“What?! No, this is wrong! There must be some sort of mistake!”
“I’m telling you, there isn’t.”
“And I’m telling you, there is!”
“Here, you can see it in the records. His name is in your Squad. If you have a problem with it, discuss it among yourselves.”
“B-But… but I… but…”
Right now, we were standing on the edge of one of the Orbiting Islands. Almost the entire island was covered by a huge dome-shaped structure with no entrances or exits.
Inside that dome, Spirit Beasts were crawling everywhere.
It could even be said that this Island served as a prison for those twisted abominations.
Today was our second academic day, and this was the last class before lunch — Spirit Realm Simulation.
The objective of this class was to prepare the Cadets for the threats of the Spirit Realm, which they would inevitably face one day — be it the monsters, the environment, or, most importantly, their fellow Hunters.
Almost all the first-year Cadets were present here — around several hundred of them.
As usual, large social circles were formed around popular figures such as Princess Alice Vic. Draken, my sister Thalia, several other notable young nobles, and some top-ranking Cadets.
And once again, I found myself surrounded by no one.
Well, except for my loyal and caring Shadow, of course.
All first-years were divided into Squads of five.
Everyone was notified about their team members and Squad number by an email from the Academy last night.
It was possible to change one’s Squad by submitting an application. The time limit for that was before this class, which started about ten minutes ago.
However, since not many people had any issues with their assigned Squads, very few bothered going through the hassle of submitting a change application.
Besides, just because changing one’s Squad was possible did not mean it was easy.
After all, someone out there should be willing to trade places with you.
Maybe that was why two of my teammates looked so baffled to see me — clearly, they hadn’t expected me to be in Squad.
One of them, in particular, wasn’t very happy about it. That was Michael, of course.
He was arguing with a tall, beautiful woman who seemed to be in her early thirties.
Her long hair was as black as the sky on a moonless night, and her eyes were a light shade of gray.
Her face was soft, but not without a certain sharpness — a striking blend of beauty and authority.
A loose black robe was draped around her figure, fluttering gently in the wind. It looked almost like a mantle made of shadows.
There were dark baggy circles under her eyes that made it painfully clear she hadn’t slept properly in days… maybe even weeks, giving her a gloomy appearance.
And then she was also wearing a pointy black hat.
Combined with everything else, it made her look exactly like one of those evil witches from old fantasy stories.
It did not help that the world around her seemed to turn darker — the shadows growing deeper and the light converging around her, as if giving her a natural spotlight.
That was Selene Valkryn — one of the strongest Hunters of the current generation.
She was our survival instructor.
In terms of power, Selene was said to be on par with my father, the Golden Duke.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t as well-known among the general public as him.
She had little interest in fame and rarely bothered with public appearances.
And even on the rare occasions she attended press conferences, she always made a point of staying in the background.
But that didn’t mean she wasn’t known at all.
On the contrary, nearly everyone had heard about her, most had just not ever seen her.
That was why almost all the Cadets here were frozen in her presence, utterly captivated — not just by her dark beauty, but also because it was their first time seeing her in the flesh.
But Michael was among the few who couldn’t have cared less.
He waved his communicator device in front of her face, showing her the email he received from the Academy, and spoke to her as if he was addressing a customer service person who had just denied him a refund.
“Look here,” he said, jabbing the screen like it owed him money. “This clearly says the fifth member of our Squad was supposed to be a guy named Ray Warner. So tell me—”
He gestured vaguely toward me, as if I was some kind of a defective product and resumed:
“—exactly how did he get into our Squad and why weren’t we notified about it?”
Selene sighed like someone trying to teach their grandma how to use a new phone.
She adjusted the brim of her witchy hat, and her gray eyes glistened like steel under the shadow as she glanced at Michael’s communicator device.
Her fingers twitched slightly, as if she was fighting the urge to snatch it from his hands and toss it off the floating island.
“Mr. Godswill,” she began, her tone smooth and monotonous. “Let me clarify something for you. I am your survival instructor, not an Academy secretary, not your mother, and certainly not a wizard capable of rewriting Academy emails.”
