Upon hearing the captain shouting to retreat, Kyle was one of the first to cut a path through the tless hordes of Crabbits. Each swing of his mace crushed the skulls of tens of monsters. But inside his armor, Kyle was trembling with rage.

  This was his ce to earn more points and climb up the rankings. He would finally be among the top spots, but they called for an immediate retreat once again. Leaving the battle was already draining his mental focus, and now he had to face the thought that he wouldn't reach the top ten.

  Upon finally returning to the hill, he deactivated his helmet. Finally, he could get some fresh air and wipe the sweat from his fad head. The sensation of the cool breeze on his shaved head was one of the few pleasures after a battle, but he still o deal with something.

  On his face was a gas mask, but instead of keeping it out, it was helping to lock the gases in. What bothered him the most were the tubes that went into his mouth and nostrils. Without any fineness, he yanked off the equipment and crushed it in his hands.

  "Those sons of bitches who made this crap go to hell," he muttered, his body trembling from the amount s he'd taken to enhance his bat performahis had been his a the hole, one he hadn’t used the day before, but now it was costing him. Kyle wasn’t used to this level s, and to make things worse, he had no way to trol how much was being ied into his body.

  Alongside the other cadets, Kyle tinued walking until they returo the settlement. When they reached the tral square, he began to feel the side effects on his body. His sweat was so heavy it felt like slime, and the pu odor inside his armor could knock out anyone brave enough to take a sniff. But the worst part was his muscles. He felt like every fiber of his body had been stretched beyond its limits, and now he would pay the price with immense pain.

  Still, his curiosity overrode the disfort. He o see the rankings, even if the training was no longer valid. Kyle had to prove he could surpass his limits, even surpassing the top brass of the First Battalion.

  | Ranking| 1 - William Forester [First Battalion - 13th Group] - 109 Kills| 2 - Gregory Torres [First Battalion - 1st Group] - 98 Kills| 3 - Amanda Romanov [First Battalion - 12th Group] - 92 Kills|| 13 - Kyle Astor [First Battalion - 14th Group] - 76 Kills|

  “Fuck!” Kyle shouted upon seeing the ranking.

  Without thinking twice, he let his fury e him. Turning around, he saw several barrels used to transport supplies and, unleashing all his pent-up fury, kicked oh all his strength, denting the steel barrel in half.

  “Ahhh!” Panting heavily, Kyle gradually started to calm down.

  ‘If I find out who celed the event…’ Kyle breathed more evenly, though his eyes were still abze with anger, his chest boiling with fury.

  ‘How am I going to expin this to the Patriarch? Will the results be published?’ While Kyle pted his steps, a familiar whistle echoed throughout the camp.

  The captains were gathering the cadets in the ter of the camp, where Captain Musk was waiting.

  Kyle still wasn’t paying attention to the other cadets or what was happening around him, but he couldn't disobey an order from a superior. Even fuming with rage, he joihe others. Several cadets were injured, and many had no stamina to walk, even within the camp.

  “Ahem.” With a loud throat clearing, the students fell silent and started paying attention. The captain slowly walked onto the hastily erected stage, each step apanied by the sound of his metallic prosthetics creaking. “The first field training is over.”

  The captain tio s the students, looking for those who were still paying attention rather than lost in their own thoughts.

  “Many of you have never experienced such a brutal defeat as today’s. Seeing victory snatched away from you in seds by a surprise attack is one of the most painful experiences any soldier face.” Musk spoke.

  The training might have failed, but it wouldn’t be useless for these students.

  “Take advantage of this experience. Learn from it so you don’t suffer in the field.” The old captaiured for ao take his pce as he had other matters to attend to.

  A younger captain stepped forward to repce Musk. Kyle hadn’t had the ce to be his student, but he reized him by sight aation.

  e was one of the captains who hadn’t bee for the training but had been urgently summoned.

  “All students will be evacuated within the hirty minutes. You are to head immediately to the teleportatioer. Uood?” e asked.

  “Yes, sir!” The crowd of cadets responded in unison.

  “Dismissed.” e finished.

  As soon as the recruits were dismissed, several groups were already directed to gather their belongings ao the teleportation area. Kyle left with his group, waiting in line for his turn to be teleported. However, he noticed something strange by the camp’s exit.

  He noticed that one of the camps wasn’t being dismantled. Without w about being seen, he approached it.

  Kyle could see a tent with several captains inside, some of whom had e for the training and others he reized by sight. He seized the moment to break away from his group and approach the tent.

  ‘Better find out quickly if the rankings will be published… if they are, I’ll need an excuse.’ He scratched his head, trying to relieve the ay of imagining the Patriarch’s rea.

  As he he tent’s entrance, Kyle froze in his tracks. From where he stood, he could only see part of the captains and officers inside, but aralyzed him was the unmistakable voice filled with anger.

  “Musk, how the hell did this happen?” Kyle couldn’t reize the officer, seeing only his back, but the tone of authority made it clear this was someoranking the captain.

  “Sir, the training roceeding as pnned.” Kyle began bag away from the entrao avoid being seen, but he tinued listening to the exge between the officers. “On the first day, the students were pushed to their limits, experieng a sense of defeat to force their growth and teach them what it feels like to lose.”

  Musk took a deep breath, pausing before expining the failures of the sed day.

  “However, on the sed day, when the campaign was already assumed to be won, we were attacked by another horde of Crabbits. We followed protocol; we spotted other hordes, yet there was no reason for them to advaoward our battlefield.”

  “POW!”

  Kyle flinched as the officer smmed his fist against one of the tables ihe tent, sending papers flying to the ground.

  “I have read the report. I don’t want to hear the obvious.”

  Another captain stepped forward, his eyes still lowered, focused on something on his gau.

  “Sir! We ducted a thh check of all students. Two hundred cadets were injured, but there’s something worse—” The sed captain paused to gather his thoughts before tinuing.

  “Damn it! Spit it out.”

  “There are two students unated for, and some witnesses suggest they may have fallen into the river and are still missing.”

  “That’s it? Students go missing all the time in training. Prepare two discharge letters ahem to me fning,” the officer said calmly.

  “But, sir, there’s a problem. One may just be a Nameless, but the other is a Princess. And she’s from the Yorks.” The sed captain fell silent after finishing his report. The only sound ient was the breathing of those present.

  “Damn it, Musk! You had a Princess in your css and didn’t keep any captains near her?!”

  Even though he wasn’t ihe tent, Kyle heard the officer quickly stand up and pace among the officers.

  “e, I want you on this search immediately. Drop everything else, and don’t e back here without her.” The officer’s firm voice made the urgency of the order clear to the captains.

  Kyle knew e’s reputation. He was one of the few Nameless officers who had made a name for himself during the waves. Despite being blind, his Boon allowed him to use the senses of any person or animal around him, making him incredibly valuable for reaissance or infiltration missions.

  “Until then, no information about these two is to be released. Nothing. If the Yorks even suspect they might lose another heir…”

  “Ah! I don’t even want to think about the mess we’ll be in,” the officer said after a long sigh.

  Hearing the versation dying down, Kyle took the opportunity to slip away. Though he still wao know about the petition, it was better if the captains didn’t find out that a cadet had overheard their orders.

  ‘A Princess… so she fell into the water. At least someone’s having a worse day than I am.’

  GCLopes