Location: Military Briefing Room – Pre-Mission Briefing]

  The air in the briefing hall was thick with tension. Over a hundred cadets stood in formation, their faces set in a mix of determination and unease. Some clenched their fists. Others stood unnaturally still, their breathing controlled, trying not to betray their nerves. The only sound was the faint hum of the overhead lights and the steady thump-thump of boots as Trainer Vincent paced in front of them.

  At the center of the room, a large map was spread out on the metal table. It was marked with deep red circles and jagged black lines—zones of danger, points of interest, extraction markers.

  Without warning, Vincent grabbed the edge of the map and flung it down onto the table with a loud snap.

  His voice was cold. Controlled.

  “This—” he gestured to the map, “—is your first mission.”

  The tension in the room thickened. No one spoke.

  Vincent’s sharp gaze swept over the recruits before he continued.

  “The rules are simple. Survive for three days. Retrieve a hidden token deep inside enemy territory. And make it back in one piece.”

  He paused. Let the words sink in.

  “But,” he continued, his tone dropping lower, deadlier, “this isn’t a training exercise. This isn’t about drills or memorized combat forms.”

  He let the silence stretch before slamming a fist down onto the table.

  “This is war. And war doesn’t care if you trained hard. It doesn’t care if you were the top of your class. It doesn’t care if you’re scared.”

  He straightened, folding his hands behind his back as he began pacing again.

  “Enemies will hunt you down.” His words were slow, deliberate. “Not to spar. Not to test you. To eliminate you from this program.”

  A few cadets shifted uncomfortably.

  Vincent stopped pacing and turned to face them fully. His piercing gaze locked onto the crowd.

  “Let me be very clear,” he said, voice lowering into a growl. “If you are captured, you will be beaten until you can’t stand. You will be starved. Deprived of sleep. Broken.”

  His eyes narrowed. “And that’s if they’re feeling generous.”

  Someone gulped.

  “You will not have the luxury of a controlled battlefield. No referees. No safety nets. The only way to pass this test…” He slowly gestured to the map, to the deepest point marked in red. “...is to enter the enemy’s domain, retrieve the token, and make it back alive.”

  Silence.

  A bead of sweat rolled down the side of one cadet’s face.

  Vincent turned and started pacing again. His boots echoed against the cold floor.

  “This mission is designed to do one thing: filter out the weak. The incompetent. The ones who think they can fight just because they swing a blade fast.”

  His expression darkened.

  “If you fail, you’re out.” His tone was absolute. “If you die… well, then you were never meant to be here.”

  He stopped walking and turned back toward the cadets, letting his words settle in.

  “This will be the first time many of you experience true fear.” His voice lowered, almost to a whisper. “The kind that paralyzes you. That makes your muscles lock, your hands shake, your instincts scream at you to run.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  He leaned forward slightly.

  “And I promise you this—if you hesitate, if you second-guess, if you hesitate to pull the blade across your enemy’s throat when the moment calls for it…” His lips curled into a cruel smirk. “Then you will die.”

  A heavy silence followed.

  No one dared to move.

  Vincent straightened and glanced at Warden Gregory, who stood near the back of the room, arms crossed, watching with an impassive expression.

  Turning back to the cadets, Vincent sighed, rolling his shoulders. “For those of you who survive… congratulations. You will have experienced what it truly means to fight for your life.”

  His gaze swept over them one last time before he nodded toward the door.

  “The test begins at dawn. Gear up.”

  Then, without another word, he turned and walked out.

  [Location: Military Barracks – Pre-Mission Preparations]

  The barracks buzzed with nervous energy. Cadets were strapping on their gear, adjusting their weapons, and double-checking supplies. Some muttered quiet prayers. Others stayed silent, lost in their thoughts. This wasn’t just another drill—this was the real thing.

  James sat on his bunk, tightening the straps of his combat boots. His energy-infused sword, still in its sheath, rested beside him. He could feel the faint hum of power radiating from the weapon, like a heartbeat in his palm. Across from him, Jonathan cracked his knuckles, his massive battle-ax leaning against his bedframe.

