NOVEL NEXT Chapter 40 - Team Combat Trials
The Cathedral of Attunement had transformed overnight. Where yesterday's ceremony featured floating stone constructs and mist-filled wells,
The Cathedral of Attunement had transformed overnight. Where yesterday's ceremony featured floating stone constructs and mist-filled wells, today formations erupted from the floor like frozen lightning, each pulsing with captured mana signatures. The second-year students filled the vast space, their conversations creating a constant hum that resonated with the formations themselves.
Nick stood with Maggie and Jordan near the center of the hall, watching as Vice Principal Leticia Granhalein approached the raised platform. She wore practical combat attire—reinforced leather with mana-conductive threading that gleamed like circuit patterns across the dark material. Her red hair was pulled back in a severe bun, her expression promising no mercy.
A massive resonance map materialized above the platform as she took her position—a three-dimensional web of light displaying hundreds of glowing nodes, each representing a student's mana signature. Nick watched, fascinated, as connections between students shifted and realigned, some growing stronger while others dimmed.
"Last year, you learned to survive," Granhalein's voice carried effortlessly through the hall, silencing all conversation. "This year, we see what you're worth."
She gestured to the floating map, causing it to rotate slowly so everyone could see their position within the network.
"The Ranking Trials begin today. As you know, these trials will determine everything—your dormitory hierarchy, advancement tiers, access to specialized training, and priority instructor time." Her smile was sharp as a blade. "For those comfortable with mediocrity, I suggest you reconsider your life choices. The Academy has no use for the complacent."
Nick felt Sophia's interface activate, quietly analyzing the resonance patterns above them.
[Host, the mapping system is more sophisticated than initially detected. It's not just tracking mana signatures—it's predicting compatibility dynamics and strategic potential.]
"Day One will test team synergy through coordinated trials," Granhalein continued. "You'll face scenarios requiring tactics, mana combat coordination, and adaptive problem-solving under pressure."
Around the hall, Nick noticed students gravitating toward their established groups. Most second-years had formed tight bonds during their freshman year and had been grouped into teams over the summer.
"Day Two will test your individual core through three distinct trials: Martial assessment will evaluate your physical mana combat capabilities. Mental assessment will test system resonance and interface manipulation under stress. Spiritual assessment will measure mana flow control during high-stress, Veil-linked simulations."
The resonance map shifted, highlighting team formations. Nick's attention was drawn to several distinct clusters:
Near the APEX contingent, Zora Hayes stood with her arms crossed, her dark eyes fixed on Nick's trio. Her team radiated pure military precision. Even in casual stances, they seemed coiled and ready to counter any attack.
In the shadows near students aligned with Mirage lineages, the girl Nick had noticed yesterday observed silently. Her mana signature barely registered on the resonance map, as if she existed only partially in this dimension.
The Ember Twins—Phoenix and Blaze, Nick had overheard—casually spun flames between their fingers, their cocky expressions suggesting they viewed the trials as mere entertainment rather than serious evaluation.
The pale Frost Shaper stood with eyes closed, ice crystals forming and dissolving around him in a meditative pattern that spoke of absolute control.
The Mirage Illusionist traced gleaming glyphs in the air that refracted like light through a prism, each fluid gesture creating brief rainbows that danced around her fingertips.
"Students with teams, we will test the viability of your formations. Your strengths and your weaknesses. Enhancing the latter and eliminating the former. Students without a team," Granhalein's voice sharpened, causing Nick's attention to snap back to the platform, "will be matched based on system compatibility and strategic potential rather than prior relationships. This is not a disadvantage—it's an opportunity to prove adaptability."
"On that note," Granhalein continued, her voice carrying through the hall with effortless command, "we have a special team joining us this year—one that demonstrated exceptional results during their transfer evaluations." Her gaze drifted unmistakably toward Nick's group. "As a result, they've been placed directly into advanced housing. Should any of you surpass them in the upcoming trials, their accommodations will be yours to claim."
Beside him, Maggie let out a surprised gasp and Jordan stiffened.
She just put us in their crosshairs. Why the hell did she do that?
Nick leveled a glare at Vice Principal Granhalein. She caught it—of that he was certain. And if he hadn't been watching so closely, he might have missed it: the faintest twitch at the corner of her mouth, a ghost of a smile gone as quickly as it appeared.
What the hell? Was she testing them?
Sophia, connect me to Maggie and Jordan, please.
[System connections are established.]
[Nick: What are the odds that this is a test?]
[Jordan: 95%]
[Maggie: This is definitely a test. 100%]
[Nick: Then we better show them that we're not to be messed with.]
