Shit.

Dain Kattis had made a lot of bad decisions in his thirty-two years of life, but getting caught by a team of mages had to be near the top of the list. What had he been thinking? All that talk about easy pickings in the dungeon, all those rumors about rich academy kids carrying premium gear they barely knew how to use—it had clouded his judgment.

This year's exam was completely fucked.

The academy had let too many mage candidates. Normal delvers like his crew never stood a chance against spell-slingers, not in a fair fight anyway. That's why they'd been following this group for the past day, watching from the shadows, waiting for them to exhaust themselves on monsters before making their move.

The plan had been perfect: approach their camp wounded and desperate, share a meal, slip the poison into their food while telling sad stories, then slit their throats once they were paralyzed. Standard procedure that had worked five times already in other dungeons.

But then that red-haired bitch had to ruin everything. Sonja. He should have made sure she was dead when they'd ambushed her group. Rookie mistake letting survivors escape, especially ones who could identify you later.

"You think I came alone?" Dain snarled, frantically scanning the treeline. Where were Kev and the others? They should have moved in the moment he gave the signal.

The tall armored bastard holding him didn't even flinch. Just kept that iron grip on his shoulder hard enough that he'd have bruises tomorrow. If he lived to see tomorrow. The dagger in his hand suddenly felt pathetically inadequate against what he was facing.

And then there was this fucking scary blue-eyed kid staring at him with unsettling calm. What kind of kid looked that composed with a potential killer in their camp?

"Your friends aren't coming," the boy said softly. Not tauntingly, just matter-of-fact. "At least not yet."

"The hell do you know?" Dain spat, though fear was beginning to replace anger. Something was wrong here.

The ginger kid with green eyes stood nearby, hands still glowing with prepared magic. He looked nervous, like a dog that's scared but will still bite if pushed. The auburn-haired girl simply watched, calculating, probably already figuring out how much his gear was worth.

And then there was the big one. The bearded healer. All protective over that red haired woman, standing between her and Dain like some kind of shield. Dain had seen enough healers in his time to know this one was different. The way he carried himself, the scars on his arms that didn't come from mixing potions.

Military. Had to be. Those were soldier's eyes.

"We know you've been following us for a while," the blue-eyed kid continued. "We know there are at least four others in your party. We know they're positioning themselves for an ambush right now."

Dain felt his mouth go dry. How the hell did they know all that? His crew had been careful, keeping their distance, using cover...

The kid tilted his head slightly. "Did you really think we wouldn't notice? John here detected your heat signatures hours ago."

The armored guard – John – tightened his grip, and Dain felt something crack in his shoulder. He bit back a scream, suddenly very aware of how precarious his position was.

"Adom," the ginger kid said. "We should move. If they're out there—"

"They are," Adom replied, those blue eyes never leaving Dain's face. "But they won't attack while we have their leader."

Leader? Dain almost laughed. He wasn't the leader. His brother Kev was. But these kids thought they'd caught the boss, which meant they'd be watching him instead of looking for the real threat. Maybe this could still work out.

"You're making a mistake," Dain tried again, forcing desperation into his voice. "I told you, I was looking for help—"

"Stop," Adom cut him off. "You're embarrassing yourself."

The casual dismissal from a child sent a wave of rage through Dain, but he swallowed it down. Rage wouldn't help him now. Especially if the child was a mage. Survival first, revenge later.

"You plan to poison us," the auburn-haired girl said suddenly. "Your left pocket. The vial."

Dain froze. How could she possibly know that?

"Cassandra has an eye for details," Adom explained, as if reading his thoughts. "She noticed you touching that pocket repeatedly while talking."

The armored guard's free hand moved to Dain's pocket, extracting the small crystal vial with practiced efficiency. The movement was almost mechanical, unnervingly precise.

"Paralytic?" the healer asked, studying the liquid through the crystal.

"Mixed with dreamshade," Cassandra confirmed. "Slows the heart until it stops. Untraceable in food. I heard gankers used that a lot."

Dain felt sweat breaking out on his forehead despite the cool night air. This was going very, very badly.

"Sam," Adom said to the ginger kid, "send a message for support. Let them know we have gankers here."

The kid – Sam – nodded, hands shifting through a complex pattern as he prepared what had to be a communication spell. Great. Just great. The baby mage could do long-distance messaging.

"This isn't personal," Dain tried, switching tactics. "It's just business. The exam's brutal this year. Not enough resources to go around."

"It felt personal when you called Sonja a bitch," the healer growled.

"And when you and your friends slaughtered her party," Adom added, his voice still eerily calm. "Was that just business too?"

Before Dain could answer, a blue light shot from Sam's hands, arcing into the forest like a living thing.

"Message sent," Sam said, looking pleased with himself. "Should make them come soon enough."

"What did you tell them?" Adom asked.

Sam grinned, and Dain suddenly felt much, much colder. "That we have the leader of a ganker party, that we know exactly where they are, and that we're all very, very angry mages with full mana pools and a distinct lack of mercy."

"You're bluffing," Dain said, though he wasn't so sure anymore. "You're just kids."

"Kids with magic," Sam replied cheerfully. "You ever seen what happens when a force bolt hits someone in the face? It's not pretty. Kind of... splattery."

Dain had seen it, actually. Once. Some poor bastard in the Verdant Zone last year. There hadn't been enough left of his head to identify him.

"You'd be executed for killing other exam-takers," Dain said, grasping at straws now.

"Self-defense," Cassandra replied flatly. "We have a witness who can identify you as the gankers who attacked her party. We have your poison vial. We have every right to defend ourselves."

