Lucas closed his eyes for a moment and slightly turned his head toward Sae. It was the only movement his body was still capable of.

When he spoke, his voice came out low, uneven, weighed down by pain.

— "Sae… go on ahead."

Sae's eyes widened. Tears pooled at the edges, trembling, while his hands shook.

— "What…?" — his voice faltered. — "And you? What's going to happen to you?"

Lucas took a deep breath, every inhale dragged out by force, as if his own body resisted it.

— "My master…" — he began, with effort. — "He taught me an advanced technique. One that many high-level knights use. It's called Vibration."

Sae frowned, listening closely.

— "With it… I can sense presences. Distinguish movements, intentions… even from a great distance."

In that instant, Sae understood.

That was why Lucas always sensed the beasts first. Why he was never truly caught off guard.

But that only made things more confusing.

Lucas continued, his voice growing weaker:

— "Vibration also allows me to hide my presence." — he paused briefly. — "The beasts around won't notice me."

Sae felt his chest tighten.

— "So… don't worry," — Lucas said, almost in a whisper. — "Go. When I recover… I'll find you."

Sae clenched his fist hard. His hands were still trembling. His mind was chaos, flooded with heavy, cruel, inevitable thoughts.

If I stay… Lucas will just be dead weight.

If I want to pass this exam… I'll have to leave him behind.

Lucas sensed the hesitation.

— "The beasts haven't noticed us yet," — he said, with contained coldness. — "But it won't take long."

He turned his face slightly, eyes fixed on Sae.

— "You need to be fast. Go. Move forward."

The silence that followed was heavier than any scream.

Sae clenched his fist so tightly his fingers began to ache.

— "Lucas… can you hide more than one presence?"

Lucas turned his head slightly toward him, confused.

— "In theory… yes."

Sae took a deep breath, organizing his thoughts.

— "The exam lasts ten hours," — he said. — "Your recovery time is twelve."

Lucas' eyes widened, finally understanding where Sae was going.

Before he could respond, Sae placed his hands on his knees and forced himself to stand.

— "Then stop acting like you're invincible," — he said firmly, without anger. — "And stop trying to handle everything on your own."

— "Wait… what are you going to do?" — Lucas asked.

Without answering immediately, Sae approached with difficulty and lifted Lucas onto his back, adjusting him carefully. The weight was heavy, but he stayed on his feet.

— "Don't worry," — he said, catching his breath. — "Now it's my turn."

Lucas tried to protest, but Sae continued before he could say anything:

— "And before you complain…" — he added, letting out a short smile, more tense than confident. — "I'm not carrying you to save you. I'm just taking advantage of the fact that you can hide my presence too."

There was a brief silence. Sae took his first step forward, feeling his body protest, but he didn't stop.

— "So stay still," — he concluded. — "And do your part."

Lucas gave a barely noticeable half-smile. He didn't respond — he simply accepted his fate.

Just as Sae and Lucas ended their discussion, blue runes appeared before them and began to shimmer slowly, as if they had been waiting for the exact right moment.

Then it appeared.

A holographic map, far too detailed to offer any comfort. At its center stood a volcano, spewing dark smoke that spread across the sky. A red dot blinked, marking their position — small, insignificant. The map was divided into two clearly defined regions.

The area behind the volcano, where they currently were, bore the inscription:

Zone of Flying Beasts.

Ahead, on the other side, it read:

Zone of Walking Beasts.

There were no alternative routes. No detours. Sae and Lucas would have to cross everything. Only at the very end of the map — almost like a cruel joke — did their destination shine:

SAFE POINT.

But the real weight didn't come from the path.

It came from the information engraved just below, in cold, absolute letters:

Distance to the Safe Point: 30 km.

Thirty kilometers.

For a normal human, covering that distance in ten hours would already be exhausting — but possible. Here, however, the environment was an open hell: constant heat burned the lungs, volcanic ash fell like dead snow, nearly toxic, and beasts could appear from any direction at any moment.

And Sae wasn't alone.

He was carrying Lucas — a body weighing over seventy kilograms, injured, unconscious most of the time. That turned the challenge into something close to impossible.

The number 30 km echoed in Sae's mind like a hammer. His fingers trembled slightly before he could restrain them. Simply reading that distance already felt like a mistake.

Maybe it would have been better not to see it. Even so, Sae took a deep breath.

He adjusted Lucas more firmly on his back and leaned forward, preparing to move.

