Serafina had taken a broad approach to finding teammates, asking almost anyone she came across whether they had already formed a group. She had never expected to find Eli Thorne today, let alone discover that he was still looking for members.
Eli paused thoughtfully. "I thought I was the only ordinary freshman who hadn't been recommended by one of the Seven Towers."
With tuition fees so exorbitant, most ordinary students would only dare enroll at the First Military Academy if they had secured a regional scholarship. Such scholarships were practically equivalent to sponsorship from the nobility, and the connections that came with them could often provide assistance when it was time to form a team. Of course, there were exceptions, such as Elias and Nathan, who had received recommendations but preferred not to associate with the academy's aristocratic students. Students like them were rare enough that Eli had assumed he was the only one in his situation.
