The Senior Corporals of the Forest Brigade enter, are they Peaceful?

When Li awoke, the air already felt oppressive. The calm and tranquility that once pervaded the atmosphere had vanished. Looking out the open window, he saw that the fortifications under construction the night before were now far more advanced.

 The vigilante group had worked late into the night, but Li had retired early. Four guards stood talking in the center of the courtyard, while a few vigilantes lay on the ground, exhausted.

He rushed down to join the rest of the disciples, who were already assembled in formation, ready to begin training.

 Together, they marched into the training building and began their usual stretching routine. This time, however, stronger combat masters were actively training all the gathered disciples, and Li's muscles stirred awake once more. 

There would now be a greater emphasis on survival and self-defense, rather than direct combat—which would be handled by the masters.

The disciples split into groups, and Li joined two nonhuman disciples who had previously studied under Master Zhang.

 They were practicing deflection techniques and the art of evasion. The melee weapons, though they appeared weak, were subtly system-infused and aligned with the principle of peace upheld by the higher scholars of Wisdom Bank.

 Li practiced his spear technique, and with precision, drove the spear directly through the "heart" of a straw training dummy. Though still weak, his powers were gradually returning, and he was now capable of more sophisticated attacks. However, without access to a system, he still had a long way to go.

Master Zhang entered the room with Master Xing, and together they led the students outside after nearly five hours of consistent training to practice for both scenarios.

 Li was placed in the arms room and tasked with monitoring the outside for trouble by slightly lifting up the straw mats that concealed the room from the rest of the campus.

 After running through the first plan, the disciples were ordered to stand in formation across the campus. The Imbecile had disappeared somewhere, but everyone still avoided the spot where he had stood. It was as if an invisible plague lingered there.

"The two S-tiers will be joining the fight. Welcome them like you mean it. Sadly, these fighters probably have no idea what's going on and will die with us here," a voice said.

Li looked down at the ground and gulped. Many lives had been lost during the Vault's pursuit of money and power, and his anger grew — uninhibited even by the exhaustion of training.

Not long after, a small seed pod plopped onto the campus, and a large tree grew out of it. The seed aged a thousand years in merely ten seconds, and a massive, old, knobby tree emerged, its center marked by an equally ancient wooden face with eyes partially closed.

"Tim Burr, Senior Corporal of the 3456th Forest Brigade; pleased to serve," the tree said in a deep, tired, and raspy voice that echoed its age.

From the bushy leaves, a large but extremely cute-looking lion — its mane made of ornate, oversized leaves and its fur bright green and natural-looking, with vines dangling behind it — jumped out and began speaking.

"Leo Jungleton, Senior Corporal of the 345th Forest Brigade — sniffle sniffle — pleased to serve!!"

The lion was nearly five times the size of Li but still looked incredibly soft and cuddly. Strangely, there were two tears beneath each eye, and by the way it looked, it seemed as if at any moment it might burst into tears.

After introducing himself, Leo stalked away, while Tim Burr remained to converse with some of the older scholars. The disciples gave warm welcomes, though Li couldn't help but feel hollow — they all knew their fate, possibly even the new Guardians, though no one spoke of it. Tim Burr was obviously aging, though Li wasn't sure why the Covenant would want him dead. As for the lion, it seemed heartbreakingly clear that he was sad about the grim prospects facing them all.

None of them wanted to talk about it, and no one actually knew if the S-tiers of the Forest Brigade were even aware of what was coming for them. While the others continued conversing with Tim Burr, the disciples were quietly led away to the perimeter of the disciple-constructed barrier for a meeting.

"There's another possibility: that they are here to aid in our killing. In that situation, we must remain vigilant and continue training.

 I want extreme caution when interacting with the Guardians who have just been deployed. The masters are trying to determine their intention, and we will continue our interrogation, but in the meantime, as I have stated, please maintain caution. For now, we must keep our plans secret. I want everyone to be content with this new plan."

The master speaking displayed a script, and the disciples read it. Their "new" Plan A would be to remain in the center, while the masters "hid" cowardly. Plan B would be to scatter in one direction into the forest, following a made-up obscure ritualistic "path of wisdom" that they hoped the Guardians would believe.