Next, Static holds. Steel and Silence.
We’re underground now. No sound but my breath, shallow, fast. Leo nods at the iron knives laid on a table. I look around at everyone else and wipe the sweat away before it drips into my eyes.
“Wall sits,” he says. “Two knives. Blades out. Arms straight. Don’t drop. Don’t shift.”
I grab two knives and press my back to the wall. Blades extend from my fists. The steel trembles. Minutes blur. My thighs quake. My arms scream. Sweat runs down my spine. At seven minutes my muscles twitch.
Focus. Focus.
I picture Aoife. Why? all I see is her face, her eyes, her mouth under mine. I channel the rage of not being able to touch her again. The fear of what it means if I do.
Fifteen minutes. My knuckles are white. I feel skin tear in my palm. My left wrist starts to drop.
Leo’s eyes narrow. “Lift it.”
I do.
Nineteen minutes. My breathing’s shallow. My vision fades.
The bell chimes.
I drop the knives.
Collapse forward.
A hand catches me.
“Stage two complete,” Leo says.
Fuck, this is going to kill me today, and this is only fucking trial one. I nod, letting him know I’m fine, and let's carry on. I hear some of the other trainers talking to their people, and I stand up tall, adjusting the weight around me.
The third one, the climb. The Tower Breaker. A vertical wall, thirty feet high. Rusted pipe grips, no gloves, no harness. My arms already feel like jelly.
A deep breath, I take a running start. Jump.
Fingers catch cold steel. My legs dangle. I use core, back, legs, every inch of me, to pull upward. I slip and my feet hit the floor. No one else has tried yet, they look up the wall, but I can’t let them take over me, so I regain. Climb again.
Halfway up, the wind shifts, pushing my weight off-balance. A gust slaps me hard. My chest slams into the wall. I grit my teeth, find a foothold, launch higher.
At the top, a red sensor. I slam my palm against it. Another flare lights the air.
I’m so fucking close to winning and dying.
The game isn’t over, now the gauntlet. Path of Blades.
A tunnel ahead. My hands are bound behind me. Leo’s voice is low. “You’ll find your way by instinct. Walk. Listen. Survive.” I nod and enter.
Swinging weapons brush past. Spiked balls on chains. Wooden rods. Buzzing currents snap at my arms. A blunt hammer hits my thigh. I grunt. “Fuck!” Another to my ribs. A third to the back of my shoulder sends me to one knee.
Focus, Matteo. Focus.
I rise. I do not stop. I breathe through my teeth and let the pain become another weapon.
A flash of heat, one strike nearly knocks the wind from me. But I stagger through the next gate.
“Done.” Leo pats my back, and I kneel because I have nothing left in me. “You’re the only one who’s made it, you fight now. The Ring. Blood Crown.”
I look up at Leo, trying hard to fucking breathe, but it hurts, it fucking burns.
