Three days remained.
Three days until the Vanguard returned.
Three days until Nythara.
Three days until the Eclipsera Conclave.
And according to Dak...
Three days until they discovered whether all this training had actually been worth the pain.
At the moment, the answer felt doubtful.
Very doubtful.
Because Dak was hanging upside down from a cliff.
Bleeding.
Again.
"Can somebody help me?"
"No.
Matthew replied.
Dak looked offended.
"I could die."
"You said that yesterday."
"I almost did yesterday."
"Fair point."
Unfortunately nobody helped him.
The exercise had been Kael's idea.
Which immediately made it dangerous.
The objective was simple.
Climb down the quarry wall.
Without ropes.
Without powers.
Using only their bodies.
The wall stretched nearly sixty meters downward.
Jagged stone.
Loose rocks.
Sharp drops.
One mistake meant a very unpleasant fall.
The first attempts had been disastrous.
Dak slipped.
Matthew nearly lost his grip.
Ozias discovered that overthinking while hanging from a cliff was a terrible strategy.
Even Zeven had fallen twice.
Only Kael seemed completely comfortable.
Which was annoying.
Very annoying.
Dak finally pulled himself onto solid ground.
His hands were covered in cuts.
Blood stained his fingers.
His forearms burned.
His shoulders felt like they were on fire.
Yet he was smiling.
A few months ago he wouldn't have made it halfway.
Now?
Now he wanted another attempt.
That realization surprised him.
The next exercise was worse.
Much worse.
The boys stood beneath a waterfall.
A massive one.
Cold.
Violent.
Relentless.
The water crashed against the rocks with enough force to shake the ground.
Matthew pointed upward.
"We climb."
Dak stared.
Then stared harder.
"No."
"We climb."
"No."
"We climb."
Dak sighed.
"I miss when life was normal."
Nobody listened.
One by one they entered the waterfall.
The force hit like a hammer.
The water slammed into their bodies.
Every step became a battle.
Every movement required effort.
The rocks were slippery.
Dangerous.
Unforgiving.
Ozias lost his footing first.
His body slid sideways.
His shoulder smashed against stone.
Blood appeared instantly.
He gritted his teeth.
Grabbed another hold.
Continued climbing.
No complaints.
No hesitation.
The others followed.
Higher.
Higher.
Higher.
The waterfall fought them every meter.
By the time they reached the top, everyone's hands were bleeding.
Their muscles trembled.
Their lungs burned.
Yet nobody stopped smiling
Because they had made it.
The combat training became worse too.
Far worse.
No powers.
No mercy.
No limits.
The boys had stopped treating sparring like a game weeks ago.
Now every fight felt real.
Not because they hated each other.
Because they trusted each other.
They knew when to stop.
Usually.
Kael and Zeven stood in the center of the quarry.
The others watched from nearby rocks.
The atmosphere immediately changed.
As always.
Dak sat down.
"This is gonna hurt."
The fight started.
Kael moved first.
Fast.
A punch aimed directly at Zeven's jaw.
Zeven slipped sideways.
The fist missed by centimeters.
He countered immediately.
A strike toward Kael's ribs.
Blocked.
Kael answered with an elbow.
The impact slammed into Zeven's shoulder.
Pain shot through his arm.
He ignored it.
Weeks ago that would've slowed him.
Now it only annoyed him.
They exchanged blows.
Fast.
Precise.
Brutal.
Punch.
Block.
Kick.
Counter.
Neither gave ground.
A fist connected with Zeven's cheek.
His vision blurred.
He answered with a knee to Kael's stomach.
Kael staggered.
Only slightly.
The others stared.
Months ago this would've been impossible.
Now they looked almost equal.
The fight continued.
Blood appeared.
A split lip.
A cut eyebrow.
Bruised ribs.
Nobody stopped.
Finally Kael landed a clean hit.
His fist crashed against Zeven's face.
The impact lifted him off the ground.
Dak whistled.
"Damn."
Zeven hit the dirt.
Spat blood.
Then stood up.
Immediately.
Kael smiled.
"Good."
The fight lasted another ten minutes.
When it finally ended...
Neither could stand properly.
The draw remained.
Neither liked it.
The following day brought something even worse.
The mountain run.
Twenty kilometers.
Straight uphill.
Carrying stone-filled backpacks.
Nobody enjoyed it.
Not even Kael.
The weight dug into their shoulders.
The terrain fought every step.
Their muscles screamed.
Their lungs begged them to stop.
Nobody stopped.
Dak vomited halfway through.
Then kept running.
Ozias nearly collapsed.
Then kept running.
Matthew twisted an ankle.
Then kept running.
Every time their bodies demanded rest...
They ignored it.
Because Nythara wasn't going to care.
The final training day arrived.
Three days before the Vanguard's return.
The boys entered the forest before sunrise.
No objective.
No destination.
Just survival.
Hours passed.
The forest felt peaceful.
Almost too peaceful.
Then the bear appeared.
Massive.
Muscular.
A wall of fur and muscle emerging from the trees.
The animal froze.
The boys froze.
Dak looked at it.
"Bear."
"Correct."
Matthew replied.
"Very large bear."
"Also correct."
The animal growled.
The sound echoed through the forest.
Dak cracked his neck.
The bear charged.
Fast.
Much faster than most people realized bears could move.
Yet compared to the boys...
Not fast enough.
Kael stepped forward.
The bear raised a massive paw.
A swipe capable of tearing apart flesh.
Kael ducked.
The claws passed overhead.
Then he punched.
Not with Nexis.
Not with Force Manipulation.
Just his body.
His fist slammed into the bear's shoulder.
The impact sounded like a gunshot.
The animal was lifted off its feet.
It rolled across the forest floor.
Silence.
The bear stood again.
Dazed.
Confused.
Dak burst out laughing.
"No way."
"My turn."
The bear charged again.
Dak stepped aside.
His hand shot forward.
One punch.
The impact folded the bear's front legs.
The animal crashed face-first into the dirt.
A crater appeared beneath it.
Complete silence followed.
The bear slowly lifted its head.
Looked at the five boys.
Then made the smartest decision of its life.
It turned around.
And ran.
Very quickly.
The boys watched it disappear into the forest.
Nobody moved.
Then Dak started laughing.
Soon everyone joined.
Because they finally understood.
The training.
The pain.
The blood.
The exhaustion.
It had worked.
Months ago they would've feared the bear.
Now the bear feared them.
As the sun began setting beyond the trees..
The five friends started walking home.
Bruised.
Scarred.
Exhausted.
Ready.
Or at least...
As ready as they could be.
Because in three days...
The Vanguard would return.
And Earth would become a memory.