The first light of sunrise spread across the towering walls of the Citadel.
Golden sunlight reflected off the metal platforms and glass structures that stretched high above the clouds.
Near the main deployment platform, students of Class C gathered around the transport ship waiting for them.
The ship hovered slightly above the ground, engines humming softly.
Several recruits stood nearby, checking their weapons and equipment.
Others talked excitedly among themselves.
"So this is it," one student said. "Our first real mission."
Another smirked.
"Relax. They said it's only moderate-level anomalies."
Royoshi stood near the edge of the platform, looking toward the horizon beyond the Citadel walls.
The distant mountains were barely visible through the morning mist.
"Moderate anomalies, huh." He exhaled quietly.
Behind him, footsteps approached.
"You look calmer than usual."
Royoshi turned.
Ishara stood beside him, arms crossed.
Her expression looked composed as usual.
Royoshi gave a small shrug.
"Should I be panicking?"
Ishara raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Most students would be nervous before their first field mission."
Royoshi glanced toward the transport ship hovering beside the platform.
"I'm also nervous…but most importantly, I'm curious."
Ishara studied him for a moment.
Then she asked quietly.
"Are you ready?"
Royoshi tilted his head slightly. "That depends."
"On what?"
He smiled faintly.
"Are you ready?"
Her gaze drifted toward the distant mountains beyond the Citadel walls.
After a moment, she nodded once.
"I am."
Royoshi chuckled lightly.
"Good. Because if things go wrong, I might have to hide behind you."
She gave him a flat look.
"You wouldn't last five seconds."
"That's… reassuring."
Before she could respond again, a loud mechanical voice echoed across the deployment platform.
"Class C. Prepare for departure."
The side doors of the transport ship slowly opened. A ramp extended down to the platform.
Several instructors began guiding the students inside.
Royoshi and Ishara stepped forward with the rest of the class.
The inside of the transport ship was lined with rows of seats along the walls. Equipment racks and storage compartments filled the center space.
Royoshi took a seat near one of the windows. Ishara sat beside him.
Around them, the other recruits continued talking excitedly.
"I heard anomalies in this region appear in huge groups."
"Doesn't matter. We'll handle them easily."
"Yeah. This is basically our first real chance to prove ourselves."
Royoshi leaned back in his seat, glancing out the window.
The Citadel platform slowly moved away as the ship lifted into the air.
Within seconds, the massive towers of the Citadel began shrinking beneath them. The city of steel and glass slowly disappeared under the morning clouds.
The transport ship accelerated toward the distant valley.
For a while, the interior remained quiet.
Royoshi rested his elbow against the window, watching the landscape change below.
"So… moderate anomalies," he said casually.
Ishara glanced towards him.
"You sound confused."
Royoshi gave a faint smile.
"I'm just hoping the mission stays normal."
Ishara didn't reply immediately.
Her gaze shifted toward the front of the ship, where the instructors stood discussing something quietly.
Something about the mission did feel strange.
But she said nothing.
Nearly thirty minutes later, the valley finally came into view.
The transport ship descended slowly through a thin layer of fog.
Tall cliffs surrounded the entire area, forming a massive natural basin. Dark forests spread across parts of the valley floor, while the rocky terrain and scattered boulders covered the rest.
From above, the valley looked quiet.
Too quiet.
The ship landed with a low vibration.
Moments later, the ramp lowered.
"Instructors will guide each team to their assigned markers," one of them announced.
Red holographic markers appeared across the valley floor.
Royoshi stepped out of the transport ship with the rest of the class.
A cold wind moved across the valley.
"It feels so cold here…" he muttered.
The air felt heavier than usual.
He glanced around as the teams began separating.
Each group moved toward a different marker, guided by an instructor.
Royoshi checked the one assigned to his group.
Eastern ridge.
Across the valley, he briefly spotted Ishara heading toward another marker with her own group.
Not too far away.
Just far enough.
Royoshi adjusted the grip on his sword and followed his team.
The first anomaly appeared only ten minutes later.
A dark, twisted figure emerged from behind a cluster of rocks.
Its body flickered with unstable Shuryoku energy.
"Anomaly spotted!" one of the recruits shouted.
Two students rushed forward immediately.
Their blades glowed faintly with circulating Shuryoku.
Within seconds, the anomaly collapsed under their attacks and dissolved into fading particles.
One of the recruits laughed.
"That's it?"
Another anomaly appeared nearby.
Then another.
Soon, small battles began spreading across the valley.
Most of the students handled the anomalies with ease.
"These things are weak!" one recruit shouted after cutting down another anomaly.
Another laughed.
"They called this moderate?"
Royoshi stepped forward as one of the anomalies lunged toward him.
The creature moved quickly, its distorted limbs stretching unnaturally as it attacked.
Royoshi sidestepped just a little too late—on purpose.
The anomaly's claw grazed his sleeve.
"Whoa!" he muttered, stumbling back slightly.
He raised his sword and swung after a brief struggle.
The blade sliced through the creature.
It dissolved moments later.
Royoshi exhaled as if relieved.
"That was way too close…"
His teammates didn't question it.
To them, it looked convincing enough.
But far across the valley—
Ishara noticed.
She had just finished defeating another group of anomalies with a precise strike.
