Kalden emerged in a massive chamber, as big as a warehouse. Steel beams supported the high ceilings, and crowds of students bustled all around him on the smooth concrete floors.

“Step forward,” a young woman said from the crowd. Her tone sounded bored, as if she’d been repeating this phrase all day.

Kalden stepped off the platform and down a short metal staircase. His stomach churned as he walked, and his vision blurred around the edges. This was even worse than Akari’s portals. Her portals made bridges in spacetime, letting you step seamlessly from one spot to another. Meanwhile, this did some sort of spatial displacement.

He reached the bottom of the stairs and spotted Camila, one of Raizen’s teaching assistants. Arturo stepped down from the platform on his right, and Zukan appeared on his left a few seconds later. Kalden looked farther down the line and saw dozens of other students appear all at once.

“What happened?” he asked his teammates.

“Dunno, shoko.” Arturo rubbed at his neck. “If only we knew a backstabbing Dream Artist . . .”

“Point taken,” Kalden muttered. He’d seen this coming, but he’d still been helpless to stop it. He really should have stuck a blade through her heart when he had the chance.

“Dawnfire took her out,” Zukan said. “She handed me the remote before I faded.”

“So the bomb worked?”

The dragon gave a stoic nod.

Well, that was something, at least. If Zukan had pressed the remote, then he’d get the points for the kills. By extension, Kalden and Arturo would get assists for building the bomb, and Relia would probably get points for helping Zukan in the end.

“What about Akari?” Kalden asked.

“Moonfire got her,” Zukan rumbled.

Kalden did another quick sweep of the chamber, but she was nowhere in sight. Strange. Zukan and Arturo had appeared right next to him. Why wouldn’t she?

“Off the platforms,” Camila said to another group of students. “You can see your scores in the next room.”

“Excuse me,” Kalden said as he approached the young woman. “Miss Warder?”

“Mr. Trengsen.” She glanced up from her tablet. “If you’re here to complain, then—”

“No.” He shook his head quickly. “But can you tell me where Akari Zeller is?”

Camila glanced down at her tablet and scrolled through a list of names. “She came out the same time as you. No record of where.”

“They’ve got other rooms like this one,” Arturo spoke up. “They separate us to give us time to cool off.”

That made sense, he supposed. The Artegium had clear rules about fighting outside the arena, especially after a game like this. Still, why tempt the students?

Kalden thanked Camila, then stepped through a pair of double doors into another chamber. This one had the same high ceilings as the fight, but with brighter lights and white linoleum floors instead of concrete. Rows of desks sat along two of the walls, and dozens of students waited to sign out and retrieve their belongings.

Kalden had barely taken two steps before a nearby payphone rang. He ignored it at first, but then three more phones rang in unison.

Arturo strode over and grabbed one of the phones as if this were an everyday occurrence.

“Hello?” he said into the receiver. His eyes widened a heartbeat later, and he held the phone out to Kalden. “It’s for you.”

Kalden stepped forward and brought the phone to his own ear. “This is Kalden.”

“Kalden? This is Irina.” Her voice sounded urgent from the other end, causing the hairs on Kalden's neck to stand up. “Listen closely. Akari’s in trouble.”

“What?” He squeezed the phone in his hand, pressing it closer to his ear. “Where is she?”

“That’s what you need to find out. Elend thinks someone tampered with her device.”

Kalden drew in a sharp breath. Elend had already warned him about Dansin Roth and the Sons of Talek, so there was no need to ask who’d done this.

Just then, a group of Artisan-level security guards ran through the chamber.

“Ignore them,” Irina’s voice said from the phone. “They don’t know anything yet.”

“Okay.” Kalden cycled his battle mana, heightening his focus. “Tell me what to do.”

