Seven days had passed since Saloni's power ranking had changed.
A week—long, bitter, and unforgiving.
For Saloni, it wasn't just a bad week; it was the week she fell to the very bottom of the Academy's social ladder.
She was now identified by a single mark: Level 1—a walking emblem of failure.
Where once people looked at her with curiosity or rivalry, now there was only dull indifference… or the sneering laughter of the Elite Group.
She wasn't a student anymore; she was dust stuck to the lowest rung of the Academy's hierarchy.
The pressure crushed her from all sides, and under that weight, she began to change.
Every morning—before even the first bell rang, before the dormitory woke—Saloni slipped out to the silent garden area behind the campus.
No fancy gym.
No cold steel equipment.
Just dew-soaked grass, chilly air, and the heavy rhythm of her breathing as she trained alone.
She made discipline her closest friend.
She did basic push-ups—set after set.
Her muscles screamed, but Saloni accepted the pain.
While running, her inner voice repeated a quiet mantra:
"They think you're weak.
A nobody from a small family.
Prove them wrong."
Priya now kept two steps of distance from her everywhere.
Social pressure had sliced their friendship apart.
Yet whenever their eyes met for a split second, Saloni caught the old concern hiding behind Priya's fear.
It stung—a silent kind of loneliness.
But Saloni turned that sting into fuel.
"I don't need anyone.
Before the next Weekly Test… I will reach Level 2.
This isn't defeat. It's my return."
Students without an Element had only one option: increase their physical attributes and pass a special exam to raise the number on their wrist-watch.
And the Academy?
It had changed.
Deeply.
As if an earthquake had hit its social structure.
Level 5 and above—those with stronger Elements or skills—now acted like they were a superior species.
Prisha (Level 8) and Riya (Level 7) had an unofficial monopoly over the lunch tables.
Their voices carried an arrogant, dripping smugness.
And the Academy, once divided by floors, was now one single battlefield.
"I heard some students agreed to take the weekly exam to raise their levels," Prisha mocked, her laugh hollow.
"Obviously! Look at the Level 1 physical-attribute people. They don't need elemental power—they need emotional support," Riya laughed. "Calling them the Loser Group is more accurate!"
And Loser Group—Level 1 to 3—walked with lowered heads.
Saloni became a target for physical harassment.
One afternoon in the locker room, someone shoved her hard.
Her combat uniform and books fell across the floor.
A Level 6 girl clicked her tongue.
"Don't take Level 1s in sparring. They lower our training standards."
Saloni quietly bent down and picked up her things.
"I won't waste anger.
I'll show them their place soon enough."
Her sparring partner, Asha (Level 3), sometimes gathered courage to approach her.
"Are… you really okay, Saloni?" Asha asked, voice trembling.
"As long as I'm breathing, I'm okay," Saloni replied, gaze steady.
"I'm scared… Prisha and Riya were staring at us in class."
"Let them stare. Their eyes won't decide my rank."
Prisha's group still held a grudge because of that fight with Saloni.
Sometimes directly, sometimes through others, they kept making her life harder.
The next Monday, Head Trainer Raghav Sir's voice echoed across the Assembly Hall.
"One week from now, we will hold the Weekly Performance Test. From today, training will be divided into two separate tracks."
A sharp silence spread across the room.
"Group A: Level 4 and above. Advanced Combat, Weapon Basics, Elemental Focus—the future of this Academy!"
The Elite Group straightened with pride.
"And Group B—the Improvement Batch. Level 1 to 3. Extra drills, form correction, basic stamina workouts. Let's see if any of them can survive."
That single word—any—crushed the remaining hope of the Improvement Batch.
Saloni was in Group B.
The Training Hall felt suffocated with despair.
Even trainers were uninterested, running the drills with tired voices.
"Focus, Saloni. Push your hips.
Well… what else can we expect from a Level 1."
Wednesday night.
Saloni sat at the last table in the library.
The Combat Theory book lay open, but the words blurred.
A whole week of pressure and loneliness gnawed at her.
"Maybe Raghav Sir is right.
Maybe I'm nothing.
No Element, no Level…
Why am I enduring all this?
Maybe leaving would be easier."
A tear slid down her cheek.
Just then, the library doors creaked open.
A man walked in—the same mysterious figure she'd seen at the gate.
His eyes were deep and calm, as if holding ancient knowledge.
He approached her.
"I've seen you training alone every morning, Level 1 student," he said quietly.
"What… what do you want?" Saloni tensed.
"What is this Academy giving you? Doubt and disappointment."
He glanced at her open book.
"Theory sits in books. But will theory pull you out of Level 1? Tell me—do you want to give up… or risk everything to prove yourself?"
Saloni straightened.
Her tears burned away; a spark ignited in her eyes.
"I don't need their power! Not their Elements or Levels! I just… need a chance!" she said, almost angry.
The man smiled faintly.
"Every student pulls strength from outside—Element, Level, weapon… But the real arsenal lies within."
He stepped closer.
"The body is the greatest weapon, but the mind is the quietest. Before awakening power, awaken the mind."
With that, he turned and walked away—vanishing like he'd never been there.
Saloni clenched her fist.
His words echoed within her, dissolving every trace of doubt.
Over the next two days, her training transformed.
She wasn't just tiring herself out—she was feeling every movement.
In the night's darkness, out on the open ground, her shadow-fighting grew sharp and precise.
Punches sliced the air.
Kicks struck clean.
Asha silently watched one night, feeling inspired.
Without a word, she began practicing her own shadow moves from a distance.
Soon, a few more weak students joined the harsh drills in the Improvement Batch.
This irritated the Elite Group.
"Look, Riya! These Level 1 idiots think they can prove something? Hard work won't beat elemental students," Prisha scoffed.
Want to know what happens next?
Keep reading: What Defines Me — Coming soon.