"Give up, man." Morrow said, slamming his fist into Golden again—the third strike in a row, each one heavier than the last.

Golden kept dodging, his movements growing more limited, his left shoulder already numb, the taste of iron filling his mouth.

"I have to hit Armand." He thought. "I need space."

He gained a few inches. Ran up the wall, three vertical steps, trying to get over Morrow.

Morrow grabbed his leg midair and hurled him down hard.

Golden crashed into the sewer water, his body slamming into it, dark water splashing upward, the stench filling his mouth along with the filthy water.

"You’re underestimating me." Morrow said, walking to the edge without any hurry, without any need to hurry. "You’re so focused on beating the boss you think I’m nothing, huh?"

Silence.

Golden, still sitting in the water, slowly raised one hand.

Ran it through his hair.

Stood up.

"Son of a bitch." He said. "You messed up my hair."

He looked Morrow straight in the eyes.

"You’ve got it coming. You’re gonna lose a few teeth."

"Huh!?"

Golden was already in front of him, a straight punch to the face.

Morrow blocked, but the impact forced him back a step. "Son of a bitch is strong." A red fist-shaped bruise appeared across Morrow’s forearm, electricity crackling over his skin for a second.

Golden threw another punch. Morrow blocked again, retreating farther.

Another. Another. Every blow driving Morrow back a little more.

Morrow tried to counter from the flank. Golden caught his arm with his free hand and shocked him, a concentrated discharge bursting from his fingers, making Morrow’s entire body shake.

Without releasing the arm, he launched another punch at his face.

Morrow blocked with his free arm, but the punch drove his own defense into his face, brutally hard.

Golden hit him again. And again. Morrow’s head slammed against the sewer’s stone wall.

"I..." Golden said, punch.

"Don’t." Another punch.

"Fight." Another.

"Dogs." Final blow.

Several of Morrow’s teeth had already fallen out, disappearing into the dark water along with blood and saliva. He was losing consciousness, his legs trembling.

"I fight..." Golden grabbed his head with both hands and shoved his face underwater.

"With the owner..." Again and again, steady rhythm, never giving him time to recover. "...of the dogs."

"What the hell are you?" Morrow managed to mumble after surfacing once, vomiting water.

Golden held Morrow’s head underwater even longer, electrocuted him again, the current spreading through the water, then let go, throwing his body backward against the wall.

Morrow vomited for real, water, bile, and blood mixed together.

Golden spat onto the ground beside him.

"Golden Flavius." He said, literally, like a final introduction.

He shot away in a burst of lightning, toward where Haru and Armand had gone.

Haru teleported from shadow to shadow, Shadow Steps carrying him through the maze of tunnels, chasing the shadow Armand left behind like a trail.

"This guy doesn’t know the way." Armand thought. "He left before me, but he hasn’t gotten off my tail."

"He’s only pretending to know where he’s going so he can see where I’m going."

"Smart."

"But not smart enough."

"Let me pull ahead."

Haru sensed the difference before consciously processing it, something in Armand’s movement pattern had changed.

"Hmm." He thought. "He figured out I don’t know the exact route to the crystal."

"Damn it."

Armand accelerated, pretending to turn right.

Haru turned.

Wrong way.

Armand took the opposite path, even faster, widening the distance, his shadow trail becoming harder to follow.

"Fuck it." Haru thought. "Without Vandris’ Eyes, without Golden here... I literally don’t know where to put my hands."

He couldn’t see Armand anymore.

Golden raced through the tunnels, not confused, not searching.

Knowing.

"The spirit Haru implanted inside me..." He thought while running, climbing the wall when the tunnel curved strangely. "Makes me feel exactly where he is."

"I just have to follow it and I’ll get there."

He increased his speed, running, climbing walls, completely ignoring the sewer water flowing beneath him, guided by the resonance his spiritual eye felt connected to Haru’s core.

Armand reached the end point, the tunnel opening into a small chamber, a skylight above letting in faint moonlight.

It was obvious.

The crystal was there. He just had to place the fragments.

He was already pulling the fragment envelope out.

Footsteps behind him.

"Huh." He turned. "How did he get here?"

Everything seemed to move in slow motion inside his own thoughts.

Golden came charging into the chamber entrance, Vandris’ Eye still faintly glowing, breathing controlled despite the sprint, Morrow’s blood still staining his fists.

Armand spun instantly, unleashing a wave of condensed shadow toward Golden.

"Take this piece of shit."

The wave crossed the space where Golden had been.

But Haru had already stepped out of Armand’s own shadow, passing through it, borrowing the enemy’s own movement, reaching the skylight before the wave completed its path.

