Chapter 59: Hunt Or Be Hunted
"...Noah."
The voice echoed once more.
Perfect.
It sounded exactly like Luna this time.
Cold.
Calm.
Unmistakably hers.
Noah didn’t turn around.
"Keep walking."
The others immediately obeyed.
No questions.
No hesitation.
Behind them...
The unseen thing continued experimenting.
"...Eric."
"...Damien."
"...Sophia."
Each name was spoken with flawless accuracy.
As though someone had stolen their voices.
Then...
It laughed.
Not loudly.
Not maliciously.
Simply...
Curiously.
Like a child learning a new language.
The sound disappeared.
The maze became quiet again.
Eric finally exhaled.
"...That was officially the creepiest thing I’ve ever experienced."
Luna nodded.
"And we’re pretending it doesn’t exist."
"Exactly."
The corridors widened.
Unlike before...
The walls now carried faded murals.
Many had cracked with age.
Others had been worn smooth by time.
Sophia stopped.
"These weren’t mentioned during orientation."
Damien brushed dust from one carving.
"It looks..."
"...older than the academy."
Noah examined another mural.
It depicted several warriors carrying banners.
One banner caught his attention.
A wolf enclosed by a circle.
Exactly like the emblem on Squad Seven’s folders.
"So the squad symbols existed before the academy..."
Noah muttered.
Damien nodded thoughtfully.
"Interesting."
Before they could inspect further...
Voices echoed ahead.
Real voices.
Not imitations.
"...They’re over there!"
"Take the flag!"
"Don’t let them escape!"
Eric grinned.
"Now that’s definitely students."
The squad carefully approached the intersection.
Keeping close to the wall.
Noah slowly peeked around the corner.
Two first-year squads were fighting.
Wooden practice swords clashed.
Mana flashed.
One student attempted to sprint away while carrying a crimson flag.
Another tackled him.
Both rolled across the floor.
"...They’re really going all out."
Sophia whispered.
A loud crack echoed.
One student was knocked against the wall.
Not seriously injured.
But eliminated.
A nearby instructor immediately stepped in.
"Out."
The defeated student sighed before leaving the maze through a hidden doorway.
"So professors are watching."
Luna observed.
Noah watched carefully.
Neither squad noticed Squad Seven.
Eric whispered,
"Should we help one side?"
Damien answered immediately.
"No."
Noah nodded.
"We gain nothing."
"Our objective isn’t defeating students."
"It’s retrieving our flag."
The team quietly slipped away through another corridor.
Avoiding the fight entirely.
Nearly twenty minutes later...
The maze opened into a circular chamber.
At its center stood a stone pedestal.
Upon it...
A silver chest.
Everyone stopped.
"It’s too obvious."
Luna muttered.
Eric looked disappointed.
"...I was hoping for at least one obvious thing today."
Noah approached cautiously.
The chest bore the academy crest.
No traps.
No runes.
No mana fluctuations.
Still...
He didn’t touch it.
Damien crouched beside the pedestal.
"...Pressure plate."
He pointed beneath the base.
"Good catch."
Sophia looked around.
"If we remove the chest..."
"...something activates."
Eric smiled.
"So we don’t remove it."
Noah examined the room.
Then...
His eyes settled on the ceiling.
"...There."
Everyone looked up.
A thin steel cable connected the chest to a hidden mechanism.
Luna smiled.
"I’ve got this."
She removed one of her throwing knives.
With incredible precision...
TING!
The blade sliced through the cable.
Nothing happened.
The pressure beneath the pedestal relaxed.
The trap had been disabled.
Eric whistled.
"Nice."
Noah carefully opened the chest.
Inside...
Lay a neatly folded blue banner.
Embroidered across it...
The silver wolf emblem.
[Academy Assessment]
Squad Seven Flag Retrieved.
Return to the exit.
Eric pumped his fist.
"Finally!"
Noah picked up the flag.
The moment he did...
The chamber trembled.
RUMBLE...
Everyone froze.
"...Please tell me that’s normal."
Eric said.
The walls slowly shifted.
Entire corridors rotated.
Stone ground against stone.
The maze...
Was changing.
Professor Ingrid’s voice echoed magically throughout every corridor.
"Attention all squads."
"The assessment has entered Phase Two."
Students across the maze stopped.
"From this point onward..."
"Every squad carrying a flag..."
"...will have its location revealed every three minutes."
Eric stared at Noah.
"...You’ve got to be kidding."
A glowing blue light suddenly appeared above Noah’s head.
Like a beacon.
Visible from every nearby corridor.
Somewhere else in the maze...
Cedric Vale looked up.
"There."
He smiled faintly.
"We’ve found one."
On another floor of the maze...
Cain Draven glanced toward the same beacon.
He quietly adjusted his grip on his practice sword.
"...Blue."
Then...
He began walking.
Back inside the chamber...
Noah looked at the floating beacon above his head.
"...Looks like staying unnoticed..."
"...is no longer an option."
The blue beacon floated above Noah’s head.
It wasn’t bright.
But in the dim corridors of the maze...
It might as well have been the sun.
Eric looked up and groaned.
"...I hate this assessment."
Luna folded the squad flag before placing it inside a reinforced leather case.
"So everyone knows where we are now."
Damien corrected her.
