasn't time to fight yet.

"Let's team up for the time being," Damien's cold voice echoed.

"I was thinking the same," Quinn's voice came out, low and eerie. And so, another alliance was formed—perhaps the strongest one yet.

All around the ruined city, groups were forming alliances, as if preparing for the day of reckoning. Except for one group at the center of the city. The other members of this group kept glancing nervously at their leader, who was sitting expressionlessly.

Finally, one of them found the courage to speak. "L...Lady...Aurora," a girl stammered. "Hmm?" Aurora turned her gaze toward her, making the girl visibly uneasy. "N...nothing, I just wanted to say it's the last day and we haven't collected any flags yet."

"I see," Aurora replied calmly, making the entire group shiver. On the first day of the trial, Aurora had teleported them here from their starting point, and they didn't dare ask why.

"There's no need to worry. The flags will come to us," Aurora continued. She knew the center was where all the groups would eventually converge, bringing her all the flags she needed. There was no need to stress.

And soon enough, the first flag-bearers appeared—led by a red-haired cadet, carrying fifteen flags. They had just come into view.

"Damn," Victor muttered as he spotted Aurora and her group. He had thought that his group should come to the center and ambush others, but now he realized his mistake. 'Damn, how did I not think of this?' he thought. With Aurora, it wasn't an ambush; it was a simple overpowering of the competition.

Before he could even process it, Aurora appeared in front of him and his group, startling them. "Um, hello Aurora. Fancy meeting you here," he greeted, trying to play his cards well. But Aurora simply extended her hand.

"Give them to me."

"What?" Victor asked, confused.

"The flags," she replied impassively.

Victor's smile faded as a frown replaced it. "What do you mean?" he asked, trying to maintain some defiance.

"I meant what I said," Aurora stated calmly.

Victor knew Aurora was stronger than him, but surrendering all the flags they had fought so hard to collect was too ridiculous. Yet, whether he handed them over willingly or not, if she wanted them, she would get them.

"I can give you all the flags we snatched, but not our main flag," he said, looking her in the eye. That was his bottom line—the alternative was to fight and lose anyway, but at least he would lose with dignity.

Aurora fell silent for a moment, as if contemplating his words, before responding. "Fine, give them to me." She took all fourteen flags from Victor's team and teleported back to her group. Her team was shocked to see her disappear, only for her to reappear a minute later, now holding a massive pile of flags. The terrifying part was that the other group handed the flags willingly. Did their group leader had some other groups working for her? If that was the case then their group was set—they thought. Not knowing that they completely misunderstood.

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