Nick felt the weight of dozens of stares as students turned to identify who had earned such placement. He kept his expression neutral, but internally catalogued every face that showed particular interest in their group.
Sophia, I want you to catalog every face that showed even the slightest hint that they would make trouble for us.
[Done.]
"The Trial Nexus awaits," Granhalein concluded, gesturing toward the hall's main exit. "Faculty members, evaluations will begin immediately. Dismissed."
The Trial Nexus defied architectural logic. What appeared from the outside to be a standard coliseum revealed itself as something far more complex. The resonance-reactive stone walls shifted and reconfigured as each team passed through the entrance, responding to their collective mana signatures and creating unique environmental challenges.
Nick paused at the threshold, watching the arena transform for the team ahead of them. A group of students synchronized their earth-manipulation to create terraced platforms and defensive positions.
"It's reading our affinities," Maggie whispered, her eyes tracking the architectural changes. "The trial will be customized based on our capabilities."
"Will that be a good thing?" Jordan asked, watching the changes to the floor below them. "What happened to our plan to stay under the radar?"
"Well that plan was shot when Granhalein decided to make us a target," Maggie groused. "Like Nick said, we might as well show we need to be taken seriously."
Jordan didn't respond, his eyes fixed on the shifting layout of the colosseum as more students filed in. They had claimed a spot near the far end, seated on one of the earlier elevated terraces.
Val stood near the arena's center, her presence as commanding as ever. She wore Academy combat instructor robes now—deep crimson with silver threading that pulsed with contained energy. Dr. Bojes flanked her right side, his scholarly demeanor replaced by intense focus as he monitored readings on a tablet.
High above in an observation booth carved from the arena's upper reaches, a familiar silhouette watched in silence. Headmaster Kestrel's presence was felt rather than seen, his attention pressing down on the proceedings like an invisible weight.
Floating above the arena's center, massive ranking boards hung empty, their surfaces waiting to display the results that would soon reshape the second year's social hierarchy.
Once the terraces formed and defensive measures locked into place, each team received a ping via their system to enter one of four gated entrances that rose from the domed structure in the middle.
As Nick's team approached their designated entrance, something made him pause.
[Host,] Sophia's voice entered his mind. [The dome has several glyphs whose patterns are somewhat familiar but they are incomplete.]
Nick's enhanced perception caught what his system meant. Faint Aurilian script flickered around the dome's perimeter, appearing and disappearing too quickly for anyone else to notice but unmistakably there.
[Resonant lattice: altered. Arcadian overlay detected. Host should be aware that a possible challenge might trigger based on your status.]
"Nick?" Jordan's voice cut through Sophia's analysis. "You coming?"
"Yeah," Nick replied, forcing himself to focus on the immediate situation. Whatever was happening with the arena's hidden systems, they needed to complete their trial first.
The stone archway ahead pulsed with blue light as they approached, and Nick felt reality shifting around them.
The trial space materialized like stepping into a lucid dream. They stood atop a fortified tower in the center of what appeared to be an ancient city, its architecture reminiscent of classical civilizations but wrong in subtle ways—angles that didn't quite align, shadows falling in impossible directions, and a sky that shifted between day and night with each passing moment.
[Trial Classification: Puzzle-Siege Variant] appeared in golden text across their vision. [Objective: Defend the Resonance Node while solving the puzzle. Warning: Enemy waves will increase in intensity every five minutes. Failure condition: Node destruction or puzzle timeout.]
"A standard siege trial," Jordan commented, moving to the tower's edge to assess their defensive position. "We have the fortified high ground with clear sight lines, but multiple approach routes for the enemy."
At the tower's center, a stone of bright blue light pulsed softly, its surface covered in intricate mana circuits that formed a three-dimensional puzzle. Maggie approached it immediately, her fingers dancing through the air as she analyzed the system.
"This is... complex," she murmured. "Multi-layered encryption with adaptive responses as it's solved. Hmm. We'll need to be aware of that once the test begins."
They moved into position—Jordan and Nick patrolling opposite sides of the wall while Maggie prepared to interface with the system.
Suddenly a loud chime rang out, and the blue stone flashed three times in quick succession before turning green.
"First wave incoming," Jordan announced. "Twenty-four units, humanoid, standard siege formation."
The attackers emerged from the city streets below—robots glowing with hostile red energy. They carried no weapons, but their hands crackled with destructive mana.
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Nick felt his combat instincts awakening, drawing on weeks of training with Val. "Maggie, how long do you need?"
"At least two minutes for the first layer," she replied without looking up from the puzzle. "Maybe longer if—" She paused, frowning. "That's weird. The puzzle is responding to ambient mana signatures. It's... it's trying to sync with something."