  “Alright,” Jonathan grinned, nudging James with an elbow. “Three days in the wild. Who’s taking bets on who cries first?”

  “Definitely you,” Amanda shot back, smirking as she adjusted the straps of her reinforced leather vest. Her energy-infused spear rested beside her, its sleek design built for both precision and power. “Remember that time we did a night drill in the forest? You swore something was stalking us.”

  Jonathan scoffed. “That was different! That thing was stalking us.”

  “Yeah,” Sam chuckled, shaking his head, “and it turned out to be a squirrel.” He was meticulously cleaning his energy-infused longsword, the blade catching the dim light of the barracks.

  Sophia leaned against the wall, smirking. “Maybe if we run into another squirrel, we should just leave Jonathan behind.” She was securing her wrist guards, her energy-infused saber resting within arm’s reach.

  Jonathan huffed, throwing his hands in the air. “You know what? Screw all of you.” But there was no real bite in his voice—just the usual warmth of their easy banter.

  James smirked but said nothing. He was taking in the moment—this bond they had formed.

  Flashback: Training Days

  In the early weeks, things hadn’t been this easy. They had all been strangers, thrown together by circumstance.

  James had been quiet at first, analyzing, observing. Amanda had been competitive, always pushing herself. Jonathan had been a loudmouth, but his heart was in the right place. Sophia had been sharp-tongued, unwilling to show weakness. Sam had been the glue, balancing them all out.

  But training had changed them. Shared struggles had pulled them together.

  James remembered one of their first training sessions with energy weapons.

  Jonathan had struggled to control his massive ax, nearly toppling over every time he swung it.

  “Damn thing’s too heavy,” he’d grumbled.

  “You’re just weak,” Amanda had teased, twirling her spear with ease.

  “Alright, you try it then, smartass.”

  Amanda had accepted the challenge. The moment she lifted the ax, her knees buckled, and she nearly fell flat on her face.

  Jonathan had laughed so hard he had collapsed onto the ground.

  From that moment, things changed. They stopped acting like competitors and started acting like a team.

  James had found his rhythm with his sword, using precise, calculated movements instead of brute strength. Amanda had become deadly with her spear, able to strike with deceptive speed. Sam had perfected his power, using his longsword to overwhelm opponents with precise, heavy strikes. William, with his energy-infused daggers, had become their fastest, most elusive fighter. Sophia had mastered the fluid, unpredictable combat of a saber wielder, adapting to any enemy.

  They pushed each other. Trained together. Failed together.

  And eventually, they became family.

  Back to the Present

  James let out a quiet breath, pulling himself from the memory.

  Now, as they prepared for the hardest test yet, that same bond was unshakable.

  “Alright,” William clapped his hands, standing up and stretching. His broad frame towered over the rest of them. “Let’s get serious. If we’re doing this, we need a plan.”

  Jonathan groaned. “You always kill the mood, man.”

  James smirked, tossing his sword into the air and catching it effortlessly. “He’s right, though. We can’t just wing it.”

  Amanda sat cross-legged on her bed, spinning her spear between her fingers. “We move as a unit. No one strays. If we get separated, we regroup at the highest point we can find.”

  Sophia nodded. “And we need to conserve our energy. We don’t know how long we’ll be hunted before we even reach the target.”

  Sam tightened the straps on his longsword. “If we fight, we fight smart. Hit hard, disappear fast.”

  For a moment, the room was silent.

  Then Jonathan sighed dramatically, flopping back onto his bunk.

  “Look at us,” he muttered. “All grown up, making plans like real soldiers. Where’s the fun in that?”

  Amanda rolled her eyes. “The fun is not dying, dumbass.”

  James chuckled, standing up and stretching. He looked around at them—his team. His family.

  “Let’s go make history,” he said.

  And with that, they grabbed their weapons and stepped out into the unknown