Date: TC1853.07.15 — Morning
Location: Seven Peaks — Combat Hall
Taron had been evaluating soldiers his entire adult life.
Twenty-three years in the Imperial Army, rising through the ranks until he commanded a cultivation combat unit. He'd assessed thousands of recruits, identified strengths and weaknesses in veterans who thought they had none left to find, and built squads from disparate individuals who learned to fight as one.
This was different.
The Combat Hall's main arena had been configured for individual assessment—padded flooring, weapon racks along the walls, observation platforms where Raven sat with her foster son and the Northern boy watching quietly. Training formations hummed at low power around the perimeter, ready to contain any accidents.
