Kalden crept down the hallway, searching for his hidden opponent. The plant lay eerily quiet, even as the distant sounds of battle approached from outside. A few more specialized Artists had probably gotten within the walls, but his map showed most of Blood Army fighting for key positions around the city.

Rough stone slabs made up the floor, and the bulbs flickered from the suspended lights above. These level designers certainly liked their grungy ambiance.

Three blades orbited his body as he walked, ready to guard against any surprise attacks.

Stop being paranoid, he told himself. You’re an Apprentice. She’s not.

Akari was dangerous and unpredictable—definitely not someone he’d ever want as a true enemy. But she also lost more duels than she won these days, especially without her hacking. She might have spatial mana right now, but he hadn’t seen any other equipment.

Stay focused, and the odds favor you.

Kalden took another step, then the ground fell out beneath his feet.

His blades spun out of control as he lost his focus. One struck the wall and shattered into blue mist. Another hit a suspended light, breaking the bulb in a shower of glass and sparks.

He flared his arms as he fell, barely catching himself on the edge of the portal—a thin plane where the stone floor met empty air. Kalden didn’t look down, but he suspected Akari had him hanging over some dark abyss.

The portal started to close with most of his body on the wrong side. Kalden Cloaked his arms and hurled himself out of the hole.

No sooner had he escaped than something slammed into his back. This sent him stumbling forward again, but he shot a Missile to his left, thrusting his body sideways away from the hole.

A boot struck his stomach when he landed, driving the air from his lungs. Damnit. When had she gotten so strong? Kalden had taken his share of heavy hits this semester, but never from a non-Apprentice.

He knocked her back with a quick shield, then he flared his Cloak and regained his footing. At the same time, he formed a pure mana blade in his right hand. This had been a slow process seven weeks ago, but his new prosthetic made things much easier.

The blade gave off a pale blue light, illuminating Akari’s face in the dark corridor. Kalden lunged at her, but she formed her own shield and redirected the strike. He swung several more times, but it felt like striking smoke. She dodged every slash, moving far too fast for her rank.

Still, she only had so many options in this narrow space. His next strike forced her to dodge left, and he threw a punch with his free hand.

Akari raised a forearm and blocked the punch. Her own body glowed with blue mana, and it felt like striking a bar of steel.

No way.

Kalden had put his full strength behind that—the strength of an Apprentice with a Cloak technique. And Akari hadn’t just dodged or deflected the punch. She’d blocked it.

That should be impossible for a Gold. Unless …

Kalden activated his Silver Sight and saw the truth.

“You’re an Apprentice,” he blurted out.

“Surprise,” Akari said with a grin. Then she brought her free hand around and threw a fist at his solar plexus.

Kalden staggered back, missing the punch by mere inches.

“How?” he said. “When?”

He’d seen her training with Relia these past few weeks. He’d even seen Relia breaking and mending Akari’s bones, the same way she’d done with Kalden in Tureko. But he’d assumed she was still weeks away.

“Last night,” Akari said as she threw another Missile at his face.

Kalden almost demanded to know why she’d kept it a secret. But he couldn’t do that now. Not with Tori, Lyra, and the rest of Blood Army watching. Besides, Kalden already knew the answer. Akari had known they might fight today. She’d been preparing for this exact moment, hoping to gain an advantage.

He tried to form a second blade, but Akari kept him on the defensive. Her mana was stronger than ever, and her soul was deeper. For all that, her Missiles didn’t break when they collided with his shields. They arced around and struck him again and again, not so different from Kalden’s blades.

A few months ago, she’d been in the early levels of Foundation, learning to conserve every drop of her mana. Now, that training paid dividends, and she made one Missile feel like ten.

Kalden blocked every strike, but Akari forced him to give ground. She’d been a coiled spring for the past year, and now she could finally unleash a burst of raw fury—a power that rivaled many of their year’s top students.

You’re approaching this wrong, Kalden thought as he deflected another Missile. He couldn’t beat her in a battle of raw technique—not since he’d lost his aspect and his hands. But he was still stronger than her. He’d been an Apprentice for longer, and he outweighed her by at least fifty pounds. What’s more, Kalden had more traditional martial training, which would serve him well if he turned this into a grappling match.

He charged forward, raising a sturdy shield and blocking her next attacks. He threw another punch when his shield broke, but a portal appeared at the last second, and his fist flew straight through it.

A second portal appeared next to Kalden’s right ear. Pain erupted in sharp waves as he punched himself.

If that had been his blade, then this fight might already be over.

Kalden shook off the pain and fell back into a combat stance, but Akari was halfway down the hall, chugging mana from a silver flask.

Hell no. He couldn’t let her lay more traps.

Kalden gave chase, forming a second blade in his offhand.

Akari shot a portal into a ventilation shaft above the control room. She formed a second portal in the plaster wall ahead, using it to crawl into the vent above.

She’s still trying to complete her objective. She must have just noticed that vent during the fight, otherwise she would have used this trick earlier.

Kalden ran faster as the portal snapped shut behind her. He dove through, slashing his blades through the layer of galvanized steel. Sideways became down, and he fell through the rubble.

