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Chapter 3 - First Training

The next morning,the school bell rang and all students gather at the ground of assembly, the instructor Miss.Eleanor with a bright deep red eyes standing at the corner of the stage,with a scary glance staring at me soon the principal step on the stage to give a speech to the new student like me .

The academy believed in one core principle: pain is the best teacher.

They didn't mean emotional pain — though there was plenty of that — they meant bruises, burns, and broken bones. Scars were considered graduation certificates.

The morning after Leo's fight with Jack, the sky over the training yard was still dark when the whistle blew. The air carried the bite of cold metal, and the stone walls of the compound seemed to trap the chill.

Today's schedule was posted on the main board: Endurance & Precision.

Leo groaned. Endurance days were bad enough, but pairing it with precision meant hours of running followed by tests that required steady hands — when all you wanted was to collapse.

Eleanor stood in front of them in full combat gear, black fatigues and a holstered sidearm. "Today," she began, "you will run until you want to quit. And then you will run some more. Because in the field, the enemy doesn't stop chasing you when you get tired."

They ran.

The first lap was fine. By the tenth, Leo's legs were on fire. By the fifteenth, his vision was starting to blur. Around him, trainees dropped one by one, falling out of formation. But Eleanor's voice carried over the pounding of boots:

"Stay with your unit or you're already dead!"

Jack was just ahead of Leo, still looking infuriatingly fresh. Every few minutes, he glanced back, as if checking to see when Leo would give up.

Leo gritted his teeth. Not today.

When the run ended, Eleanor led them straight to the shooting range. Their task: hit five moving targets from fifty meters — without missing a single shot. The problem? The rifles they were given were cold metal that bit into their trembling hands.

Leo's first two shots hit dead center. His third missed by an inch.

Jack, of course, hit all five.

"That's why I'm the best," Jack muttered as they handed in their weapons.

Before Leo could retort, Ava spoke up from the other side of the bench. "You're the best at running your mouth, maybe."

Jack's smirk faltered for a moment, and Leo almost smiled. Almost.

---

Later that evening, Leo sat in the mess hall, pushing a plate of bland stew around with his spoon. The room buzzed with low conversation, but most kids ate in silence. Friendships here were complicated — trust too easily became a liability.

Ava slid onto the bench across from him, her tray clattering down. She didn't speak right away. She just started eating, like she'd been doing this for years.

Finally, she said, "You fight like you're trying to prove something."

Leo glanced up. "And you watch people like you already know their secrets."

Ava's lips curved, not quite a smile. "Maybe I do."

They didn't say much else, but Leo noticed she didn't leave until he finished his food. In the academy, that was as close to an act of friendship as you could get.

---

That night, Leo couldn't sleep. His muscles ached, but it wasn't the physical pain that kept him awake. It was a conversation he'd overheard while walking past Eleanor's office earlier in the day.

Two voices. One was Eleanor's. The other was male, sharp and impatient.

"…the boy's progress?"

Eleanor had paused before answering. "He's… different. Resilient. But you didn't tell me where he came from."

"That's not your concern," the man replied. "Just make sure he's ready when the time comes."

Leo didn't know what "the time" meant. But something in the man's tone told him it wouldn't be good.

---

The following week, the announcement came:

Field Evaluation – Team Assignment: Leo, Ava, Jack

A ripple went through the trainees. Field evaluations weren't like training drills. They were done outside the academy's walls. The missions were dangerous — sometimes lethally so.

As they stood in the equipment room, strapping on gear, Jack looked from Leo to Ava with thinly veiled annoyance. "Great. I get the rookie and the troublemaker."

Ava tightened her holster. "Better than getting stuck with the loudmouth."

Eleanor entered, dropping a folder on the table. "Your mission is simple — retrieve an encrypted drive from a safehouse in Sector 9. You will work together. No lone wolves. No unnecessary risks."

She looked at Leo for a beat longer than the others. "Do not fail."

Leo nodded, but something in her eyes made him wonder if this mission was about more than just a drive.

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