"THUMP!"

  Where owo ‘hen’ stood, now both y on the ground. Moments earlier, they had been using their hands ao try a up, but now evehing was difficult. Their own body weight was too much to bear, their blood struggled to move through their veins, and even drawing breath caused pain as the oxygen passed through their lungs.

  An wasn't cruel; he had set his Boon to deactivate as soon as both of them lost sciousness. In the meantime, he kept them pinned in pce, hoping to help Oliver.

  But it might have been too te. As An approached to che the ht, Oliver still used every bit of his agility to dodge Kyle's punches and kicks.

  "Looks like your friend took down my 'colleagues.' I guess I'll have to take on both of you soon," Kyle said as he stepped baot far enough to exit the fight but enough to avoid being an easy target for Oliver. In the meantime, he reached for his mask and pressed a few buttons.

  Oliver didn’t fully uand what was happening, but he had figured out that Kyle’s increased strength was somehow lio the gases and the mask he was wearing. After Kyle pressed more buttons, the amount of gas released by the mask signifitly increased.

  "I re I only maintain this amount for a few seds, so shall we?" Kyle said, moving his arms, being Oliver to tihe fight.

  ‘Seriously? It's not enough that he's already strohan normal. Now he has to amp it up?’ Oliver thought, unsure of what his move should be.

  But he didn’t have long to think. Before he could blink, Kyle had already closed the distance. His speed had increased dramatically.

  Oliver tried to raise his arms to protect his face, but there wasn’t enough time.

  “BOOM!”

  He didn’t fully uand what had happened. One sed, Kyle was in front of him, and the , something hit him hard in the face, and he was on the ground. He tried to say something, but the words wouldn’t e out. His toasted blood, and it felt like his jaw was out of pce.

  “BOOM!”

  Before he could get up, another blow hit him, a kick that sent him flying back. This time, the air was forced out of his lungs, and a pierg pain shot through his chest.

  “BOOM!”

  “BOOM!”

  “BOOM!”

  With each hit, Oliver fought to stay scious. The pain reading through his body, numbing everything. The sound of the blows now seemed distant and muffled. The crowd, which had been chattering moments before, had gone silent. Only ohing reached Oliver’s ears.

  "I think ht ends here. Until ime," Kyle said. Oliver could hear his voice, but with his eyes swollen shut, he couldn’t see the figure standing before him.

  Kyle was satisfied with his demonstration. There would be no more doubts about his power or the mask's effect. The Patriarch could do whatever he wanted with this dispy.

  Before An could reach Oliver, Kyle had already blended into the crowd and disappeared. The other two boys from House Astor would have to fend for themselves; Kyle had no iion of helping them, especially after they tried to tarnish his reputation with the Patriarch.

  "Oliver?!" An rushed over after defeating the other two, but the fight was already over by the time he reached Oliver. What armed him most was Oliver’s dition. His face was swollen, his jaw clearly fractured and out of pce, and his uniform was torn in several pces.

  “Damn it! Someo a captain!” An shouted to the crowd, who seemed frozen by the brutal se.

  An thought about using the chat to call for help, but a few soldiers in white uniforms approached before he could.

  “Step back, we’ll take him to the infirmary,” one of the soldiers said.

  he two soldiers tain, his uniform different from the others. An didn’t know who he was, but the symbols on his outfit made it easy to guess. The captain bore the insignia of the First Battalion and the Senate, which meant he was likely the instructor responsible for the First Battalion.

  An ched his fists in anger. If their captain had been there, he could have stopped the fight. But it was clear that the Academy wouldn’t interfere with students’ ces to evolve, especially when there was no risk of a diplomatiflict.

  Both boys cursed internally. They had learned yet another valuable lesson at the Academy. Strength wasn’t just about physical power in battle. An had mao win, but he still cked the power to protect his panions—especially political power. Although nearly unscious, Oliver saw more clearly now that his journey was far from over. There were still many steps ahead before he could avoid being an easy target for others.

  “How the hell is this acceptable?!” e roared.

  “THUMP!”

  Everyone in the room flinched as Captain e smmed his fist on Major Five’s desk. e was one of the fetains who always maintained his posure, but seeing one of his students bee a target because of the Academy’s ina was uable.

  “Captain!” The Major's hoarse voice was enough to grab the attention of the other captains. Even so, it was clear how furious e was. “A fight between cadets, especially where there are no casualties, isn’t a signifit matter that o be raised in a anders meeting.”

