The hundred laps had ended, and sweat drenched the students' faces, some collapsing to their knees while others struggled to catch their breath.
Instructor Krayos stood at the center of the vast field, watching them with unblinking eyes, aware that all this effort was only the beginning of the true training awaiting them this year.
He raised his voice, declaring that what they had done could not be called training, but merely a warm-up.
Sounds of discontent rose, and several students exhaled in frustration.
One student grumbled to his friend as he wiped the sweat from his face.
"Is he joking? We nearly died from all that running".
His friend replied in a broken tone of exhaustion.
"If that was a warm-up, then what will the real training be? Hell itself?".
A few nearby students laughed, but the laughter did not last long.
At one edge of the field, a sharp sound echoed as a student from Class B collided with the shoulder of a student from Class S named Lucian while passing by.
The two exchanged glances, and the lower ranked student spoke loudly.
"You act like king here just because you wear the elite insignia".
Lucian smiled mockingly and replied.
"It is not the insignia that placed me here, but the strength that runs through my veins. You are nothing more than another accident in the line of failures".
Murmurs rose among the students from all directions, some clapping while others shouted, demanding a fight.
The two stepped closer to each other, tension thickening until even the air itself seemed heavier.
Instructor Krayos did not move. He looked at his silent assistant behind him, then clasped his hands behind his back an unspoken signal that everyone understood as permission to fight.
The screen on his wrist flickered to life, and the field began to change.
The ground widened suddenly, rising into small ridges, rocky walls, and sandy paths, as though they had been transported into a real battlefield.
The argument turned into an open clash, it was no longer a quarrel between two individuals but between entire classes.
Classes S and A lined up on one side, while Classes B, C, and D gathered on the other.
The noise grew louder, energy bursting from several students as their abilities began to manifest.
One unleashed a wave of compressed air, while another ignited his fist with fiery energy.
A student from the lower classes shouted.
"We will not fall before those who think their noble blood grants them strength!".
One of the elite students advanced with slow steps, raised his hand, and struck the ground with tremendous force, sending the sand swirling around him like a vortex.
The lower class students hesitated for a moment, then surged forward again in a unified assault.
Energy collided in midair, small explosions thundered, and dust scattered in every direction.
At the top of the field, several Class S students stood still, among them Zenith, Saphira, and their other companions.
They watched the fight with cold expressions, as if observing a dull performance by monkeys in a circus.
Saphira muttered quietly:
"Just another struggle between those who do not know their place".
Talia said nothing, leaning on her sheathed sword, showing no desire to intervene.
The other students fought with everything they had. One used a body enhancement technique to dash forward at blinding speed, while another summoned a shield of energy to protect his comrades.
A student from Class C was struck hard and thrown backward, prompting his friend to rush and lift him up, their faces smeared with sweat and blood.
In the midst of all the chaos, Krayos remained silent until the waves of energy began to clash uncontrollably, threatening to spiral beyond control.
Only then did he move. He raised his hand calmly, then lowered it slowly toward the ground.
The entire field trembled, and everyone stopped at once, as if something had crushed the air above them.
Some fell to the ground, while others lost their balance.
His voice boomed across the place.
"You are all weak. You know nothing but arrogance and shouting. If this were a deadly or shared world of the Tower, half of you would be dead within the first few minutes".
He paused briefly, then continued in a cutting tone.
"They call you the future of humanity, but all I see are children fighting over the colors of their uniforms".
Silence spread, and the students continued gasping for air.
Krayos looked at them one by one, then turned to leave the field, his assistant following behind as he spoke his final words.
"Prepare yourselves well for the next session, for you will bleed, not sweat".
As for Reis, he stood at the edge of the field, far from the noise that filled the place.
He did not move, showing no desire to intervene or even to understand what had happened among the students.
His eyes had followed everything earlier as though watching a repeated performance whose ending he already knew.
He exhaled slowly, then muttered to himself in a voice barely audible.
"How meaningless all of this is. They fight to prove something temporary and hollow, nothing more. If I had the choice, I would rather waste my time in one of the Tower's worlds, facing real danger, than watch this foolish play".
He lifted his gaze toward the sky for a moment, then lowered it back to the field where the students still stood, and spoke inwardly in a tone heavy with cold indifference.
"At least in the Tower, there is purpose in battle and some reward to gain. But here, there is nothing but noise".