The voice found Evel in the dark.

  He had been lying in a rest pod, eyes open, staring at the curved shell above him when Arlo’s voice had been injected in his mind.

  [You’ve all done well to pass the initial screening and get to this camp. A final challenge awaits you before you earn the privilege of serving the Imperium Tempor. Prepare yourselves accordingly, and be at the entrance at noon tomorrow.]

  All 136 recruits probably heard the same message.

  The lid above him rose, allowing the steamlike substance to fizzle outwards.

  He pushed aside the lid and jumped up on his feet. This was what he had been training for.

  He had gotten used to seeing similar people around. People, like him, had expected something like this.

  The number of people at the Core stage was immense. Just about anybody had the potential to reach it! But the number of Weavers? Rare. Evel had encountered only a few in his lifetime. The military had tons of people they could recruit at any given time, but why was it that working as a soldier was such a prestigious job that paid so well?

  It was dangerous!

  They were at war to protect themselves from Ultor Dominion, a war that caused and continues to cause immense casualties.

  Most people wouldn't dare to join the army. Only two demographics, the ambitious, and the desperate would join willingly.

  Evel fell into the latter.

  As the sunlight of the outdoors hit his face, Evel discovered a variety of fresh faces.

  People who hadn’t been able to come to the same conclusion. People who had thought their lives were valuable.

  Why would the army risk their soldiers internally? They had gotten a good affinity, aren’t they a talent the army needs?

  Unfortunately, Core recruits were simply not valuable. If even one of them was able to make it to a higher realm standing atop their dead peers, they could provide far more war potential than tens of thousands of Core stages. This was the harsh truth these recruits had to swallow.

  The camp had erupted in a flurry of activity.

  Evel watched multiple people sprinting in the direction of the weapon shops, their savings would be useless if they couldn’t survive.

  Further, he watched as two young men traded blows with an intensity he hadn’t seen before.

  A young girl channeled her ability shifting the earth around as she jogged.

  An older couple spoke in a hushed tone, bent over a hand-drawn map.

  Evel gripped his crossbow tightly, walking with a refreshed vigor out of the camp to where he had been practicing.

  He saw similar sights as he made his way, only working to press in the sense of urgency that had slowly faded.

  …

  Then, the noon of the following day approached.

  Clouds filled the sky, dampening the sun. The greyness of the world contradicted the heightened emotions the recruits were feeling.

  Having done all the preparation they could, the recruits congregated at the front entrance of the camp.

  They stood in small groups among the friends they had created recently, only a few standing in solitude at the edges.

  Elena, Leo, Brenton, Fern and Juniper were standing in a group near the edges, speculating what the upcoming challenge may be, when Evel approached them.

  “Hey guys.”

  Elena whistled.

  “Looking good Evel!”

  His frame was no longer a bare skeleton. His cheekbones were no longer sticking out, he fit into his clothes better, and he stood up straight, as his muscles showed signs of development.

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  Evel thanked her, but broke into a chuckle when he noticed Brenton looking at him with a foul face.

  They fell into easy conversation, as they shared their theories on what the challenge may be.

  RUMBLE!

  The crowd in the midst of conversation was interrupted by the sound of the ground rumbling. A giant earth pillar shot up reaching for the skies. It stopped, and a bold figure could be seen atop stroking his goatee. His charcoal hair fluttered lightly in the wind as he scanned the recruits with his eagle eyes. After a few moments of observation, he spoke to their minds directly.

  [It seems you all made it. Good. You will soon be sent to a large area with all the items on you. Once you’re there, you’ll know your objectives.]

  He raised his right palm into the air signaling to someone.

  Small black items flew into the air from behind the pillar and slowly floated down into each recruits hand.

  [That right here, is a special compass. Point it to a specific person, then click the button at the bottom, and it will continue pointing to them for the duration of the challenge. You have 10 minutes to make your decision, then the final test begins.]

  Murmurs spread across the crowd as they all discussed their strategies.

  “How do we want to do this?”

  Evel asked the group.

  One idea would be to match up in pairs, and try to meet up with your pair as fast as possible.

  Another possibility was to point it to each other in a circle so they could all congregate eventually.

  Before Evel could propose these options, he watched as Elena pointed her compass at Brenton and pressed.

  Evel smiled.

  Had she even considered a strategy?

  She turned around to the rest of the group.

  “Sorry guys, but this is my bottom line. I’m not letting anything happen to him.”

  She stood her ground before any criticisms could be made, fully unapologetic.

  Brenton rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.

  Fern giggled and the rest of the group shook their heads with a smile.

