The magical notice shimmered into view just as Lance finished his morning stretch, a soft golden glyph blooming mid-air above his desk. He blinked at it, yawned, and squinted.

  Advanced Combat Session: Capture & Survival Trial.

  Assigned Group: Bella Fiore, Lance Aster, Erik Varn, Juno Locke, Rei Anza.

  Objective: Capture 3–5 Class I or II Beasts Alive.

  Location: Verdant Hollow Forest.

  Time Limit: Until Sunset.

  Preparation Time: 1 Hour.

  Note: You are excused from all other sessions. Professor Korra will supervise. Good luck.

  Lance stared at the message for a moment, then blinked again. “Alive? Why does it always have to be alive?”

  William's voice echoed in his head. “Ooh, survival assignment. Haven’t had one of those in a while. Hope you packed socks. Wet toes ruin morale.”

  Lance was already halfway into his boots. “They didn’t even give us a day’s notice.”

  “You’re adorable,” William smirked. “You think monsters give a day’s notice.”

  *********************************

  The Verdant Hollow was just as its name suggested: green, misty, and humming with life. Giant vines curled up old trees like serpents. The morning sun barely pierced the canopy. A few dozen students gathered in loose clumps, most looking anywhere from tense to outright terrified.

  Lance spotted Bella standing with her arms crossed, already geared up in a sleek red cloak over her light combat gear, two short-bladed daggers strapped to her hips.

  “You’re late,” she said the moment he approached.

  “I had to wrestle a ration pack away from Oliver’s squirrel,” Lance said, adjusting the strap of his bag.

  Bella smirked. “Of course.”

  Their new teammates stood a short distance away.

  Erik was built like a wall, arms folded, a massive tower shield strapped across his back. He gave them a stiff nod.

  Juno leaned on a wooden staff that had seen better days. Her two-tone hair and constant half-smile gave her an air of mischief. “You the song mage?” she asked.

  “Uh… what?” Lance blinked.

  “He uses vibration magic,” Bella clarified.

  “Ohhh,” Juno said. “So, like, music? Tuning fork of death? I’m into it.”

  Rei didn’t say a word. She just quietly inspected his curved blade, eyes unreadable behind dark bangs.

  Before Lance could make further introductions, a sharp, familiar voice cut through the air.

  Professor Korra’s robes fluttered behind her as she strode to the center of the field. Her green eyes were sharp, her tone even sharper.

  “This is not a brawl. This is not an exhibition. This is real-world experience — and you’re expected to behave like operatives, not children with toys.”

  She paused, letting her gaze settle on each group.

  “Each group is to capture a minimum of three living creatures. All Class I or II. You may use traps, spells, teamwork — whatever you wish. However,” she added, holding up a rune-inscribed orb, “you must tag each capture with this magical seal.”

  She handed one to each team leader — Bella took theirs.

  “Do not kill unless absolutely necessary. And beware of the forest’s deeper paths — we’ve added magical ‘calamities’ to simulate unexpected encounters. Expect illusions, false leads, weather shifts, even rival interference.”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Lance raised his hand. “Are… are those safe?”

  Korra gave him a flat look. “Reasonably.”

  “Oh good,” he muttered.

  “You have until sunset. Magical trackers will monitor you. Any sign of real danger and you’ll be extracted.” She clapped her hands. “You’ve got one hour. Plan, pack, and prepare. Your lives may not be in danger—but your grades are.”

  *********************************

  They set up camp near a shallow stream, choosing high ground for visibility. Erik and Bella argued about the fire pit placement. Juno chopped branches. Lance tried to help but mostly ended up getting in the way. It was Erik who finally tossed him a half-used flint.

  "Make yourself useful. Light it."

  Lance managed it after three tries, grinning slightly as the flames caught.

  By afternoon, they ventured out to hunt.

  They caught their first monster—a scaled boar with six tusks—without Lance. While he'd been tending to the traps, the others ambushed the creature, paralyzed it with Juno's gravity anchors, and locked it in a reinforced cage. By the time Lance returned, they were already celebrating.

  "We did it! One down, two to go," Bella said, wiping sweat from her brow.

  Lance gave an awkward thumbs up. "Nice."

  Night fell fast.

  The forest changed with the darkness. Sounds grew sharper. Leaves hissed instead of rustled.

  That’s when it came.

  The sound came first.

  A low, guttural rumble that vibrated through the trees, followed by the snap of twigs and a roar that could’ve easily belonged to a small dragon. The group scrambled to their feet, weapons half-drawn as something massive thundered toward the camp.

  From the shadows emerged a hulking creature—long-limbed, covered in spiny fur and jagged bone.

  It was a nightmare in itself,

  Its glowing eyes swept over the camp, and then—

  “AAAAAAHHHHH!”

  Lance screamed. Like, full-on shrieked. It wasn’t a battle cry. It was “I didn’t sign up for this!” levels of panic.

  “HELP! WHY IS IT SO BIG?! WHY IS IT LOOKING AT ME?!”

  Instead of running, his body kicked into a strange survival mode. He started blindly flinging Wind Blades in every direction, like a one-man storm of spinning air.

  Thwap!

  Zing!

  Thunk!

  One of the wind blades lodged itself in the monster’s leg, another nicked its eye, and a third ricocheted off a tree and almost took out one of their tents.

  The monster roared in pain and rage, thrashing against the trees. Everyone hit the ground or dove behind something solid.

  “Nice reaction time,” Erik said, dragging Lance behind a tree while ducking another blast of wind. “But uh—what was that? My ears are still ringing from your battle cry.”

  Lance, still catching his breath, blinked. “That was a spell?”

  Erik gave him a sideways look. “You tell me.”

  Lance tried to play it cool. “Yeah. Totally. New spell. You know—uh, Sonic Burst Blade. Very experimental.”

  From the quiet corner of his mind, William’s voice hummed dryly,

  “That wasn’t a new spell.”

  Lance muttered under his breath. “Nope. Definitely not.”

  There was a pause.

  “That wasn’t a normal scream either, Lance. Something was off. That frequency…”

  Lance didn’t reply. He didn’t know. He just felt—off. Tingly. Like the scream had shaken something loose inside him.

  He brushed it off. “I’ll, uh… go help with the monster now.”

  “Please do,” Erik said, deadpan. “And try not to stab us with your soul-shriek next time.”

  Bella approached with narrowed eyes. "That shriek, Lance. It shook the trees. You okay?"

  "I think so," he said. "Just felt... weird."

  They didn’t push him for more.

  Back at camp, they resecured the perimeter and resumed shifts. Lance sat by the fire, trembling hands holding a half-filled canteen.

  William's voice returned.

  "You're changing. This magic of yours—it's embedding. Like fire mages who don't burn anymore. Like water mages who breathe underwater. You're not casting vibration magic anymore. You're becoming it."

  Lance didn’t answer. He didn’t want to. Not yet.

  Instead, he helped reinforce a few traps. Cast two tremor disrupts to collapse a shallow ravine, then used a galeburst to push a weakened creature into a containment cage. All mechanical. All safe. Nothing weird.

  And when they sat down to eat, the group started talking about the shriek.

  "It was cool," Erik said. "Totally terrifying, but cool."

  Bella frowned. "It didn’t feel like a spell."

  Lance just stared into the fire.