The world dissolved into a cacophony of panicked screams. The other four members of Squad 9 scrambled backward, their faces masks of pure terror. The instructors in the observation deck were shouting commands, alarms beginning to blare. The simulation was a catastrophic failure.
Ren was frozen, not by fear, but by a memory so vivid it felt more real than the present. He was a small boy again, hiding, watching this same kind of shifting panther of pure void dissolve his world into nothingness.
The Void-Tainter ignored the other students, its intelligent, malevolent eyes locked on Ren. It recognized the echo of its ancient enemy. It let out a low hiss, a wave of pure Aetheric dread, and began to stalk forward.
"So," Zephyrion's voice was a low, dangerous hum in Ren's mind, utterly calm. "The ghost of your past has come to greet you. Are you going to be devoured by it, or will you show it the defiance of our blood?"
The spirit's words were a bucket of ice water, snapping Ren out of his trance. The fear was a cold knot in his stomach, but his unyielding will rose to meet it. He was not that helpless boy anymore. He could not win, but he would not die like that again. He had to fight, not to defeat, but to survive.
He knew his subtle arts would be useless. He needed to shock the beast, to break its focus, to create an opportunity.
The Void-Tainter lunged, a river of shadow and cold. Ren acted. He channeled a massive surge of his soul's Aether into a single, infinitesimally small point inside his own fist, holding it for a fraction of a second in a state of impossible, unstable density.
Then, as the creature's claws were inches from his chest, he punched.
BOOM.
A concussive, deafening boom of pure sonic force erupted from his fist. It was not a magical attack; it was a physical phenomenon—the instantaneous, violent expansion of Aether creating a shockwave.
The Void-Tainter, a creature of non-physical, conceptual energy, was completely unprepared for such a raw, physical assault. The shockwave slammed into it. Its shadowy form flickered violently, its advance completely halted not by damage, but by sheer, unexpected force. The punch had all the effect of a firecracker exploding in a library—it was startling, disruptive, but had done no real harm. The beast was thrown back a few feet, landing with a silent grace, its malevolent gaze now holding a flicker of profound confusion. It had been struck by a force it could not comprehend.
In the observation deck, the instructors stared. Elder Tian gripped the railing, his face a mask of disbelief. He had seen the punch, but the impossible result defied all logic.
"It is unharmed!" Zephyrion's voice snapped in Ren's mind, confirming his fears. "You have only angered it! That was not a weapon, boy, that was a firework! You cannot fight it directly! You must find a flaw in the system—either in the beast or this cage they have built!"
Ren's mind raced, his focus shifting from the beast to the arena itself. The Void-Tainter, its confusion turning to rage, let out a true shriek this time—a sound that warped the very air. It gathered its shadowy power, preparing to unleash an attack that Ren knew he could not survive. He was out of tricks, and out of time.