Dain looked from face to face, seeking any sign of uncertainty or hesitation. The healer was openly hostile, the auburn-haired girl coldly practical. Sam seemed almost excited at the prospect of violence, which was concerning in its own way.

But it was Adom who truly terrified him. The boy stood perfectly still, those blue eyes calculating. Seriously, what the hell was wrong with that kid?

"Three mages," Dain said finally, his voice hoarse. "Who the hell tracks a party with three mages?"

"Someone very stupid," Sonja spat from behind Yann.

"Or very desperate," Adom corrected softly. "Which is it? Stupid or desperate?"

Dain's mind raced. This was not how it was supposed to go. This was-

A distinctive bird call sounded from the forest – Kev's signal that they were in position.

Adom smiled slightly. "Ah. Your friends are ready."

He turned to the others. "Formation two, but with the prisoner. Sam, shield Cassandra. Yann, please keep Sonja down."

The camp erupted into motion, everyone moving with practiced coordination. The armored guard dragged Dain backward, positioning himself between Dain and the forest. The others formed a tight defensive circle, with Adom now in the center, hands already weaving a complex pattern.

Blue light began to gather between his palms, growing brighter by the second. The air around him seemed to warp, like heat shimmer on a summer day.

"Tell your friends," Adom said without looking at Dain, "that if they attack, you die first."

Dain believed him. The power building in the boy's hands wasn't for show – he could feel it raising the hairs on his arms from several feet away.

"Kev!" he shouted into the darkness. "Stand down! They know we're here!"

Silence answered him. Then rustling from multiple directions – his crew repositioning, probably.

"Don't be stupid!" Dain called again, real fear in his voice now. "They're all mages! They'll fry us!"

More silence. Then a voice called back from the darkness:

"Let him go and we'll leave you alone!"

Adom's face remained impassive. "You don't understand your situation. We know who you are now. We know your patterns. If you run, we'll track you down one by one. We won't sleep until every one of you is dead." His voice was terrifyingly calm. "Your only chance is to surrender now. At least that way, you'd still have a chance in trials once we're out."

The blue glow between his hands intensified.

"Ten."

Wait...what was he doing?

"Nine." More heat from his hands.

Oh no...

"Kev, for fuck's sake!" Dain shouted. "They're serious!"

"Eight. Seven."

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"Y-you're outnumbered," a different voice hissed from the forest.

"Six. Five."

"Mages can take down twice their number," someone else replied.

"Four."

There was more light. Even more heat. He was really going to do it. That kid was about to fucking blow his head off.

"Three."

"Kev! Please!"

"Two—"

"Alright!" Kev's voice rang out. "Alright. We're coming out. No weapons drawn. Don't... don't do anything hasty."

Adom didn't respond, the spell still pulsing between his hands, ready to be released.

Shadows moved at the edge of the camp, and Dain finally let himself breathe. Maybe they'd all survive this night after all.

But as his crew slowly stepped into the firelight, hands raised, he caught Kev's eye and saw something that made his stomach drop.

A tiny nod. A signal.

They weren't surrendering.

They were just buying time.

In an instant, his crew tensed, hands moving toward concealed weapons. The false surrender was about to become a slaughter.

"Now," Adom said quietly.

Three things happened so quickly that Dain's brain struggled to process them:

First, a blinding web of blue light erupted from Sam's outstretched hands, expanding outward like lightning frozen in time. It caught two of Dain's crew—Meera and Jost—before they could even reach their weapons.

Second, Yann's hands slammed together, and golden tendrils shot from the ground beneath the remaining gankers' feet, wrapping around their legs and climbing upward.

Third, Adom's spell—the one Dain had thought was meant for his head—transformed into dozens of shimmering chains that whipped through the air with impossible precision.

"What the—" was all Kev managed before he was completely encased in glowing bindings.

The entire ambush had been neutralized in less than three seconds.

"Are you crazy?" Dain hissed, staring at his brother's struggling form. "Why the hell did you do that?!"

None of his crew could move. Some were suspended entirely off the ground, cocooned in magical restraints that seemed to tighten with every attempt to break free.

Their healer was already moving from captive to captive, pressing his palm against each of their foreheads. A brief flash of light, and they went limp, eyes rolling back.

"Just unconscious," the healer explained when he caught Adom looking. "They'll wake up with the worst headache of their lives, but no permanent damage."

Dain couldn't believe what he was seeing. His brother and four hardened criminals—veterans of a dozen dungeons—taken down without even landing a single blow.

"This is impossible," he muttered. "You're just kids."

"Again. Kids with magic," Sam reminded him, wiggling his fingers. The blue bindings around Meera and Jost pulsed in response.

Adom walked among the captured gankers, counting. "One, two... six total, including our friend here. Is that all of them?" he asked, turning to Dain.

Something had changed in the boy's demeanor. He seemed... taller somehow. More imposing. Or maybe that was just Dain's fear playing tricks on his eyes.

"Y-yes," Dain stammered, not even considering a lie. What would be the point? "That's everyone."

Adom sighed deeply, and all at once, he looked like a kid again. The spell chains around his hands dissipated, and his shoulders slumped slightly.

"Thank God," Sam said, relief washing over his face. "I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep up that binding."

The tension in the air evaporated so suddenly that Dain felt dizzy from the change.

"Dude. You gotta give a heads up before pulling something like that! I didn't understand what you were doing at first," Sam continued, turning to Adom. "When you started that countdown, I thought you were actually going to blast him."

"Blasting would have been messy," Adom replied matter-of-factly. "And unnecessary if we could get them all in one place."

Cassandra approached, studying the unconscious gankers. "This is much better than fighting them in the dark with monsters around."

Dain's jaw dropped as the realization hit him. "You were bluffing? All that shit about knowing we were following you?"