Even though all he saw was darkness, Dale could still feel what was happening to him.

He felt firm arms gripping his body and dragging him to wherever.

’What just happened? Was it General Malcolm’s doing or something else?’ Either way, it was a frightening idea that he would be so easy to kidnap.

After what felt like an eternity — Dale couldn’t be sure having lost track of time — his eyes finally agreed to open.

Unlike the numerous times before when he opened his eyes, he didn’t wince from a bright light because there simply wasn’t any.

’At least my retinas are spared from being burned.’

Dale firstly took notice of his missing luggage, then stood up and stumbled as he took in the sight in front of him.

He, and every other recruit, appeared to be in an underground city layered with brick buildings and lanterns.

A large underground stream flowed through the city, splitting it in two. Both parts being connected by bridges at several locations along the path of the stream.

Austin’s mouth was visibly agape.

Not that Dale could blame him, it was truly a sight to behold.

"Enough sightseeing." General Malcolm’s gruff voice called out from behind them.

Everyone turned to him and saw that his uniform had changed from green to a darker color.

"From here on, there will be a ranking scheme put in place. A measure to truly filter out valiant warriors from... those that are less so." His eyes traced over them, settling on the Awakened in their year longer.

It was almost as though he was saying he refused to believe those who were still Dormant would amount to anything.

"Your living area is dependent on your rank; the higher you are, the better your situation, resources, and the food you can get." The General paused and continued with a faint smile.

"All feeding costs are to be settled by you... So don’t think to order what you can’t afford. Naturally, there is a credit system but I would personally advise against that.

There are ways to increase your ranks, two ways in fact. The first is to complete more tasks. The rewards are naturally dependent on the speed of completion and the complexity of the task.

The other way to increase your rank is to challenge those whom you wish to take their rank in a duel. A refusal of the duel dictates an automatic reduction of points to the refusing party." He paused for them to process the information.

Dale tilted his head.

The words were a saga just to say one thing only; eat or be eaten.

It seemed that even within the military, the oldest law of the jungle still applied.

The duel system was a trap to ensure constant conflict and a constantly changing structure of power.

Even if you knew you couldn’t beat someone of a higher rank than you, you could always just challenge them and ensure they refused until their rank became too low.

Either way, it would cause a lot of issues and an unstable power structure within their year. Small progresses and advances made by each recruit would always cause a massive ripple through the rankings.

And Dale was completely sure that Dormant would be at the bottom of the barrel.

"Halfway through the year, the top 12 recruits will be given a special reward and a treat to congratulate them on their skills.

And if you wish to go through the specifics of the finances and credit system, head straight through the city to its very center. There’s a finance building. But for now, follow me."

General Malcolm concluded and turned around, walking away.

Dale hadn’t even spoken to his teammates since they arrived at the new location. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to but he couldn’t.

The entirety of the year was quiet. If one of them made a sound, it would be heard by everyone.

And the last thing Dale wanted was to get the attention of the general especially as he was Dormant. That was simply a recipe for disaster.

As they followed closely behind the war veteran, a sudden influx of static through the air made everyone’s hair stand on end.

With each breath that Dale drew, he felt his muscles ease up from light fatigue and even his mind became sharper.

He turned to his teammates and they nodded at him, confirming they were experiencing the same thing.

’What is this?’

As they continued to wade through the barren ground of the underground city, a small patch of grass appeared on its own.

Eventually, they came upon another and another patch until they were in a field.

The blades of each grass seemed to hum with the same energy that actively reinvigorated them.

General Malcolm pointed between them and the field they were in.

"This is what we call Eden. It’s a rare phenomenon where plants manage to feed on a special type of substance I’m sure you’re all familiar with." He started to explain.

Dale’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. ’Is he talking about —?!’

"Awakening pools. These plants...." He paused, "...this plant has managed to feed on the remnant of an Awakening pool and thus Awakened its own ability."

Nearly everyone couldn’t believe their ears. One thing they had been made to believe, one thing that was common knowledge was that Awakening pools only affected animals.

So hearing that it affected plants was as terrifying as it was intriguing.

On one hand, Dale wondered how that worked but on the other, he feared a day when humans would be fighting beasts in a forest not knowing that the forest itself was trying to eat them.

The other hand had more weight.

General Malcolm bent slightly and picked up a single blade of grass. "This plant is the only one that has been discovered. As I said, it’s rare."

Dale couldn’t help but stare at the vibrant herb in the General’s hand. It was truly alluring in its own way.

The first of plant-kind to consume an Awakening pool.

General Malcolm dropped the grass back on the patchwork of grasses. "Avoid going in here without permission. Is that clear?!"

"Sir. Yes, sir."

"Good. Now follow me."