Chapter 94: Apparently Teamwork Scales

( Alash’s POV )

I hated monster waves.

They were loud.

Messy.

Terrible for patients.

And extremely inconsiderate of sleeping schedules.

The first wave slammed into the outer barricade hard enough to shake the stone beneath my feet.

Class Two held.

Barely.

James stood near the center of their formation, Light flashing across his sword as monsters crashed against the defensive line.

But he wasn’t alone.

Six students fought around him.

Two shield users held the front while a spear wielder covered his right.

A Fire mage attacked from behind them, and two others rotated wherever the pressure became strongest.

James moved between them instead of disappearing across the battlefield every few seconds to solve every problem himself.

Interesting.

A monster broke through the left side.

James turned.

For half a second, I expected him to vanish.

Instead, "Tristan!"

Lightning exploded across the opening.

The creature dropped.

James never moved.

Very interesting.

Apparently the Hermit’s lessons were contagious.

"Flying group northeast!"

One of Sophie’s scouts shouted from the ridge.

Sophie immediately turned.

"Class Three, northeast! Ice first, Lightning after the group!"

A volley of frost shot into the sky.

Several flying monsters veered around it.

Exactly where the Lightning users were waiting.

Thunder cracked overhead.

Bodies fell.

Thirty seconds later, another scout called down.

"Large beast behind the second wave!"

"James!" Sophie shouted.

"I see it!"

Information moved constantly.

Scouts to Sophie.

Sophie to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth to whoever needed it.

I had expected five leaders working together to involve significantly more arguing.

There had been arguing.

A lot.

But apparently approaching death improved everyone’s willingness to compromise.

Useful.

The barrier surrounding the outer defenses flickered.

Not one barrier.

Many.

Layers of them.

Some smooth.

Some uneven.

Several looked like they had been created by students who had learned Barrier three days ago and remained uncertain whether mana was supposed to form a wall or simply become very optimistic air.

They were terrible.

But they worked.

Mostly.

Seven of Class Five’s more competent Barrier users maintained the primary defensive layer while the other four reinforced whichever section started failing.

Class Four’s remaining mana crystals fed the entire network.

Daphne stood near the center of the formation, directing the flow between the crystals while several of her classmates adjusted the connections.

She wasn’t doing everything herself.

Also progress.

Everyone was learning.

Terrible.

That meant I probably was too.

I turned back toward the medical area.

A Class Two student stumbled toward us with half his chest burned.

Serious.

"Here!"

Penelope caught his arm before he collapsed.

I moved toward him and pressed both hands against the burned flesh.

Healing mana flowed.

He screamed.

"Stay awake."

"I’m trying!"

"Good."

Another scream.

"That’s generally evidence of being awake."

He stared at me through clenched teeth.

"Sorry."

"Don’t apologize. Heal."

Reasonable request.

I repaired enough damaged tissue to stop the immediate deterioration, closed the worst open wounds, then pulled my hands away before I wasted mana trying to restore everything.

"You’re not dying."

"That’s reassuring."

"It should be."

"Next!" Penelope called.

Another student was already being brought forward.

Heal.

Stabilize.

Move.

Next.

A soldier with a broken leg.

Set it.

Heal enough for stability.

Next.

A Class Three girl with deep claw marks across her shoulder.

Stop bleeding.

Repair muscle.

Next.

Mana recovery potion.

I opened the bottle.

Drank.

Regretted every decision that had brought me to this moment.

Terrible taste.

"Why," I muttered, "does medicine always taste like punishment?"

Penelope passed me another patient.

"Because you’re supposed to drink it, not enjoy it."

"Flawed philosophy."

"Barrier sector three failing!"

I looked up.

One of the students maintaining the outer layer was on one knee.

"Send Elise."

"She’s treating someone."

"Marcus."

"Already at the western line."

Of course.

I looked toward the barricade.

"Roland!"

The swordsman turned while holding off two monsters with his shield.

