Morning arrived slowly over the plains.
Cold light crept across the grass as the fire from the previous night burned low beside the riverbank.
Outside the small tent, Rei Takeda slept peacefully inside his warm sleeping bag.
Inside the tent, the situation was far less peaceful.
For several long seconds nothing moved.
Then the tent shifted.
A zipper opened halfway.
Elira crawled out first.
Or at least… something resembling Elira.
Her hair stuck in every direction and she moved stiffly, unfolding herself carefully like someone escaping a box that had been too small for her bones.
She stood upright, stretched slowly, and winced.
Behind her the tent rustled again.
Mira emerged next, rolling onto the grass before pushing herself up.
“My legs are numb,” she muttered, shaking one foot violently.
Cassian forced his way out after her, looking irritated and disheveled, his noble dignity having clearly died sometime during the night.
Shin crawled out last among them, rubbing the back of his neck.
“That was a mistake,” he said flatly.
The tent went quiet again.
All four of them looked at it.
Nothing moved.
A few seconds passed.
Then a muffled voice came from inside.
“…I can’t move.”
Valen.
Shin sighed and crouched beside the entrance.
“What did you do, fold yourself into a chair?”
“No,” Valen replied stiffly. “Someone pushed my shoulder into the pole and I have been trapped there for hours.”
Cassian crossed his arms.
“Sounds like a personal failure.”
Eventually Shin and Mira grabbed the fabric and pulled it open wider.
After a moment of awkward tugging and complaints, Valen finally emerged.
Very slowly.
His spine produced an alarming series of cracks as he straightened.
The others stared.
Valen stood there in silence, staring toward the horizon with the expression of a man reconsidering every life decision that led to sleeping inside a two-person tent with four other people.
“My back,” he said calmly, “has been permanently damaged.”
Shin stretched his arms.
“You’re being dramatic.”
“You were not the bottom layer.”
“That’s because I’m smarter.”
They all spent the next minute trying to stretch life back into their limbs.
Then Mira noticed something.
She nodded toward the riverbank.
Professor Hale sat on the same rock as the night before, completely still, eyes closed.
Meditating.
Unmoving.
Like he had not shifted a single inch since the previous evening.
No one said anything.
They quietly sat down nearby, too tired to start a conversation.
Then Mira noticed something else.
“Where’s Rei?”
All heads turned.
Rei was still asleep.
Completely unmoved.
Inside his thick sleeping bag.
Looking extremely comfortable.
Valen stared at him.
Then slowly raised his hand.
A small flame appeared in his palm.
His voice was calm.
“I am going to burn his bag.”
Before he could move, Mira grabbed his wrist.
“Absolutely not.”
Shin stepped between them.
“You’ll wake him up.”
Cassian smirked.
“That’s the point.”
Rei still hadn’t moved.
The argument grew louder.
Valen attempted to move around Shin.
Mira blocked him again.
Cassian started giving extremely unhelpful suggestions.
Through all of it—
Rei slept peacefully.
Finally, Hale opened his eyes.
The moment was immediate.
The group froze.
Hale looked at them.
Then calmly asked,
“How was your sleep?”
Five pairs of eyes stared at him.
Every single one of them stood twisted in strange half-stretching positions, backs stiff and legs shaking.
Hale knew exactly how their night had gone.
He asked anyway.
Shin pointed toward Rei.
“Him.”
Hale glanced at the sleeping figure.
“Wake him.”
Three faces immediately brightened.
Shin.
Cassian.
Valen.
Mira looked suspicious.
“What are you planning?”
Cassian smiled.
“Justice.”
They walked toward Rei.
Mira followed reluctantly.
Elira stayed behind for a moment.
She hesitated.
Technically… Rei had given them the tent.
But also…
He had slept like royalty while they suffered.
Elira sighed and followed them anyway.
Shin grabbed Rei by the shoulders.
Cassian took his legs.