— "Twenty kilometers is nothing…" — he murmured, forcing a firm tone. — "I've walked much more than that during training."

The words, however, weren't for Lucas.

They were for himself.

Because no training Sae had ever done was under a poisoned sky, surrounded by monsters, carrying a life he couldn't afford to drop — not even for a second — in a volcanic zone where a single mistake meant death.

And so the march began.

Sae moved forward at a fast pace at first, one firm step after another, forcing his body to ignore everything around him. The terrain was cruel. The uneven ground burned through the soles of his boots, the air vibrated with constant heat, and the metallic smell of sulfur filled his lungs with every breath.

They passed geysers that erupted in scalding jets, pools of bubbling lava that lit everything in a vivid, threatening orange. Sae dodged as best he could, adjusting his path instinctively. At first, he could still maintain the rhythm.

But the environment showed no mercy.

Little by little, his pace began to falter. His shoulders felt as if stones were hanging from them. Sweat poured endlessly, mixing with dust and ash, burning his eyes. The air was too hot, too thick — breathing was no longer automatic; it was a conscious effort.

When the first hour passed, his body began to demand payment.

Each breath burned his chest. His legs trembled with every step, his knees threatening to give out. Sae no longer walked in a straight line — he staggered, forcing balance through sheer stubbornness.

They passed close to flying beasts — enormous silhouettes feeding on still-smoking carcasses. Wings beat through the heavy air, lifting ash. One mistake there would have been the end.

But thanks to Lucas, they weren't noticed.

Still, that protection did nothing to ease the physical burden.

Sae's body was truly beginning to fail.

His arms were numb. His back screamed with constant pain. His heart beat too fast, out of rhythm, as if trying to escape his chest. His vision blurred at times, dark spots appearing and disappearing.

Lucas noticed.

Even immobilized, even limited, he felt the change in Sae's rhythm — the wrong breathing, the uneven weight distribution. Sae was dangerously close to collapse — and Lucas knew he wouldn't listen if someone simply told him to stop.

So he spoke, his voice low and controlled.

— "Sae… I need to rest my mind a bit." — he paused briefly. — "This technique takes a lot out of me."

There was a short silence before he continued:

— "There's a cave nearby. We should stop for a moment. Just a few minutes."

Inside, Lucas knew the truth.

It wasn't the technique that needed rest.

It was Sae's body. But he didn't say that.

In Sae's condition, there was no room for argument. He slowed down, breathing deeply, his body bent under an invisible weight. He thought about refusing. Thought about pushing on.

But he had no strength left. He only nodded weakly.

— "Alright…" — he murmured, his voice hoarse. — "If you need it."

Sae left the main path and, even with an unsteady gait, managed to reach the cave. As soon as he entered, he set Lucas against the stone wall and sat down immediately after, almost collapsing to the ground. His entire body protested, but he forced himself to stay conscious.

He took several deep breaths before moving again.

With difficulty, he removed the small backpack he had strapped to Lucas' back before they began the march. The impact from the fall off the flying beast had been brutal.

When he opened the pack, the result was worse than he expected.

— "…Only three bottles." — he murmured.

The rest was gone.

Sae closed his eyes for a moment and summoned the runes. The remaining time appeared before him:

8h 34min.

It still seemed like a lot. But when the map projected below it, the number made his stomach sink.

Remaining distance: 27.3 km.

He swallowed hard.

They hadn't even covered half the path.

The volcanic heat made everything worse. Sae's body burned inside and out, his throat dry like stone. There was no choice.

He opened one of the bottles.

Took a short, controlled sip. He wanted to drink more, to finish it all at once, but forced himself to stop. Every drop mattered.

Sae looked at Lucas, motionless against the wall.

— "Do you want some?" — he asked.

Lucas replied without opening his eyes:

— "I don't need it. Save my share. You'll need it later."

Sae nodded in silence. Lucas was right. The one who needed to walk… was him.

After that, Sae leaned his back against the hot stone of the cave, trying to draw in as much air as possible. His chest rose and fell irregularly, his vision darkening at the edges.

For a few seconds, silence filled the place.

Lucas, sensing his condition, spoke to keep him awake:

— "Sae." — he called, his tone low but alert. — "Why isn't there anyone else here?"

The question fell like a crushing weight. It was harsh, but it carried a truth impossible to ignore. From the beginning of the exam — from the forest to this zone — Sae and Lucas hadn't encountered a single human sign.

No voices.

No tracks.

No proof that anyone else was still alive.