I jolt awake, with my heart thumping strongly against my chest. The memories of my past still haunting me to this day, even though it's already been 4 years since the orcs razed our village. I doubt I'll be able to continue my sleep, damnit. At least my body is already accustomed to my constant nightmares, I'm no longer sleepy whenever I wake up like this.

The others must still be sleeping at this time, I suppose I could head to the river inside the forest just a bit north outside of the academy to clear my mind. I reach for my sword that I hid under the bed and change my clothes. After grabbing my sword and changing my wear, I head out the room and walk the multiple paths from my room that lead to the barracks' entrance. The hallways are completely empty and silent, I'm still a bit uncomfortable with it since I'm used to lively places. After a bit more walking, I reached the large stone arch that serves as both entrance and exit of the barracks. After stepping through it, I feel the cold air immediately greeting me like an old friend. I look up towards the sky just to be met with darkness, not completely dark, but probably an hour or two before sunrise.

I started treading the path that leads to the academy's northern gate. I look around to see if there is anyone awake, only to see it completely devoid of people. But as I slowly near the northern gate, I can hear the laughter of the guards who watch it. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one awake, so that provides me a little bit of comfort at least. I quickened my walk so I could head to the river sooner.

The guards that watch the northern entrance, Fiddle and Cain, they immediately sensed my footsteps and looked my way. I greeted them with a smile and they already know where I'm headed. "Ah, Ragna! Nightmares again?" Cain asked.

When Linara and I first arrived here, the guards and the staffs knew what had happened to us after the headmaster explained the situation. So I'm familiar with almost everyone in the academy except the other recruits.

I simply nodded my head to Cain and asked Fiddle if he could open the gate for me, "Of course! But try to be back within 3 hours, the headmaster implemented new protocols for some reason, so we can't have student going missing at this time." I thanked them both and exited the academy, following the same path I always take towards the river. Not much people goes there since it's a bit of a walk, but I personally enjoy it. Helps me calm my mind, and the cold breeze reminds me of the village Linara and I used to live in.

After 20 minutes of walking, I reached my usual resting spot with the huge rock that leans towards the constant current of the water. I notice a silhouette of a person sitting atop the rock I usually sit on. I can't properly make out their identity due to it being dark, but I notice them sharpening their arrows. At that moment, I could immediately tell it's my sister. She's the only one who's also awake at this time, and she spends a lot of time sharpening her arrows to the point that just a slight graze from it is enough to make you bleed quite a bit.

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She noticed my presence and glanced my way, then returns to sharpening her arrows. "Nightmare?" she starts off, "Yeah." I reply back. I can hear her sigh and make a gesture of what seems to be urging me to sit beside her, so I complied. I walked towards the rock she was sitting on and she moved a bit to the side, providing me space to sit on. "You know," she continues "There was nothing we could have done that day. We were outnumbered and outmatched by the orcs. Even if we did try to help our parents, we would have only been a hindrance to them since they would focus on protecting us rather than defeating the enemies. It's not our fault, Ragna."

I couldn't answer, I didn't know what to say because she's right. But I still can't help but feel the guilt of leaving them there. "I did receive good news from the headmaster that time though. I just held off from telling you because I know you would let your emotions do something stupid. According to the headmaster, when they found us in the forest, after fainting, he sent two of his companions to check what happened and how we ended up like that. They saw the village burning, but when they got there to see if there's any survivors, there were only corpses of orcs laying around. No sign of the villagers or our parents."

I was shocked, and inside me, I could feel my emotions are in a mess. Linara noticed my hands clenching tightly and continued her explanation, "You're probably mad that I kept such important details from you, right? I'm not asking you to forgive me, but just know that I hid it from you because I know you would try to find our parents if you found out the possibility that they were still alive that time.", I shakily exhale my breath and finally reply "I... I'm not mad, Linara. I'm just annoyed at how right you are. I'm very thankful that you hid it from me because if I knew, I would have done something stupid like running away and try to find any traces of them when it's not even assured that I could find them. I'm sorry for not knowing all this time, but now that I know, I will grow stronger so that I can help you find our parents."

She smiles at the sentiment and we sat in silence for a few more minutes. Soon enough, the dark sky was slowly lightening up, that was when she mentions "Oh yeah, I heard from the headmaster that we're getting a new instructor. According to the old man, the new instructor is a battle hardened veteran and recently rotated away from the frontline due to the decisions of the higher ups. Apparently they will occasionally rotate individuals that have recently been in the frontlines as instructors for the academy. That way, the recruits will have a better training regiment than the previous ones."

I'm honestly curious what veterans from the frontlines are like. So I stood up from the rock I was sitting on and bid farewell to Linara. "Leaving already? Alright, I'll see you later." I dashed towards the path from which I came from and made haste towards the gates. I ran for around 8 minutes before I made it back, there I could see Cain and Fiddle still chatting with each other. Fiddle saw me out of the corner of his eye and shouted for me "Ragna! Hurry up and head to the training grounds, the new instructor is about to arrive!", I thanked them and ran to the training grounds.

There, I could see the other recruits already lined up, awaiting our new commander. I took place in my position and waited alongside them. After a few minutes, the new instructor had arrived.

"Stand Guard! My name is Sergeant Vandol. I'm your new instructor, and your final test."