Fighting every second as if tomorrow wouldn't come.
Because it was.
Midnight stretched on. That long stretch added up - ninety-six sunrises, twice as many chances to get it wrong. Time didn't pass, it pressed down, each tick sharpened into a tool. Moments stacked, not wasted but reshaped, turned into tiny edges where staying alive could hang.
Five fighters from the group moved past safe edges, eyes wide with wonder mixed with worry. Each step they took stretched further than anyone should go.
Eighteen hours daily, Sage drilled without pause. One by one, she sparred against every Alpha first, later two at once, finally all together. Moving through strikes, she learned to pull energy from the bond without breaking form. Her senses stretched thin - landing blows while tracking fear, anger, calm across four minds at once. Pain became routine; her body protested but kept moving. Sleep came hard, brief, before sunlight pulled her back up. Noon marked not rest, only restart.