"What?"

"Take four people to sector three!"

"We’re already holding six monsters!"

"Hold them faster."

He stared at me.

Even from this distance, I could see the disbelief.

Then he laughed.

"Terrible order!"

"But you’re going."

"Unfortunately!"

He slammed his shield forward, shouted to four nearby students, and moved.

Good.

Delegation.

I approved.

[You seem proud.]

’I gave an order without leaving my patients.’

[Remarkable personal growth.]

’Exactly.’

[Your standards remain very low.]

I ignored that and returned to healing.

Several minutes passed.

Maybe ten.

Maybe twenty.

Time had become difficult to measure somewhere between the fourth potion and the twenty-third person bleeding near me.

[Stamina declining.]

’I noticed.’

[Mana at forty-two percent.]

’Also noticed.’

[Your recovery rate is no longer compensating for expenditure.]

’Very observant.’

[You are attempting too much.]

My hands slowed.

Only slightly.

’I know.’

[That has historically ended poorly.]

They stopped.

For one second.

Trees.

Blood.

Three bodies.

Vessa.

Caelum.

Nyra.

People standing in front of me because I couldn’t protect myself.

Because they had decided their lives were worth trading for mine.

I closed my eyes.

No.

Different.

This was different.

I opened them again.

James had six people fighting beside him.

Sophie had scouts feeding her information.

Daphne had students maintaining the crystal network.

Elizabeth was coordinating hundreds of people without personally carrying a single wagon, weapon, or stone.

And around me,

Penelope organized patients.

Elise healed.

Marcus stabilized injuries.

Lena distributed medicine.

Other students carried wounded people away from the front.

I wasn’t alone.

That mattered.

[Correct.]

I exhaled.

’Don’t sound surprised.’

[I wasn’t.]

"Alash!"

Penelope.

I looked toward her.

"Class Five student down!"

"Where?"

She pointed.

Cedric.

Of course.

The Force user lay beneath a broken section of barricade, one leg trapped beneath a timber beam.

Two monsters were approaching him.

I moved.

Not alone.

"Roland!"

Already moving.

Good.

Golden mana formed around my hand.

Mana Aegis expanded.

The first monster struck.

The impact traveled through the barrier and into my arm.

My shoulder jerked backward.

I held.

The second monster hit from the side.

The golden surface cracked.

Not broken.

Close.

Roland reached Cedric first.

Two students lifted the beam while another dragged Cedric free.

"Move!"

They moved.

The larger monster slammed into Mana Aegis again.

My boots scraped backward across the stone.

Stamina absorbed part of the impact.

Mana dropped.

The barrier trembled.

Then white light flashed beside me.

Space twisted.

James appeared.

One cut.

That was all.

Light passed through the creature’s body.

A moment later, both halves collapsed in opposite directions.

James looked toward me.

"You alright?"

"Yes."

"You look terrible."

"I’ve looked worse."

He considered that.

"Fair."

Then Space folded around him and he vanished.

Efficient conversation.

I approved.

***

Thirty minutes passed.

Then forty.

The wave kept coming.

There was no dramatic moment where the monsters suddenly weakened or everyone discovered hidden strength.

We simply continued.

Fight.

Fall back.

Heal.

Reinforce.

Repeat.

Students were eliminated.

Not many.

Enough.

Every time someone received fatal damage, their body dissolved into pale light and disappeared from the illusion.

Nobody forgot what it meant.

Their real bodies were safe.

Probably already awake in the orientation hall.

But watching someone vanish still damaged morale.

Especially the first few times.

A Class Three boy disappeared after a creature crushed his barrier.

Sophie froze for perhaps half a second.

Then continued giving orders.

Two Class Two students vanished along the northern wall.

James’s grip tightened.

He stayed with his formation.

Didn’t chase.

Another sign of progress.

Then the outer barrier failed.

Not gradually.

Completely.

Several mana crystals shattered at once.

