The artificial hunting ground stretched over several square kilometers, a massive enclosed ecosystem within the academy's testing grounds. Dense thickets, rolling hills, and patches of rocky terrain formed a varied landscape, designed to test the students' ability to track, trap, and take down prey.
This was The Hunt—one of the most dangerous trials in the academy's final exams.
The faculty had gone to great lengths to ensure realism. The beasts were not ordinary animals, but engineered creatures—hybrids of natural wildlife and alchemically enhanced physiology. Some had heightened senses, others unnatural resilience, and a few were outright deadly if not approached correctly.
Jhaeros stood at the edge of the hunting grounds, eyes narrowing as he scanned the terrain.
At his side were Velka, his dire wolf companion, and Noir, his shadow-panther.
But they weren't in sync.
Since their training began, he had struggled to get them to coordinate properly. Velka was a ground hunter, built for raw power and endurance—a predator who excelled in chasing down prey and overwhelming them. Noir, in contrast, was a creature of the shadows, thriving on stealth, patience, and precision.
The problem?
Their instincts clashed.
When Velka charged forward, Noir vanished into the dark, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. But Velka's aggressive chases disrupted Noir's stalking, making her lose her rhythm. Meanwhile, Noir's sudden appearances startled Velka, breaking her momentum in the middle of a chase.
Jhaeros had spent weeks trying to force them to synchronize. It wasn't working.
But there was no time left. The trial had begun.
A horn sounded in the distance.
Students scattered into the wilderness, their strategies varying wildly.
Some rushed in, hoping to take down prey through sheer speed before their competition. Others moved cautiously, scanning the terrain for tracks, broken twigs, or signs of passage. A few immediately set traps, betting on a defensive strategy.
Jhaeros took a different approach.
He stopped.
Instead of trying to lead his companions, he let them take the initiative.
Noir melted into the shadows, her form blurring as she phased through patches of darkness. Meanwhile, Velka lowered her stance, ears flicking as she sniffed the air.
And that's when Jhaeros realized something.
They were trying to help him in their own way—but he had been forcing them to follow his method instead of trusting theirs.
He let out a slow breath.
"Alright. Show me what you see."
Adaptation
Noir was the first to act.
She disappeared completely, vanishing into the undergrowth without a sound. Moments later, Jhaeros felt her presence—a subtle ripple in the shadows that told him she had found something.
Velka, however, growled lowly and turned in a different direction.
Two conflicting signals.
Jhaeros had a choice. Follow one and ignore the other, or find a way to make sense of both.
Instead of choosing blindly, he analyzed.
What had Noir done? She had stalked ahead, meaning her target was likely unsuspecting prey.
What had Velka sensed? A larger predator, something more dangerous than what Noir had marked.
Jhaeros adjusted his approach.
He sent Noir ahead to confirm her target while he and Velka moved toward the east, tracking the larger beast.
Within minutes, his strategy paid off.
Velka stopped suddenly. Her muscles tensed.
Jhaeros crouched low, pulling out his hunting dagger. Through the underbrush, he spotted the target.
A stalker beast—a hybrid of a panther and some alchemically enhanced reptile, its dark scales blending with the shadows. It was waiting in ambush.
If Jhaeros had rushed in blindly, it would have sprung the trap.
Instead, he adjusted.
He whistled softly—Noir's signal.
A moment later, the shadows behind the stalker beast rippled.
Noir emerged like a phantom, her claws already sinking into the beast's spine.
The creature screeched and thrashed, but before it could react further, Velka lunged.
The dire wolf slammed into the beast with crushing force, her teeth sinking into its throat. The fight was over in seconds.
Jhaeros exhaled.
Instead of forcing coordination, he had let them do what they did best—and simply guided their strengths.
He marked the kill for retrieval and moved on.
Elsewhere, things weren't going as smoothly.
Several students struggled. Some misjudged their prey, falling victim to counterattacks. Others fell for illusions set by the more cunning creatures. A few even suffered serious injuries—an unavoidable risk in such a dangerous trial.
One student was nearly crushed by a rampaging horned beast before an instructor stepped in to intervene. Another misfired a mana trap, catching themselves in their own paralysis spell.
The academy had always warned that The Hunt was not just a test—it was a survival challenge.
Jhaeros, meanwhile, kept refining his tactics.
By the end of the trial, he had secured one of the largest game in the competition.
He wasn't the fastest. He wasn't the flashiest.
But his approach had been the most efficient.
When the trial ended, the students were brought back to the academy grounds.
The instructors tallied the results, announcing the top performers.
Jhaeros was among them.
His reward?
A custom hunting weapon, personally commissioned by The Bank.
But when he was asked to choose his prize, he surprised everyone.
Instead of taking the weapon, he selected a research position in beast study.
The decision raised eyebrows.
"You secured one of the best kills. Why refuse the weapon?" one student asked.
Jhaeros simply shrugged.
"Understanding the hunt is more valuable than the weapon used in it."
The moment passed.
Some nodded in respect. Others dismissed him as too academic for a hunter.
But Jhaeros knew his path.
The Hunt had been a challenge of skill and survival.
But for him, it had been something more—a lesson in trust, adaptation, and the true nature of teamwork.