Breakfast in the camp was quiet for most, the cadets too exhausted from the morning run to speak much. But at the elite table, Sandy and Nikks sat among the other four top cadets—Rynar Long, Kael Blade, Dorian Black, and Jane Earnshaw—eating quickly, exchanging light jokes about the morning drill.
Nikks was taling to Jane. Jane was a tall blond girl with a beautiful face and round blue eyes. "Jane you look especially beautiful today. The sweat from morning's run has enhanced your beauty "
"You jest." Jane replied. "Because of you we had to carry the extra 10 kg weight."
Nikks rubbed the back of his head and said "Sorry. I didn't think that the instructor would be so harsh. But good thing is it made you even prettier." He tried to smoothen things.
Jane blushed "You…."
Then a voice cut through the clatter.
"Look at this," sneered Torrin Vey, one of the elites.
He leaned on the table beside theirs, a smug grin on his face. His father was a Rank 4 Sentinel warrior, and Torrin carried that prestige like armor. "Sandy Wills… Nikks Simmons… Orphans, right? No parents, no background, nothing. You think you belong here with the real elites?"
Nikks didn't look at him. Sandy's fork paused mid-air, then returned to his plate completely ignoring him.
Torrin smirked wider. "What's wrong? Can't even defend yourselves with words? Or is that all you've got—silence and shame?"
Jane said "Stop. Why are you creating trouble again? Can't you shut your stinking mouth and go away."
Hearing this all of them laughed.
This made Torrin angrier. He had always fancied Jane who was pretty and also from a powerful family. Seeing the girl he fancied talk in favor of another guy an orphan on top of that made him angry. The fact that he scolded him for that orphan made him seeth im rage.
Jane again shouted at him making him seeth. But he ignores Jane. Today he had deciding to teach them a lesson. He hated these maggots especially Nikks who always flirted with Jane. Jane was his woman in his eyes and he didn't like when other took his things. Especially an orphan with no background.
"Listen," Torrin continued, leaning closer, "I've seen cadets like you before. No family, no lineage, nothing but dust in your shoes. Yet you think you're worthy to train with us? To even sit at this table?"
He looked at Jane amd said "Jane you have always defended these maggots. These flies who belong in a pile of shit not here with us."
Jane now seething was about to say something when Nikks spoke.
"And when did we belong with you"
Torrin's temper flared. He leaned back, shaking with rage. "You… you insolent little—"
And with that, he lunged at Nikks, swinging a punch meant to humiliate him publicly.
Nikks moved like the gale he was—calm, controlled, precise. With a single deft motion, he sidestepped and delivered a clean strike to Torrin's chest. The boy staggered, fell hard onto the floor, and the hall went silent.
Sandy and the other elites watched, expressions calm, unbothered. Torrin scrambled to his feet, face twisted with fury and humiliation. "You… you'll pay for this!" he spat, glaring at Nikks with pure venom.
Nikks didn't respond. The silence burned Torrin more than any blow could have. Pride shattered, the boy vowed revenge, but he had been publicly humiliated in front of everyone and especially in front of Jane—a lesson he would not soon forget.
The instructors quickly intervened, restoring order.