For the next three days, your squads will be deployed into the southern wilds. You will survive against terrain, beasts, and each other if necessary. Return alive, with the academy tokens, and you pass. Fail, and you prove yourselves unfit."
A murmur rolled through the courtyard. Shoulders tensed, eyes darted. Everyone knew the reputation of the southern wilds. Tangled forests that seemed endless even on maps, rivers that shifted course with the rains, and beasts that pressed too close to the borders of human settlements. It was no training ground. Sending students there was proof enough that this challenge would not be gentle.
Mr. Han waited for the noise to fade before continuing, his tone calm, almost dry, but carrying the weight of finality. "Some of you will think this is about fighting. It is not. Some of you will think it is about hiding. It is not. Survival demands more. It demands judgment."
