"Your defeat was like a stain on all of our faces!"
A few days had passed since the conclusion of the Backup Team competition, and yet the ripples of the former Backup Team's total loss were still echoing through the halls of the Military Department.
The shock hadn't faded; instead, it had curdled into a bitter, resentful atmosphere that hung over the elite circles of the department.
Inside the dimly lit basement of the main fighting classes building, a group of thirty students had gathered in a semi-circle. This was the hidden base of the Black Ares, one of the most powerful and feared elite clubs in Azure Academy.
The members, all wearing the dark, high-collared uniforms that denoted their status, were currently surrounding the five students who got defeated by John's team.
"You disgraced us with such a miserable defeat," the leader of the club growled. He was a tall, imposing student in his final year, with scars across his knuckles that spoke of a thousand brawls.
