Dinner continued under a weak, flickering yellow light typical of the lower sectors of Kirden Fortress. Under that glow, Neale watched his new "companions" with a mix of skepticism and strangeness—but at the same time, he felt that this group might actually work. They were what the Order always called mediocre, yet each of them carried a scar—physical or mental—that had kept them alive until now and kept pushing them forward.
"Snake venom, Troll?" Fitty asked, shaking her head as she pushed her plate away from Nuke. "If you start foaming at the mouth in the dorm or anywhere near me, I'll throw you over the walls myself."
"To me, snake venom is almost medicinal, sweetheart," Troll hissed with a grin, revealing sharpened canines that looked yellowish in the dim light. His skin was strangely pale. "It relaxes me. Helps me focus, sharpens my senses. Since I still can't use Justa Ira, it helps a lot. And it makes me feel like I'm floating down a river every time I use it."
Neale felt the weight of those words. He couldn't use Justa Ira either—but snake venom? That was madness. Potentially deadly without an antidote.
He glanced at Kilay, who remained silent, carefully wiping a barely visible stain from his black sleeve. Kilay didn't seem to need venom or motivation. He was already strong. He felt like a weapon on his own.
"Listen," Neale said, his voice firmer than he felt.
The clatter of utensils stopped—especially Nuke's, which had been banging chaotically against her plate while she shouted that she wanted to blow it up with her fork.
"We have three days. The instructor was clear: get stronger together. If we don't reach the second stage as a real team, we'll be crushed by groups that already train as a unit. Like those V-Zero bastards."
"He's right," Luan said, crossing his arms while Luna nodded darkly, as if remembering something.
"My sister and I saw what Group One did. They didn't just fight—they wiped the floor with the other group."
"And how do you plan to train us, our 'colorless leader'?" Vitel asked mockingly, though fear still hid beneath her tone.
"I'm not your leader," Neale shot back, locking eyes with her. "But I'm someone who doesn't want to get expelled and see everything I sacrificed turn useless because I was weak. Tomorrow at dawn, we'll be in the training yard. Kilay—you're clearly better at hand-to-hand combat than anyone here. I need you to teach us the basics of fighting and defense. Most of us just swing our arms around. That includes me."
Kilay raised his gray eyes. Silence hung in the air before he gave a short nod.
That was enough.
The first night in the dorm was short, filled with dreams wrapped in a smoky haze that muffled even the loudest cricket sounds.
Neale woke nearly an hour before the signal sounded, feeling the cold handles of his knives beneath his pillow. He secured them at his waist and stepped into the dark, colorless hallway.
To his surprise, Lira was already there, sitting against the wall, watching the dawn through a narrow gap in the reinforced metal. Her thoughts seemed as quiet as the sunrise.
"Can't sleep?" he asked.
"Yeah… I tried," she replied, her blonde hair with reddish streaks falling over her face as he carefully sat beside her.
"I get it. A lot happened. We didn't even have time to process it," Neale said softly, watching the first hints of light creep in. "If you want to talk—or just want someone to listen—I'm here."
"Thanks," she said with a faint smile.
Silence lingered.
"Every time I close my eyes, the air feels heavy again. Like when we were coming here with the soldier Leonardo… that strange feeling. And then the bad memories come back." She lowered her voice even more. "Neale… do you think we actually have a chance to awaken Justa Ira? Or even make it to the final stage?"
Neale looked at his hands—rough, marked with small cuts that told the story of how he had reached Kirden.
"If we don't awaken it, then we'll have to become better than those who did. These ordinary knives on my back can still cut—even someone with Justa Ira. I think."
"So you're saying you want to fight everything out there? Humans, angels, demons, beasts… maybe even 'super-humans'—whatever else exists. As a regular human?"
"Yes," Neale said, determination mixing with something deeper in his gaze. "That's why I have to get as strong as possible. Even as a regular human."
They stayed there until the sun fully rose.
Training began under a merciless sun reflecting off Kirden's gray walls.
For hours, they trained—individually and as a group. Basic movements, coordinated strikes, endurance drills. They lifted weights, ran laps, did push-ups and sit-ups, even fought their own shadows.
Kilay, despite his lazy tone, was a flawless instructor. He corrected stances with sharp kicks whenever he spotted mistakes, leaving marks where they were sloppy. At one point, while striking Luan's guard, he said they needed to hit as hard as possible so their bodies would build reflex memory for where to protect themselves.
But somehow, trouble still found them.
"Ugh… look what you did, Fitty!" Troll grumbled, grabbing her collar.
"What? Aren't we training to get stronger?" she replied with a grin.
"The problem is you keep increasing your punch strength! I tolerated it at first—even when you made me bleed. But you keep going harder, and you're only aiming for my nose! Are you trying to break my face?!"
"I was trying to make your ugly face more durable," she shot back instantly.
Neale stopped training and tried to separate them—but they barely budged.
"Maybe I should try exploding your face with my fists too," Troll growled, eyes blazing.
"I'd like to see you try—"
"Explode…?" Nuke's voice cut in.
She had been lying in the shade nearby, half asleep. The moment she heard "explode," she sprang up.
"Nuke wants to explode too!"
She moved so fast that by the time anyone realized, she was airborne—spinning between the three of them. One foot hit Troll's face, the other slammed into Fitty's, and she punched Neale straight in the face—just because.
All three crashed to the ground, scattered apart.
"Boom! Nuke exploded everyone!" she declared dramatically as she landed.
Everyone burst into laughter—even the three who had just been knocked down. Kilay allowed himself a faint smile from a distance.
At that moment, Luna suggested they all head to the slag-heap pool to relax after hours of training. Before she even finished, Nuke bolted off shouting that she was going to "explode in the pool."
"Don't let that maniac jump into the pool sweaty and covered in dirt—someone stop her!" Kilay suddenly shouted, already sprinting after her.
That's how the first day of training ended.
Two days remained.