After Jaren and Fin were done with the tour, they headed for the training ground.
It was now 6pm.
The training ground was a flat expanse of jagged crimson dust, baked dry by twelve hours of unrelenting solar heat.
At twenty paces stood Officer Stolas. Arms crossed over a dark tactical vest, his dark eyes scanning and measuring the team.
"You look soft," Stolas said. His voice was flat, lacking even the energy of insult.
"The rule is simple. Extinguish the spark above my head before the sun dips past the perimeter wall. Success yields ten points, shooting you a rank upward. Failure yields nothing."
A single, pinprick ember ignited an inch above his dark hair.
It hovered with a high-frequency hiss, radiating a localized heat that warped the horizon around it.
Slick with sweat, Jaren adjusted his grip on the hilt.
'It'sa five against one. Against one moving target. An Awakened, very experienced, Rank 1 officer,' he thought. 'We should be careful.'
"Who's first?"
