Yawn.
A muffled yawn slipped past Steve's lips as he stretched his arm across the wooden rail inside the carriage.
The morning sun was barely peeking over the horizon, yet he felt the weight of the last few days sinking into his bones.
He shook it off, standing straighter, trying to appear more confident, more composed.
His eyes scanned the group gathered ahead, taking in the sea of faces standing together in tight clusters.
They were all students, just like him. Fresh graduates of the Arcane Bloom Academy.
It was graduation day.
The past two years had been brutal. Long hours of training, grueling lectures, and endless combat simulations.
But now, the payoff was here. For the ones who endured, for the ones who pushed beyond their limits, today marked their initiation into the prestigious Magic Guards.
Out of the original 347 students granted enrollment, only 107 had made it through. Steve was among them.
