CHAPTER 68 — THE PLACES YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO GO
Dragon Turtle Academy was quiet in a way that felt temporary.
The kind of quiet that only existed because something bigger was waiting just out of sight.
The morning after Stage Two ended, the academy grounds looked almost peaceful. Training arenas that had been packed days ago now sat empty. Maintenance teams repaired cracked stone and scorched platforms. Formation lights flickered on and off as they recalibrated defensive arrays.
For once, no one was rushing.
Azure Dragon's team had been given half a day off. Not officially. More like a collective understanding between instructors that if they didn't let the students breathe now, someone would snap later.
Chen Wulian hated it.
He paced the courtyard like a caged animal, hands behind his head, boots scraping against stone.
"So," he said for the fourth time, "we're just… resting?"