Blue-white fragments exploded across the defensive line as the connected barriers collapsed one after another.

Daphne staggered.

Then nearly fell.

Nadia caught her.

Daphne immediately tried to stand on her own.

Nadia didn’t let go.

Daphne glared at her.

Nadia ignored it.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

Class Four began retreating almost immediately.

No hesitation.

No arguments about salvaging every crystal.

No Daphne trying to hold the entire structure together herself.

James raised his sword.

"SECOND LINE!"

Everyone moved.

Class Two withdrew first in controlled groups.

Class Three covered the retreat.

Barrier users formed temporary walls.

Wounded students were carried back.

Class One’s remaining wagons shifted behind the second barricade.

The Citadel gate remained open behind us.

One hundred people were already inside.

Mostly critical civilians.

Children.

People unable to move or fight.

Not students.

Elizabeth had made that decision.

Or rather, we all had.

But she had organized it.

There had not been much disagreement after I pointed out that students could actually defend themselves.

The second defensive line held for fifteen minutes.

Then it broke.

Far too quickly.

A section of reinforced stone collapsed beneath the weight of three large monsters.

Students scattered.

James and Tristan stopped the first.

Daphne crushed the second beneath fallen masonry.

The third reached the inner barricade before several Class Two students brought it down.

Sophie ran toward us.

Her breathing was heavy.

"There’s another wave behind this one!"

Elizabeth turned.

"How large?"

Sophie looked back toward the ridge.

"Large."

Very informative.

James laughed once.

Not happily.

Daphne wiped blood from the corner of her mouth.

Illusion blood.

Still unpleasant.

"We don’t have enough mana."

Nobody contradicted her.

Class Four’s crystal supply was nearly depleted.

My Barrier users could barely maintain individual shields anymore.

Healers were running low.

Fighters were injured.

Several students had already disappeared.

And the Citadel’s central ward remained perfectly stable behind us.

Protecting one hundred people.

Exactly one hundred.

We had refused the choice.

Now we might lose everyone outside anyway.

Typical.

I looked toward the Citadel gate.

Then stopped.

The five Guardian Seals were still floating above it.

One above each position where the leaders had originally stood.

Golden lines connected them.

Still active.

Why?

The gate was open.

Their purpose should have been complete.

Yet they remained.

’System.’

[Yes?]

’Those seals.’

[What about them?]

’They’re still active.’

[Correct.]

’Why?’

[They are illusion constructs created by the Mirage Hermit.]

’I know what they are.’

[Then your question lacks precision.]

I stared at the seals.

’Why would the Hermit keep them active after the gate opened?’

[Ask the Hermit.]

’Useful.’

[Thank you.]

’That wasn’t praise.’

Five seals.

Five classes.

One Citadel.

One ward.

The entire examination had repeatedly punished us for treating separated resources as independent solutions.

Transportation alone wasn’t enough.

Weapons alone weren’t enough.

Information.

Mana.

Medicine.

None of it worked properly alone.

So why would the final mechanism require all five seals merely to open a door?

I looked toward the ward.

Then the seals.

Then the mana crystals.

What if...

"Daphne!"

She turned.

"What?"

"Can those seals carry mana?"

Her brow furrowed.

"They opened the gate."

"Not what I asked."

Her gaze moved upward.

She didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, she studied the faint lines connecting the five seals.

Then the glowing ward around the Citadel.

Her eyes narrowed.

"They’re still connected."

Elizabeth heard us.

"So?"

I pointed upward.

"We’ve been powering our external barriers separately from the Citadel."

Daphne looked from me to the seals.

Then toward the central ward.

Her expression changed.

"Use the Citadel."

James frowned.

"The ward only covers the interior."

"Currently."

Sophie looked up.

"The seals are outside the ward."

Exactly.

Elizabeth stepped closer, already following the logic.

"Five anchors."

I nodded.

"If each Guardian Seal corresponds to one class, then they may not exist solely to unlock the gate."