Valen grabbed the sleeping bag.
Rei did not wake up.
They lifted him.
Still nothing.
Cassian blinked.
“How is he still asleep?”
Shin shrugged.
“He survived lightning shocks yesterday.”
They carried him toward the river.
Mira walked ahead, guiding them.
“Careful.”
Valen nodded seriously.
“Of course.”
They reached the edge of the river.
For a moment they paused.
Like sailors preparing a ceremonial launch.
Cassian spoke solemnly.
“Captain.”
Shin nodded.
“Your ship awaits.”
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Then—
Splash.
Rei, sleeping bag and all, disappeared into the river.
Freezing water rushed into the sleeping bag and soaked through his clothes in seconds.
His eyes snapped open.
“What the—”
Rei tore the zipper open and launched himself upright out of the river.
He didn’t look around.
He didn’t think.
He simply moved.
And immediately collided with the three people standing at the riverbank.
Shin.
Cassian.
Valen.
The impact sent all four of them stumbling backward.
For a brief moment they balanced on the edge.
Then—
Splash.
All four disappeared into the freezing river.
The quiet plains exploded with shouting.
“COLD!”
“YOU IDIOTS!”
“WHY IS THE WATER THIS COLD?!”
“WHO THREW HIM?!”
After several chaotic seconds of splashing, slipping, and very undignified scrambling, the four soaked victims dragged themselves out of the river.
They stumbled back toward the campfire.
Rei, Shin, Cassian, and Valen collapsed around the fire, completely drenched.
Steam rose faintly from their clothes.
Valen looked the worst.
He sat there stiffly, water dripping from his hair, staring blankly into the flames.
Then his hand lifted weakly.
A small flicker of fire magic appeared in his palm.
It sputtered.
Then died immediately.
Valen lowered his hand.
“I… am finished,” he said flatly.
Even his fire magic had been extinguished by the freezing water.
Professor Hale finally stood from the rock he had been sitting on.
Apparently the spectacle had reached the point where even he felt slightly responsible.
He walked over calmly and flicked two fingers toward the fire.
The flames instantly grew brighter and stronger.
“Sit closer,” he said.
“Warm up before your muscles lock.”
The four soaked students obeyed immediately.
Across the camp, Mira was laughing so hard she had to hold her stomach.
“I can’t breathe,” she managed between laughs.
Elira stood beside her, covering her mouth with one hand.
She was trying very hard not to laugh.
She was failing.
Rei slowly turned toward the three beside him.
Water still dripped from his hair.
His voice was calm.
“Which one of you thought throwing me into a river was a good idea?”
Shin pointed at Cassian.
Cassian pointed at Valen.
Valen was still staring into the fire, spiritually absent.
After several long minutes beside the fire, the chaos finally settled.
Rei, Shin, Cassian, and Valen sat close to the flames, still soaked and shivering. Steam slowly rose from their clothes as the fire dried the worst of it.
Valen looked particularly miserable.
His hair clung to his face and his expression had the distant, hollow look of a man who had just lost a war.
Professor Hale watched them quietly for a moment.
Then he spoke.
“So.”
His eyes moved across the group.
“What are you going to eat?”
Silence.
Every head slowly turned.
Toward Rei.
Rei stared back at them.
Then glanced away.
“…No.”
Cassian frowned.
“No what?”
Rei spoke calmly.
“I did not pack food for six people.”
Shin blinked.
“You brought half a house on your back.”
Rei shrugged slightly.
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And the supplies inside were calculated for one person.”
Mira crossed her arms.
“So you carried an entire portable camp but didn’t think about your teammates starving?”
Rei looked at her.
“You had half a day to pack.”
Valen rubbed his temples.
“That is not the point.”
Cassian gestured toward Rei’s bag.
“Then what exactly was the purpose of carrying that thing if you cannot even feed the group?”
Rei stared at him.
“The purpose,” he said flatly, “was for me not to starve.”
