The entire third year had gathered inside the gymnasium, but unlike usual, there were no groups forming, no chatter filling the air, and no one eager to spar.
Everyone was waiting.
Their sharp, focused gazes were fixed on a handful of students who seemed to have been automatically singled out from the rest.
Those five students who have been chosen to be the face of the academy.
Rather than receiving admiring gazes and congratulations, all these five were getting was hostility.
Natalie gave a nervous smile. "It feels like we've committed some kind of crime," she muttered.
She has never thought there would come a day where she would be facing her classmates and friends like this.
Gizel folded her arms, huffing. "Look at that guy, hiding behind others," she said, nodding toward Caleb, who gripped his weapon tightly, eyes darting, ready to strike at any moment.
The sense of camaraderie that once existed among them was gone. What remained was raw competition.