Daphne stared at the connections for several seconds.

"If they’re still integrated into the ward formation, we might be able to redirect the boundary through them."

Silence.

Then I looked at her.

"Can you?"

"Maybe."

"Excellent."

She glared.

"I said maybe."

"Still excellent."

"It could destabilize the entire formation."

Less excellent.

"If the flow is redirected incorrectly, the central ward could collapse with it."

Everyone looked toward the open Citadel.

One hundred vulnerable people were inside.

Children.

Critically wounded patients.

Civilians who couldn’t defend themselves.

If we failed...

They lost their protection too.

James looked toward the approaching monsters.

Then toward the shattered second line.

"We don’t have another option."

We did.

Technically.

Leave the ward alone.

Retreat inside until the capacity reached one hundred.

Let everyone else be eliminated.

Finish the exam with whoever remained.

Safe.

Logical.

Acceptable according to the message.

No.

I looked toward Daphne.

"Do it."

Her eyes immediately moved to me.

"That’s your decision?"

I paused.

Old habit.

Give solution.

Make decision.

Move.

Except this wasn’t Class Five.

And these weren’t thirty-six people who had reluctantly decided I was responsible for them.

Five classes had brought us here.

Five leaders would carry the consequences.

"No."

I looked toward the others.

"Our decision."

James answered first.

"Do it."

Sophie nodded.

"I’m in."

Elizabeth looked toward the ward one final time before meeting Daphne’s eyes.

"Do it."

Daphne remained silent the longest.

Probably because she understood the magical risk better than any of us.

Finally, "Fine."

Five leaders moved beneath the five Guardian Seals.

Elizabeth.

James.

Sophie.

Daphne.

Me.

The instant we reached them.

[Host.]

The System’s voice struck my mind far louder than before.

I flinched.

’Busy.’

[Akashic resonance increasing rapidly.]

I froze.

Not now.

Seriously?

The sensation returned.

Stronger than before.

Elizabeth.

James.

Sophie.

Daphne.

Not their mana.

Not their bodies.

Something deeper.

The same strange recognition I had felt when we first gathered inside the illusion, except this time the five Guardian Seals had connected us through a single magical formation.

Five vessels.

Five fragments.

One network.

For a single instant, the world trembled.

Not the Citadel.

Not the ground.

The illusion itself.

No.

Something beneath the illusion.

Something far deeper than the Hermit’s constructed world seemed to shift in response.

My vision blurred.

Golden lines appeared where there shouldn’t have been any.

Five points.

Five...

Then they vanished.

’System?’

Nothing.

’System.’

No answer.

That was concerning.

Very concerning.

"ALASH!"

Daphne’s voice pulled me back.

"What?"

"Mana!"

Right.

Immediate death first.

Mysterious cosmic problem later.

Reasonable priorities.

I placed one hand against the seal.

Mana flowed.

The Guardian Seal erupted with golden light.

Around me, the other four ignited.

Five beams connected.

The remaining mana crystals answered.

Daphne shouted instructions while Class Four redirected every surviving crystal into the formation.

"Connect the eastern line!"

"Already connected!"

"Then stabilize the third anchor!"

Barrier users joined next.

Not only mine.

Every student who knew enough Barrier magic to contribute formed spells along the developing boundary.

The Citadel ward moved.

Slowly.

Its translucent surface stretched beyond the gate.

People stopped fighting long enough to stare.

The ward passed across the courtyard.

Reached the inner defensive wall.

Continued.

"Keep feeding it!" Daphne shouted.

The five seals brightened.

The barrier expanded toward the second wall.

Then beyond it.

Farther.

Farther.

Until a massive translucent dome began forming over the entire defensive area.

Students.

Civilians.

Wagons.

Healers.

Fighters.

Everyone.

The final section closed.

For one second, everything became quiet.

Then the monster wave struck.

The entire dome shook.

Students stumbled.

Several crystals cracked.

