Now that she'd mentioned it, I had to admit—she was right.
Back at the start, my rank was actually pretty solid. Top twenty, even. I remember seeing my name sitting at rank fourteen on the first list posted outside the main hall, feeling my chest swell with pride. It felt like proof that all those late nights, bruises, and sore muscles had meant something.
But now? Well… now I was all the way down to rank fifty-six. And yeah, sometimes it would bounce up a bit, but it wasn't like some huge comeback and more like a half-hearted hop. And every time I slipped again, it felt like I dropped even lower than before.
It reminded me of trying to jump on sand, where the harder you pushed, the deeper you sank. No matter how hard I tried to force myself higher, the ground kept shifting, sliding away under my feet, leaving me stuck in the same place—or worse, falling further back.