The first wave reached their tower as Jordan manifested his Guardian barriers—translucent golden shields that absorbed the constructs' energy attacks and redirected the force into the tower's defensive systems. On the other side, Nick's mana-enhanced vision pierced the constructs' internal frameworks, allowing him to systematically dismantle them from within, unraveling their core functions one by one.
For four minutes, the battle proceeded exactly as expected. The constructs attacked in predictable patterns, Jordan's defenses held firm, and Nick provided mobile support while Maggie worked through the puzzle's layers.
Then everything changed.
The puzzle reacted to Nick's proximity, ancient Aurilian glyphs suddenly blazing to life across its surface. Sophia's warning came too late:
[Ω-Pattern detected. Escalating trial to Tier II: Echo Construct Mode.]
The remaining constructs dissolved instantly, replaced by something far more dangerous. New enemies materialized—beings that moved with tactical awareness and intelligence. Beings that Nick recognized from Arlize's memories. They employed dimensional displacement, appearing and disappearing around the tower's defenses. Their attacks drained energy from the barriers rather than delivering physical damage, and they moved in perfect coordination, using mirrored formation tactics.
"What the hell?" Jordan's barriers flickered as the new enemies bypassed his shields entirely, striking directly at his mana reserves.
"The trial's been hijacked," Maggie shouted, her hands flying through multiple interface layers at once. "Something in the puzzle triggered a system override. These aren't standard Academy constructs!"
"We noticed," Jordan called over his shoulder, tightening the shield's radius to cover just the top of the tower, abandoning the broader perimeter.
Nick felt Arlize's memories stirring as he recognized the enemy tactics. These were Echo Constructs—dimensional shadows of warriors, preserved in some kind of combat archive.
The only way to take them down was hand-to-hand—decapitation. Their internal systems were too advanced for him to disrupt remotely. But that approach would take too long. They'd be overwhelmed—and the trial lost.
"I can reroute their pathing algorithms," Maggie announced, her voice tight with concentration. "Give me thirty seconds!"
As she said this, the first constructs broke over the top of the wall.
Jordan channeled more power into his barriers, their golden light flaring brighter as he reinforced them against the energy-draining attacks. "Nick, if you can do anything, do it now!"
[Host, I may be able to trigger a reset of the trial mechanism since the test was only reset after the trial recognized our mana signature.]
Let's do it.
[Please go ahead and touch the puzzle's core.]
Nick approached the puzzle's core, letting Sophia guide his hands.
Hidden among the circuit patterns was something only she would recognize—a backdoor glyph used by the Shield Corps of Aurilia, designed to identify friendly forces during chaotic dimensional battles.
[Host, press your hands against the glyph and channel your mana utilizing this pattern]
Geometric shapes bloomed in Nick's mind. He'd known these shapes before. He remembered them.
He pressed his palm against the glyph, channeling both his own mana into the shapes Arlize had known. The response was immediate and overwhelming.
Light exploded from the puzzle's core, revealing a hidden crest—the Shield Corps emblem surrounded by text in the old tongue. But instead of ending the trial, the revealing of the emblem seemed to destabilize the entire system.
[ERROR: Ω-TRIGGER CORRUPTION DETECTED] [TRIAL PARAMETERS COMPROMISED] [INITIATING EMERGENCY RESET]
The trial space collapsed around them, reality folding inward on itself. Just before everything went white, Nick caught one final image—a lone construct, head bowed. Then it looked up, eyes glowing an eerie blue, locking onto him. Then reality shattered.
They materialized back in the Trial Nexus, gasping and disoriented. Around them, other teams continued their trials in adjacent spaces, oblivious to what had just occurred. The ranking boards still hung empty, but faculty members huddled in intense discussion near the control stations.
"What happened in there?" Jordan asked, checking his systems for any lingering effects from the energy-drain attacks.
"The trial recognized something in Nick's mana signature," Maggie said, her interface still active as she analyzed the data. "Whatever that backdoor glyph was, it triggered defenses that weren't supposed to be there."
Before Nick could respond, Val approached their group. Her expression was unreadable, but Nick caught the subtle signs of someone processing unexpected information.
"Are you all okay?" she asked, concern threading through her voice. They each nodded, still too shaken by the abrupt trial ending to speak.
"Good," she continued. "You will now report to Arena Section C for a supplemental evaluation."
"Supplemental evaluation?" Maggie raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," Valentina replied. "As a result of the circumstances of the last trial, you will be getting an additional assessment opportunity."
