On the wide, elevated platform stood their instructor: Instructor Velda. She was tall and lean, with the posture of someone who could slice a boulder in half just by standing near it.
Her black coat fluttered slightly with every subtle motion she made, and her narrow eyes were as sharp as twin daggers that had seen too many wars.
Though her features were strikingly beautiful. She had cheekbones like carved ice, lips that always seemed slightly unimpressed and a slender neck that hinted subtly at her femininity.
Still, it was the aura of command she wore like a second skin that made every student sit up straighter the moment she glanced their way.
"And that," she said, her voice smooth but heavy with finality, "is how the Great Carver Rebellion fell. Not in battle. Not in flames. But in silence… under the weight of its own ideals. And with it came the birth of the Surface Kings."
