The morning air was crisp, carrying the scent of damp earth as the recruits gathered in perfect rows on the training grounds. Their uniforms, though worn from months of brutal training, still bore the academy's emblem proudly. Four months had passed since the day they stepped into this merciless place, and by now, they were no longer mere trainees. They had become warriors.
Rai stood among them, heart steady, muscles sore from the last night’s drills. The routine was second nature now—waking before dawn, grueling training, harsh punishments for the weak. But something felt different about today. A strange tension filled the air, an unspoken warning that things were about to shift.
At the front, the instructors stood in rigid silence, their usual glares replaced by something far more seri
