"A marked beast," he said, his voice quiet . "I wonder who your owner is."
The students just stared. They were a mess of mud, blood, and exhaustion. They were processing the horror of the fight and the mystery of Jin's words.
Jin looked at the broken, trapped eagle, then at the battered students. He let out a long, theatrical sigh.
"Well," he said, his voice full of fake disappointment. "The test is over for you guys. You're all eliminated."
He looked directly at Marcus, a challenging glint in his eye. He expected an argument.
Marcus just stared at the ground. His pride was gone. He had seen a level of power he could not comprehend. It had broken him. He did not say a word.
The others were too scared or too tired to argue. They just nodded numbly. Failure was better than death.
"Good," Jin said. "Now, let's go. I have places to be."
He started walking. The students followed. It was a long, silent walk back to the command post. They carried their wounded. Leonardo and David carried the still-unconscious Kevin.
The silence was heavy. After a few minutes, Orion moved to walk beside Ivan.
"That was... insane," Orion whispered, his eyes still wide.
"Yeah," Ivan said, his voice flat.
"Is he always like that?" Orion asked. "The seniors... are they all like that?"
"I don't know," Ivan said
Further ahead, Romana was walking next to Jomana.
"Are you okay?" Romana asked, her voice surprisingly soft. She looked at the cut on Jomana's arm.
Jomana just grunted, not looking at her.
"Here," Romana said. She tore a strip of cloth from the bottom of her own shirt. "Let me wrap that for you. It will get infected."
Jomana stopped. She looked at her cousin, then at the offered cloth. She hesitated, then she held out her arm. Romana carefully cleaned the wound as best she could and wrapped it tightly.
"Thanks," Jomana muttered, her voice barely audible.
They continued walking in silence.
They finally arrived at the main camp. Commander Valerius was waiting for them. His arms were crossed. His face was a mask of grim disapproval.
He looked at the state of them. Then he looked at Jin.
"Go," he said to Jin, his voice a low growl. "Pack your things. We will talk later."
Jin just shrugged and walked away. He was already thinking about his trip, not about the students he had just saved.
Commander Valerius turned his cold gaze on the twelve students. He did not yell. His voice was quiet and full of disappointment. That was worse.
"You survived," he said. "But you did not win. You relied on outside help. You failed to overcome the final obstacle on your own."
He walked down the line. His eyes lingered on each of them.
"You," he said to Marcus. "You have strength, but no strategy. You lead with your chin. A real leader uses his head."
Marcus flinched, but said nothing.
"You," he said to Lyraena. "You have skill, but you let your anger control you. A true warrior controls their emotions. They do not let their emotions control them."
Lyraena looked away. Her jaw was tight.
He stopped in front of Kalvin. "You. You betrayed your team. You panicked. A knight who panics gets his comrades killed. You are a disgrace."
Kalvin looked at the ground, his face pale with shame.
The commander then looked at Ivan. He was silent for a long moment.
"And you," he said finally. "You have a strategist's mind. But you lack the strength to see your plans through. You rely on tricks and manipulation. A leader inspires loyalty. He does not force it."
He then addressed the whole group. "All of you are failures. You are not ready to be knights of the Empire."
He turned to a nearby instructor. "Get them to the medical tent. Then arrange for their transport home."
'how the fuck did he knew' Ivan thought to himself.
As they were being led away, Ivan saw Jin emerge from a tent. He had a large travel pack on his back. He walked over to Valerius.
"So," Jin said, loud enough for Ivan to hear. "Are you going to tell me why a marked beast was in that forest?"
"That is none of your concern," Valerius said, his voice low.
"It is my concern when I have to clean up your mess," Jin said back.
"I said," Valerius repeated, his voice now dangerous, "it is none of your concern. Go on your trip. That is your job."
Jin stared at him for a long, hard moment. Then he just laughed. "Fine. Have it your way. But when this blows up in your face, don't come asking for my help."
He turned and walked away, disappearing into the woods without a backward glance.
---
A few days later, the academy had arranged for carts to take the students back to their homes in the capital. The mood was somber. They were the survivors, but they felt like losers.
Ivan sat in a cart next to Leonardo. Leo was quiet.
"Hey," Ivan said. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Leonardo said, not looking at him. "Just... thinking about what the commander said."
"Forget it," Ivan said. "We're alive. That's what matters."
"Is it?" Leonardo asked. "We got eliminated. We failed."
"We failed successfully," Ivan replied with a small smirk.
Leonardo looked at him, confused. Then a small smile touched his own lips. "Yeah. I guess so."
The cart stopped in Marcus's district. Marcus and his group got off. Before he left, Marcus stopped and looked at Ivan. He did not say anything. He just gave a short, sharp nod. It was a sign of Respect, maybe? Ivan was not sure. He nodded back.
The cart continued. It dropped off the others one by one. Lyraena was the last of their group to leave.
"Hey, Rabbit," she said before she got off.
"Yeah?"
"Don't get into too much trouble without me," she said with a small smile. Then she was gone.
Soon, only Ivan was left.
The cart rumbled onto the familiar stone streets of the royal district. The air here was different. It was clean and orderly. It was a world away from the mud and blood of the forest.
He looked up at the high white walls of the palace. They shone in the afternoon sun. They were a symbol of power and stability. They were a symbol of everything he had seen burn to the ground.
The cart stopped. Ivan hopped down.
His heart hammered in his chest.
He was about to see his family again. He was about to see the people he had watched die.
He took the first step toward the palace gates.