Toby spun wildly in the air as he fell.

  For a split second, he felt like screaming. His heart lurched violently, as if it might leap out of his chest at any moment. But the sky was already filled with the deafening screams of hundreds of other children. Their voices echoed chaotically through the open air.

  His body tumbled without direction.

  Still, this was not the first time Toby had launched himself from great heights. He was used to propelling himself into the air with his Windstep Boots.

  “Focus,” he muttered through gritted teeth.

  He forced his body to stabilize, twisting midair and angling himself downward to control his descent.

  Damn it. Damn it!

  They had been inside a hall just seconds ago.

  Where was this?

  Was this some kind of massive teleportation spell?

  No. That seemed unlikely.

  More plausible… a massive rift transfer.

  Yes. That made more sense.

  That explained why a Rank-8 Sage had personally appeared to initiate the trial. The hall must have been preconfigured with a spatial rift. The moment everyone was gathered, they were all transported simultaneously into this separate space.

  Toby quickly checked his clothing mid-fall.

  Everything was still intact.

  This was no ordinary fabric. The uniform had to be mana based attire. That must have been why every applicant was required to wear the same outfit.

  He glanced around.

  Too many bodies were falling at once, scattered across the sky at varying distances. Some were crying hysterically. Some flailed their arms without control.

  A few had already fainted midair.

  A glowing magic circle formed beneath one unconscious boy. In an instant, the boy was swallowed by it and vanished.

  They were not being allowed to simply fall to their deaths.

  Anyone who lost consciousness was immediately extracted and disqualified.

  On another side, Toby spotted someone plummeting through the air completely naked. Another magic circle opened and swallowed that boy as well.

  So there were idiots who had ignored the uniform requirement and worn their own gear instead?

  That was either arrogance.

  Or pure stupidity.

  But then. He looked down.

  It was unbelievably high.

  Anyone falling from this height would die. There was no doubt about it. And the strongest participants here were, at most, Rank-2 Guardians. Even that level could not possibly withstand a direct fall from this altitude.

  Then Toby noticed something to his left.

  A boy with long red hair had summoned a pair of blazing wings from his back. The wings beat powerfully against the air as he shot forward, grabbing another falling participant who appeared to be from the same group as him.

  After catching two more, the red haired boy angled himself downward, carrying all three as he descended rapidly.

  Toby scanned the sky again.

  Some were using their abilities to slow their fall. A few were descending at reduced speed. Others were wrapped in large protective bubbles of mana, even pulling nearby allies into their shielded space.

  No way.

  This trial could not be designed purely around unique mobility abilities like that. Not everyone possessed skills suited for aerial survival.

  “There has to be something… think!”

  Within a single combat team, roles were clearly divided. Defender. Slayer. Spellcaster. Support. Healer. Debuffer. Ranged attacker. Scout.

  Eclipsion Academy was built to nurture every one of those roles, not just the flashy or highly mobile ones.

  If this test only allowed those with flight or fall resistance abilities to pass, then it would be fundamentally flawed.

  Toby!

  Toby!

  What?

  The voice was not a scream in the air. It was inside his head.

  Before he could fully process it, something suddenly grabbed his left wrist. His arm jerked violently as fingers locked around it.

  He twisted midair to see who had caught him.

  “Cassie is speaking through her mental ability,” another voice echoed inside his mind. A different voice.

  It was Vale’s.

  And just as he suspected, Vale was the one gripping his wrist, while her other hand held onto Cassie’s.

  “You can respond mentally too,” Vale’s voice rang inside his head again. “It is hard to shout while falling like this.”

  Without hesitation, Toby reached out and grabbed Cassie’s free hand.

  The three of them were now linked together.

  They plummeted as one.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  The air roared past them violently. Their bodies spun and jolted. Several times they slammed into unstable air currents, causing them to tumble. Cassie was thrown against Toby more than once.

  He tightened his grip and adjusted his body position, trying to shield Cassie from the worst of the turbulence.

  They were still falling.

  One thing Toby noticed at that moment was that Cassie had activated her Innate Card. Whatever it was, her eyes were now glowing gold, and a soft golden aura wrapped around her body.

  Two cards rotated around her.

  One green.

  One purple.

  Her first Prime Card appeared to be of normal grade. But most people at her level could only acquire another Common-grade card as their second Prime.

  Cassie, however, possessed a Rare-grade card as her second Prime.

  Despite being blind since birth. Despite her condition.

  And she looked even younger than Toby.

  Yet she was already Rank-2 Guardian, with a Rare-grade second Prime Card.

  “We have to figure out a way to land!” Vale’s voice burst through their minds again.

  “Cassie says the blazer we are wearing has a higher mana concentration than normal fabric. It will not tear easily and it can withstand heavy pressure,” Vale relayed quickly.

  Toby nodded midair, even though they could not see him clearly. “I am sure they prepared something. There must be a mechanism that allows us to reach the ground safely. Maybe the blazer is part of the answer.”

  “Yes, but how do we use it? Is it supposed to make us fly?!” Vale shot back.

  The ground was getting closer.

  They did not have much time.

  Using their blazers to slow the fall…

  Think.

  Come on, think.

  “I have an idea,” Toby said quickly. “But I’m not sure if it’ll work.”

  “Don’t overthink it, just do it! We’re running out of time!” Vale urged.

  Toby’s mind raced. Their hands were still linked, but that would only slow them down.

