The morning began quietly, the kind of quiet that lingered even after you'd woken up—soft light filtering through the curtains, a breeze slipping past the window frame, and that subtle stillness that only existed before the castle came to life.
I lay on my bed for a moment, just breathing.
Yesterday had been intense. The sorting, the training, the speeches. The climb back to my room had felt endless, but the sleep that followed had been deep and dreamless.
Now, as the warmth of a new day began to settle into the stone walls, I rolled off the bed and stood, stretching.
My body still carried a pleasant ache from the previous night's hidden workout, but the energy I felt made it worth it.
'Today should be quieter,' I thought as I pulled on a fresh tunic and stepped toward the window. 'Maybe I can focus on watching how the teams work together. See how far behind I really am.'
A soft knock sounded at the door. Not hurried, not loud. Just polite.
"Drey?" came Lily's voice, calm and composed.
"Coming," I replied, running a hand through my hair and stepping out into the hallway.
She was already dressed in a fresh uniform—modest white and gold, the fabric catching the light like it belonged there. Her hair was pulled back in a tidy braid, but the faint shadows beneath her eyes said she hadn't slept as well.
"Sleep okay?" I asked.
She gave a half-shrug. "Better than I thought I would. You?"
"Out like a rock," I lied casually, walking beside her. "Guess training hit harder than I expected."
She raised a brow, clearly unconvinced, but let it drop. "Well, they're having everyone meet in the courtyard for joint drills. Aristo's idea, apparently. Team building and all that."
"Joy," I muttered.
The courtyard was already buzzing when we arrived. Rows of heroes stood scattered in their respective squads, chatting, stretching, and in a few cases, showing off. Alex was at the center of it all, of course, standing with arms crossed and offering calm nods as people looked to him for direction.
Sir Brook stood at the front, arms crossed, eyes already sharp and scanning.
But it was Aristo who spoke first, standing on a raised platform with that familiar flick of his fan.
"Today," he said, voice smooth, "you will be training with those you are least familiar with. Opposing groups, differing abilities, contrasting strategies."
A few groans rose, quickly silenced by Brook's pointed glare.
Aristo smiled lightly. "Good. Discomfort breeds growth. And as of now, your comfort zones are irrelevant."
His eyes flicked to a list he held. "Pairings have been predetermined. Vanguard, you'll be working with Support. Artillery, with Scouts. Mystic Vanguard… with Tactical Support."
The collective pause that followed was immediate.
"Mystic Vanguard with—?" Tobias blinked, turning to look at Nathan and Emma, who stood calmly on the edges.
"They're not even fighters," someone muttered.
"Exactly," Aristo said, as if he'd heard it. "And that is why it will be interesting."
He let the silence hang, then added, "Begin. You have two hours. The objective is simple—adapt."
Lily gave me a look. "Scouts and artillery, huh?"
"I guess that's us," I said, turning toward the other group. Mia and Logan had already begun walking toward us, joined by the long-range specialists—Sofia, Dorian, Serena, Scarlett, Carter, and Luke.
Luke greeted us with a sharp nod. "You're Drey, right?"
"Yeah," I said.
"I've seen you around. Quiet one."
"You'd be surprised."
He raised an eyebrow but didn't argue.
Sofia stepped in smoothly, her tone composed. "We've been instructed to test synergy between recon and ranged support. You three scout, we hit from afar. Makes sense on paper."
"It does," Mia said. "The only issue is we move in fast, low-visibility. You all need distance and time."
"That's why we practice," Serena said, fire dancing faintly in her palm. "Let's run a mock scenario. You spot threats, mark them, and we see if we can hit them quickly enough."
Logan tilted his head. "What about false positives? Or when the enemy isn't where we think they are?"
"Then we adjust," Scarlett replied, wind curling subtly around her fingers. "And that's the point."
The first few rounds were rocky—our marks were off, their responses delayed—but slowly, we began to sync.
Carter's lightning strikes became more precise once he started following Mia's shadow signals. Sofia's radiant blasts moved more in line with Logan's sensor pings. And Dorian—though still aloof—began listening to my calls, his void traps hitting their targets more often than not.
We moved, adjusted, failed, laughed, then tried again. It wasn't smooth, not at first, but something about the struggle felt… right. Like the friction was sharpening us, not breaking us.
From across the field, I could see Lily working closely with Garrett from the Vanguard. She moved between injured dummies, healing and buffing, while he kept threats off her back with swift, coordinated strikes.
Ryan floated nearby, calmly shielding allies while Markus made a game of charging into waves of straw enemies.
Even Ronan, ever quiet, moved like a ghost in the chaos, fading in and out of shadow. He paired with Serena once, disappearing from sight and reappearing right as her firestorm landed.
I kept my eyes on him a bit longer than the others.
Something about how easily he vanished from both view and presence unsettled me.
'No one notices how he moves,' I thought.
'And maybe that's the point.'
An hour in, the mock drills became timed obstacle runs—testing synergy under pressure. I partnered with Scarlett, who flew just behind me as I marked traps along the terrain.
"Keep left!" I shouted as we rounded a ridge.
She launched a gust forward, scattering a trio of targets hidden in a false bush. "Nice call!"
The timer hit zero.
We panted at the edge of the course. She grinned. "You've got good instincts."
I shrugged, catching my breath. "Still figuring them out."
"I'd say you're doing better than half the people here."
I didn't answer, but I appreciated the words more than I expected.
Eventually, Aristo called an end to the exercise with a casual wave of his fan. "That will do. You'll train with different groups tomorrow."
Sir Brook nodded once and walked off with his usual brisk pace, likely to prepare the next torturous challenge.
As we began dispersing, I caught a glance of Ronan again. He stood at the edge of the courtyard, near the shadow of the old watchtower. Watching. Always watching.
Then, just as quickly, he turned and walked away.