Morning light filtered through the windows of Marie's safe house.

Lucas groaned and rolled over. His body was pained up because of the fight and his awkward sleeping position.

His arms ached, and there was a persistent soreness in his shoulders but he was still alive and that was all that mattered.

[Core stability at 67%. Continued rest recommended.]

Better than yesterday at least, Lucas thought as he sat up slowly.

The house was already awake. He could hear the voices of the others downstairs.

Lucas made his way down, finding the others gathered around the dining table.

Charlotte looked pale but awake, a cup of tea cradled in her hands. Damion had his arm in a proper sling now, courtesy of Marie's family healers.

Zacard leaned against the wall and his usual confident posture was diminished by the bandages visible beneath his shirt.

"Morning," Lucas said.

"Morning," Celeste replied. "We should head back to the academy soon. The lockdown has been lifted, and there's going to be an assembly."

She was the only one who looked relatively unscathed.

"An assembly?" Raymond asked.

"Principal Relsus is making a statement about the attack," Marie said. "My father sent word this morning. All students are required to attend."

Principal Relsus. In all his time at the academy, he'd never actually seen the principal in person.

The man was practically a ghost, always away on some important business or locked in his tower office.

But if he was making a public appearance now, the situation must be serious.

---

The journey back to the academy was quiet.

The streets of Lerastad bore fresh scars from yesterday's attack. There were City workers moving through the debris, clearing rubble and repairing the damage as much as they could.

Lucas noticed the guards. They were everywhere now: on every corner, patrolling in pairs and their handswere never far from their weapons.

"Forty-three dead," Lydia said as they passed a makeshift memorial: flowers and candles arranged outside a damaged shop. "That's what the morning reports from the IBRG (Investigative Branch of the Royal Guard) said. Forty-three civilians, twelve guards, and six academy students."

Six students.

"Which students?" he asked.

"Third-years, mostly," Marie said. "They were in the market district when... when it happened."

"We could have been...It could have been...." Charlotte said.

"But we weren't," Celeste said. "We survived. And we'll honor those who didn't by becoming stronger."

---

The academy grounds were packed when they arrived.

Students filled every available space. They were sitting on walls, standing in clusters, some still bearing visible injuries from the attack.

A platform had been erected in the central courtyard, and as the last students arrived, a hush fell over the assembly.

A figure emerged from the administrative building.

Principal Relsus was nothing like Lucas had imagined.

He'd expected someone imposing and powerful.

After all, the principal of Lerastad Academy was supposed to be a Gold rank combatant, one of the strongest individuals in the kingdom.

Instead, he saw an older man, perhaps in his sixties, with silver hair tied back in a simple ponytail.

He wore plain robes of deep blue, and his face was lined with what looked like exhaustion.

The man walked to the platform without fanfare and stood there for a moment and simply looked out at the gathered students.

When he spoke, his voice was quiet, but it carried across the entire courtyard so that everyone could hear.

"Yesterday," Principal Relsus began, "our city was attacked. Not by monsters from the wilds, not by foreign invaders, but by our own people. Humans who have chosen to abandon their humanity in pursuit of power and chaos."

He paused.

"A group calling themselves The Legion claimed responsibility for this attack. They targeted civilians. They targeted our students. They sought to spread fear and demonstrate their strength."

"They succeeded in killing forty-three of our citizens. They succeeded in wounding hundreds more. They succeeded in reminding us that the world is a dangerous place, and that safety is never guaranteed."

"But," Relsus continued, "they failed in their ultimate objective. They failed to break our spirit. They failed to make us cower in fear. And they failed to destroy what makes this academy, and this city, strong. It is our unity, our resolve, and our determination to stand against the darkness."

"I stand before you today not just as your principal, but as someone who has lived through wars, through invasions, through the rise and fall of kingdoms. I have seen humanity at its worst, and I have seen it at its best."

"Yesterday, I saw students risk your lives to protect strangers. I saw guards stand their ground against overwhelming odds. I saw healers work until they collapsed from exhaustion. I saw a city refuse to surrender to fear."

"The Legion believes they can reshape the world through violence and intimidation. They believe that strength alone determines worth, and that compassion is weakness."

"They are wrong."

"True strength comes not from the power to destroy, but from the courage to protect. True worth is measured not in how many you can defeat, but in how many you can save. And true victory is not found in domination, but in the bonds we forge and the principles we refuse to abandon, no matter the cost."

"We will mourn our dead. We will honor their memory. And then we will continue forward, because that is what they would want. We will train harder, grow stronger, and prepare ourselves for the challenges ahead."

"Some of you are afraid. That's natural. Some of you are angry. That too is natural. Some of you may be questioning whether you want to continue on this path, whether the risk is worth it."

"I cannot make that choice for you. But I can tell you this: the world needs heroes now more than ever. It needs people who will stand against the darkness, who will protect the innocent, who will refuse to give in to despair."

"The Legion attacked us yesterday. They will attack again. This is not the end of their campaign. It is merely the beginning. The coming months and years will test us in ways we cannot imagine."

"But we are Lerastad Academy. For two hundred years, we have stood as a beacon of hope and strength. We have trained kings and heroes, generals and healers, scholars and warriors. We have weathered invasions, political upheavals, and natural disasters."

"And we will weather this as well!"

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