  “We need to connect our blazers,” he said. “Tie the sleeves together, stretch them as wide as possible, and use the fabric like a glider. Alone it won’t be enough. Even with two, it might fail. But if the three of us combine them, the surface area should be enough to slow us down.”

  It was risky.

  But it was better than doing nothing.

  In that split second of chaos, everything happened at once.

  Suddenly, Toby jolted when Cassie’s body was pulled sharply to the side by the violent air current. Vale released her grip without warning.

  Toby tightened his hold immediately, his fingers locking painfully around Cassie’s wrist.

  What is Vale doing?!

  In the next instant, Vale lunged toward him. She wrapped her legs around Toby’s waist midair and clung to his side with her right arm.

  “Hold me!” she shouted.

  Toby reacted on instinct. His left arm snapped around Vale’s waist, gripping her firmly, while his right hand continued to hold Cassie as tightly as he could.

  With surprising speed, Vale shrugged off her blazer using her free hand. She briefly grabbed Toby’s left wrist for balance, then released him just enough to yank the blazer free.

  She clenched one end between her teeth and began tying one sleeve around Toby’s arm, her movements fast and desperate despite the roaring wind.

  “Bring her closer!” she shouted.

  Toby pulled Cassie closer.

  Vale then reached forward and swiftly removed Cassie’s blazer from her shoulders, struggling against the wind as she tied one sleeve of Cassie’s blazer to the other end of Toby’s.

  “Switch hands, Toby!” Vale shouted.

  Gritting his teeth, Toby forced his body to stabilize vertically. He reached for Cassie’s right hand first, locking his grip firmly around it before releasing her other wrist.

  The moment he secured it, Vale moved again. She tied the remaining sleeves together, binding all three blazers into a single stretched sheet of reinforced fabric.

  “Cass, hold on!” Toby yelled.

  He pulled Cassie toward him and pushed her behind his back.

  Cassie immediately wrapped her arms around him from behind, clinging tightly. Toby grabbed one extended end of the tied blazers with his left hand, while Vale seized the opposite end.

  Suddenly, their bodies jerked violently.

  It felt as if they had collided with an invisible barrier. The wind roared against them, pulling at their arms and legs, threatening to tear them apart. For a brief moment, they were suspended in the air, held back by an immense force.

  Then they began to fall again.

  A glowing magic circle had formed above them, directly linked to the blazers they had tied together. Threads of mana extended from the circle into the stretched fabric, reinforcing it like a crude parachute.

  But it was not enough.

  Yes, their descent had slowed.

  But only slightly.

  “This is working, but it is not enough!” Vale shouted.

  In that instant, Toby understood.

  And he almost swore.

  This had been planned from the beginning.

  He glanced around and saw other participants copying their method. Groups were desperately tying their blazers together midair, forming larger surfaces to resist the fall.

  Some groups of four slowed down more effectively than they did. But even that was not enough to guarantee safety.

  Then the situation turned darker.

  In one group, a member was suddenly kicked away.

  In another, someone deliberately let go.

  The moment a person detached, a magic circle appeared beneath them and swallowed them whole.

  Disqualified.

  With fewer bodies but the same number of connected blazers, the remaining participants descended slower. Still fast. Still dangerous. But survivable.

  Toby’s chest tightened.

  “We need to take more blazers from others! If we do not, we are going to die!” Vale shouted inside his head.

  Toby looked at Vale, who was still clinging to him in front while Cassie held tightly onto his back.

  “They are not going to actually die,” he said.

  Vale’s face was only inches away from his. Her expression was hard, her eyes sharp and unyielding.

  “I know this is only a trial, Toby,” she shot back. “But what if this were real? If this were a real battlefield, would you sacrifice yourself so Cassie and I could survive? Or would you take someone else’s blazer to save us?!”

  Damn it.

  He understood the situation perfectly.

  But he refused to believe that Eclipsion Academy would design a trial meant to push them into killing each other like this.

  Eclipsion Academy was known as a pillar of balance. A force that protected territories from Mana Beast invasions, that mediated conflicts between clans, that upheld order instead of chaos. If people spoke about Eclipsion, they spoke of discipline, responsibility, and guardianship.

  They were not butchers.

  And yet. While they were arguing, several figures suddenly shot toward them from above.

  “Vale! Behind you!” Toby shouted.

  Three boys descended rapidly, weapons already drawn.

  One wielded a sword.

  One carried a spear.

  The third gripped a heavy axe.

  They lunged midair, aiming straight at Toby’s group.

  The boy with the axe swung downward, the blade cutting through the air and stopping dangerously close to Vale’s neck.

  Toby’s teeth clenched.

  [Innate Core Card - Second Pulse activated.]

  **

  A sharp cracking sound echoed through the chamber as a porcelain cup shattered against the floor.

  Several figures stood in silence.

  Before them floated a massive screen suspended in midair, displaying the ongoing trial in real time.

  “Rare-grade… as a first Prime Card?” one of them muttered quietly. “I suppose this year’s batch will be… interesting.”

  Another figure folded his arms and gave a slow nod. “Are we witnessing the beginning of something new? A shift, perhaps.”

  “I have seen many prodigies over the decades,” an older voice said, “but this is the most extraordinary.”

  “Someone who acquires a Rare-grade card as their first Prime should not be able to withstand that burden. Their Mana Core would normally reject it, triggering a severe backlash. Even at Rank-2 Guardian, the probability of successfully stabilizing a Rare-grade Prime is barely five percent.”

  The room fell into thoughtful silence.

  “Who exactly is this boy named Toby?” someone finally asked.