- Isabe -

  Isabe was happy that the boys had finally returned from their little "vacation," but her biggest at the moment wasn't them.

  She had been hanging atop one of the trees outside the First Battalion's barracks for thirty minutes.

  ‘She'll pass by here any moment now.’ The girl was once again hunting her prey. ‘I'll catch her before she escapes to the cafeteria.’

  She was just waiting to catch Astrid. Isabe had even trained in Energy trol to avoid being found so her friend couldn't sense her energy emanating from withiree.

  "Damian! Damian!"

  The girl mao hear two boys walking toward the battaliorance.

  "What is it?" Damian responded, stopping to listen to the boy.

  "Did you hear? The boy has returned.”

  "Who?" Damian raised an eyebrow, not uanding what he meant.

  "The one you bbbed about."

  "Whie?" Damian gave a slight smile to the other boy.

  "The one from the i."

  "Shh. Leo, speak lower. That Nameless is back?" Damian asked.

  Leo nodded.

  "What the fuck; I thought he'd at least be expelled," Damian ented.

  "Seems he only got a one-week suspension," Leo expined.

  "Shit. Are they still iigating the i?" Damian asked.

  "Doesn't look like it. From what I've heard, he was indeed found guilty. However, because of the fight, they preferred not to increase the punishment," Leo said.

  As soon as he finished speaking, Leo quickly looked up into the tree, startling Isabe, but the girl didn't move. She remained frozen in pce.

  ‘Don't breathe. Don't breathe,’ she trated.

  "Did you hear something?" Damian asked.

  "Maybe some animal. My boon is great inside closed spaces, but it's hard to distinguish sounds in open fields," Leo expined.

  "Anyway, with them stopping the iigation, that's already great," Damian said. "Quick, let's go to the First Battalion. We 't go in, but it's better to wait for him at the door; maybe we egotiate something before the first test."

  Both resumed walking toward the entrance of the First Battalion.

  ‘Damn, what did I just hear?’ Isabe was still incredulous at the information. ’Were they responsible for the i?’

  As soon as the two boys were out of sight, Isabe started to desd from the tree.

  "Aha!"

  "Aaah!" Isabe screamed, falling from the tree and hitting the ground.

  "I knew you were hiding!" Astrid shouted, waving her arms as if she'd won a fight.

  "Screw you, I fell out of a tree because of your scream." The girl got up, massaging her back from the impact.

  "Hehehe! ime, don't uimate me," Astrid ented. "Shall we go to the cafeteria?"

  "Yes, yes," Isabe replied. ‘I o find Oliver.’

  --

  - Oliver -

  "Damn it! We're te!" An shouted.

  Both had lost the habit of waking up early for training. Although Oliver was always tired during his stay in Selene, he mehinking that he could have breakfast in peace before.

  He had to hurriedly put on his uniform before running out of the barracks.

  "Do you remember the way to the ?" An asked.

  "Of course! We've only been away a week; It didn't erase my memory," Oliver replied while searg for the correct of the Sed Battalion. "It's close—here!"

  They had finally arrived. Both looked ihe room and sighed, seeing that it hadn't started yet. However, almost all the seats were already taken.

  "Just made it in time, huh?"

  Upon hearing the question, both turned and came face to face with Captain e.

  "Yes, sir," they responded in unison.

  "Find a pce to sit; we o start this css," e anded.

  An ran off to one of the chairs at the back of the room. Before leaving, Oliver thahe captain. "Sir. Thank you very much."

  "I imagine you had a good experience," e ented.

  "Without a doubt," the boy replied.

  "And how was he?" e asked.

  "Hum. Good, uhe circumstances," Oliver expined.

  "Thank you," e said before walking to the ter of the room.

  Oliver climbed the steps to the seat o An.

  "Alright. By the looks of you, I already sehat information has leaked, correct?" e asked his css, though he didn't need an answer. His powers already showed him that many were nervous while others were highly excited.

  "Yes, sir," several recruits responded.

  "So let's get to it. Today, I will announce your first exam," e began expining. "Each month, you will have an exam evaluating your abilities. They are necessary to plete your training at the Academy and allow your entry inter Division. Of course, this evaluation isn't posed only of these three exams, but they are a rge part of yrade."

  The captain once again moved to the ter of the room and initiated the hologram system.

  "Your first exam will be the simplest; it will test your researd survey skills. In this case, you will have to map areas around a y," e expined.

  He presehe first hologram, a pletely white p with a few gray dots scattered on its surface.

  "GL581 is one of the Empire's most distant ies. We only mao build the teleportation station only a few months ago. Therefore, there's still a lot of unmapped terrain." e pressed a few more times on his gau, altering the holograms and presenting the y city.

  "However, this base is essential for the Empire's development. It serves both as a spearhead and as a research base. Therefore, each of you will have a system installed in yauhat will allow you to map terrains, creatures, and anomalies found," the captaied a few more photos.

  "This will not be an easy or safe mission. Your safety will depeirely on you. Obviously, we'll have some captains and other officers on site. However, this is no guarahat is won't happen," e warned, looking carefully among his students so they'd be aware of the risks they would be taking.

  "On GL581, we've already mapped three different types of creatures you'll o be alert for." He informed them as some images of the creatures appeared among the holograms.

  "The first of them is the Ice Goblin. It's a creature of low itive power; however, even though its intelligence is limited, they're capable of basic reasoning. Therefore, although its power is Pawn level, be careful," the captain poio the first image.

  From what they could see, it e of primate with long arms and fingers and sharp cws at the tips. Its faces were fttened, but its ears poihe creature's entire body was covered in white fur, and it seemed to wear some type of primitive clothing.

  e switched to the sed creature. "The sed is Snow Tigers. They are ferocious aorial; under no circumstances should you engage in bat with them. Their power level is Knight."

  Among the holograms appeared some spes of Snow Tigers. The main difference from tigers existing oh was their size; the creature could be twice as rge as any species oh. Moreover, it was an animal with three tails and capable of using them to trap its victims.

  "Finally, the third creature is the Yeti. I advise everyoo run at the first sign of spotting them. Although they are titanic, they are also fast. However, once you leave their territory, they give up the chase. Their power level is Bishop." When e finished expining, one of the recruits in the first row raised her hand.

  "Yes?" e asked.

  "Captain, how are we supposed to enter a territory filled with creatures many times strohan us? Wouldn't it just be a suicide mission?" the girl asked.

  "You will only map areas that have the presence of Ice Goblins. However, I prefer to present all the possibilities in case any of you are insane or dumb enough to leave the official exam area," the captain expined.

  The girl nodded, relieved.

  "Furthermore, this exam will not be carried out individually," e added. "You will have to form teams with four partits, two of whom will act as escorts, and two will map the terrain and surroundings."

  This time, a boy raised his hand to ask, "Should we form a group only with people from this css?"

  "No. You form it with anyone on campus," the captain expined.

  "Even from the First Battalion?" the same boy asked.

  "Correct," e firmed.

  This information started a buzz among the cadets. Getting the right student for yroup could be the differeween success and failure.

  "Any questions about the exam?" e asked.

  "When will it take pce?" It was Oliver's turn to ask.

  "You have until tomorrow to prepare," the captain replied.

  The exam date wasn't mentioned in the leaked information. The recruits panicked when the captain firmed that it would be the day. Some were already using their gauo chat and firm their groups.

  "Dismissed!"

  GCLopes