It was a sleek, palm-sized ck cube-small, but heavy with authority.


    Etched on the top was a faint golden insignia-the official seal of the military.


    "The Military Secret Box?!" someone gasped.


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    One of the cadets suddenly stepped forward, eyeing Raven with deep suspicion. "Where did you get something like that?"


    Everyone recognized the box.


    At Regalhold University-where every student came from wealth and power-there were few symbols more elite.


    The Military Secret Box was used to store items of the highest importance. It could only be opened by the fingerprint of the registered holder. Any attempt to force it open would automatically destroy its contents.


    More than that-due to the box''s uniqueposition, anything stored inside would have its shelf life extended tenfold.


    But these boxes were incredibly rare. There were said to be fewer than ten in existence, and nearly all of them were in the hands of the military''s top brass.


    So how, how, did a girl like Raven get one?


    She didn''t bother answering.


    Without a word, she pressed her thumb against the scanner, and with a soft click, the box opened.


    Inside were dozens of tiny, pitch-ck pills-norger than red beans-each nestled neatly inside.


    Raven reached in, took a small handful, and turned to Leopard, whose body was already trembling the moment heid eyes on the pills.


    "One per person," she said tly. "Distribute them."


    Leopard didn''t hesitate. He nodded and rushed forward, taking the pills with both hands like they were sacred offerings. Then, moving swiftly, he began passing them out.


    The cadets each received one and immediately frowned, examining the strange substance.


    "What is this?" someone muttered. The unease on their faces was palpable.


    They didn''t know what the pills were-but every instinct screamed that they weren''t anything good.


    "Swallow it," Raven said coldly.


    No one moved.


    Instead, they looked at each other, clearly unsure, unwilling.


    Jaxton, who had barely managed azy halfp out of the hundred Raven


    ordered, let out a mockingugh. "Raven, most of these cadets are from Regalhold''s founding families. They''re not like you-some nobody from a backwater dump."


    He folded his arms with a sneer. "If something happens to them because of your mystery drugs, can you afford the consequences?"


    Several cadets nodded in agreement, arms crossed, heads held high.


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    "Exactly. You think we''re just going to take something you hand us without knowing what it is?"


    up trash,


    "Just because it''s in a Military Secret Box doesn''t mean it''s worth anything," another cadet scoffed. "You can dress but at the end of the day, it''s still garbage. You''re from nowhere. And even if you somehow got into Regalhold, that doesn''t make you one of us. You''ll always be lowborn filth."


    Raven''s eyes shifted to the three who had spoken.


    She let out a soft chuckle. "Lowborn filth from a backwater?""


    Then her gaze turned cold-ice-cold. Her voice dropped into amanding growl,ced with a pressure that gripped their lungs and forced their backs straight.


    "Let me make one thing very clear," she said. "Your birth is luck. Not a reason to look down on others."


    The air around her shifted-so sharp, so frigid it felt like it could cut. The students involuntarily flinched. And then-just as quickly-they seemed to snap out of it, anger recing fear.


    They were letting a nobody intimidate them? How pathetic.


    "Luck? No, sweetheart. We were born better. That is our talent."


    "Exactly. Some people weren''t born with it, and yet they still dare to boss us around? Please. Try looking in a mirror." "Do us all a favor. Get out of ss Six. Trash like you doesn''t belong with us."


    AB


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