The whistle hadn't even blown, and I was already burning.
Not with nerves.Not with fear.With need.
The kind that coils in your chest like something alive.The kind that says: Prove them wrong. Right now.
Across from me, Riku Akane hadn't moved.
He stood like a statue sculpted out of cold, precision, and judgment. His silver hair flicked in the breeze. Pale eyes stared right through me, like I was an equation he already solved.
I hated that calm.
"What's the call, coach?" Daiki asked, cracking his knuckles with a grin."Scrimmage? Or full war?"
Coach Kenta stood silent.He didn't need to answer.
A glowing scoreboard behind us lit up with two words:Strike Trial.
And just like that, the field changed.
The grass pulsed under my feet.Chalk lines shimmered gold.Energy surged from the ground like the field itself had woken up.
This wasn't training.
This was judgment.
Strike Trials — the Academy's way of deciding who stays, who burns out, and who never sets foot on the pitch again.
In other words… survival.
"Formations!" Coach barked.
We split — me, Daiki, Sora, Rika, and Yuki on one side.Opposite us? Riku and his elite squad: perfect posture, perfect focus, perfectly soulless.
"You good?" Rika asked, sidling up next to me."You're glowing like a furnace."
"I'm fine," I lied."I just… need the ball."
She smirked. "Then go take it."
The whistle blew.
The world exploded.
Wind whipped past my ears — Sora was already gone, a blur across the midfield. Rika spun through defenders like a dancer in a petal storm. Daiki shoulder-checked two players like they were pillows.
And me?
I waited.
Watched the pass come my way.
The moment it touched my foot — fire lit beneath me.
I didn't control it. I didn't channel it.I let it out.
The ball moved with me, heat trailing behind it like smoke off a comet.
A defender stepped in.
Bad choice.
One step, one feint — I was past him.
Two more. A crackle. A shout. Another player down.
Then—
Lightning.
Riku.
He didn't sprint. He teleported.
One second he was midfield. The next — in front of me.
"You're not ready," he said.
"Try me."
He lunged. I struck.
Our feet collided on the ball.
The impact was unreal.
A shockwave kicked dirt into the air, pushed teammates back, and sent both of us skidding ten feet across the field.
I hit the ground hard.
Fire sputtered from my soles.
Riku landed on one knee — steady. Unshaken.
"You've got sparks," he said coldly."But sparks fade. I'm lightning."
"Yeah?" I growled, standing again."Then it's a good thing I'm not done burning."
Coach Kenta whistled again.
"Enough."
Silence.
"Kai Rin… Riku Akane…You're both in."
He looked at the rest.
"The rest of you? Welcome to Strikeborn Academy. Your real trials begin tomorrow."
But I didn't hear most of it.
Because even as the crowd buzzed…Even as my teammates clapped me on the back…
Riku turned. Looked at me once more.
And smiled.