The argument began immediately.
Shin complained about “selfish planning.”
Cassian accused Rei of “strategic incompetence.”
Mira added several very enthusiastic complaints of her own.
Even Valen joined in, still shivering violently beside the fire.
Through all of it—
Rei sat there quietly.
Completely unbothered.
Eventually Professor Hale raised one hand.
The arguing stopped immediately.
“Enough,” Hale said.
Five students fell silent.
“You will not starve today.”
Relief spread across several faces.
Hale continued.
“Today’s training will take place here.”
He gestured across the massive open plains stretching beyond the river.
“This region is one of the academy’s extended training zones.”
Shin frowned slightly.
“Training?”
Hale nodded.
“Yes.”
“That,” he added, “is the reason this journey takes three days instead of two.”
The group exchanged confused looks.
Cassian spoke first.
“If we only needed to reach the border, it would take two days.”
“Correct,” Hale said.
“So why three?”
Hale’s eyes moved across the plains again.
“The extra day exists because you will not simply pass through this area.”
He looked back at them.
“You will train here.”
The wind moved quietly across the grass.
The students slowly turned toward the enormous open plains surrounding them.
Suddenly the place looked much larger.
And far less comfortable.
Mira tilted her head.
“Training?” she asked.
Professor Hale nodded toward the open plains stretching beyond the river.
“Yes.”
Shin frowned slightly.
“What kind of training?”
Hale answered as if it were obvious.
“Running.”
The group stared at him.
He continued calmly.
“Then swimming.”
All four boys slowly looked toward the river they had just escaped from.
Cassian’s expression darkened.
“You cannot be serious.”
Hale ignored him.
“After that, mana control exercises.”
Valen sighed.
“That already sounds unpleasant.”
Hale finished the explanation.
“And finally, all six of you will fight me.”
The students blinked.
Mira leaned forward.
“All of us?”
“Yes.”
Cassian crossed his arms.
“That hardly seems fair.”
Hale looked at him.
“I will restrain my output.”
Shin smirked slightly.
“So the goal is just to survive?”
Hale shook his head.
“No.”
The professor pointed casually toward the wet sleeping bag lying near the fire.
“The one who lands the final strike wins.”
Everyone followed his gaze.
Shin squinted.
“…Wins what?”
Hale answered calmly.
“That sleeping bag tonight.”
Silence.
The wind moved across the plains.
Shin immediately stood up.
“Alright. I’m in.”
Cassian nodded.
“Acceptable motivation.”
Valen straightened slightly.
“Understood.”
Across the fire, Rei slowly looked at his soaked sleeping bag.
Then back at Hale.
“…That was mine.”
Hale shrugged faintly.
“You should have protected your ship better, captain.”
Mira burst out laughing again while Elira quietly covered her mouth, trying not to join her.
After breakfast and several minutes of arguing, the group finally stood.
Training had begun.
Calling the first task an exercise was generous.
Execution, however, was another matter.
Professor Hale pointed across the open plains.
Far in the distance stood a massive tree, its branches spreading wide above the grassland.
It looked small from where they stood.
Rei estimated the distance quickly.
Around nine hundred yards.
Perhaps a little more.
“The task is simple,” Hale said.
“Each of you will bring me ten fruits from that tree.”
The students stared at the distant silhouette.
Then back at Hale.
Shin smirked.
“That’s it?”
Cassian folded his arms with mild amusement.
“After thirty punishment laps, that seems… merciful.”
Mira sighed.
“Well, at least it’s not another lecture.”
Elira nodded quietly, already accepting whatever misery was coming.
Rei simply stood there, watching Hale.
Valen stood beside him.
Silent.
For once the usually proud noble looked almost identical to Rei.
Tired.
Quiet.
Emotionally exhausted.
Then Hale continued.
“One fruit at a time.”
Silence fell over the group.
Shin blinked.
Cassian’s smirk vanished.