  Those who had spent the most time with Elena had expected something like this by now.

  “In that case,” Juniper proposed, “What if we all pointed it to him and used him as a meeting spot?”

  Now Brenton was even more embarrassed, he felt like he was being babysat!

  He had the highest affinity out of everyone here, he should be the one protecting them!

  “And who would I point to?”

  Brenton asked, unsure about his role in all of this.

  Fern quickly offered a solution.

  “Well, Elena’s the strongest, so you can try meeting up with her as fast as possible.”

  “I have another idea,” Evel interrupted. “It’s along the same line, but instead of Brenton, we all point to Elena instead. We all know she’s the fastest of us here and we’ve seen approximately how fast she can run, so based on the direction and speed of the needle, we can approximate the direction of Brenton. Then we can all run to the approximate meeting spot.”

  The group hummed in agreement, that could work great!

  Coming to an agreement, they quickly set all the compasses.

  Suddenly, a deep discomfort washed over them. The group was around the edges of the crowd, but the direction of this discomfort came from even further.

  It was Bremin.

  He walked up to the group, then stopped about a meter away.

  “Hey Bremin!”

  Evel waved at him.

  He had sparred and ate with Bremin a few times this past week, and had grown used to his aura when they were outdoors. Whenever they went indoors however, it was simply too concentrated and Evel still felt uncomfortable.

  Bremin lowered his chin at him in acknowledgement of the greeting.

  The rest of the group was still uncomfortable, unused to the vibe he brought with him, but they tried their best to hide it.

  Bremin lifted his compass and pointed it at Evel.

  CLICK.

  He nodded at the group in acknowledgement again.

  Then he simply walked away, the chilling aura leaving with him.

  …

  The group stood there in silence for a while, trying to understand his actions.

  “Maybe he’s shy?” Leo suggested.

  An image flashed across their minds: Bremin looking away with a bashful grin. The same Bremin with whose face was a terrain of jagged scars. The same Bremin whose very presence probably sent children running to their parents. He had probably become a campfire story to more than one family.

  The mental image shattered.

  No no no, that can’t be it.

  They shook their heads in consensus.

  Only a few minutes were remaining, so they discussed where the challenge would take place. Would they be sent to the forest near the camp? Would they be put to sleep beforehand so as to not give them any hints of where they were? What would the objectives be?

  Amidst their discussion, they didn’t feel the air shift.

  SUBMIT.

  The word wasn’t one that was heard, it was a feeling that each recruit felt deeply within them at that moment.

  When Arlo talked to them, they knew he was holding back most of his aura, but they could still respond. His aura was of a heavy cloak, one they could eventually learn to carry. This however, was the weight of the ocean.

  No recruit could form a cohesive thought, their minds in complete disarray.

  Their knees hit the dirt in unison, mouths agape, but no scream could be released. The air in their lungs refused to interact with the being above. The grass all around them had flattened to the ground, and the trees bent away from their location. It was pure silence, but in each of the recruits' ears was a loud ringing.

  It was an absolute, unstoppable force.

  As if marionettes, their heads were controlled to slowly look up.

  Had they had agency over their thoughts, capable of logic, perhaps they would have the mercy of losing consciousness. Instead, it was void.

  The presence eased lightly enough for some to regain some consciousness. Some agency over their thoughts. Evel was among the first to regain a fragment control.

  Futile.

  The word overtook his mind.

  Everything is futile.

  The ‘top’ was a fantastic notion. The Path was a vain dream. How could anybody hope to reach the ‘top’ when the sky itself crushed you back into the earth.

  The ringing got louder and louder.

  High above the clouds, a blurry silhouette hovered. The sky was overcast with clouds, yet a perfect circle of clarity remained around this figure, the clouds themselves were too afraid to block its presence.

  The figure above the clouds was the last thing his eyes found before the sky stopped making sense.

  The clouds bled into each other. The sound of 135 other people breathing simply ceased. The weight of the ground pushing back against his knees softened, then completely disappeared. Evel fell through the shifting space as even time itself began to warp.

  Until, everything simply stopped.

  The open skies and clouds transformed into a canopy of ancient towering trees. A clear blue sky now the backdrop. The blurry figure, replaced with the indifferent flare of the sun.

  Silence.

  The ringing had stopped.

  He was no longer beside his colleagues.

  He was no longer at the entrance of Orsus Camp.

  Soon, the silence was replaced by singing birds, and chirping crickets, gusts swaying the treeline and a muffled roaring of a waterfall in the distance.

  Evel was all alone now, his breath ragged and shallow, as he tightly clutched onto his gear as he desperately tried to regain any composure he could.