Unlike Akari, he wasn’t used to falling through portals and feeling the sudden change of gravity. Kalden just barely struck the landing in the control room, Cloaking his legs to avoid breaking them from the ten-foot drop.

No sooner had he landed than Akari collided with his back. Her legs squeezed his stomach, and her arms coiled like snakes around his throat. She must be low on mana now if she risked a move like this. Even with that flask, a soul could only handle so many techniques before it wore itself out.

Kalden tried throwing her over his shoulder, but she held on with her legs. He tried knocking her back against the wall, but her own Cloak saved her from being crushed.

Akari’s grip tightened around Kalden’s windpipe, but he interposed his prosthetic hand and stopped her. She plunged a finger straight through its smooth blue surface, sending mana into the artificial channel.

Oh no. She couldn’t be—

Akari send a burst of mana into the channel, and it exploded in a shower of bright blue sparks. It didn’t hurt, but it left him without his right hand.

Okay, so she wanted to play dirty and go for his weaknesses. Two could play at that game.

The explosion had loosed Akari’s grip around his throat. His left hand found a solid hold on her bicep, and he twisted his torso, driving her head into the control room’s glass window.

Akari went limp, and he threw her to the floor. She tried to spring back up, but Kalden drove his skull into the bridge of her nose, shattering her glasses.

Akari collapsed back on the ground, and Kalden sprang for the finishing blow.

When he did, she let out a small whimpering sound, and raised her hands protectively around her face.

Kalden hesitated mid-strike. Had he gone too far that time? Despite her tough-girl act, Akari had gone through real trauma back on Arkala—times when she’d been truly trapped and helpless. Had he triggered one of those memories now? Kalden was all for playing to win, but he cared about her, and he’d sooner lose his other hand than hurt her for real.

A Missile burst out from Akari’s chest, ripping through her combat uniform and smashing into Kalden’s chin. He fell backward, and a sharpened Missile sliced through his bicep. Her third attack came just as quickly, but Kalden leapt back in time to avoid it.

Akari sprang to her feet like a cat. Her glasses were gone, and white mist leaked from her nose in the place of blood. Still, she grinned at him.

“What the hell?” Kalden blurted out. “Fake tears?” That was the sort of cheap trick you’d see in a kids movie, not an Artegium battleground.

Akari shrugged a shoulder. “You’re the one who fell for it.”

Yeah, she had him there. He’d never trust her again if she pulled that in real life. But this was just a game. Kalden had used that excuse countless times to justify his eventual betrayal of Blood Army.

Several more techniques flashed between them in the confined space. Akari might be blind without her glasses, but Silver Sight had nothing to do with your eyes. She’d also spent weeks training in the dark for her admissions exams, just as Kalden had trained with only three fingers.

Their pace quickened, and Kalden formed one last blade in his good hand.

One hit and this was over.

He committed to the attack, betting everything on one final blow. He expected Akari to block or dodge. Instead, she leapt forward with her own sharpened Missile. Kalden’s blade struck her chest, mere inches from her heart. Akari’s mana struck his stomach in the same moment, and they sank to the floor together.

White mist spread from Akari’s wound, but triumph flashed in her eyes as she faded from the arena. Kalden’s body remained, but not for long. His own wounds left him lightheaded, and white light spilled out in place of blood.

Kalden forced himself to his feet and staggered over to the main control panel. His mana was drained, and his body was in no position to fight. In fact, he might lose consciousness at any second.

One monitor showed security footage of the plant’s northern entrance where Zukan Kortez led Sun Army against Moon Army. The dragon fought with spears of fire, leaping from one enemy to the next, dispatching dozens of them with frightening speed.

In that moment, Zukan looked more like an Artisan than an Apprentice, and his admissions scores seemed to agree. His team would reach the control room in minutes, and they’d crush anyone who stood in their way.

“Think,” Kalden told himself. Akari’s portals had gotten them into the control room early, bypassing the entire keycard objective. How could he use that?

Disabling the power had been his faction’s original objective, but he’d need a keycard for that. A quick glance at his HUD showed that Sun Army controlled all the keycards, so that was out of the question.

A red warning light flashed in another corner of the room. Apparently, the collapsed catwalk had damaged several of the pipes that served the plant’s cooling system, and the temperatures were climbing to dangerous levels.

“Good to know …”

Kalden flipped several switches, disabling the cooling system entirely. He moved to another panel and overclocked the mana burners well past their safe limit. Still, that wouldn’t be enough to get results. Not before Zukan burst in here and undid everything.

He stumbled over to a third station responsible for the plant’s connection to the grid, flipping several more switches to block the flow. This gave the gathered mana nowhere to go.

He doubted this would count as a win for Blood Army, but that was fine. Kalden might be their general now, but they were still his enemies—just as much as Sun Army or Moon Army. In a way, this was the best-case scenario. This was a chance to rob every faction of their starting prizes, while still appearing to help Tori’s faction.

Tension continued to build around the plant. Alarms sounded, and white mist clouded his vision.

Kalden passed out just before the explosions started.