The instructor continued with all of the groups until 3PM. Aside from Team Nine, no other group had gotten back a crystal.

The training field settled into a heavy silence, the scorched earth still warm beneath the students' boots. Spirit-glass barriers deactivated with a low hum, and the shimmering combat glyphs slowly dimmed until nothing remained but charred stone and drifting steam.

Instructor Theron stood at the center of the field, arms behind his back, as the remaining teams gathered in a semicircle. The sun had begun its descent, casting long, amber streaks across the academy grounds.

"Let's make one thing clear," he said, voice clipped and loud enough to carry. "None of you were weak. You just weren't ready."

He let that sink in, sweeping a glance across the exhausted, scorched, and humbled student body.

"Combat in the field doesn't care how flashy your skills are. Or how rare your spirit beast might be. It cares about cohesion, clarity, and control under pressure. Team Nine," he added, turning to face Aston's group, "didn't have a perfect plan. But they had each other's backs, and they adapted. That's why they're standing here with the green flare behind them—and you're not."

No one argued.

The instructor turned his gaze back to the full class. "Every failure here was a lesson. Study it. Own it. Next time, the consequences won't be a held-back fireball."

He paused, then gave a nod.

"Dismissed."

Students began to scatter across the training grounds—some in silence, others exchanging low murmurs of frustration or reflection.

As the crowd thinned, Seria turned to the others. "Dinner?"

"Yes. Absolutely yes," Rowan said, already stretching his arms and cracking his shoulders. "I haven't burned that many calories since the orientation obstacle course."

"I heard the food near East Garden gets replenished faster," Lyra offered. "And the curry stall doesn't close till ten."

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"That sounds perfect," Aston agreed. "Kai?"

Kai, who had been brushing soot off Shelldon's now-dimmed shell, looked up. "Me? Oh—I mean, if you all don't mind—"

Rowan clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You saved our hides out there. If anyone deserves dinner, it's you."

Kai's ears went pink. "Alright… yeah. Thanks."

Seria announced to the group, "Okay. Let's meet at the East Garden around 5PM. For now, we need to get our uniforms from the Field Ops Pavilion."

Everyone agreed to meet up at 5 PM.

—

The East Garden plaza was quieter than the main dining hall, lined with open-air seating and warm lights strung above the outdoor pavilions. Food stalls clustered beneath canopies: grilled skewers, steaming noodles, rice platters, and a half-dozen varieties of spirit-infused teas and drinks.

Rowan made a beeline for a triple-meat skewer stall while Seria eyed the spice trays with clinical precision. Lyra returned with neatly plated grilled fish and root vegetables, while Aston grabbed curry rice with a fried egg topping.

Kai sat last, holding a bowl of clear broth and white rice, with two roasted lotus bulbs arranged neatly on top. Shelldon sat quietly beside him on the bench—its shell cool now, faintly humming in rest mode.

"Never thought a crabling would be the reason I'd walk out of a fire drill alive," Rowan said between bites. "You two are a fortress."

Kai chuckled softly. "Shelldon's the real MVP."

"You guided it," Aston said. "Everyone else panicked when Instructor Theron flanked them. You stood your ground. That's not luck."

"Or instinct," Lyra added. "It's training. Discipline. And courage."

Kai didn't respond right away. He just smiled faintly and looked down at his food. "Thanks… really. I didn't expect this. I just wanted to survive the semester."

"You might do more than that," Seria said, then offered him a clean napkin from her tray. "Start thinking bigger."

A quiet comfort settled over the table.

No explosions. No stress. Just food, warmth, and earned rest.

Gray, having followed discreetly, curled into a ball on the bench beside Aston's leg, tail flicking lazily as Mirage perched above on a nearby awning beam. Chill napped beside Lyra's chair, ears twitching occasionally, while Lumine circled above the lantern light, her wings shimmering like distant stars.

For the first time since the semester began, it felt less like a school…

…and more like a squad.

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