"Song!" I ran down the molten metallic battlefield carrying her. "Why would you hurt yourself over a dumb gamble!"

  It should have been me. No it could have been me. So why did I freeze up? How could you... Song. How could *I* be careless. "Always playing stalwart knight." I thought quietly through our bombarded surroundings. "You're trembling there, Mr. Cool and collected." She stuck a tongue out.

  I grunted, flinging her over one shoulder. "And you're crying Miss Future Sword Saint." I gritted as bullets rain like fireworks. "....A battlefield that increasingly grows more chaotic is ridiculous in concept!" I yell at the sky filling itself with an armada of fleets blasting each other mindlessly accompanied by mechanical dragons, randomly firing lasers and some kind of war frame. "We've stepped into a gritty sci-fi film Zeph! Are you having fun?" She said as if our lives weren't in dangerous waters. "Shut up." I narrowed my gaze—right arm free from carrying an ear burning laugh tracker.

  [Skill Initiated–Enabling Moonlight Arts]

  [Current Star Energy 100/500]

  - Thunder Impact(200 SE)

  - Thunderous Wave(20 SE)

  - Icespark(300 SE)

  - Lunar Blade(9999 SE)

  》Thunderous Charge(40 )

  "Thunderous Charge!" My Moonlight Art bled through the iron air; shrapnel magnetically greased it's thundering speed into an enemy's android exterior.

  "7/10! Zeph. Careful now there's 20 on your tail," She backseats clenching her wound. I sigh, smiling. "I can leave you here." throwing her upwards unleashing a sharp wave of electricity on the robots catching an annoyed Song again. "You jerk, you could have killed me!"

  Be grateful I didn't....

  [Level Up]

  [Current Star Energy 90/510]

  [You Can Now Learn Welding.]

  ....

  "Oh come on! 10 points? ...And why welding stupid system."

  I startled Song.

  "If you’re not satisfied in the score, then let's change it to 6/10" She chuckles.

  "For the love of god song.."

  *Bzzt! Bzzt!*

  My radio interrupted our charming banter.

  "Attention Vanguard Squadron! Attention Vanguard Squadron! Get out of there!" A desperate black dragoon operator screamed clearly.

  [Warning! Dangerous incoming warheads–User isn't equipped for immediately threat–Steer clear immediately]

  The sky lit ablaze. My body reacted appropriately, each feet carried me near an expansive lake.

  "Zephyr!" Song pointed at the battlefield slowly becoming scorched earth.

  "Oh crap!" I held her tightly and jump into the lake as missiles bombarded us severely washing away anything left behind.

  Flames screamed doomed. Air stagnated cruelly as if to say "Here are the consequences," waters swallowed us whole into the deep murky waves of dreaded dreams where lost souls fighting for an unknown cause, friend and foe alike floated lifeless in a eerie underwater graveyard pack together near fallen metallic structures.

  This wasn't what we thought it'll be, "this wasn't how it should be!" My mind wandered, nay cycle the unsavory truth "We're going to die?" Did I fail my foster mom and dad. "What about my revenge?" My family's faces reminded me...the reality isn't grim. "Song..." I coughed up water whilst checking her pulse. "Thank goodness.."

  Thinking about it about now after everything that has happen so far into my enrollment, what is my true goals?

  Paying back my family's kindness is one.... Looking for my scattered childhood friends is another—they're family too. "Dang... brushing life and death really could make you rethink some choices." I stand up hearing footsteps. "No break for me. You owe me Song."

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  "There are survivors!" Enemies trained their guns on me.

  "Hello ladies, gentlemen, creepily manufactured killing machines. I'm just taking a nice dip.. the water is warm for this time of year." I coughed, holding a metallic rod from some vehicle. I *was* going to make fire. But no no no. "1, 2... 5? Why send 5." I questioned who might be in charge. They closed in. I closed my eyes, slowly easing the thundering beast walking within.

  "Capture them!"