  “Not important? We have a cadet hospitalized because of the Academy’s failure to act,” e interrupted before the Major could tihe iigation was already cluded, and it was obvious that the cadet wasn’t responsible for the i. But it wasn’t disclosed out of fear of reprisals from a House.”

  “Captain, you o look beyond your students. The Academy's position is essential for all of humanity. Stirring up political flict over a minor i involving a cadet without a House is not something we afford to focus on,” the Major expined, not just to e but to the other captains as well.

  “Then if the goal was to avoid flict, why did we have a captai who did nothing to prevent it? It seems more like a student was chosen as a scapegoat to cover for the team's inefficy,” e retorted, raising an arm to point at Captain Scipio.

  e uood the political games within the Empire well, partly because of his own choices. Haviher bee a Ranger nor joined a House, he cked signifit influence. But that didn’t mean he owerless within the h Army. His position allowed him to make demands and expose the anization’s fws without fear of retaliation.

  Still, the atmosphere was tehe other captains waited to see how the Major would respond.

  “Captain, I will emphasize this one final time. This matter is not up for discussion. Both cadets will receive a week of suspension fhting within the Academy. End of discussion,” the Major replied, leaving no room for further questioning.

  Five khis would likely be the st straw for e, whose ces of staying as an instructor for another year were slim to none. However, avoiding a flict with House York erhaps more valuable than keeping the captain around.

  The infirmary was isoted from the rest of the buildings and located he teleportation station. A few soldiers were responsible for g for cadets and officers there. Not many soldiers chose to bee field medics, but it was often seen as a safer lifestyle within the h Army.

  e looked at the building. It wasn’t his first time ing here. He had never s services himself, but other students had run into trouble during his years at the Academy. The captain was still refleg on why he had been sed. If e was being ho, he had seen worse things before, but perhaps he had finally reached his limit. He could no loolerate how the Academy and the h Army operated.

  e was grateful they had ged his life and could repel the Orks, but the peak of the war had passed, yet some people were still living as if they were in the first or sed Wave. e scratched his head, trying to relieve the stress and stop thinking about these problems.

  ‘Room 318… 318…’ The captaied the room number where Oliver stayed as he walked down the long hallway. Ea looked the same as the , with white walls and the distinct sterile smell of a hospital.

  ‘318!’ He was startled when he finally found it.

  e opehe door and approached the bed. Oliver's cssmates had not yet e to visit, nor would they have access. With all the flid his suspension, Oliver would only be allowed in the hospital for a short time before being forced to leave the Academy for a week. For many cadets, this might feel like a vacation, but for someorying to achieve something, a week without training would quickly put them behind the rest of the css.

  The captain pulled up a chair and sat beside the student’s bed.

  Slowly, Oliver’s eyes started to open. After receiving VAT treatment, his bones and skin had healed quickly, though he was still in the hospital for monit.

  “Have they expined what’s going to happen to you?” e asked.

  Oliver’s eyes gradually focused on the figure before him, finally reizing the voice.

  Without speaking, Oliver hey both sat in silence for a few moments, e still searg for the right words to express what he wao say.

  “I was wrong,” the captain said, staring at the ceiling of the room. “I think I’ve been at the Academy too long. I didn’t expeeoo e after you on purpose.” He sighed, running his fihrough his hair. Oliver couldn’t see through the ocur equipment that cealed the professor’s eyes, but his face expressed all his exhaustion.

  “But my biggest failure wasn’t not predig this. It was teag y.” The professor turo face his student. “In any strategy, being passive and waiting for your oppo’s moves be fatal, especially if you’re not in a position to respond. That’s why it’s always better to be active and move the board to your advantage,” e expined with the same authoritative tone he used in css.

  Oliver listened quietly, nodding. He didn’t bme the captain. He had made the choice to fight, and if he was lying there, it was his responsibility. But deep inside, Oliver was still grappling with the taste of defeat, unsure of his steps.

  “How will you move the board to your advantage, kid?” e asked.

  “I have no clue. Yet.” Oliver replied in a hoarse voice.

  “Then listen to me. If you follow what I’m about to tell you, you won’t fall behind the rest of your css… You might eve ahead.” e looked at Oliver, seeking approval. Oliver didn’t say anything more, focused on paying attention to his captain.

  “But the oute will depeirely on you,” e added.

  GCLopes