A week passed.
In that time, the bruises on my arms faded. My ribs stopped aching from iron sword strikes. The morning frost stopped biting quite so hard.
And for the first time in six years—I wasn't hungry.
Three meals a day. Real food. Hot broth. Bread not scraped from market waste. Vegetables. Sometimes meat.
The difference wasn't subtle. I could feel it in my limbs. In my breath. In the way I moved.
Aelarians, even half-starved ones, are built to endure—taller, leaner, stronger than most humans, especially once fed. I hadn't realized how much I'd been withering until the food started fueling something deeper.
My reflexes sharpened. My endurance climbed. I could spar through two matches before the lactic burn set in. My muscles, once ropey and sunken, began to take proper shape.
Halvren noticed. So did the others.
Not many said it aloud—but some gave me a wider berth.
Even Tessa.
Squad Four wasn't pretty, but we were starting to hold our own now.
Brayden had finally stopped tripping over his own feet.
Danya still barely spoke, but she trained harder than anyone.
Malric had knocked out a recruit from Squad One and earned three days of latrine duty.
Vell moved like mist.
And Riken… well, he was still Riken—equal parts mouth and luck.
But we were getting somewhere.
The morning bell rang as the recruits gathered in formation.
Halvren strode in with his usual scowl, flanked by two other officers—Vaelen, and a short woman in black armor bearing a silver sash. Her eyes moved like a hawk's, sharp and deliberate.
"This is Commander Issa," Halvren said, voice crisp. "She oversees early-stage discipline and leadership evaluations. Today, squad leaders will be assigned."
A ripple went through the ranks—straightened backs, sidelong glances.
"For the next two and a half months, you will answer to your squad leader," Halvren continued. "Fail them, and you fail your squad. Fail your squad, and you fail the Empire."
Issa stepped forward and unfurled a scroll.
"Leader of Squad One—Tessa Relvar."
No surprise there. Tessa stepped out, saluted, and returned to position without a flicker of emotion.
"Squad Two—Gavren."
A stocky boy barked his acknowledgment.
Squads Three through Six were called—some expected, some clearly a shock to the recruits themselves.
Then—
"Squad Four…"
A pause.
I felt it before I heard it.
"…Liora."
Silence.
Even Malric turned toward me, one brow raised.
I stepped forward. Saluted.
"Understood," I said.
Halvren's eyes met mine. Not approval. Not disapproval. Just that same, measured watching.
"You're improving," he said, almost offhand. "Try not to disappoint."
I returned to my squad.
Brayden looked like he wanted to clap but wasn't sure if it was allowed. Riken grinned.
"Told you," he muttered. "You're the scary one now."
"I'm not scary," I said.
"You are when you're hungry," Vell murmured. "Less so now."
The rest of the day passed in the usual blur—sparring, obstacle runs, precision drills—but something had shifted. Not just in me. In how the others moved around me.
No one challenged the appointment.
Not even Malric—though the way he watched me said that, if he ever did, he'd make sure it counted.
That night, in the corner of the barracks Squad Four had unofficially claimed, Brayden nudged me with a grin.
"I guess we should be calling you 'Boss' now."
"Please don't," I said.
Danya gave a single nod—that was probably her version of congratulations.
Riken tossed me a small crust of bread from dinner. "In honor of your rise to power."
I caught it without thinking.
"Be serious for once," I said.
"I am," he grinned. "You're shaping up, Liora. People are starting to notice."
I wasn't sure how to feel about that.
Later, as the barracks quieted and the lanterns burned low, I lay staring at the rafters. My muscles ached, but not in the brittle, hollow way they used to. This ache was solid. Earned.
The rune on my wrist hadn't glowed since the last lesson. Magic came slower than strength. But I could feel it there—waiting. Shifting.
Like the sea beneath still water.
Somewhere outside the city walls, the Beast Glades whispered. That forest, always on the edge of maps and nightmares, sent monsters spilling into the Empire every year.
I had a feeling we'd see it before training ended.
I wasn't sure if that thought excited me… or terrified me.
For now, I had food. I had a squad. And I had a name people might remember.