Caelum's eyes shifted slowly.
They settled on Sera.
For a brief moment, he did not speak. He simply looked at her.
Then his voice descended.
"Who are you?"
At the same time, something unseen tightened.
It did not spread across the field like before but compressed into a thin, invisible line that pressed directly onto Sera alone.
No one else felt it.
Not the soldiers.
Not the students.
Not even the Rank Three instructors scattered around the perimeter.
Only Sera.
To her, it felt as if the air around her shoulders had thickened into something viscous. Her breathing became subtly heavier.
Her heart rate spiked as her instincts screamed louder than before.
Is this a warning, she thought.
Yet even as anxiety crept along her spine, it only confirmed what she already believed.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
She straightened slightly despite the pressure.
