Chapter 3: Unexpected Survival

"Level ten," Kane announced, his voice echoing through the chamber.

The pressure field slammed down like a giant's fist. Atlas felt his knees buckle, his vision blur, but somehow—impossibly—he remained upright. Around him, the remaining candidates were fighting desperately against the crushing force.

One of the wind-manipulation twins collapsed with a gasp, taking his brother down with him in failure. That left only four pairs standing: Castor and his lightning partner, Vera and Atlas, and two other candidates Atlas didn't recognize.

Vera's ice crystals had formed a protective shell around her feet, anchoring her to the ground, but even she was trembling with effort. Sweat beaded on her forehead despite the cold emanating from her constellation power.

"How... are you... still standing?" she gasped between ragged breaths.

Atlas wanted to tell her he had no idea, but admitting that would only raise more questions. Instead, he gritted his teeth and focused on not collapsing. His burned hand throbbed with each heartbeat, but strangely, that pain seemed to make the pressure easier to bear.

"Final level," Kane called out. "Fifteen seconds remaining!"

"Level eleven."

The pressure became overwhelming. Atlas felt like he was at the bottom of an ocean, with the weight of all that water pressing down on him. His legs shook violently, his breathing became shallow gasps, but still he stood.

Across the chamber, one of the unknown candidates fell to his knees, eliminating his partner. Now only six remained.

Ten seconds.

Atlas's vision started to go black at the edges. Whatever strange strength had been helping him was beginning to fade. The pain in his hand felt distant now, overwhelmed by the crushing force trying to drive him into the ground.

Five seconds.

Vera let out a small cry of effort, her ice shell cracking under the pressure. Atlas swayed dangerously, certain he was about to fall.

Three seconds.

Castor was on one knee now, his fire aura flickering weakly. His lightning partner was barely conscious.

One second.

"Time!" Kane's voice rang out.

The pressure field shut off instantly. Atlas collapsed to his hands and knees, gasping for air. Around him, the other survivors were doing the same—except Vera, who remained standing through sheer stubbornness, though she was breathing heavily.

"Congratulations," Kane announced as the lift platform brought them back to the main hall. "Six candidates pass the first trial. You have one hour to recover before the second phase begins."

As they stepped off the platform, Atlas became aware of hundreds of eyes staring at them. The candidates who had failed the first trial were watching with mixtures of respect, envy, and—in several cases—confusion. Especially when they looked at him.

"Atlas!"

Castor broke away from his lightning partner and jogged over, his red hair disheveled and his face flushed from exertion. "Man, that was incredible! I can't believe we both made it through."

"Yeah," Atlas said weakly, still trying to catch his breath. "Incredible."

Castor studied his face with concern. "You okay? You look kind of pale."

"Just tired," Atlas replied, which was true enough. But he was also deeply confused about what had happened down there. The electric shock, the sudden improvement in his endurance, the way the pain in his hand seemed connected to his ability to withstand pressure—none of it made sense.

"That was quite a performance," Vera said, walking up to them. Her silver hair was perfectly in place despite what they'd just endured, and her blue eyes were studying Atlas with open curiosity. "Especially from someone who's supposedly starless."

Castor frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Vera said slowly, "that your friend here lasted longer than candidates with actual constellation powers. Which is... unusual."

Atlas felt a flush of anxiety. This was exactly the kind of attention he'd been hoping to avoid. "I just have good endurance," he said lamely.

"Hmm." Vera didn't look convinced, but before she could press the issue further, Kane's voice boomed across the hall.

"Second trial begins in fifty-five minutes! Candidates should use this time to tend injuries and prepare. The next phase will test your combat capabilities."

Combat. Atlas's stomach sank. Endurance was one thing—he'd apparently discovered some hidden reserves of strength. But actual fighting? Against people with real star powers? That was going to be much harder to fake his way through.

"I need to find the medical station," Atlas said, looking down at his burned hand. "Get this looked at."

"What happened to your hand?" Castor asked, reaching out to examine it.

Atlas quickly pulled his hand back. "Just grabbed something hot during the trial. No big deal."

"That looks pretty bad," Castor said with concern. "You should definitely get it treated."

"Yeah, I will." Atlas started walking toward the medical area, hoping to escape before more questions arose.

But Vera fell into step beside him. "Mind if I join you? I've got some frost damage on my feet from overusing my ice powers."

Atlas couldn't think of a polite way to refuse, so he nodded reluctantly. As they walked through the crowded hall, he became increasingly aware of the whispers and stares following them.

"Is that really Theron Stone's son?"

"How did he survive that long without any star power?"

"Maybe he's been hiding his abilities?"

"No way. The detector would have caught that during registration."

Each whisper made Atlas more uncomfortable. All his life, he'd been ignored or pitied for being starless. This new attention—this suspicion and curiosity—was almost worse.

The medical station was a marvel of Japanese-steampunk engineering: traditional paper screens and wooden furniture, but enhanced with brass healing devices powered by star fragments. Steam rose from various medicinal baths, and the air smelled of healing herbs and metal polish.

A medical attendant, an elderly woman with graying hair pulled back in a practical bun, examined Atlas's burned hand with professional interest.

"Electrical burn," she diagnosed. "From star-essence contact, by the look of it. How did you manage this during an endurance trial?"

"Grabbed a charged panel by accident," Atlas said truthfully.

"Hmm. Usually electrical contact with star-essence causes more severe injuries in non-star users." She applied a cooling salve that immediately eased the throbbing pain. "You were lucky."

Lucky. Atlas almost laughed. If only she knew how that "accident" had somehow changed everything about his performance in the trial.

As the attendant wrapped his hand in clean bandages, Atlas caught Vera watching him intently from across the room, where another medic was treating her frost-damaged feet.

When they finished their treatments and stepped back into the main hall, Vera immediately cornered him.

"Okay, I'll ask directly," she said, her blue eyes intense. "What really happened down there? And don't tell me it was just determination or good endurance. I've been training for three years, and I've never seen anything like that."

Atlas met her gaze, trying to project more confidence than he felt. "Sometimes people surprise you."

"Is that your final answer?"

"That's my only answer."

Vera stared at him for a long moment, then shrugged. "Fine. Keep your secrets. But Atlas Stone—starless or not—you're more interesting than I expected."

She walked away, leaving Atlas alone with his thoughts and his growing pile of questions. In forty-five minutes, he'd face the combat trial. And unlike the endurance test, he couldn't rely on accidentally touching something painful to mysteriously improve his performance.

Could he?

Atlas looked down at his bandaged hand, remembering the electric shock and the strange strength that had followed. He still didn't understand what had happened, but maybe... maybe if he got hurt again during the combat trial, something similar would occur?

It was a crazy thought. Dangerous, even. But as he watched the other candidates practicing their constellation abilities around the hall—flames dancing between fingers, ice forming in perfect shapes, lightning crackling with controlled power—Atlas realized he might not have any other choice.

If he wanted to become a hunter like his father, if he wanted to protect people and uncover the truth behind the star-fall conspiracy, he was going to have to take some risks.

Even if he didn't understand what those risks might cost him.