Arena Section C turned out to be a smaller combat space designed for head-to-head matches. As they entered, Nick noticed they weren't alone—several other teams were present, including familiar faces from orientation.
"First match," Val announced, "will be Capture the Flag against APEX Unit Seven."
The opposing team stepped forward, led by a stocky young man with closely cropped blonde hair and the bearing of someone accustomed to command. His teammates flanked him in perfect formation, their movements synchronized from extensive training together.
"Jordan Keyes," the blonde said, his voice dripping with unmistakable disdain. "Heard you transferred out of APEX. Hope your new team doesn't slow you down too much."
Jordan's expression remained neutral, but Nick noticed the subtle shift in his posture. "Marcus," he acknowledged flatly. "Still compensating for your field deficiencies with attitude, I see."
The arena reconfigured around them, forming a symmetrical battlefield with defensive positions at each end. Two flags materialized—one crimson, one azure—hovering above crystalline pedestals that pulsed with protective energy.
"Standard rules," Valentina announced. "First team to capture the opposing flag and return it to their base wins. Excessive force will result in immediate disqualification."
The match erupted with a synchronized surge from APEX Unit Seven. They moved as one entity—five bodies guided by a single mind. The moment the barrier dropped, two frontliners launched forward, laying down suppressive fire in a perfect arc that forced Nick's team into cover before they could even assess the terrain. Their energy projectiles weren't lethal—yet—but strategically cut off movement, deliberately shaping the battlefield.
Behind them, a third member knelt and deployed a rapidly unfolding barricade—mana-reinforced with hex patterns—providing their rear units instant cover without breaking momentum. The fourth flanker disappeared in a shimmer of stealth-enhanced displacement, clearly circling to strike from the sides.
Above them all, the fifth—obviously their strategist—stood with one arm extended, orchestrating the battle through subtle hand gestures while his other hand manipulated a modular interface, feeding live positional data through their HUD network. They issued sparse commands, each phrase like a metronome maintaining their sharp, fluid tempo.
Every movement calculated. Every line of fire converging at strategic choke points. Even their footsteps landed in perfect synchronization, minimizing sound while maximizing battlefield control. They weren't merely trained soldiers—they were a weapon honed to lethal precision.
But they were also predictable.
"Maggie, can you compromise their comms?" Nick asked, hunched behind a mana-slick barricade.
"Already seeding a loop," she replied, her fingers dancing across her interface. "Their command node's linked HUD is shielded—but not against low-frequency mana pulses piggybacking on the arena's terrain grid. Give me twelve seconds."
"Ten," Jordan said, stepping forward. His guardian barriers shimmered into place—this time, not as a static wall, but a shifting hex-grid that flickered in and out of visibility. He planted his feet, braced for impact. "I'll draw the vanguard. Force them to split formation."
APEX surged forward with overwhelming power, but it wasn't enough.
"Go," Nick murmured.
Jordan slammed both hands into the ground. His barrier fractured outward like golden lightning, splitting into seven kinetic pulses that raced across the arena floor. Two APEX frontliners swerved to avoid them, creating the first ripple in their formation.
[Disruption pulse active. Interference window: 6.8 seconds.]
Maggie tapped a final glyph. "They're blind—grid desync initiated."
Above them, the APEX team's HUDs glitched. Trajectories flickered, friendlies pinged as hostiles. A delay of even half a second—but it was enough.
Nick launched from cover. Mana surged through his legs. He hit the flanking route Jordan had baited into existence, vaulting over fallen debris and cutting left between two displaced defenders.
"Jordan, three o'clock!" Maggie called.
Jordan twisted, catching a retaliatory strike on a mid-air shield—absorbing the blow and redirecting the kinetic energy back into a shockwave that knocked the last defender out of position.
At the same time, Maggie unleashed her final surprise—an arena feedback spike that refracted the light around Nick for just long enough to distort his trajectory.
Marcus turned to react—too late.
Nick snatched the flag mid-sprint, energy humming at his heels. The terrain tried to shift under him, but he was already gone—one blurred shadow streaking toward their base.
"Valiente, Zhang, Keyes," Valentina announced, "victory by tactical superiority."
As the APEX team filed out, Marcus paused near Jordan. "Lucky break," he said quietly. "Won't happen twice."
"Probably not," Jordan agreed, a hint of a smile playing at his lips. "Next time we'll win by a wider margin."
The second match proved more challenging. Their opponents were what the other students called a "High House" team—students born to rich noble houses from various countries with generational training and resources most couldn't match. The Ember Twins led the group, flanked by a Frost Shaper.
"Newbies," Blaze—or possibly Phoenix—said with obvious amusement. "This should be educational."