“Send Arturo to work with the building’s security. I’ve already told them he’s coming. I want you and Zukan to search the premises for clues. Use any means necessary.”

~~~

Elise quickened her pace when she heard the faint echo of footsteps behind her. It was Kalden Trengsen, of course. He probably wanted to get in her face and call her a liar. Well, she’d been dealing with that nonsense her whole life, and she was in no mood for it today. Elise didn’t complain when people beat her with martial prowess; they had no right to whine about her tricks.

She rounded a corner and slipped into a single bathroom. This room had a lock, so he couldn’t follow her without—

The footsteps ran faster. Elise slid into the bathroom and forced the door shut behind her. Kalden closed the distance and shoved his boot into the door.

Damnit. Elise cycled her mana, but Kalden was quicker. His muscles shone with pale blue light, and he hurled the door open. Elise formed a shield, but Kalden conjured a blade of blood-red mana, cutting through the Construct like paper.

Elise staggered into the wall and a cage of red blades formed around her body.

“What the hell are you doing?” she demanded. “This isn’t a game!”

“Do I look like I’m playing?” Kalden stepped forward, forming another blade in his right hand. His muscles shone with the same color, and even his eyes glowed with crimson light. She’d seen this aspect during the qualifying rounds, but she’d never understood it.

Elise flared her Cloak and sent a cloud of dream mana around her body. She forced a rush of emotions into her attacker. Fear, disgust, a willingness to listen. Anything to make him go away.

“That won’t work on me,” Kalden said. No explanation beyond that. Perhaps he’d trained to resist dream mana this year, the same way Akari Zeller had. Then again, she’d also heard rumors about his new aspect. Some people said he focused only on victory, shoving aside all other emotions.

“Where’s Akari?” he demanded.

Elise scoffed. “Why are you asking me?”

“I know about your plan with Dansin Roth.”

Bullshit. If Kalden had known that, he would have called her out sooner.

“Roth took her somewhere,” Kalden said. “Tell me where.”

Elise took a few deep breaths. “Think this through, Trengsen. You know who my parents are.”

“I’ll give you till the count of three.” Kalden brought his blade closer. “Then I’m taking your left eye.”

“You’re insane!” she said. “There were cameras in the hall. People will know it was you!”

Elise had joined the Combat Arts program for fame, recognition, and a chance to advance her Mana Arts. She’d never asked for real danger.

But Kalden Trengsen saw the world through a different lens. He’d fought in real wars and faced real consequences. Elise had ignored her parents’ plan, but Kalden saw it for the threat it was.

Worst of all, he wasn’t bluffing.. He really would cut out her eyes if it meant saving the girl he loved. She saw that on his face, clear as a written promise.

“I don’t know anything.” Elise shook as the blade drew closer. “I swear!” Despite her years of training, she’d never truly been threatened before.

“One.” Kalden’s voice was as steady as his weapons.

“I’d tell you if I knew!” Tears of frustration formed in the corners of her eyes. “Why would I lie now?”

“Two.” The blade drew closer until its crimson glow filled the world.

“Roth messed with her displacer,” Elise blurted out. “He made it look like a malfunction. That’s why I took her out. She couldn’t be the last person standing.”

“I know that part,” Kalden said. “Where is she now?”

“In the maintenance tunnels below the arena. Probably somewhere private. A supply closet or a control room.”

Kalden nodded once. His blades vanished in clouds of crimson mist, and he left the room in a rush.

~~~

Akari stumbled forward, barely catching herself on the rounded glass wall. She brought a hand to her windpipe and felt the phantom pain of a dagger wound.

Elise Moonfire.

Not only had the Dream Artist survived their fight, but she’d snuck downstairs and tried to hijack their victory plan. They’d all seen this coming—even Relia hadn’t denied it—and she’d still surprised them one last time.

But what about the others? Did they win? No way Elise killed her entire team.

Akari glanced left and right, taking in her more immediate surroundings. She stood inside a glass cylinder, roughly eight feet tall and half as wide. She ran her fingers along the inside but found no seams or openings.

