- Oliver -

  | Sed exam started

  As soon as the annou reverberated throughout the base, a wave of movement swept through the line of recruits. Oliver watched as the first partit passed through the enormous gate, disappearing into the depths of the challehe others leaned over their wrists, where holograms of the matches began to transmit, floating above their devices.

  ‘It doesn't seem like a good strategy to be the first to enter,’ Oliver pondered.

  He ed his o assess the length of the lihere were at least twenty people ahead of him. ‘At least I'll have time to watch several matches,’ the boy reflected, trying to reassure himself.

  Beside him, Isabe and Katherine were already absorbed iransmissions of the recruits entering the arena. Oliver quickly followed suit.

  The moment the image materialized, he resented with an aerial view of the sario. The recruit who had just entered had selected the standard entry, which began outside the walls.

  ‘How did they mao create something this big?’ Oliver wondered, impressed by the moal scale of the arena.

  It ractically aire farm inside an arena. The recruit moved along the imposing wall, searg for a passage. However, between the energized barbed wires and the reinforced metal walls, there didn't seem to be mu to advance.

  The ter at the top of the arena tis relentless march.

  | 00:15

  Finally, after a few seds of running along the wall, the recruit found a se where the wall was lower and devoid of barbed wire. Without hesitation, he agilely climbed over it, ung himself to the other side and diving into the vegetation—a field covered by tall grasses that offered some cover.

  "That was close," Oliver thought, seeing a robot with a yellow marking patrolling the path the recruit had taken just seds before.

  Although they were training robots, these were signifitly different from those faced in the previous exam or even the ones presented in the General's videos. Their appearance was almost human-like, with fluid and precise movements. Only the metallic elbows and knees betrayed their meiature.

  The robot approached the wall, its sensors sing the area beyond. For a moment, it seemed to hesitate as if it detected something out of the ordinary. Then, without issuing any alert, it turned and resumed its pre-programmed path.

  As soon as the robot resumed its route, the recruit slowly emerged from the tall grass where he was hiding. With a swift movement, he ran toward the main street, keeping close to the shadows cast by the few houses.

  "I wonder what his boon is?" Oliver asked himself.

  When the recruit was about to reach the street, the cameras showed two robots approag from the opposite side. Without wasting time, he jumped toward the wall of one of the houses, pressing himself against the surface to avoid dete.

  With the robots still walking and sing the path ahead, the recruit seemed fident. Pressed against the wall, he silently slid toward one of the windows.

  | 01:31

  Time was runnilessly. The boy jumped into the first house, seeming to want to distance himself from the main street and minimize his ces of being found.

  As soon as he ehe cameras switched to show the house's interior. Oliver watched with growing tension, eager to uand the recruit's pn. Two sentinel robots were waiting ihe house, each sitting in a chair around the tral table.

  The moment the boy touched the floor, surprise was evident on his face. One of the robots turned abruptly, its eyes emitting a red glow as a sinister arm echoed through the walls. Without warning, both robots advaheir hands transf into sharp cws.

  The recruit reacted instinctively, activating his Ranger Armor and his Ranger on. Wielding a sword, he tried to defend himself from the fierce attacks. However, the birength of the robots was overwhelming, violently throwing him out of the house, debris flying around.

  Now exposed, despair was evident in his expression. The arm had attracted more robots with yellow and red markings, verging on his position like predators drawn to the st of blood.

  No longer ed with remaining silent, the recruit threw a glowing devito the house. Seds ter, a deafening explosion shook the structure, hurling fmes and debris into the sky.

  ‘A boon capable of creating grenades, or did he acquire them before?’ Oliver pondered aloud, his eyes fixed on the chaotic se.

  But this would not be the st time the boy used explosive tactics. Desperately running through the streets, he tried to avoid the stant attacks, throwing grenades and improvised traps against the robots that pursued him. He tried to take refuge in other houses and even in the red barn, but with eaew attempt, more robots appeared, relentlessly surrounding him.

  | 03:15

  Time was running out, and his situation was being increasingly desperate. Oliver felt a weight in his stomach. "He won't make it," he murmured, reizing the certainty of the oute.

  "It's impossible that he didn't read the instrus," Oliver incredulously ented. "It was clear iest description that the houses wouldn't indicate where the robots would be."

  The recruit tio run through the streets, pursued by an uing horde of robots. Explosions echoed, spreading smoke and debris throughout the simution's sario.

  Finally, after managing to distance himself from some of the robots that had been chasing him, the recruit reached the big house. But hope quickly faded upon seeing that all the bck-marked robots were positioned in front of the entrance, waiting for him like predators encirg their prey.

  In a st act of desperation, the boy threw his explosives toward the robots. To everyone's surprise, the maes deflected the projectiles with meical precisiourning them to the sehe resultionation illumihe arena's artificial sky, and the robots advanced relentlessly.

  The ensuing fight was surreal. The coordinated movements of the robots made it clear that trol was entirely in their metallids. Ihan a mihe recruit was subdued, falling unscious to the ground.

  | 04:30

  | Test celed

  The bright notification appeared in the ter of the arena. Immediately, the robots ceased their activities, and soldiers ehe facility to remove the recruit.

  "That’s going to be challenging," whispered Oliver, his eyes still fixed on the se. The reality of the challenge was being increasingly evident.

  "No wohey gave us more than one day," ented Katherihoughtfully crossing her arms. "Everyone will o test different strategies a used to using their boons effitly to save time."

  Oliver nodded, silently agreeing. Looking at Isabe, he realized she was immersed ihoughts, possibly devising her pn.

  That match wouldn't be the st to end before pleting the five minutes. Several other recruits ehe arena, each trying a different approach.

  Some opted for stealth, attempting to "assassihe robots silently to prevent the arms from being triggered. However, there were moments when several sentinel robots were close to each other, making it almost impossible to eliminate all of them quickly without beied. The tension alpable; a single mistake could trigger a rea of arms and attacks.

  Others decided on brute force, advang and taking down all the robots that appeared in their path. This strategy allowed them slightly better performa least reag the big house. However, this approach also annouheir preseo the bck robots, which were much stronger and operated ihal syny. The ensuing battles were intense, but each time, they failed.

  Oliver reized some familiar faces from the first exam. One of the boys, who possessed a hag boon, tried infiltrating the robots' systems. However, these models were different from the previous ohey weren't ected to each other, preventing him from shutting them all down at once. After hag only three robots, his Energy was low, and much of his time had run out.

  Another recruit, who had been in the same arena as Oliver earlier, could grow in size. He tried to increase his stature and run directly to the big house. However, he was quickly stopped by the swarm of robots, who surrounded him aralized his physical advantage.

  Up to that moment, the person who performed best was a girl who climbed one of the houses and began ag as a sniper. With surgical precision, she eliminated several robots patrolling the main street. She mao reach the big house, but before she could retrieve the Orb, her time had run out. The frustration was evident on her face, but her strategy showed potential.

  ‘It's not just a matter of being good. You have to be good and fast,’ Oliver reflected, feeling the weight of the petition. The arena didn't test just individual abilities but also the capacity to think strategically under pressure. Every sed ted, and the margin for errors was minimal.

  Focused on watg the matches, Oliver didn't notice that he was quickly advang in the liil he finally faced the enormous gate of the sed exam.

  GCLopes