Her blade flickered with Shuryoku before she lowered it again.
Her gaze briefly drifted toward Royoshi's position.
He's trying to act again.
She didn't say anything.
More anomalies appeared.
But the result stayed the same.
One after another, the students defeated them easily.
Royoshi continued his act, intentionally taking longer than necessary.
He barely managed to defeat two anomalies during the entire mission.
Eventually, the valley began to quiet down.
The last anomaly dissolved into fragments of fading energy.
Silence returned.
Several students immediately relaxed.
One of them stretched his arms.
"That's it?"
Another laughed loudly.
"This was supposed to be moderate?"
A third student sat down on a rock.
"I've had harder training sessions."
Even one of the instructors lowered his weapon slightly.
He checked the scanner attached to his wrist.
"No remaining anomalies detected."
Relief spread through the groups.
Some students sat down.
Others talked casually.
Royoshi leaned against a nearby boulder, pretending to catch his breath.
Then—
The ground began to tremble.
Several students looked down.
"Did you feel that?"
A faint red glow began spreading across the valley floor.
"What is that?"
The glow intensified.
Cracks of crimson energy spread through the ground like lightning.
Then suddenly—
A massive circular barrier erupted from the ground.
The sky shimmered as the barrier sealed shut.
No one could leave.
"What the—?!"
Several students stepped back in alarm.
One of the instructors raised his weapon immediately.
"Everyone, stay alert!"
At that exact moment—
Royoshi heard a voice inside his mind.
"Royoshi."
He recognized it instantly.
Rikishu.
Royoshi stayed calm, keeping his expression neutral.
"You can use telepathy too?" Royoshi thought.
"Yes."
That's crazy, you know.Royoshi thought.
"Focus," Rikishu replied.
A brief pause followed.
Then Rikishu replied.
"Something inside the valley is interfering with my projection."
Royoshi's grip tightened slightly around his sword.
Meaning?
Rikishu answered calmly, but his tone was serious.
"I cannot enter the barrier."
Royoshi frowned slightly.
That does not sound good.
Another pause followed.
Then Rikishu spoke again.
"And something powerful is approaching."
As if responding to those words—
The ground began to tremble again. This time far harder.
Dark shapes began emerging from the shadows around the valley.
More anomalies.
Far more than before.
And this time…
They were much stronger.
The real battle had just begun.
Dozens of anomalies crawled out from the cracks of the valley floor.
Some emerged from the shadows of the cliffs.
Others seemed to form directly from the unstable Shuryoku lingering in the air.
"This is way harder than before!" one student shouted.
The instructors immediately stepped forward.
"Form defensive positions!" one of them ordered.
Class C quickly gathered closer together.
The first wave rushed toward them.
This time, the creatures moved faster. Their bodies flickered violently with Shuryoku.
A student swung his blade at one of them.
The strike landed—but the anomaly barely reacted.
"What?!"
Another student attacked from behind, releasing a burst of Shuryoku.
The creature finally collapsed.
But two more replaced it almost immediately.
"Why are there so many!?"
Across the valley, Ishara dashed forward.
Her blade flashed with a bright pulse of Shuryoku.
One slash.
Two.
Three anomalies dissolved instantly.
But even she noticed the difference.
They were stronger. Much stronger.
More anomalies rushed toward the students.
The instructors joined the fight, unleashing their own techniques.
For several minutes, the valley became chaotic.
Shuryoku bursts lit the air.
Steel clashed against distorted limbs.
But the effort was far greater than before.
Royoshi remained near the edge of the fight.
He stepped in occasionally, pretending to struggle with the creatures.
Each time he moved carefully, making sure he didn't stand out.
Eventually—
The final anomaly dissolved.
The valley fell silent once again.
Several students collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily.
"That… was way harder than before."
Even the instructors looked exhausted.
One of them wiped sweat from his forehead.
"This isn't normal."
Royoshi slowly stepped out from behind a boulder where he had taken cover during the chaos.
He glanced around the valley.
Something still felt wrong.
Then—
He felt something.
A pressure.
Heavy.
Oppressive.
It rolled across the valley like an invisible wave.
Royoshi's eyes narrowed slightly.
He recognized the Shuryoku signature.
No way…
Inside his mind, Rikishu spoke again.
"You feel it?"
Royoshi thought back calmly.
Yeah.
Rikishu's voice became serious.
"This presence…"
A brief pause followed.
Then—
"It is the same anomaly you encountered weeks ago, the one from which you protected Ishara."
Royoshi's grip tightened around his sword.
Then the ground began to crack. Not small cracks like before. Huge fractures tore through the valley floor.
Students quickly backed away.
"What's happening now?!"
A massive surge of Shuryoku erupted from the center of the valley.
Dark energy spiraled upward like a storm.
The ground exploded outward.
From the center of the destruction—
Something began rising.
At first, it was only a shape. Then the full form emerged.
A gigantic anomaly.
Its body towered over the valley.
Distorted limbs stretched outward like broken branches.
Its surface pulsed with violent Shuryoku energy.
The pressure alone forced several students to their knees.
"What… is that thing?"
One instructor stepped forward, gripping his weapon tightly.
"Everyone, prepare yourselves!"
The anomaly's glowing eyes opened slowly.
The entire valley trembled.
And the true battle was about to begin.