The first alarm came just before dawn.
Alexander was still in bed, half-asleep and vaguely dreaming about a simulation match, when the academy's emergency sirens howled through the campus like a beast in agony. Red warning glyphs pulsed across the dorm's walls, casting a bloody hue over everything.
[System Alert: Dungeon breach detected – Outer Zone 3. Multiple rift signatures present.]
He bolted upright.
Jace stumbled from his bed, spear already in hand. Milo was wide awake, muttering curse words and grabbing his gear.
"Tell me I'm dreaming," Jace growled.
"You're not," Alexander said, already pulling on his boots.
Another chime.
[System Update: Priority Mission Notice – All cadets ranked C-tier and below are to report to Sector Delta for evacuation protocols or defensive support roles.]
"Delta?" Milo asked. "That's where the basic-tier training dungeons are. They're not fortified!"
Alexander frowned. "Why would something breach there? That's nowhere near the unstable zones."
"I'll bet my lunch this wasn't random," Jace muttered.
The three of them raced through the hallways, joining other cadets already pouring out. The academy grounds had transformed. Staff members barked orders, high-ranking students flew past on windblades and glyphcraft platforms, and formations glowed to life across the fields. Shield domes were rising around the academy perimeter.
Alexander's system pinged again.
[New Mission: Assist in containment. Priority: Observation and Support. Lethality rating of breach – High. Origin unknown.]
They arrived at Sector Delta just in time to see the sky tear open.
The dungeon gate didn't shimmer like usual. It ripped, a jagged gash of black and green swirling mist. The ground cracked, and pressure crushed the air like a vice. From that wound, things emerged—not beasts.
Not exactly.
They moved like predators but didn't snarl or roar. They were too precise. Armored, humanoid, their bodies composed of hardened exo-plating interwoven with glowing bone. Their eyes… shimmered with reason.
[System Analysis: Unknown species. Cognitive field detected. Identified threat class: Khy'Rhak.]
Alexander froze.
"What the hell is that?" Milo whispered, voice trembling.
Jace raised his spear. "That's not a rift beast."
"It's worse," Alexander said, swallowing hard.
The Khy'Rhak advanced in formations, scanning, studying. One of them raised a spined appendage and launched a needle-like burst that cut through a cadet's shield like paper. No chaos. Just calculated destruction.
Elite students arrived seconds later, engaging in midair with blades, flame, and thunder. The sky was filled with streaks of light and screams. Crystal was among them, wielding brilliant shards of energy like a dancer, cutting down two of the creatures in one strike.
But even she looked rattled.
Alexander's system chimed again, colder now.
[Warning: Evolutionary gap detected. These are not dungeon entities. Unknown interdimensional origin. Intent: Annihilation.]
He didn't need the system to tell him.
This wasn't a raid.
It was a message.
---
Within the hour, Sector Delta had been evacuated. Professors and higher-level students formed layered defenses while faculty members coordinated responses. Drones buzzed overhead, scanning and feeding data back to the academy's command center.
Alexander and his roommates were reassigned to the central library-turned-war room. Holographic maps hovered in the air, marked with fluctuating signatures and breach locations. The atmosphere was tense.
A briefing began. Dean Caerwyn stood at the helm, flanked by senior staff and representatives from several elemental divisions.
"We have confirmed the incursion was not natural," she said, her voice iron. "This was not a dungeon anomaly. The creatures are not catalogued. They possess tactical awareness and do not align with any known beast evolution patterns."
A murmur rippled through the room.
"We are looking at intelligent invaders. Preliminary name: the Khy'Rhak. They seem to have accessed dungeon frequencies to breach containment, which means…" She paused, letting the tension build. "They're learning. Fast."
Alexander's mind reeled. A week ago, he was struggling to blend in. Now, he was preparing for war against something humanity had no countermeasure for.
After the briefing, classes were suspended for the day—officially. Unofficially, special training sessions began immediately.
Alexander found himself in a new simulation chamber by mid-afternoon, with Milo and Jace beside him.
The session wasn't just physical.
"Cognitive imprint training?" Alexander asked, scanning the module's name.
"It's meant to speed up response times under mental pressure," Milo explained. "Supposedly helps us react to enemies that don't behave like beasts."
As the simulator loaded, the System whispered:
[Cognitive Imprint Accepted. Tactical learning speed: boosted. Retention rate: 91%. Initiating comparative strategy matrix.]
A rush of tactical data flowed into Alexander's mind—not like a flood, but a stream carefully curated to match his learning patterns. It was overwhelming, but manageable.
Jace grunted. "Whatever the hell just synced in my head better help us not die."
They fought together through several waves of synthetic Khy'Rhak simulations. Alexander's movements sharpened, more precise. He began spotting attack formations before they fully materialized. The upgrade from earlier—knowledge absorption—was integrating seamlessly.
The AI didn't speak often now, but when it did, it offered surgical precision.
[Flanking maneuver detected – adjust position by 7 degrees.]
[Weak point: lower joint. Engage with mid-range strike.]
By the end of the training, even Jace looked impressed. "You're faster," he said. "Like… smarter in combat."
Alexander shrugged. "Just trying to keep up."
They returned to the dorm, exhausted. Students passed by in groups, murmuring about the breach, about new trials being arranged to prepare them. The world was shifting, and Elaris Academy was changing with it.
That night, Alexander stood by his window, staring at the stars above. Somewhere, beyond the veil, the Khy'Rhak were watching.