Hour 1.
The first wave came immediately - three Veil constructs, humanoid shapes of compressed energy, attacking from three directions. Leo's Veil Step saved him from the first two. The third caught him across the back with a blow that sent him sprawling across the stone floor.
Get up.
He got up. The constructs didn't pause. Didn't tire. The Crucible was designed to push without mercy, to test without respite.
Leo fought.
Hour 6.
He'd survived six waves. Each one harder than the last - more constructs, more complex attack patterns, environmental hazards that shifted the floor beneath his feet and sent bursts of Veil energy erupting from the walls. He was bleeding from a dozen small wounds. His energy reserves were at forty percent. The system had stopped giving him progress updates -