"Shadow teleportation." Haru thought as he landed beside the crystal. "I didn’t need to know where to teleport. I just aimed for the shadows where he turned. To get here."

"Shit!" Armand thought, seeing Haru already there.

"Shit!" Golden thought, seeing the shadow wave still coming toward him.

"Shit!" Haru thought, sensing something was wrong.

"Shit!" Genius thought, leaping toward the next tree.

"Time’s almost up."

"But how do I get rid of this guy?"

Then the missing gear clicked into place.

"He’s not actually trying to hit me." He realized. "Every attack leaves just enough room for me to dodge if I react fast."

"He doesn’t want to hurt me."

"He wants to keep me moving."

He realized it too late.

The Chinese man wasn’t fighting.

He was releasing killing intent, pure pressure, a presence that Genius’ instincts interpreted as lethal danger, forcing constant physical reactions without ever crossing the line into breaking the rules.

He wasn’t being attacked.

He was being kept busy.

"You’re not going to hurt me." Genius said, stepping down from the tree, finally refusing to dodge anymore.

The Chinese man smiled, still spinning the nunchaku, slow and steady.

"I won’t." He confirmed. "But you’ll keep being afraid that I will."

Every time Genius jumped, he lost time. Lost distance. Lost focus on the crystal he still had to find.

The Chinese man never got tired. Never gave up. Never left enough space for Genius to breathe and return to the methodical calculations he needed to locate the remaining fragments.

The Chinese man advanced.

Genius stood still.

Closed his eyes.

"Fear..." He murmured.

The nunchaku passed within inches of Genius’ forehead, straight down, followed by a blast of wind, never making contact.

Genius had been right.

The Chinese man put the nunchaku away.

Smiled.

The bell rang in the distance, signaling the end of the test.

"It’s over." He said simply.

Genius remained standing there, breathing heavily, cold sweat running down his body, all the accumulated tension suddenly without purpose.

He looked at the mental clock he had been keeping, without realizing it, without being able to stop.

"I spent the entire night here."

"Fighting nothing."

He looked around. The forest was mostly intact, the crystal finally visible at the base of a tree, glowing too faintly to be worth anything real.

He collected it.

[CRYSTAL F-7 REVEALED]

◊ Value: 000... (test ended)

Nothing.

Genius stared at the number for a long moment.

Then looked up at the stars, the sky clear, the night fully settled.

"The bastard is a genius." He thought about Haru, without real anger, only genuine recognition of what had happened.

Armand’s shadow wave reached Golden. Golden slammed into a wall at incredible speed, his body crashing against stone.

Haru, standing beneath the skylight, spotted a sheet of paper stuck there.

He grabbed it, fast, instinctively.

Read it while Armand was still processing what had just happened.

"I already took! :)... Not this time, Tokyo.

—Genius."

Haru stared at the note for a long second.

"The bastard is a genius." He thought, exactly the same thought Genius was having in the forest at that very moment, without either of them knowing.

He looked up at the stars through the skylight.

"He neutralized me without touching me." Haru thought.

"Without breaking a single rule." Genius thought, on the other side of the academy.

Both laughed quietly, exhausted, with more admiration than frustration, two completely separate sides of the same night.

Armand and Golden were still trading blows now, man against man, shadow against electricity, two battered bodies still exchanging strikes—

"Son of a bitch." Armand said as a punch buried itself into his stomach.

Golden didn’t answer. He simply kept going, blood running down his own forehead, Vandris’ Eye still functioning despite the strain.

The bell rang, distant but unmistakable.

[TEST 1: COMPLETED]

Everything stopped.

Armand froze in the middle of his next strike, the system automatically blocking any further action.

Golden stopped as well, his fist hanging inches from Armand’s face, never completing the punch.

Silence filled the chamber.

Haru climbed down from the skylight slowly, without the crystal in his hands, only Genius’ note.

He looked at Armand.

Armand looked back, breathing heavily, blood on his lip, yet somehow still smiling.

"It’s over." Armand said.

"For today." Haru replied.

Armand looked at the note in Haru’s hands.

"You didn’t win this round."

"It wasn’t about winning."

He turned toward Golden, slumped against the wall, smiling despite the blood.

"You alright?"

"I’m great." Golden said. "Knocked a few of Morrow’s teeth out. Worth the night."

Armand slowly stood, wiping the blood from his lip.

"We’ll see each other in the next test." He said.

"Most likely." Haru confirmed.

And he left, disappearing through the tunnels without any hurry now, the test having already decided its outcome regardless of any final sprint.

MORNING — OVERALL RESULTS

[TEST 1: LIVING MAP — FINAL RESULTS]