"Everyone nearby."
"That’s somehow worse."
Professor Ingrid’s voice echoed once more.
"Protect your banner."
"Reach the exit."
"Remember..."
"A squad that loses its banner is eliminated."
The announcement faded.
Noah took a slow breath.
"We’re changing our approach."
Everyone immediately looked at him.
"We’re not racing anymore."
"We’re surviving."
Damien nodded.
"Agreed."
Noah pointed toward the corridor ahead.
"Eric."
"Front."
Eric grinned.
"Finally."
"Luna."
"Scout the intersections."
She disappeared before Noah even finished speaking.
"Sophia."
"Watch for mana."
"I will."
"Damien."
"The rear."
Damien simply nodded.
No one questioned the assignments.
As Squad Seven moved through the maze...
The atmosphere changed.
Every intersection felt dangerous.
Every shadow looked suspicious.
Every sound...
Could be another squad.
Meanwhile...
Only a few corridors away...
Cedric Vale stood with his own squad.
A glowing compass hovered above one student’s palm.
"The beacon shifted."
Cedric calmly studied the needle.
"They’re moving east."
One of his teammates smiled confidently.
"We’ve got them."
Cedric shook his head.
"Don’t underestimate Blackwood."
Elsewhere...
Cain Draven’s squad stood at another crossroads.
One teammate asked,
"Should we intercept the nearest beacon?"
Cain glanced toward the glowing direction.
"...No."
The others looked confused.
"We’ll reach the exit."
"If another squad attacks us..."
"We’ll deal with it."
No further explanation.
His teammates trusted him without hesitation.
Back with Squad Seven...
Luna suddenly raised a hand.
Everyone stopped.
She crouched beside the corner.
"...Three."
Eric whispered,
"Three what?"
"Students."
"They’re waiting."
Sophia closed her eyes.
"...She’s right."
"I can sense three mana signatures."
Damien quietly unsheathed his practice blade.
"They’re setting an ambush."
Eric smiled.
"So we charge?"
"No."
Noah answered immediately.
He looked upward.
The ceiling was nearly four meters high.
The stone walls were rough.
Uneven.
"Luna."
She already understood.
Without a word...
She climbed the wall with astonishing agility.
In seconds...
She disappeared onto the narrow maintenance ledge running above the corridor.
Noah counted silently.
Three...
Two...
One...
A sharp whistle echoed from above.
Luna’s signal.
"They’re directly below me."
Noah stepped into the intersection.
Immediately...
Three students jumped from cover.
"There he is!"
"Take the flag!"
One rushed Noah.
Another sprinted toward Sophia.
The third tried to circle behind Eric.
They never noticed Luna.
She dropped silently from above.
Landing behind them.
"...Wrong direction."
One student spun around.
Too late.
THUMP!
The flat of her wooden dagger struck his shoulder.
He stumbled.
At the same moment...
Eric intercepted the second student.
CLACK!
Wood met wood.
The impact echoed through the corridor.
Noah faced the final attacker.
The student swung wildly.
Powerful.
Fast.
Unrefined.
Noah remembered Professor Ingrid’s lesson.
Power.
Control.
Judgment.
Resolve.
Instead of meeting strength with strength...
He stepped aside.
The student’s momentum carried him forward.
Noah gently hooked the practice sword around his wrist.
Twisted.
The weapon flew from the student’s hand.
It clattered harmlessly across the floor.
The entire exchange lasted less than ten seconds.
The opposing squad froze.
"...We lost?"
Their leader looked at Noah.
Then at his own teammates.
He sighed.
"...Yeah."
Professor Astrid emerged from a hidden observation doorway.
"Squad Twelve."
"Eliminated."
The three students handed over their identification badges before leaving with disappointed expressions.
Eric let out a long whistle.
"That..."
"...went much better than I expected."
Luna smiled faintly.
"They underestimated us."
Damien shook his head.
"No."
"They underestimated teamwork."
Professor Astrid watched Squad Seven for a brief moment before returning behind the hidden wall.
She quietly spoke into a communication crystal.
"Squad Seven successfully neutralized Squad Twelve."
A voice answered.
"Without injuries?"
"...Without injuries."
A brief silence followed.
Then Professor Ingrid replied,
"I thought so."
As Squad Seven resumed moving...
None of them noticed...
A pair of silver eyes watching from another corridor.
Cain Draven.
He had witnessed the entire encounter.
His expression remained unreadable.
"...Interesting."
He turned away.
Without revealing himself.
Without interfering.
He simply continued toward the exit.
Noah adjusted the leather case holding Squad Seven’s banner.
"We’re getting closer."
Sophia suddenly frowned.
"...Noah."
"What is it?"
"My mana sense..."
She slowly looked deeper into the corridor ahead.
"...There’s only one person waiting."
Eric blinked.
"Only one?"
Damien’s eyes narrowed.
"...That usually means they’re confident."
From the darkness...
Measured footsteps echoed toward them.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
A familiar voice broke the silence.
"...Perfect."
"I’ve been looking for the squad carrying the blue beacon."
A tall figure stepped into the crystal light.
Blond hair.
Calm blue eyes.
A practice sword resting loosely at his side.
Cedric Vale.
Fourth Rank.
He smiled politely.
"I believe..."
"...it’s time we tested each other."