  Opening my eyes and stepping forth using my extreme speed skill, the metallic rod makes contact, "Ngh! There's a sniper?!" With grit, I dispatch the remaining four around me, narrowly escaping another bullet, throwing the metallic rod like a dagger at the scouting bot. "Ugh.." my knees collapsed from the sheer pressure of war.

  "Zephyr......" Song could barely move. "How long was I out?" She held her bleeding side.

  I sat on the muddy filled concrete, you'd never notice how burnt this blood splattered area was, I didn't... I couldn't.. no, maybe I never wanted that reality. "Maybe 40 minutes?" My hand trembled into a fist. "So this is that woman's idea of punishing and training her students.. how are you holding up?"

  "Crappy. Dang it! Why are we being punished for following orders? She even confiscated our usual weapons. Hmph! If I get my hands on that witch, I'll smack her good!" Song crawled over to me. "What now?"

  I shook my head. I didn't know either... Staring at the now polluted skies, daybreak came.

  "This late already." Song flopped back.

  "Maybe because we think we're strong Song." I help her up. "We," I choose my words carefully knowing Song's personality. "Don't consider our surroundings, only see the goal, not our objective, not our comrades. Two clowns who should rethink what makes us strong."

  Dad said this every trip into the woods, camp outs, barbecue grilled party prep by hunting, fishing, scavenging, foraging all of the likes from being son of a mighty survivalist military commander.

  "You have to think smarter not harder and innovate using the environment." Or something closer. He said many things okay...

  Preparing for her to throw a fit, I looked up. "You're right." She said while applying medicine from the looted soldiers.

  My goodness has the heavens opened up? Song finally listening to another person and not getting agitated over being right?!

  "You mature!" I say in my head to avoid backlash from the prideful young from house Cassell. "She should be more like her father."

  "What was that, I didn't hear you." She smiled.

  I laughed it off.

  "Let's go.. we must learn what this war even was, Rem should at least explain when we're done."

  As few months passed after Rem continues to throw us into random battlefields, we became a well-oiled machine, I dashed in unison with Tyler and Julius executing battle formations.

  "Careful boys!" Song had our backs. Julius casted an orange magic array. "I'll cover you two! Firestorm!"

  "Come on Tyler!" He threw me into an open watch tower using herculean strength, "Take this!" I kill the lookout while signaling everyone in positions to act. Magical explodes Julius created below cause tremors on this weak foundation assisted by Tyler. "The entire class is sabotaging enemy camps across our station, hey you three, stop goofing off! Let's secure exits just in case there's backup."

  "I was having fun!" Song clicked her tongue. Her twin blades shimmered on the destructive holy force she left behind. "Whew. Speak for yourself!" Julius wipes away sweat using his handkerchief.

  I smiled at their usual silliness. This was it. "I love you guys." I laughed.

  We were no longer just a random group of freshmen, but the elite shadow dragoons' rookies, feared and respected by all peers on the battlefield. Unlike others who fight battles supervised by teachers in the main campus, we struggled on our own, no instructors, no fighting in country bounds through scripted skirmishes. We saw much bloodshed and ugliness this world has offered, but also seen the beauty together! As a team. I also enjoyed traveling with Emma who dreamt of doing so when we were kids.

  "Can you people take this seriously?" Emma rode up on her customized tank eating chocolate. "We've secured the enemy's supply routes so the main dragoon forces could sweep."

  "That's what I keep telling them hehe." I jumped on the tank and sat down, taking some food from the small storage bin. Soon, everyone joined, hearing them bickering over the dumbest things brings me joy. "Because it makes sense you idiots! Do you think my tech would grow on trees? Is our finances enough to fix your gear? No! It isn't close." Emma laid it on thick.

  Song drank her soda groaning. "Then make us more money you're the mechanic Emmy."

  "You're the biggest outlier here!" She pushed back, everyone laughed.

  Rem sat on her chair watching us roll in and lone up together as she wished.

