A month passed, and in that time, Kade was no longer the weak, scrawny kid who had been rejected. He had changed—his body, his mind, his confidence. The time spent in the harsh environment of the prison planet had molded him into something more than just a survivor. He was becoming a force to be reckoned with.
The first few weeks after the rejection had been brutal. It wasn't just the physical pain that Kade endured; it was the mental strain. The doubts. The relentless nagging thought that maybe he wasn't cut out for this life, that maybe he should have taken Garrick's advice and given up.
But the fire inside him never dimmed. Every morning, after a few hours of sleep, he would rise before the sun—determined to work harder, push further, and become someone they would regret underestimating.
Kade knew that he could not rely solely on brute strength to survive this world. No, he needed something more. Something the other criminals didn't have. He needed to be tactical, strategic. He needed to be intelligent.
Leena, the woman who had agreed to join him in building his gang, had become his mentor. Cold, calculating, and always pushing him to do more, she taught him more than just how to fight. She taught him how to think like a leader. How to observe, plan, and execute with precision.
While his body transformed, so did his mind.
Kade spent hours in the warehouse, training his body. In the mornings, it was endurance—running sprints in the blistering heat, followed by grueling circuit training. He'd push through pain, not allowing his mind to take control. Every time his muscles burned, he would remember the faces of those who had laughed at him. Every time his breath became ragged, he would remember Garrick's sneer.
He wasn't going to stop. He couldn't.
By the time the sun dipped below the horizon, Kade's body had changed. His once scrawny limbs had filled out with lean muscle. His chest and arms were defined, his abs showing through from the countless hours of physical training. He had become faster, more agile, and the fear that once gripped him during his first fights had started to fade. He was still far from perfect, but each day, he was getting closer to the man he needed to be.
But it wasn't just physical transformation.
In the evenings, Kade would sit with Leena, who helped him sharpen his mind. It was here, away from the brutal workouts, that Kade learned what truly separated the strong from the weak in this brutal world. It wasn't just who could land the hardest punch. It was who could outthink their opponent, who could make moves before they were even necessary.
"Look around, Kade," Leena would say, her cold eyes scanning the horizon. "Everything is a game of strategy. You don't need to be the biggest or the strongest. You need to make your moves before your enemies know what hit them. Every decision you make should be calculated. Every move should have a purpose."
One night, she took him to the local tavern—a place where the criminals from every faction came together. Here, Kade observed how the real players operated, how the gangs interacted with one another. There was no immediate violence, no shouting. Everything was subtle. A glance here, a hand on the shoulder there. Leena pointed out the little things—the power plays, the subtle negotiations that could change the course of everything.
"You see that?" Leena nodded toward a tall man in the corner, surrounded by a group of his followers. "He's not the strongest man in the room, but he controls everything in here. He plays the long game, always thinking two or three steps ahead."
Kade watched intently, understanding the lesson in real-time.
Every interaction in the room had a deeper layer. He had to learn how to read people—how to spot those who were vulnerable, those who were valuable. It wasn't just about strength. It was about knowing who to trust, who to manipulate, and when to strike.
The next few weeks passed in a blur of training, observing, and learning. Kade had become a different person. He no longer walked with his head down, trying to avoid attention. Now, he walked with purpose—his eyes sharp, his posture straight. He had learned how to carry himself with confidence, even in a world filled with killers.
His body was no longer the weak frame that had once been pushed around. He was strong, lean, and quick. His fighting technique was becoming precise, his movements sharp and calculated. But even more important, Kade was no longer scared.
He had learned to mask his fear, to push through the uncertainty and focus on what really mattered: the goal.
"I'll prove them all wrong," he said to himself every night as he lay down to rest, staring at the cracked ceiling above him. He wasn't just training to survive anymore. He was training to become someone who could control his fate.
And slowly, bit by bit, he began to understand just how powerful his mind could be. He wasn't going to wait for a lucky break. He was going to make his own luck.
As the month came to an end, Kade was no longer the weak, frightened boy who had stood outside Garrick's gang. He had become something else entirely—a criminal with a plan, a tactical mind, and a body capable of making that plan a reality.
And the world was starting to notice.
The whispers had already begun. "Who's that kid?" they would say. "He's different."
And Kade smiled to himself. They were right. He was different. And soon, they would see just how far that difference would take him.
He wasn't just going to survive this place. He was going to rule it.