Dante raised his hand. "Is Vale going to be observing?"
"Unknown." Misato's expression gave nothing away. "Assume yes."
Dante's leg started bouncing under the table. The kid was terrified, not of the gate but of losing his Elite Ten ranking if his performance disappointed the strongest hunter on faculty. Dante Pope, Rank Ten, the most vulnerable position in the academy's power hierarchy, surrounded by sharks who smelled weakness the way Crawlers identified the weakest member of a squad.
I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
"If there are no other questions." Misato collected her tablet and straightened to her full height, which wasn't particularly tall but carried the authority of someone who had spent three years training under the Davenport machine and emerged harder than the metal they used to build it. "Dismissed. Oh-seven-hundred. East field. Don't be late."