The room beyond had concrete floors and brick walls—probably some kind of maintenance tunnel beneath the arena. A few dim lightbulbs flickered from the ceiling above, and a pair of dark-clad figures rounded on her as she appeared.

One figure muttered something, but she couldn’t make out his voice from here. The other got up from his chair and strode forward.

Akari banged her fists on the glass wall. “What the hell is this?”

“It’s alright, Miss Zeller.” The man made a placating gesture. “You died in the arena.”

“No shit. Why am I here?” They’d already been informed about the death process in Raizen’s class. Supposedly, the arena would teleport them back to the building with the changing rooms, where they would sign out and gather their things. This wasn’t right.

“We had an equipment malfunction,” the man said. “A lot of contestants died at once, so we had to take the overflow down here.”

“Oh.” Her team had planned to take out several dozen students with Kalden’s bombs, so that might make sense. Then again, a few dozen deaths shouldn’t be enough to cause this. Even if it were, wouldn’t they just delay the teleporters and move the students in smaller batches? Why send her to some shady room in the basement?

“Where’s Jalon?” the guy on the left asked.

“He went to the bathroom,” the other one said.

“Maybe I should go get him,” the first guy replied. Akari couldn't see his face, but his tone sounded rushed and anxious.

“It’s alright.” The guy on the right held up his phone. “I just texted him. He’s on his way.”

“Who’s Jalon?” Akari asked.

“He’s a Space Artist. We need him to get you out of there.”

Akari narrowed her eyes, but she couldn’t make out much through his goggles. “Why are you wearing masks?”

“They’re not masks.” The guy on the right grabbed the edges of his helmet and yanked it off. He raised his goggles a second later, and Akari recognized his face. It was Kalden’s brother, Sozen.

This should have been reassuring. Sozen worked for the Artegium, so it made perfect sense for him to be here. But in that moment, all her fears from the beginning of the game returned. Sozen’s appearance this year had been far too convenient. He’d been living in Cadria before now, and he just happened to get a job here when she and Kalden became students? Then he just happened to run into Kalden on the first day of classes?

Elend and Irina found this strange, too. They never said so out loud, but it was obvious in the questions they asked, and how they’d insisted that all meetings happened on their estate.

If Elend didn’t trust Sozen, neither should she.

Then there was Elise Moonfire. She’d been obsessed with killing Akari during the whole game. What if they’d always planned to teleport her down here?

Talek. If this Space Artist hadn’t stepped out, then she might already be in Creta.

Akari relaxed her vision, seeing the world through her Silver Sight. The second guy was an Artisan, just like Sozen. Great. She also spotted strands of mana running through the walls of her glass prison. It looked tough, but not unbreakable.

Slowly, she cycled pure mana, gathering a Missile in her palm.

“Hey!” The masked guy reached for a steel weapon on his belt. It looked like an S-39 Stun Rod, the same weapon Sozen had used on her before the game. “What are you doing?”

Akari looked up, letting her Missile fade to mist. No Artegium staff member would react that way.

“It’s alright, Akari.” Sozen held up his hands in a placating gesture. “We’ll have you out in a second, alright? Just try not to break anything.”

She forced herself to nod as her thoughts raced. Even if she broke the glass, she stood no chance against two Artisans. Especially if they had a third friend on the way. But she didn’t need to beat them. She just had to escape.

Akari stopped cycling pure mana and felt the spacetime part of her soul. There, she found a mana bond stretching off to some unseen place.

That’s right. She still had a Construct waiting in the water tower. The arena negated most techniques, replacing them with dream versions for the students’ safety. But spatial mana was an exception to this rule. Even Grandmaster Dream Artists couldn’t fake teleportation. That meant she’d left a real portal behind.

Just then, someone knocked on the room’s outer door.

The masked guy spun around as if to unlock it, and Sozen reached for his own Missile rod.

Akari didn’t wait to see what happened next. She formed a portal on the floor, and her body dropped through.