"Boredom? No way. But getting teary-eyed during military training? That''s a given," Mirabe nodded, her tone matter-of-fact.


    At Prestige College, the nation''s top-ranked institution, the military training instructors are either from elite military academies or the armed forces, maybe even the national guard.


    You can only imagine how tough the training''s going to be.


    Lisa''s lips twitched as she chose to ignore the grimmer part of Mirabe''sment. "Don''t you enjoy checking out handsome guys?"


    Mirabe''s eyebrows arched, her eyes sparkling with mischief. With her delicate, striking features and a casual, enchanting smile, she asked, "What do you think of me?"


    Lisa, caught off guard by Mirabe''s gaze, instinctively swallowed, about to say "beautiful," but then thought better of it. "... You really are shameless."


    Outshining other women and not giving men a chance either?


    Lisa clicked her tongue and shook her head. Her eyes thennded on a ss bottle on Mirabe''s desk. "Is that sunscreen?"


    "Yep," Mirabe replied, having just finished applying it to her arms. She turned to Lisa, "Want some?"


    Considering the small size of Mirabe''s bottle and the two-week-long training, Lisa thanked her but declined. "No worries, I''ve got my sunscreen ready."


    In fact, Lisa had prepped an arsenal of sun protection, confident she wouldn''t end up looking like a burnt toast.


    Seeing Lisa''s refusal, Mirabe didn''t press the issue and put the bottle back in her box.


    Lisa took a bite of her cereal bar, her words muffled, "Let''s finish breakfast. We need to be at the field in half an hour."


    The thought of seeing the much-talked-about handsome instructors got her excited.


    **


    Half an hourter, all the freshmen gathered at the campus field.


    The lineup was organized by department, each with a chief instructor and three assistants. Departments with more students had additional officers assigned.


    The biology department, having the fewest new students at Prestige College merged its five subdivisions into one, roughly forming three groups of about seventy students each.


    Mirabe''s information science division was paired with the biotechnology division.


    Before the chief instructor arrived, three camouged officers efficiently directed all the freshmen to form lines, their solemn aura clearly military.


    The previouslyx students, intimidated by the formidable instructors, instinctively straightened up.


    Tall for a girl, Mirabe stood at the back of the line. Lisa, wanting to be with her but hindered by her own shorter stature, ended up at the very front.


    Just an hour ago, Lisa had been excited about the prospect of handsome instructors making


    military training interesting. N


    facing the instructors'' stern faces, she shivered and quickly looked down.


    Reality was far from her imagination.


    After the students had been standing in formation for a few minutes, a tall man in camouge appeared in front of them.


    His military cap obscured his


    forehead, but not his handsome features. As he lifted his head, his deep eyes casually swept over the group of new students, pausing for a second at a spot in thest row.


    A momentter, he shifted his gaze away.