The metal gauntlet was heavy and freezing cold.
Ilya slid his right hand inside. Thick straps clicked into place, locking the heavy weapon onto his arm. A wire ran from the gauntlet and connected straight to the green Delusion stone on his chest.
Instantly, the clean wind magic he had fixed rushed into his arm. The heavy metal glove suddenly felt as light as a feather.
CRASH!
A loud noise made the ground shake. At the edge of the camp, a tall wooden wall exploded into pieces. Wood and snow flew everywhere.
Through the hole in the wall stepped a nightmare. It was a giant monster, twice as tall as a normal man. It had dark skin, a mane of white hair, and two huge horns. It was a Mitachurl. But the scariest part was the shield it carried. The monster held a giant, thick slab of glowing blue ice.
'That thing will crush me like a bug,' Ilya thought. His heart hammered in his chest. 'My body is too weak to take even one hit.'
"Hold the line!" Captain Bracing yelled. He pointed his fiery red sword at the hole in the wall. "Kill it before it gets to the supply tents!"
The other three new recruits panicked. They were terrified. The boy next to Ilya raised his hands. He wore a red Pyro Delusion on his belt. He screamed and shot a big, messy fireball at the giant monster.
The fireball flew through the air and hit the giant ice shield.
Hiss! A cloud of steam rose, but the ice shield did not break. The fireball was too weak and sloppy. The leftover red fire magic just bounced off and landed uselessly in the snow nearby.
The giant Mitachurl roared. It raised its massive ice shield and charged right at the recruits.
The other boys froze in terror. They did not know what to do.
Ilya did not freeze. He let his eyes relax. He looked at the glowing lines of magic on the battlefield. He saw the thick blue ice magic in the monster's shield. He saw the sloppy red fire magic sitting uselessly in the snow.
'This is a messy roster,' Ilya thought, watching the panicked recruits. 'Everyone is making bad plays. I need to take control of the board. I need to use their trash and turn it into a weapon.'
In his past life, he knew that the best teams did not always have the strongest players. The best teams won because they worked together. They used every single piece on the board.
He remembered the rules of the old video game. Anemo magic—wind magic—was special. It did not just blow things away. It could grab other elements, like fire or water, and make them bigger. It was a reaction called Swirl.
Ilya stepped in front of the screaming recruits.
He did not aim his gauntlet at the giant monster. Instead, he aimed his heavy metal glove at the puddle of leftover fire magic burning weakly in the snow.
'Come here,' he thought.
He pulled his fist backward. Instead of shooting wind out, he created a vacuum. A sharp, twisting tornado of green wind shot out of his glove and hit the snow.
The wind grabbed the leftover red fire. The tiny flames were sucked into the tornado. Instantly, the green wind turned into a roaring, spinning ball of bright red fire. He had stolen the recruit's messy attack and made it his own.
The giant Mitachurl was only a few feet away now. It was ready to smash Ilya into the ground.
Ilya planted his boots deep into the snow. He spun his body and punched forward with all his might.
He released the fiery tornado.
BOOM!
The ball of spinning fire and wind shot forward. It slammed dead center into the giant ice shield. The Swirl reaction was perfect. The wind made the fire ten times hotter.
The thick blue ice did not just crack. It melted instantly. Steam exploded everywhere with a loud hissing sound.
The Mitachurl shrieked. It stumbled forward, completely off balance. Its heavy shield was gone. Its chest was totally open.
Through the thick steam, a black coat flew through the air.
It was Captain Bracing. The scary man with the scarred face jumped high into the air. His red sword burned brightly. With one fast, brutal swing, Captain Bracing cut the giant monster down.
The heavy Mitachurl crashed into the snow and did not move.
The camp went completely silent. The only sound was the howling wind and the crackling of the campfires.
The three recruits behind Ilya had their mouths open. They were staring at his metal glove.
Captain Bracing slowly turned around. He flicked his sword, melting the snow off the blade. His cold, scary eyes locked onto Ilya.
Ilya stood up straight. His breathing was heavy, but his chest did not hurt. His magic was still flowing perfectly. He looked right back at the terrifying Captain.
'Do not look weak,' Ilya told himself. 'Show the coach you belong on the team.'
Captain Bracing walked slowly over to Ilya. The tall man looked down at the short, skinny eighteen-year-old recruit. He looked at the cheap Anemo Delusion on Ilya's chest.
"You did not run," Captain Bracing said. His voice was quiet and dangerous. "And you used your head. That was a smart play with the wind."
"Thank you, sir," Ilya said. He kept his voice steady.
Captain Bracing narrowed his eyes. "Do not get a big head, recruit. You are still weak. You are still meat. But maybe you are not completely useless."
The Captain turned away and started shouting orders at the other soldiers to fix the broken wall.
Ilya let out a long, slow breath. His legs felt a little shaky, but he felt a warm glow inside his chest.
He had survived his first real fight. He had used his brain to beat a monster that was ten times stronger than him. He had proven his worth to the scary boss of the camp.
He looked at his metal gauntlet. The green magic was still humming quietly inside the metal.
'Step two is done,' Ilya thought, looking up at the dark, snowy sky. 'I made a good play. I survived the first test. But this is just the beginning. I need better gear. I need to get stronger. It is time to start building my dream team.'
And for the first time since waking up in this freezing nightmare, Ilya actually felt excited to play the game.