Chapter 6: The weight of the world
As the world leaders and powerful dignitaries watched from their raised podiums, silence blanketed the training grounds.
This was more than a showcase.
It was a message.
A performance, yes, but beneath it, everyone was watching for weaknesses, alliances, threats. The next generation was not walking into the light.
They were stepping into judgment.
A voice rang out through the arena’s sound system, formal and steady:
"Now presenting the representative of the Hero Association of the Elaron Federation."
A murmur swept the audience.
From the far end of the field, the gate hissed open.
And out walked a girl.
No older than nine.
She stepped onto the training ground alone, dressed in the standard Hero Association uniform white with pale blue stripes trailing down the sleeves, stitched with the insignia of the Federation over her left shoulder.