Nero’s eyes opened in the middle of the night, long before it was actually time for him to wake up. Since his bunk was the closest to the door, the faintest noise of someone doing something to the door woke him up.
He did not have his trusty dagger on him, otherwise he would have immediately reached for it. His deck of cards, too, lacked any offensive cards including Snowflake as they had been placed in a private locker which he could only access during special circumstances. That meant that in this moment, the only actual weapon he had on him was his innate ability. Fortunately, that was all he needed.
Without hesitation, Nero covered his entire right arm in blue flames, filling the barracks with bright, azure light, suddenly startling all the sleeping cadets. At the same time, a sudden chill began to fill the room.
However, before anyone could complain, or even begin to understand what was happening, the barracks door flung open and a stream of cadets walked, their gazes immediately drawn to Nero who was still in bed. It was obvious that he had reacted the moment he detected something amiss, which was barely a moment ago.
Internally, the senior cadets could not help but admire Nero’s decisiveness, although this presented a small problem. Was he going to resist? If he was, they would not hold back either.
Just because Nero was a better hand-to-hand combatant did not mean they were intimidated by him or his flames. They, too, had studied at KMA, and had gone through far more training than him. Not a single one of them was weak.
Nero quickly studied the cadets who entered their barracks and immediately identified a number of them as seniors he’d seen around the Enlil lines. They were all senior cadets from their own battalion.
The moment he realised that, he withdrew his flames while getting out of bed, though he didn’t lower his guard.
"It seems you’re really as smart as they say," said the leading cadet, his iron grey hair shining even in the dim light of the barracks. "It’s a shame, though. I was really looking forward to seeing what the new, famous cadet of Enlil can do."
He seemed confident, and Nero could feel that he was not faking it. The cadet wasn’t threatened by Nero in the slightest, and in fact, almost looked forward to being challenged. It was tough to determine how strong he was since he hadn’t displayed his innate ability, nor had he demonstrated his strength, but at least his body language revealed absolute confidence.
"What the hell is going on?" said Bella as he got out of bed, still struggling to understand what was happening. Sleep and rest were, perhaps, the most valued commodities in KMA, so to have that disturbed instantly everyone in the barracks in a sour mood. Well, everyone other than Nero, who could more or less summarise what was happening.
The mere expression of excitement and teasing on the faces of all these seniors was enough to let him know. They were about to be hazed.
The question, now, was whether he should resist or not. In truth, that was no question at all. Unless they went overboard, Nero had no intentions of resisting. While many cadets felt personally attacked and wronged, in Nero’s eyes it was a decent opportunity to bond with his own barrack-mates, as well as interact with their seniors for the first time.
The key premise was that they did not go overboard. If they thought that Nero was a pushover who could be bullied, then in the morning all of them would be experiencing their punishment together because he would not hesitate to escalate the situation.
The senior cadets only chuckled upon hearing the question as they spread out, immediately filling the bunk.
Twenty senior cadets blocked the entrance, and looked at them all menacingly.
"What’s going on is that we thought we would come and give the new cadets a proper welcome to Enlil battalion," said the cadet with the grey hair. "It’s been weeks already but you haven’t even met the others from your new battalion, always sticking together with those from your own batch. Honestly, it’s quite depressing for us seniors. We really feel like we need to make an effort and really get to know one another. What do you think, Ben?"
A thin, blonde cadet stepped forward, scanning the room from Nero to all the others.
"You know Roland, back in my day, it was the juniors who came to greet the seniors, not the other way around. I think these cadets really need to be taught some manners."
Nero heard the names and immediately connected them to some of the top rankers on the Exemplar List. Ben Kingsley and Roland Burns, two of the highest ranked names on the Exemplars list in the Enlil battalion, as well as in the whole academy in general. Nero did not know much about them except that they were fifth year cadets.
What were fifth year cadets doing here? Did they really have the time to be playing around?
No sooner had Nero had that thought that Ben suddenly turned his head towards Nero, and grinned.
"Then again, I could also be mistaken," Ben said as he scrutinized Nero. "Maybe the new cadets were just getting used to the academy. I suppose we can give them a chance to show their sincerity. You there, the famous kid who beat Vilhelm. What do you think?"
All eyes turned towards Nero, wondering how he would respond. Roland looked slightly confused at the sudden change displayed by Ben, but he did not interrupt. Everyone in their batch knew how scary and accurate Ben’s intuition was.
Nero, on the other hand, felt like cursing internally. If he put up a strong front, the seniors would target him but if he gave in so easily then his own barrack mates would feel disappointed. He needed to be diplomatic about this.
"Indeed, seniors, it is our fault," said Nero amiably. "We were too busy winning honours for Enlil to the point that we overlooked the basics. I hope that the seniors will be understanding."
Though his tone was polite, his demeanor was anything but docile. In fact, he spoke while looking Ben directly in the eyes, ready for almost anything.
Such defiance invited challenge, but Ben only chuckled and exchanged a glance with Roland. As if he understood something, Ben took over.
"Ah, it’s been hard on you fresh cadets. But don’t you worry, I’ll help you make up for your mistakes. Come on, all of you follow us. We can only begin to amend our mistakes once we acknowledge them."
Roland exited the barracks and waited for Nero and the others to follow. Nero glanced at Bella and the others, and signalled them to follow him as he walked out behind Roland. All the remaining seniors surrounded their small group, as if to make sure no one was able to run away.
All the seniors chuckled and snickers as they talked to one another, giving Nero and his group menacing looks. They seemed to know what was about to happen, and took great pleasure in it. The pressure they faced made the fresh cadets a little nervous, but they were also training to become soldiers. Their resolve was not so weak that they could be cowed so easily.
The moment Nero started a fight, all of them would fight along regardless of the consequences. They were only tolerating this behaviour because so far the situation had not gone out of control. Even they understood that this was a tacitly approved part of being a soldier.
Before long, they found themselves in front of the drill grounds, which is not where Nero expected to be led.
"Alright, now that we’re making amends for you cadets, it’s important to see the depth of your sincerity. Everyone quickly put on your usual set of equipment for the drills," continued Roland as he brought out the weighted suits.
Everyone’s suits were clearly labeled, so it wasn’t difficult at all to ensure that they were all wearing the right equipment. Nero was in no particular mood to strip in front of everyone, so he put his weighted bodysuit above his clothes - though that would inevitably ruin them.
"Excellent, excellent. Now this is what we’re talking about. Such a great way to show off the strength of the newest batch of cadets. Come on, let’s show everyone just how friendly the newest cadets really are."
The senior cadets, once again, began to lead them elsewhere in the lines, confusing Nero. This was unlike any hazing he’d heard off before. He’d heard of cadets being asked to run the grounds naked, or maybe to do something else super embarrassing. But why were they being asked to put on their weighted suits and being led deeper into the lines?
Before he could get his answer, they approached the private quarters section of the lines, and the grins on all the senior cadets grew even larger.