Michael opened his mouth, but Selene raised a finger, silencing him faster than a toddler caught stealing cookies.
“And before you ask, yes, I do know how inconvenient this is for you. Truly, my heart breaks.”
She placed a hand on her chest for dramatic effect, though her expression suggested her heart was not just unbroken, but positively thriving on his discomfort.
“But as I said, the records are final. If you have an issue, take it up with the administration.”
Michael sputtered, holding his communicator like it was some sacred text. “But this is from the administration—”
“Look,” Selene interrupted sharply. “The only explanation is that Mr. Warner submitted a change application at the very last moment. The Academy didn’t have time to send you a notifying email after processing his transfer to another Squad.”
A faint ripple of snickers spread among the gathered Cadets, but Michael ignored them and jabbed a thumb in my direction.
“And what about him?” he asked accusingly. “What’s he doing here?”
Selene turned to me, her eyes narrowing for a moment before returning to Michael. “Filling up Mr. Warner’s position?”
“But why him?!” Michael cried out. “Was there no one else?! No one else in the whole batch who could’ve been the replacement?!”
“Perhaps Mr. Theosbane and Mr. Warner submitted their applications together,” Selene shrugged, unbothered.
Michael looked like he might cry from sheer exasperation. He shook his head and wailed, “I want to change Squads.”
“Not possible anymore,” Selene shot back curtly.
“This whole situation stinks! It stinks!” Michael shouted, as if he’d finally lost his mind to paranoia. He pointed at me again. “I know in my heart that this guy set the whole thing up!”
Well, he wasn’t wrong.
I knew if Michael found out I was going to be on his team, he’d try to switch Squads.
So, I asked Ray to submit his change application at the very last minute, and I did the same.
As a result, the academy processed our transfers but didn’t have enough time to notify our new Squad members.
“I don’t care,” Selene replied flatly.
Michael’s shoulders slumped, his last reserves of defiance crumbling. He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like This is so stupid, but this time it was Selene who didn’t care.
Instead, she turned to the gathered first-years and started speaking loudly for all of us to hear.
“Now, if we’re done wasting time let me remind everyone why you’re here. Inside this dome are Spirit Beasts — ranging from mildly annoying to violently homicidal. The environment inside is also artificially designed to recreate a relatively safe region of the Spirit Realm. It’s not the real deal, so it won’t be deadly. And don’t worry, the Spirit Beasts are weakened. Most of them are only Infant or Minor grade Spirits.”
She let those words settle in, pausing just long enough to let us feel the significance before continuing smoothly.
“I’m going to send you in there. This is a test to determine where you stand. You won’t be graded based on your performance, so no need to feel pressured. However, the team that performs exceptionally well will be rewarded with their first mission from the Academy. So do try your best.”
A collective sound of gasps and whispers rippled through the crowd. Missions were always a big deal for Hunters-in-training.
Naturally, everyone wanted to be sent on one by the Academy.
The air seemed to thrum with the buzz of excitement, each Cadet trying to mask their nervousness with bravado.
Selene smiled faintly upon seeing their enthusiasm, the slight curve of her lips barely perceptible, before nodding.
“Now, how do you win this test? Be the first team to slay seven Spirit Beasts and reach the center of the dome. There, in a cave, you’ll find an Essence Stone. You’ll need to crush it. Achieve all this in under forty minutes. Simple, right?”
Of course, it was simple.
But we all knew it was far from easy.
Selene snapped her fingers, and almost instantly, the very fabric of space in front of us began to tear open, the rift widening as if reality itself were being peeled apart.
A deep, almost suffocating darkness poured out, and the edges of the portal shimmered with a faint violet glow, flickering like the afterglow of a dying star.
Around the portal, fractured fragments of space hung suspended like shards of broken glass that had yet to fall.
“As I said, this isn’t the real deal. This portal is artificially created to give you an experience as close to the real thing as possible. Each time a team enters, the gateway on the other side will change location, so every team will be dropped off in different areas of the dome. You have ten minutes. Strategize, and then step forward with your Squads when you’re ready to dive in. Good luck, class.”