Rei did the math instantly.
Ten trips.
Nine hundred yards to the tree.
Nine hundred yards back.
Twenty runs total.
Across open plains.
Shin exhaled slowly.
“…You can’t be serious.”
Mira groaned.
“That’s basically twenty laps.”
Cassian looked personally offended by the concept.
Valen closed his eyes briefly.
He had reached the stage of exhaustion where complaints required too much effort.
Professor Hale folded his hands behind his back.
“You may begin.”
No one moved.
For several seconds the students simply stared at the distant tree.
Then Shin sighed.
“Well.”
He stretched his shoulders.
“Better start running.”
And the six students began their very long morning.
Nearly three hours later, the first figures finally appeared on the plains.
Elira and Mira returned together, each carrying their final fruit.
Both looked exhausted.
Mira collapsed onto the grass the moment she reached the campfire.
“I hate that tree,” she declared.
Elira sat beside her, breathing hard but smiling faintly.
“At least… we’re done.”
Professor Hale glanced toward the growing pile of fruit beside him.
Rei had finished first.
He had returned barely an hour after the exercise began, placing his tenth fruit quietly beside the fire before sitting down to rest.
No celebration.
No comment.
Just quiet efficiency.
Shin and Cassian had finished next.
They arrived around the ninety-minute mark, both looking annoyed rather than tired.
It didn’t take long for the others to realize why.
Instead of taking the nearest fruit, the two had apparently spent half their time competing over who could reach the highest branches.
Mira groaned when she heard that.
“You two are idiots.”
Cassian brushed dirt from his sleeve.
“It was a matter of principle.”
Shin shrugged.
“The higher ones looked better.”
Valen returned sometime after the two-hour mark.
His pace had been slower.
More deliberate.
Every time he reached the camp he spent several seconds straightening his back before starting the next run.
The earlier night inside the tent had clearly declared war on his spine.
Still, he finished.
Eventually.
By the time Mira and Elira returned with their final fruits nearly three hours had passed since the exercise began.
Professor Hale looked at the exhausted group.
“Good,” he said calmly.
“Now we begin the real training.”
Six tired students stared at him.
None of them liked where that sentence was going.
The group had barely recovered from the running exercise when Professor Hale pointed toward the river.
“Next,” he said calmly, “swimming.”
Six tired students turned slowly.
Shin stared at the water.
“We just ran ten miles.”
“Yes,” Hale replied.
Mira crossed her arms.
“We didn’t bring swimming clothes.”
Hale looked mildly puzzled.
“You brought clothes.”
Mira opened her mouth to argue.
Then closed it again.
Rei was already moving.
He walked to his bag, pulled off his shirt, and tossed it on top of the pack.
Several eyebrows lifted briefly.
Not because anyone was particularly impressed.
Mostly because Rei had decided the conversation was over.
He walked toward the river.
The moment the water touched his feet he inhaled sharply.
The current was colder than expected.
Rei paused for half a second.
Then stepped in anyway.
Behind him Shin sighed dramatically.
“If the unmarked idiot can do it…”
He pulled off his shirt and threw it beside Rei’s bag.
Cassian followed immediately after.
The two of them stepped into the river like men approaching molten lava.
“Why,” Cassian muttered, “is the water this cold?”
Valen removed his coat with far more dignity, folded it carefully, and placed it beside the others before stepping into the river.
He lasted three steps before freezing.
“This is barbaric.”
Mira looked toward Elira.
“You coming?”
Elira shook her head immediately.
“I… I can’t swim.”
Mira blinked.
“You’re serious?”
Elira nodded, slightly embarrassed.
Professor Hale glanced at her.
“Then observe.”
Elira looked relieved.
Mira looked betrayed.
“You’re leaving me alone with these lunatics?”
Elira offered a small apologetic smile.
Mira sighed.
“Unbelievable.”
She stepped toward the river.
The moment the water touched her feet she recoiled.
