Chapter 188

Inside the trial arena, The red warning light overhead started flashing. An icy mechanical voice began the countdown: "Raven Final Trial launching in ten seconds. Survival rate: one percent." The floor suddenly gave way. Caught off guard, Charles plummeted. Instinct kicked in—he twisted mid-air, muscle memory helping him roll on landing. Only... there was no ground. He plunged straight into freezing water. The chill cut through his uniform like knives. Gasping, Charles surfaced and scanned the space—an enclosed pool, smooth mirrored walls with nowhere to grab hold. Worse still, the water was visibly freezing over. "Temperature: minus twenty degrees. Ice forming at five centimeters per minute." Fiona's voice rang through the speakers with that teasing tone of hers. "Better start swimming, Young Master Hart." She called him that on purpose—just to poke at him. She really did wonder if he could make it through this. But what intrigued her more was how much Stella seemed to mean to him now