The field buzzed with muted conversation as the last students settled into place. Harlen, standing stiff-backed before the leaders and their newly gathered squads, let his gaze sweep over the assembled rows. His eyes briefly caught Reed's small, lonely group, and though his expression barely changed, there was the faintest twitch at the corner of his mouth.
He raised his voice, enhanced slightly by a low thrumming of mana.
"Now that your choices have been made, your true training begins."
Reed stood straight, arms behind his back, trying not to look fazed. Around him, other leaders had groups of six, seven, even eight students clustered loyally by their sides. Hare had practically a small army, mostly fellow first-years eager to join the boy with the endless mana core. Juni had five students at her flank, each carrying themselves like they had something to prove. Even the burly Yanis had gathered a squad almost as big as Hare's — all thick-armed fighters and brawlers.
And then there was Reed.
Two people.
Just Marek and Lannis.
The rest of the field — dozens of students — had avoided him like he was cursed.
He felt their stares, prickling at his skin like burrs. Whispers slid through the air, low and slippery.
"He's too weird."
"That armor—he looked like a monster."
"Bet he can't even control it for long."
Professor Harlen cleared his throat pointedly, silencing the murmurs.
"You have all chosen. Good," he said, voice crisp. "There will be no changing sides after today. Your leader is your shield and your sword. You will rely on each other as if your lives depend on it—because soon, they will."
The other professors—Treesha, the short bald man, and two others—shifted behind him, forming a loose half-circle around the students. Even some of them couldn't help but shoot occasional glances at Reed's paltry squad, faces unreadable.
Treesha in particular looked slightly concerned, but she said nothing.
Harlen turned, facing the leaders directly.
"You will now begin your squad drills. Coordination, discipline, quick thinking. I don't care how strong you are individually—if you cannot move as one, you will die as one."
A heavy pause settled.
He pointed a thick finger toward a patch of open field marked by white stones. "Leaders, take your squads there. First drill: formation control. I want to see how you handle simple movement under stress."
There was a moment of hesitation before the squads began peeling away, leaders barking orders or gathering their groups with sharp gestures. Reed glanced sideways at Marek and Lannis.
"Well," Marek said with a crooked smile, adjusting the sleeves of his uniform, "at least we don't have to yell to be heard."
Lannis chuckled under her breath, brushing a strand of silver hair from her eyes. "Small team, big dreams. Right, Captain?"
Reed snorted despite himself. "If you two keep up that optimism, I might actually believe it."
They jogged over to their designated stone marker. The ground was uneven here, patches of wild grass sprouting between tilled dirt. Across the way, Reed caught sight of Hare's squad already arranging themselves into a tidy diamond formation, barked instructions snapping through the air.
A few of the larger squads were having trouble already. Students bumped into each other, jostling for position, arguments sparking low and angry between some.
Reed turned to his friends. His friends. His squad.
"Alright," he said, squatting down to scratch a rough diagram into the dirt with a stick. "We may not have numbers, but we have something better: familiarity. Marek, Lannis, we actually know how each other fight. That's worth more than six strangers any day."
Marek leaned in. "Lay it out for us, Captain."
Reed drew three rough circles and an X.
"I'm the X. Frontline. Distraction. I tank whatever comes and keep them focused on me. Lannis—" he tapped one circle to the left, "—you control the field. Use your gravity magic to choke their movement and protect our flanks."
Lannis gave a little two-fingered salute.
"And Marek—" Reed tapped the right circle. "—you're our flex. Water magic can disrupt or defend. Stay mobile, back up whoever needs it."
"Got it," Marek said, grinning.
Lannis cocked her head. "And when do we get to stomp everyone?"
Reed smirked. "Soon."
From across the field, Harlen's voice rang out again.
"Begin!"
Instantly, whistles pierced the air — projectiles of mana and conjured obstacles launched into the squads as the professors tested them.
The other squads lurched into motion, some collapsing almost immediately under the pressure. A fireball exploded near one squad, scattering them like startled birds. Another team tripped over each other when the bald professor conjured sudden, shifting stone walls under their feet.
Reed's squad moved differently.
Because they were smaller, they flowed more naturally. Marek kept low, water magic at his fingertips ready to snap into a shield or trip attackers. Lannis adjusted the gravity around incoming projectiles, making them veer off-course or slam prematurely into the ground.
And Reed, clad only in his standard uniform now, took point. He dodged and parried conjured attacks, using short bursts of shadow mist from his back to reinforce his legs and pivot harder than a normal student could.
Despite themselves, the professors' eyes turned toward the trio.
A squad of only three, holding their formation tighter and moving cleaner than teams twice their size.
Marek caught an incoming stone spike with a whip-like lash of water, redirecting it harmlessly away.
Lannis compressed the gravity beneath a set of conjured wind-blades, dragging them down like birds with broken wings.
Reed barrelled through a conjured barrage, his momentum fueled by the residual mist that curled protectively around his limbs.
For a brief second, the other students noticed too. The murmurs of doubt faded, replaced by stunned silence.
The first drill wrapped up quicker than anyone expected for Reed's squad.
They weren't the flashiest, they didn't have sheer numbers—but they moved with a unity that the larger squads could only dream of.
Harlen's deep voice cut through the field once again.
"Good. Not bad. Some of you still think you're lone heroes, but that's fine. You'll have time to fix your mistakes—or pay for them."
His gaze passed over the squads, lingering a little longer on Reed's trio.
"Next," Harlen said, voice sharp, "team duels."
A ripple of excitement ran through the field.
This was what many of the students had been waiting for.
"Each squad will face another. You win by forcing the enemy squad's leader to surrender—or rendering them unable to continue."
Reed felt a flicker of adrenaline ignite in his chest. His fingers flexed unconsciously at his sides, shadows itching faintly along his skin, hungry.
Harlen pointed lazily at two squads down the line. "Hare's squad versus Juni's squad. You're up first."
As the two larger groups squared off, Reed glanced at Marek and Lannis.
"We may not have many," Reed said, voice low and steady, "but we have enough."
Marek grinned, clapping him on the shoulder. "Damn right we do."
Lannis just smiled — the kind of smile that said she was already thinking two steps ahead.
And as the sun climbed higher over the training fields, the first clash of the new expedition squads began, with Reed and his unlikely little team already carving out their place among the giants.