"Ha!" Draven grinned, waving lazily. "It’s the pretty lady! Hey, Lumi!"

Zephyrion’s eyes turned cold.

"Don’t get distracted! She’s not weak." Vaelor voice snapped. "Watch the tree line! There could be more of them—"

Lumi shot forward.

Despite the scrambler, her short legs seemed to blur. Before anyone could react, her fists crashed into two throats.

"Urgh!"

"Ark!"

Two bodies crumpled to the ground.

Vaelor and the others stared, momentarily stunned by the icy indifference in Lumi’s eyes, before the former recovered first.

"Attack! Bring her down!"

They rushed her from every direction. Yet Lumi was already moving. With the scrambler active, only pure combat prowess mattered. She was an assassin raised by the Order.

They were nothing.

She became a blur among them, weaving through their attacks. Bodies dropped in her wake.

Zephyrion knew he didn’t have to worry about her and shifted his attention to Vaelor. The Ocren descendant still lingered at the rear, watching the battlefield instead of joining the fight. Cautious. Smart. But it changed nothing.

A figure burst into the clearing from the east. Kaiden. He immediately lunged into the clustered cadets, catching them completely off guard.

"Another one!"

"There he is!"

"Beat him!"

Numerous shouts rang out, followed by the sounds of breaking bones and collapsing bodies.

"YES! LEAVE HIM TO DRAVEN!"

"No! Stay on the flag!" Vaelor barked, throwing an arm across Draven’s chest.

"BUT—"

"The flag comes first! Lose it and we’ve already lost!"

Ignoring Draven’s deep scowl, Vaelor continued surveying the battlefield. His attention wasn’t on Lumi or Kaiden’s fight. Instead, his gaze slowly swept across the surrounding forest, as though waiting for something.

The sudden flight of birds in the distance caught his eye. His expression changed.

"Support the west! Now!"

Zephyrion was mildly surprised. Perhaps he hadn’t given Vaelor enough credit.

The other cadets obeyed at once, rushing to reinforce that side. The rustling of leaves grew louder, soon joined by the distant battle cries of multiple cadets.

Then over a dozen figures burst into the clearing with deafening roars. Kaelion led the charge, Tobias and Fiona close behind.

"Prepare for battle!" Vaelor thundered.

Without weapons, the cadets settled into fighting stances and answered with a unified roar.

Vaelor and Kaelion’s eyes met, and for a brief instant, nothing else seemed to exist.

They shot toward one another, exchanging rapid blows. The next moment their armies collided, throwing the clearing into chaos.

Tobias slipped past a straight punch and answered with a sharp uppercut. His eyes remained shut as blood splattered across his arm, his nose plugged just as Zephyrion had taught him.

He turned away the moment the cadet dropped, opening his eyes just in time to see another roaring opponent charging toward him.

Fiona flowed through the battlefield like water, weaving around attacks while striking precise blows at vital points. The other Calderalth cadets dominated the battlefield.

Zephyrion watched it all from atop the tree for a few seconds, before slowly rising. He rolled one shoulder, then cracked his neck.

It was time to move.

He lowered his stance until one knee brushed the branch beneath him. The branch exploded apart as he launched himself into the sky.

He crossed the distance in an instant, descending upon the battlefield like a hunting beast. Heads snapped upward, eyes widening in alarm.

Too late.

He soared over the chaotic battle line and dropped straight into the inner ranks. Rolling the impact away, he came up in one smooth motion.

"DRAVEN! DON’T LET HIM THROUGH!" Vaelor’s voice ripped across the battlefield.

A thunderous boom erupted as fist met muscled chest.

"DON’T TOUCH HIM! HE’S MINE!"

Draven’s colossal fist tore through the air, sending a violent gust ahead of it. Unfazed, Zephyrion answered with a punch of his own.

Boom!

The collision blasted air across the clearing.

Crack!

Draven’s expression twisted as he staggered backward several steps. His arm hung limply at his side, fresh cuts splitting across the skin as blood dripped on the earth.

The entire battlefield seemed to freeze. Draven Hartvain... had lost in a contest of raw strength.

But Zephyrion offered no respite. He erased the distance with quick, compact steps before driving his fist deep into Draven’s stomach.

The giant hurtled backward, crashing into a tree. Somehow, the takedown eased the coldness in his eyes.

"NO!" Vaelor’s roar tore through the clearing.

But he was already too late. Zephyrion gripped the flag, ripped it from the ground, and raised it overhead.

"Winner!"

The moment the instructor’s voice rang out, the defeated cadets let out weary sighs while the attackers erupted into cheers.

"FUCK!"

Vaelor kicked sand into the air, shot one furious glare at Zephyrion, barked a string of curses at Draven, then stormed off in a rage, the Ocren cadets hurrying after him.

Zephyrion was soon surrounded by Lumi and the rest.

"My lord, you were awesome!" Tobias beamed. "Your plan was perfect! But... how did you jump that far!? And you actually went head-to-head with Draven! That was amazing!"

Fiona and Kaiden, having already witnessed Zephyrion clash directly with a Droggath before, merely shrugged. Kaelion, along with many of the other Calderalth youths, simply stared at him in silence.

He had earned twenty Temper Points for the victory.

The next training followed immediately.

Forging.

They were ushered into a massive forge. Zephyrion, like the other Ferran children, had been raised in one. They had learned the craft from childhood. As such, the instructors skipped the basics entirely, handing each cadet a lump of molten metal and ordering them to hammer it into a blade.

It was only after the first few strikes that Zephyrion realized the metal wasn’t ordinary. It was of an exceptionally high grade, far beyond what mere cadets should have been working with. Every swing of the hammer barely left a mark.

The clangorous ringing of steel echoed throughout the forge. Heat rolled through the air from the blazing furnaces before every workstation. Yet even at a relentless pace, they could hammer for an entire week and still fail to finish. Even so, not a single cadet dared stop.

"WHAT ARE YOU?"

"SLAG!"

"WHAT WILL YOU BECOME?"

"STEEL!"

"AND HOW DO YOU BECOME STEEL?"

"THROUGH TEMPERING!"

The instructor wandered between the forges, repeating the same chant over and over.

They hammered until the sun set. By the end, many could barely lift their arms. Even Zephyrion felt the strain.

"Enough! Courtyard! Move!"

With their arms hanging limply at their sides, they shuffled toward the courtyard for the final training of the day.

Comprehension.

They were instructed to sit and comprehend their elemental rune. Many welcomed it, finally able to rest and catch their breath.

Zephyrion used the opportunity to go over Titan Armor, refining it and adding more features. It was only after nightfall that they were allowed to return to their rooms.

Lumi collapsed onto the bed, not even bothering to change. Within moments, her soft snores filled the room.

Zephyrion squeezed himself onto the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. The training had been hard. Harder than even he had expected. But it was manageable. Nothing could be harder than the Order.

Today’s matter was more important. An unseen hand had turned the cadets against him. The house was already splintering into factions.

If he wanted total control over the House... he would have to change that.