But the ward held.

Cheers erupted.

I didn’t join them.

Not yet.

Because thin fractures were already appearing overhead.

Of course.

"Daphne!"

"I SEE THEM!"

Another wave hit.

CRACK.

The fracture widened.

Daphne’s face went pale.

"MORE MANA!"

Everyone responded.

Not just Barrier users.

Everyone.

Fire mages placed their hands against the crystal network.

Water mages followed.

Earth.

Ice.

Lightning.

Metal.

Force.

Healing.

Attributes completely useless for barrier construction.

It didn’t matter.

They poured raw mana into the connected formation.

Class Four redirected it.

Class Five stabilized it.

The five Guardian Seals carried it.

The ward brightened.

Another monster crashed against the dome.

Then ten.

Then hundreds.

The barrier bent inward.

Didn’t break.

James stood beneath it with his sword still drawn, as though prepared to personally fight the entire horde if it failed.

Sophie continued shouting information even though there was almost nowhere left to retreat.

Elizabeth coordinated the mana groups.

Daphne remained at the center of the crystal network while Nadia stood beside her, one hand holding her upright whenever her legs threatened to fail.

Penelope appeared beside me.

Her hand pressed against the nearest mana conduit.

"You’re exhausted."

"So are you."

"That’s not an answer."

"Then yes."

Another impact shook the dome.

My mana dropped.

Thirty percent.

Twenty-five.

Twenty.

[Host.]

The System was back.

Good.

’You disappeared.’

[The resonance caused temporary interference.]

’Concerning.’

[Extremely.]

’Later.’

[Agreed.]

The barrier cracked again.

Everyone pushed harder.

No one ran.

No one tried to enter the Citadel.

No one asked whether they should abandon the people outside.

Five classes.

One formation.

One ridiculous exam.

I looked toward the horizon.

The black sun was descending.

Slowly.

Painfully slowly.

"Come on."

Penelope glanced at me.

"Are you talking to the sun?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"It isn’t cooperating."

She looked away.

Probably accepting that exhaustion had finally damaged my mind.

Then, light touched the horizon.

The first thin line of dawn appeared beneath the black sun.

The monsters froze.

Every single one.

Silence swept across the battlefield.

The nearest creature remained suspended mid-strike against the barrier.

Another stood with its claws raised.

Flying monsters stopped in the sky.

For half a second, nothing happened.

Then the entire world turned white.

---

I opened my eyes.

Ceiling.

Orientation hall.

Chair.

Dream Haven held onto my chest.

Excellent.

I remained still for several seconds.

Mostly to confirm that standing was unnecessary.

Beside me, Penelope suddenly inhaled.

Hard.

Her hands immediately moved over her body.

Arms.

Chest.

Face.

Everything present.

Good.

Around us, one hundred and eighty-seven first-year students began waking.

Some calmly.

Most not.

Someone screamed.

A boy several rows ahead grabbed his left leg with both hands.

"It’s there."

Then louder, "MY LEG IS THERE!"

Someone nearby started crying.

Another student laughed so hard they nearly fell out of their chair.

Even the students who had been eliminated during the examination looked just as disoriented as everyone else.

Apparently, being removed from the illusion had not meant waking early.

The Hermit had kept all of us inside until the examination ended.

Efficient.

Slightly cruel.

Probably intentional.

I looked toward James.

He was checking the students around him.

Sophie had both hands over her face.

Then lowered them and immediately started counting her classmates.

Daphne sat completely still.

Nadia leaned toward her and said something.

Daphne’s expression darkened.

Probably healthy.

Elizabeth was already looking toward the stage.

Naturally.

I followed her gaze.

The Mirage Hermit stood exactly where he had been before the examination began.

Plain grey robe.

Hands behind his back.

Completely relaxed.

He looked across the chaos he had personally created.

Then smiled.

I disliked that smile.

Very much.

"Congratulations," he said.

The hall erupted.