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The arena had been transformed since yesterday. Where training dummies once stood, now elaborate targets had been erected. The tiered seating above was packed with nobles and military leaders, their faces expectant.Thiswas what they had come to see.

Theron stepped into the center of the arena, looking just as confident as he had since meeting him yesterday. At Urkin's signal, Sentinels emerged from the shadows, surrounding him with weapons drawn.

The first Sentinel struck, blade arcing through the space, butTheron was already moving. The air around him began to shimmer, like heat rising from stone. Suddenly, where there had been one Theron, there were dozens, each moving independently, each perfectly detailed. The Sentinels hesitated, weapons hovering as they tried to distinguish the real target from the illusions.

Theron's duplicates wove between the Sentinels. Each time a blade found one, it simply dissolved into mist, while three more appeared elsewhere. The Sentinels raged into a frenzy, striking at phantoms while the real Theron moved unseen among his creations. When the demonstration ended, he stood calmly at the center of the arena, not a scratch on him.

"Next," Urkin called.

Valkan strode into the arena, and conversations turned into murmurs. He surveyed the crowd before he smiled—a predator's smile. Fresh Sentinels took position around him, but they seemed more hesitant than before.

Valkan's form rippled like water, bones cracking and reforming as his body twisted. Where he had stood now prowled a massive panther, its coat as black as night. The transformation was flawless, disturbing in its perfection. The beast's eyes remained that same milky white as it launched itself at the nearest Sentinel.

The Sentinel's blade passed through air as the panther shifted mid-leap into a giant bird of prey, talons raking across armor before taking wing. The other Sentinels moved in formation, trying to corner him, but Valkan was never where their weapons struck. Each transformation flowed into the next—wolf, bear, serpent—each form more lethal than the last. Unlike the rest of the realm, there was no sign the drought affected him at all.

The display ended with Valkan back in his original form, standing among the Sentinels who had all been disarmed. Not a hair was out of place. He wasn't even breathing hard.

The silence that followed was deafening.

A girl I hadn't met yet was called next—Cassia—hermovements graceful but hesitant as she approached the center. New Sentinels took their positions around her, and when the first one struck, she reached out with startling speed. At her touch, the soldier stumbled back—confused as to what she had done to him. It was only then that his armor began to decay, crack and burst… eventually crumbling to a pile of ash. The other Sentinels backed away, but she pursued them, her face carefully blank even as everything she touched disintegrated. A slight smile tugged at her lips when she saw the judge's faces.

Kenna followed. As the Sentinels closed in, whispers began to fill the arena—countless voices speaking at once, growing louder until they became overwhelming. The Sentinels clutched their heads, their formations breaking as the whispers seemed to pierce right through them. Some dropped their weapons, others stumbled back. Through it all, Kenna stood perfectly still, conducting the chaos like a maestro.

Lael was next. He moved to the edge of the arena where shadows pooled deeply and, to everyone's shock, grabbed hold of something massive in the darkness. With visible strain, he dragged the corpse of a giant wolf into the light. The beast's matted fur was dark with decay, its empty eye sockets somehow more terrifying than if they'd held eyes.

The crowd drew in a collective breath as Lael positioned the wolf's body in the center of the arena, his small frame dwarfed by the creature's massive form. The Sentinels circled cautiously, weapons raised, but their uncertainty was clear.

Lael began to lift his arms, and the wolf's limbs jerked, then smoothed into fluid motion as it rose to its feet. At his silent command, the beast launched itself at the nearest Sentinel, its movements unnaturally quick despite its decaying form. Rotting teeth attacked the steel armor as it drove the Sentinel to the ground.

The other Sentinels moved in, but the wolf was too fast, toostrong. It fought with the abandoned savagery of something that couldn't feel pain, that had no fear of death. Within minutes, the Sentinels yielded, backing away from the creature that continued to prowl between them and Lael.

As Lael ascended the steps from the arena, a grin split his face despite his obvious exhaustion. His leathers were covered in dust and decay from dragging the wolf's corpse.

"Sorry," he said, dropping onto the bench beside me. "For the smell and all. I was hoping to find a fresher one."

Despite everything—I couldn't help but smile. The boy who'd seemed so nervous yesterday had just commanded a dead beast. Something like pride bloomed in my chest.

"You can control the dead?" I asked softly, still trying to process what I'd witnessed.

"Aether found me practicing on dead rats in Croyg," he admitted, picking at some dried mud on his sleeve. "Said I was wasting my talent on rodents." His eyes lit up. "You should see what I can do with a bear. Though those are harder to drag around."

I laughed, genuinely laughed, and the sound surprised me. When was the last time I'd done that? "Well, the wolf certainly made an impression."

"You think?" he beamed.

"Definitely. You should have seen the judges' faces. Just as impressed as they were horrified." I smiled.

Before he could respond, Urkin called the next contestant. But as Lael stood to make room, he squeezed my arm. "You're going to do great," he whispered. "Show them what you can really do."

Raven was next, his movements hesitant. As the Sentinels advanced, he pulled out what looked like shards of mirror from his pockets, placing them strategically around the arena. When the first Sentinel struck, his reflection appeared in one of the fragments, calling out a warning to himself from another angle. But the ability, while fascinating, proved impractical in combat. TheSentinels quickly overwhelmed him, though the judges seemed impressed regardless. I noted how Talon whispered something to Urkin, who nodded.

Mira stepped into the arena next, her slight frame nearly lost in the vastness of the space. The Sentinels advanced, weapons raised, but something strange began to happen. Each time Mira's gaze locked onto a Sentinel, the air around them seemed to blur and distort. One by one, they staggered backward, their weapons clattering to the ground as they recoiled from something I couldn't see.

Their faces contorted in what looked like pure terror, though there was nothing visible causing it. Whatever Mira was showing them, it was enough to make even these trained soldiers retreat. Through it all, her own expression remained haunted, as if she could see whatever horrors she was inflicting on them.

All the contestants had gone, and I felt nerves race across my skin as Urkin stood once more, eyes locked on me. He hesitated for a moment, letting the intensity of his stare infect me further.

"Foreign-born." He couldn't quite hide the distaste in his tone. Murmurs ran through the crowd, no doubt people discussing my horrible performance the day before. I forced my breathing to calm as I entered the arena, my steps slower and less confident than I would have liked.