It was the night of the Ace Tournament's final. The last face-off between my sister and Kaelron Vire, the other finalist, was scheduled to start in a couple of hours.
Cadets were already either cooped up in their dorms and impatiently seated before their TVs, or screaming themselves hoarse in the stands of the Grand Coliseum.
The atmosphere across the Academy campus was brimming with anticipation so thick I could physically feel it.
Everyone was waiting for the new Ace of Apex to be crowned — the culmination of weeks of brutal competition, shattered egos, and broken dreams.
Kaelron Vire was the favorite going into the match. He hadn't lost a single fixture since the start of this tourney, while my sister had lost three in the early league stage and barely edged out a victory in the semi-finals to secure her spot on the grand stage.
It may sound bad, but she wasn't ever actually the dark horse. The opposite, in fact. You see, there were more than a thousand first-years.
