The real training began after breakfast.
First was weapon practice. Each elite cadet trained with their chosen weapon, perfecting their technique under the watchful eyes of the instructors.
Sandy wielded daggers, light and swift, moving with unmatched agility. He had trained with them since childhood, his strikes precise, almost imperceptible in speed, weaving offense and defense together like a dance.
Nikks gripped a sword, heavy and punishing. Each swing struck like a gale-force wind, designed to overwhelm opponents with raw strength and timing.
Jane wielded bows specializing in shooting arrows. For close combat she used knife. She was from a family of warriors. Her father was a rare powerful elemental warrior. He was one pf the mowt respected figures in the entire E5 zone.
Kael was an expert with swords. He and Nikks were the two most proficient cadets in the training camp. He hailed from a household which produced sword masters and his own fsther was a sword master. He silently practiced his family's sword art.
Dorion was a giant in a mans skin. He used two heavy double handed axe which he wielded easily. His bloodline was clearly speaking volumes.
Hours passed. Sweat soaked their clothes, muscles burned, and their focus sharpened with every strike and parry.
As evening approached, it was time for sparring. The elites squared off in pairs, with instructors observing.
Sandy and Nikks faced each other. The familiar rhythm returned—the wind and the gale.
Sandy's daggers were like the wind: swift, slicing, unpredictable. He darted, parried, and exploited every opening, never overextending. Nikks' sword was the gale: hard-hitting, overwhelming, relentless. Every clash of their weapons sent sparks flying. Years of sparring had balanced them—sometimes Sandy would edge out a win, sometimes Nikks—but both wielded their weapons with absolute mastery.
They moved faster, harder, stronger than anyone else. The yard echoed with the clash of steel, dust and sweat flying with each strike.
Then, something extraordinary happened.
As Nikks swung his sword in a precise overhead strike, a surge of lightning coursed along the blade, crackling through the air. The ground seemed to hum beneath him.
Nikks' eyes widened with exhilaration. He had awakened.
The other cadets froze. Awakening required a body strong enough to handle the surge of energy, and Nikks' achievement spoke volumes of his talent, discipline, and years of unrelenting hard work.
After a long pause which felt like eternity Nikks came out of his stupir. A grin spread across his face. He had done it.
But one person's happiness outshone his own. Sandy Wills, facing him, felt a surge of pride and joy. His friend, his partner in countless drills, had unlocked a power that many cadets dreamed of.