After the brief introductions, teams across the gathering began settling into planning discussions. The treeline stretched ahead, and the air had taken on the focused quality of something that was about to begin.

Lyra’s number had come out as fifteen. When she went to find her teammates, she discovered that Elizabeth had drawn the same slip. She lit up immediately, the excitement breaking through before she could think to contain it. Elizabeth didn’t show it the same way, her composure held, as it usually did, but she was pleased too, for practical reasons as much as personal ones. She knew what Lyra could do now, having watched the change in her over the past several days, and she had already begun working out how that would factor into their approach before either of them had said a word about strategy.

They found their remaining teammates and got to work.

Nearby, another team had assembled that drew attention purely by the combination of people in it. From the Magic Department, Carlos. From Combat, a student named Arthur. From Alchemy, Simon. Simon looked at his two teammates for a few seconds, then exhaled slowly. He didn’t know their personalities yet. He knew Carlos only by reputation, and Arthur not at all. But something about standing next to them told him that whatever was coming, normal wasn’t going to be part of it.

Arisa and Natasha had each found their respective teams without difficulty, and within a short while, most of the gathered students had sorted themselves out, the treeline filling with small clusters of nervous energy and last-minute planning.

***

Under a tree at the edge of the clearing, Necrotize’s team had settled on the grass. Dominic was doing most of the talking, with an energy that was partly genuine enthusiasm and partly a calculated effort to demonstrate usefulness.

"So, final review of our positions. I’m our close-combat specialist, so I’ll take vanguard. Lady Alana on the right flank, Lady Hana on the left, both in the midline. Lady Sarliya behind them for healing and buffs. And Lord Necrotize at the rear as our caster, providing backup support from a distance."

If anyone outside the team had overheard this, they might have considered it close to heresy. Assigning a god to rear support was not a sentence most people in this world would form voluntarily. But the formation hadn’t been Dominic’s idea. It had been Necrotize’s.

He had looked at each of them, their abilities, their limitations, their experience, and placed everyone accordingly. His knowledge of modern magic theory was still limited. His knowledge of battlefield tactics was not and never had been. After everything he had seen across the long history of every world he had ever passed through. He could have designed something considerably more sophisticated. He had chosen not to. Beginners shouldn’t be put in complex formations they didn’t have the experience to maintain. Basic and functional was the right call, and it cost him nothing to make it.

With this formation, their hunting rate would sit around sixty percent or higher. For a first assessment, that was well above average.

And he was at the back regardless. He had already decided he wasn’t going to dominate things. He would contribute at roughly the level the others were operating at. He had sealed almost everything anyway, down to that final sliver, small enough that it wouldn’t frighten anything away, small enough that it shouldn’t matter. What he had left open was, by any reasonable measure, still more than enough to outperform most students here, and more than a few professors. But he wasn’t going to use it that way.

"So, we’re all clear on our roles," Dominic concluded. "And the team leader is obviously Lord Necrotize. That goes without saying."

The others nodded.

Necrotize didn’t.

"I won’t be leader."

Silence. Everyone looked at him.

"But why, my lord? You’re the most natural choice here. If not you, then who?"

More nods of agreement, quick and eager, the kind that came from people who had already decided the matter before it was raised.

"I won’t be leader because there’s one part of it I don’t enjoy. Leading means certain tasks come first, and I prefer to do things a specific way."

The others exchanged glances and collectively decided not to push the question further. Whatever lay behind that answer, none of them felt particularly inclined to dig for it. The discussion that followed was brief, there was really only one other candidate, and Dominic was appointed leader without any real debate.

He kept his face composed. Internally, he was extraordinarily happy about this. He did not leap into the air, which took a small but real amount of restraint. At least in front of others.

"This is the greatest honour of my life," he said, with a sincerity that was completely genuine, his voice carrying none of the practiced formality from earlier. "I’ll do everything in my power to lead this team to victory."

Everyone applauded. The first clap came from Necrotize.

They were still settling when an announcement cut across the gathering.

"All students who have found their teams, please assemble in formation. Those who haven’t, find your teammates now. The examination begins shortly."

Professor Ronald’s voice. He directed the students into final positions with the efficiency of someone who had done this kind of thing many times, and within a few minutes the last stragglers had sorted themselves out, the loose crowd resolving into neat rows facing the treeline.

"One final point before you enter." Ronald let the noise settle. "If any team attempts to steal points from another team, or deliberately causes harm to another team’s members, that team will be disqualified immediately, and the result will count against your year-end standing. A significant disadvantage. Keep that in mind." He paused, his eyes moving briefly across the assembled rows. "That’s all I have. Do your best."

He stepped back.

One by one, the teams began moving toward the treeline, the morning sun catching the edges of the forest in a way that made it look gentler than it had any business looking.

Necrotize led his group forward. A short distance ahead, he spotted two familiar figures among the entering students, Lyra and Elizabeth, moving with their own team, close enough to see but far enough that they hadn’t noticed him yet.

He didn’t call out to them. For the next few hours, they were competitors. That was how it should be. Some part of him noted, distantly, that he was looking forward to comparing notes with them afterward, hearing how their day had gone, what they had learned about themselves out there.

Just before the trees swallowed them, Necrotize paused and turned to face his team.

"Let’s win."

Four faces looked back at him. Four small smiles.

"Let’s win."

The treeline closed around them, quiet and green and patient, and the morning continued on exactly as it had been, giving no indication at all of what it was about to become.