The arena transformed into a maze of crystal walls and shifting platforms, designed to test adaptability, flexibility and environmental manipulation rather than direct combat.
This time, the enemy unleashed overwhelming elemental force against them. Fire and ice carved through the air in devastating combinations, while their supporting members manipulated the terrain to create advantages for their forward fighters.
"They're trying to corner us," Jordan observed, his barriers forming moving shields that deflected the worst of the elemental attacks.
"Let them," Nick replied, studying the glyph patterns etched into the arena walls. Some of them looked familiar... "Maggie, can you isolate the fire twin's affinity flow? Just for a few seconds?"
"What are you thinking?" she asked, even as her interface began analyzing the enemy's mana signatures.
"Phantom echo," Nick said, drawing on Arlize's tactical knowledge. "Old Arcadian maneuver. If I can create a false signature projection..."
As Maggie's interference disrupted Kai's connection to his flame abilities, Nick channeled mana through one of the wall glyphs—not the hidden Aurilian ones, but a standard Academy pattern he'd modified with techniques from Arlize's memories.
The result was a series of illusory duplicates that appeared throughout the maze, each carrying Nick's mana signature but moving independently. The High House team found themselves attacking shadows while the real Nick circled behind their position.
The Frost Shaper was the first to realize what had happened. Instead of panic, his eyes sharpened with interest as he redirected his ice attacks to flush out the real target. But by then, Jordan had locked down their front line with barrier formations that turned their own elemental attacks back at them, and Maggie had isolated their terrain team.
The match ended with Nick standing behind their captain, one hand resting gently on the noble's shoulder while holding their yellow flag in the other.
"Victory by misdirection," Val announced.
As their team regrouped, the Ember Twins stormed off, their faces flushed with embarrassment and rage. The Frost Shaper, however, paused to nod once in Nick's direction. Nick returned the gesture.
Near the arena's exit, Nick noticed the Mirage Illusionist watching everything unfold, a faint smile playing at her lips. When their eyes met, she traced a single glyph in the air.
[Host, she just issued a challenge to you.]
Sophia how am I supposed to respond?
[I believe it would be prudent to just smile and nod.]
You don't know do you?
[...]
Nick looked at the girl and smiled before walking through the exit with his team. As he left, he caught Zora Hayes in the observation area, smiling at them as they departed.
After exiting the arena, they made their way to a terrace along the left side of the coliseum. Stadium staff had handed them bottles of chilled water and neatly packaged snacks on the way out. When they settled into their seats, they ate in companionable silence, eyes fixed on the arena below as the remaining teams fought for their place on the leader board.
Two hours later, when the last teams completed their assessments, the ranking boards finally activated. Its glass surfaces blazed with light as names and scores appeared in elegant script:
🜂 TEAM RANKINGS – CLASS A
Team Mirage (Illusionist + Shadow)
Team Zora (APEX Elite)
Team Frostfire (Ember Twins + Frost Shaper)
House Meridian (Noble Coalition)
Iron Guard (Military Academy Unit X)
Storm Weavers (Weather Manipulation Specialists)
Westlake Transfer Students - (Valiente, Zhang, Keyes)
Nick stared at the board, noting their seventh-place ranking. Respectable for a newly formed team, but not exceptional enough to draw unwanted attention.
As the crowd began to disperse, Nick felt Sophia's attention sharpen.
[An Arcadian signal remains within the trial remnants. A message awaits recovery, but it will require careful extraction to avoid detection.]
Nick glanced back at the Trial Nexus, where maintenance crews were already beginning the reset process for tomorrow's individual trials. Whatever message the ancient systems had tried to deliver during their corrupted trial, it was still there, waiting.
"Not bad for our first day," Maggie said, checking her own rankings in the individual categories. "Though I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be much more intense."
Jordan nodded, his attention split between the ranking boards and the various student groups reacting to the results. "Let's see how we do tomorrow. But the real test isn't the trials but what comes after—how the other students respond to the new hierarchy."
Nick couldn't argue with that assessment. Around them, he could see alliances forming and dissolving based on the day's results. Teams that had expected higher rankings whispered among themselves, while those who had exceeded expectations tried to maintain appropriate modesty.
But it was the individual attention they were receiving that concerned him most. Too many students were watching their group with the kind of interest that suggested trouble brewing.
"Let's get back to the dorm," Nick suggested. "We've got individual trials tomorrow, and I have a feeling they're going to be even more complicated than today."
As they walked back toward Grayspire Mountain, Nick couldn't help but feel excited. Tomorrow he'd get a chance to really see how much he'd learned during his time in Bogota. His training would finally be put to the test.