  "My lovely weapons of war you came for another lecture just in time no later than needed compared to your usual failing, although slower."

  That was a compliment? Right? I am going to assume we're growing on her at rat- "In honor of your achievement you will do 150 laps around the base after combat lectures." Nevermind.

  The empty hangars and nuclear bunkers were our playground. Rem would give a scenario: “Defend this choke point against a superior force,” or “Extract a mock asset while under pursuit while wearing iron plate that will periodically get hotter.” The enemies were sometimes us, divided into teams. Other times, they were more prisoners—the “motivational guests”—dropped in with orders occasionally to kill. That first day’s bloodshed wasn’t an anomaly; it was the baseline. We learned formations not from diagrams, but from the desperate need to cover Tyler’s flank as he charged a gunner, or to create a barrier of ice and steel so Rain could pick off targets from the rafters, Emma could hack the enemy's faulty last century tech, she loves it, I hate, Julius complains and Rem deals in our consistent losses. "Who told you to help the enemy you damned dog." Of course I wouldn't say that out loud, call me spineless, but why cause unnecessary trouble.

  Next! During lunch the food was bland nutrient paste. The lecture was not. Normally I whipped something up so all of us wouldn't loss any bit of sanity leftover.

  "Score! Pancakes today." Tyler smiled brightly. "Fluffy." Emma said lazily exhausted from everything, she still had an oil smudge from two days on her clothes.

  Rem would dissect our morning’s failures even during break time while eating from *my* plate. “Luminark, you hesitated when Song was pinned. Sentiment is a luxury that gets your ally’s spine severed, you're a combat medic, act like it for once.” “Julius, your firestorm was impressive and just stupid. You drained yourself and left your section open. You think the other side doesn't have mages, warbeasts, and anti mana filters? Dumb. Stupid. If you die, it will be because you wasted energy, wasted your movements, assumed you were some magic god—which' the enemies usually have.” Rem ate the last pancake off my plate. I reached for my orange juice quietly and mumbled instead...

  Julius stared at me to say something in someway. I shake my head through closed eyes. Last week Emma complained, had to fix courier ships.. she's still doing the repairs while Rem is loaning them to others purposely.

  So yeah... no thanks. You're on your own buddy.

  She drilled the Alexandrite family’s core tenets into us: Efficiency. Adaptability. Ruthless Pragmatism.

  The curriculum was brutal because it had to be. Song thrived, her kills becoming cleaner, more efficient. Tyler learned to channel his rage into a controlled tanker. Julius started weaving his spells with tactical retreats in mind these days. Even the more hesitant members, like Emma, Luminark and Rain found their nerve when the alternative was a cyborg’s fist coming at your face!

  Our strategist, Sunseti named like her red rosey hair paired up with the others lacking combat form.

  All was well another year passed us by. We conducted a quick exercise. Rem watched it all from the central watchtower, a silent specter making horse bets.

  After this particularly vicious.. long.. stupid live exercise where we’d finally, truly fought as a cohesive unit without anyone needing to carry the others, ahem, ahem. She addressed us. We were battered, bleeding in our old uniforms.

  “You’re no longer kiddos,” she said, her voice almost… satisfied. That scared me. “You are a blade I have begun to sharpen. The whetstone has been harsh. The edge is forming. Soon, we will see what you can cut.”

  "What you mean soon?" I thought. How about the tyrant of a small nation dying at our hand? Or the crisis of genetically created vegetables in every meal! I demand a pretrial your honor.

  "Really? Thank you instructor!" I say happily...

  I looked at Selenia—holding the short sword tightly, no longer feeling just unease, but a grim partnership, even though this system is useless; I haven't gone up a level since our first punishment. I looked at Song, at Tyler, at the others—not as classmates, but as the pieces of my formation, the allies who covered the blind spots my one perfect minute of speed would create. This was brutal. It was hell. It was clear.... "At least give us our new dorm key." Rem wasn't done with us by a long shot