Week four began with Korith's absence.
Amaron arrived at the training chamber on day nineteen to find only Sera waiting, and Mordain's confirmation that Korith had formally withdrawn from the program during rest day. No judgment. No disappointment. Just the neutral acknowledgment that one participant had reached their limit and made the intelligent decision to stop rather than break themselves trying to exceed it.
"Two participants remaining," Mordain said, looking at Amaron and Sera with the same assessing quality he'd maintained since day one. "Statistically, this is where it becomes interesting. Most programs lose the third participant somewhere between week four and week five. The ones who make it past week five typically complete the full eight weeks. You're both in the window where your actual potential becomes clear."
