I stood there in the middle of the clearing as more and more of the Maidens woke up from their sleep and gathered around.

We were all silent.

Because we knew that our true tests had only started. But we had no idea what those tests were.

Sia had gone to collect information, but we weren’t too hopeful of getting anything from the Academy’s mouth.

Also, so far, apart from the initial period when he could see Ares, Damon, and Celine; The rest of the upper classes had no contact with us.

Thinking, we pegged it as them probably being in clearings like ours on the other side of the camp.

But it didn’t change the fact that we couldn’t get information from them either.

So we were in the dark, and the ominous words of Sir Liam haunted us.

3 and a half months.

What would happen in 3 and a half months?

Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to the trail as Sia emerged from it with frustration written on her face.

“No dice?” I asked.

“None,” Sia said through gritted teeth.

As the rest of the Maidens looked on with concern, Sia turned to face them and a thoughtful expression crossed her face.

Pitching her voice, she called out. “Maidens! We got our freedom back. But the question is… what do we do with it?”

Then, falling silent, she waited as the students discussed amongst themselves.

Clearing her throat, she spoke again. “I propose that we create a long-term plan, spanning the next three months, so that we can follow it and grow together. What do you say?”

Murmurs of assent sounded out before Apollo stepped out and asked cautiously, “What would this plan include?”

Grinning, Sia said, “Survival.”

Gulping, Apollo shrank back before he called out, “We just got our freedom from survival. So why do you want to head back into that pit of darkness again?”

Frowning, Sia asked, “Do you think that the academy is going to give up on their teaching’s just because we won ourselves a bit of freedom?”

Ripples spread across the students’ faces before they looked expectantly at Sia.

Voicing their thoughts, the massive student spoke up, “Ales-Alessia… You have a plan, yes? Why don’t you tell us that plan?”

Nodding, Sia said gently, “I do have a plan, Celsus, and it requires everybody to work together.”

Scratching his head, Celsus, the massive student, spoke as he looked around, “I think everybody is together… aren’t we?”

Murmurs ran through before Apollo said in a frustrated voice, “Bal it. We’re Maidens alright! We’re Maidens. Now as much as I dislike that name, I have to admit that you have allowed us to escape from that torture. As such, I’m in this. Regardless of what plan you have, I’ll follow it.”

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Smiling widely, Sia looked at Apollo, who suddenly looked as though he regretted his words dearly.

Then Sia slowly said, “We need to organize ourselves. We already have a construction team, a cooking team, a tailoring team, and a weaving team. I propose to bring all of them under one team. The community building team.”

As people nodded, Sia continued, “Our second new team will be our hunting team. They are to fight in the forest and hunt monsters. Apollo shall be in charge of that along with Celsus.”

Eyes bulging, Apollo pointed at himself and then hastily, he waved his hands as he said, “No, no, no. These hands are not made for tangling with monsters, the-”

“Apollo,” Sia said sweetly as she cut him off. “Do you have any problems?”

“That’s what I’m sayi-” Apollo said as he started again. Only to be cut off as Sia repeated her words.

Defeated, he looked at the ground before miserably saying, “I don’t have any problems, oh chief maiden.”

As the Maidens tittered in laughter, Sia’s face relaxed as she said, “I’m not the chief. I’m a part of this, as much as you are.”

Laughing, Celsus said, “If you’re not the chief, who’s going to lead us? This guy here?” as he pointed toward Apollo who rolled his eyes and said underneath his breath, “I thought you were on my side.”

As more laughter broke out, Sia joined in before she became serious and said, “The third team is the most important team. It’s the combat and training team. They will lead drills every single day, and their only purpose is to fight and keep fighting, while training the rest of us too.”

Silence fell as Sia continued, “The combat and training team will swap with the hunting team every week for battle experience in the forest. They will be led by Marrok, who will be the chief instructor. I expect that we’re going to be fighting pretty desperately after 3 and a half months, and I don’t want to be caught with our pants down.”

Scattered laughter again broke out before everybody became serious again.

Ending her proposal, Sia said softly, “We’re 50 of us. I expect to see 50 of us when we graduate. What do you think?”. Then, roaring, she asked, “What do you think, Maidens?”

A thunderous “Hooah!” met her words, and the reorganization began in earnest.

The construction team was limited to 7 students, with another 3 acting as planners, and learning from the solitary person in the other clearing. They were also supposed to hold classes for the rest of us to learn from every day in the evening. The head of this team was a wiry fellow who looked as if a breeze could topple him over, and yet he was the one who did all the heavy lifting.

The cooking team was still headed by me, and I had two assistants to help me out. Which I supposed was a welcome addition.

The weaving team had a massive dozen people in it, as our demand for uniforms was still quite high, and Sia had a hunch that we would require the material to be stockpiled for the future.

As for our hunters? The hunting team consisted of another 10 people who would hunt in teams of 5 in different areas of the forest, with each team headed by Apollo and Celsus, respectively.

We also had a fishing team, which was occupied by a quiet girl who apparently loved to fish, and the 10 fish pond was allocated to her.

Our tailoring team had 6 people, and was headed by Sia herself, and they were to be swapped out as and when necessary for other roles.

The combat and training team had 6 people acting as the main force, and two instructors, one of which was Marrok with the other being a taciturn girl; who, in our selection process, had almost beaten Marrok in hand to hand combat.

With our reorganization settled, we got down to business.

Which was making our little corner of the Academy into a true home for the Maidens.

Watching all of this unfold, I felt various emotions bubble up inside me.

Pride, happiness, and a little bit of sadness.

For I knew not how long would I be able to accompany Sia like this.

Looking at my heart, I thought back to the words of Sir Leonidas, my teacher.

“Your path of training shall be destroyed if you go through this method.”

And indeed, my path of training had been destroyed.

Even though it was too early to tell, I could not feel the slightest improvement in my warforce. No matter how much I circulated it, no matter how much I fought. It was stagnant. Like a placid pool.

But time wasn’t stagnant. It flowed on.

And I feared I would be left behind.