“Oh that is evil.”
Behind her, Shin was already halfway across the river.
“Stop complaining and swim!”
Mira glared at him.
“Shut up!”
Then she stepped into the freezing current.
Nearly half an hour later, two heads finally appeared near the bank.
Shin reached the shore first, dragging himself onto the grass.
Cassian followed seconds later, breathing heavily as he climbed out beside him.
Rei was already there.
He stood quietly at the riverbank, arms folded, watching the water.
Shin wiped water from his face.
“Please tell me that was the last crossing.”
Rei didn’t answer.
Cassian dropped onto the grass.
“Where’s Valen?”
Rei lifted one hand and pointed toward the river.
Both boys turned.
The water moved slowly in the current.
No one was there.
Shin frowned.
“Where is he?”
Rei answered simply.
“He sank.”
For half a second neither Shin nor Cassian processed the words.
Then both of them were on their feet.
They dove back into the river without another thought.
The cold water swallowed them instantly.
Shin reached the spot first, diving beneath the surface.
The current tugged hard.
For a moment there was nothing but murky water.
Then he saw movement.
Valen.
Drifting downward, barely conscious.
Shin grabbed his arm.
Cassian reached them seconds later and pulled Valen’s other side.
Together they dragged him back toward the surface.
All three burst out of the water at once.
Valen coughed violently, gasping for air.
Shin tightened his grip and began pulling him toward the bank.
Cassian pushed from behind.
“Move!” he shouted.
By the time they reached the shore, Mira had already stood up on the opposite bank, staring in alarm.
Rei stepped forward and helped pull Valen onto the grass.
Valen collapsed on the ground, coughing and shivering.
For several seconds no one spoke.
Then Shin sat down beside him, still breathing hard.
“That,” he said, “was too close.”
Cassian exhaled.
“Imagine explaining to the academy that we lost the stove.”
Valen slowly opened one eye.
“…I heard that.”
Shin laughed weakly.
“Good. That means you’re alive.”
Professor Hale looked over the group.
“Rest for a few minutes,” he said calmly.
“Mana control exercises will begin shortly.”
Rei simply nodded and sat down.
Elira did the same.
Shin and Cassian didn’t even react anymore.
At this point the phrase next exercise had lost all emotional meaning.
Valen remained on the ground, staring at the sky and reconsidering every decision that had brought him here.
Across the river Mira finally stood up.
“HELLO?”
Her voice carried across the water.
“WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!”
No one answered.
She looked from Rei to Shin to Cassian.
Then spotted Valen collapsed near the bank.
Her eyes widened.
“WHY IS HE DEAD?!”
“He’s not dead,” Shin shouted back.
“Almost,” Cassian added helpfully.
Mira threw her hands in the air.
“ARE YOU ALL SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!”
Professor Hale looked toward the opposite bank.
“Mira.”
“Yes?!”
“You may come back now.”
She stared at the river.
“You saw what just happened!”
“I did.”
“I am not swimming back across that!”
Hale sighed very quietly.
Then he lifted one hand.
The wind across the plains shifted.
A gentle current of air gathered beneath Mira’s feet.
For a moment she froze.
Then the ground disappeared.
“WAIT—”
The wind lifted her into the air.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Mira hovered a few feet above the grass, carried across the river like a very confused package.
Elira watched with wide eyes.
Rei glanced up briefly.
Shin snorted.
Cassian muttered, “Convenient.”
The wind drifted across the river and lowered Mira gently onto the bank beside them.
Her feet touched the ground.
The wind vanished.
For several seconds she just stood there.
Then she pointed at Hale.
“You could do that the whole time?”
Hale looked at her.
“Professor.”
Mira blinked.
“…Professor.”
“You could have done that the whole time?”
Hale nodded once.
“Yes.”
Mira stared at him.
Then threw her arms up again.
“I hate this training program.”
Shin laughed.
“Too late now.”
