The training hall grew louder over the next few days.
Not because anything dramatic had happened. There were no fights, no official announcements, no sudden policy changes. On the surface, everything continued exactly the way it always had.
But something had shifted.
Students argued more during drills. Small corrections turned into quiet debates about timing and spacing. People watched each other's formations instead of focusing only on their own.
The demonstration in the amphitheater had done what it was supposed to do.
It gave everyone something to imitate.
Lucas noticed the change during a mid-morning rotation.
He stood near the outer ring of the training floor, stretching his shoulders while two B-tier groups ran formation exercises in adjacent circles. The hazard grid flickered to life beneath them, projecting a sequence of slow-moving arcs that forced the students to react together.
