Liam's POV
"Begin."
The moment the word left her lips, Tobias moved.
Blue fire flickered to life across his arms, steady and focused. He took point without hesitation.
She didn't flinch.
She just looked at him like he was a mild inconvenience.
And then she vanished.
Lightning cracked the air.
In the blink of an eye, she appeared in front of him and drove her fist upward into his gut.
Tobias flew.
Not backward. Upward.
His body bent around the strike like a ragdoll. He soared high into the air, his helmet spiraling off and bouncing across the floor.
He broke through the ceiling and vanished through the skylight.
For a few heartbeats, no one moved.
Even Raika stood frozen, eyes wide.
Zoey gasped, hands clenched at her sides. "Is he—"
"He'll be fine," I said automatically. "We're in Aegis Academy."
My eyes snapped to the proctor. She hadn't moved. Didn't even reset her stance.
She turned slightly, gaze falling on the rest of us. Waiting.
I felt it in my gut—we were already on the defensive.
Seven versus one? That wasn't the real test.
Staying together after seeing one of our strongest crushed in a single hit?
That was the test.
I stepped forward.
"Spread. Watch her hands and her feet. Raika, don't charge in alone. Zoey, terrain control. Erik, stay behind and look for a shot."
They moved. Slowly. But they moved.
Come on, Tobias.
If you're still in this… prove it.
Tobias' POV
I woke up to silence.
And sky.
Not ceiling. Not lights. Just sky.
Soft clouds above. Gentle wind brushing past. Sunlight bleeding across the horizon.
Stockholm stretched below me—vast, structured, glittering like a scale model under glass.
It was beautiful.
Too beautiful.
Why am I here?
I blinked. My body was frozen. Not falling. Not floating. Just suspended.
And then it hit me.
I'm still in the test.
But I lost consciousness. I should be out.
The girl's voice echoed in my head:
"You are Sentinels. Your mission is to neutralize a tier 5 metahuman."
Sentinels.
And what's the only thing that stops a Sentinel from completing their mission?
Death.
Not failure.
Not injury.
Death.
I looked down again.
The cityscape rippled slightly.
Not real.
Illusion? Simulation? Dream?
My breath caught. Panic clawed at the back of my throat.
Where am I?
Why couldn't I move?
My heart raced, hammering in my ears.
Then, just like that, I could move again.
And I was falling.
The wind screamed.
The clouds tore past.
Below me, the city distorted like a watercolor painting in the rain.
I took a breath.
Then another.
And for the first time since I arrived at Aegis, I let go.
I let the fire loose.
No compression. No filters. No control.
Just raw, burning output.
Blue flames erupted from my back and arms, engulfing me completely.
The air bent around me. Pressure shifted. Heat roared.
And I was still falling.
But not by force.
By choice.