The academy halls always echoed at this hour wide and still, like the stones themselves were waiting for orders.
Kieran moved in silence beside his team. Calla walked with her arms crossed. Rei leaned back in his stride, like the world might challenge him at any moment. Selene remained unreadable, Nova amused, Talon quietly observant, and Sera trailing with her usual ghostlike grace.
They'd been summoned to the South Wing the training annex used only by upper-tier instructors. Not quite a reward. Not quite a threat.
They entered the chamber.
Inside waited a man in dark field leathers and a high-collared coat. His build was lean and solid, his bearing military. Eyes pale gray. A faint scar traced the edge of his chin.
"Welcome," he said. "Instructor Valeir. I'll be overseeing your adaptive training from this point forward."
No ceremony. No speech.
Just directness.
---
"You've survived a Trial outside protocol," Valeir continued. "You've seen combat under stress. Now you'll learn how to do it in structure."
He paced once across the stone floor.
"Starting this week, you'll begin live scouting runs. Small team excursions into fragmented zones abandoned sanctuaries, edge ruins, and old Trial sites."
Talon raised a brow. "We're being allowed off-campus again?"
"You're being tested," Valeir said. "Watched. Evaluated."
Nova muttered, "Nothing new."
Valeir ignored it.
"These aren't Trials. You'll be supervised, but the threats are real. Low-tier beasts. Wards breaking. Sometimes traps. What matters is how you respond."
He stepped aside and gestured to the wall behind him.
A shimmering illusion flared to life a map of the continent. Dotted across it were markers.
"Umbravale is not alone," he said. "There are five recognized sanctuaries still active. Three of them participate in what we call the Convergence. A formal exchange. A proving ground."
He pointed to the first:
"Aelbridge. Brutal. Efficient. High attrition rate. They breed combatants, not scholars."
Second:
"Cindergate. Known for essence-smithing and gear reinforcement. Their strength lies in tools, not raw ability."
Third:
"Varnhold Spire. Elitist. Obscure. Their students operate in pairs, and many of them walk paths no sane Awakened would follow."
He let that sit.
"You'll be seeing all of them. Soon."
Rei's eyes narrowed. "Tournament?"
"Something like it," Valeir said. "Not for spectacle. Not for audience. But because if we don't test ourselves against each other" he paused "we'll die when the world tests us for real."
Calla glanced at Kieran. "We're being considered?"
"You're being watched. Valeir's tone darkened. "Other eyes are interested now. That makes you valuable. Or vulnerable."
He let the silence settle.
"Training begins at dawn. Gear up. No more excuses."
Then he turned and walked out without another word.
They stood there a moment longer.
Nova stretched her arms. "Nice guy."
Selene gave her a look. "Better than the last one."
Kieran remained quiet.Not from worry.
But from a strange tension in his chest like a chord pulled tight, waiting to vibrate.
He looked at the map still flickering on the wall.
His gaze lingered on Varnhold Spire's mark.
Then, faintly too faint to prove he felt it:
Something looking back.
Not active.
Not hostile.
Just… aware.