Aether is it?

By the end of the first week back, the instructors announced a surprise: a field mission. It wasn't optional.

The moment the notice went up on the central board, the academy buzzed like a disturbed hive. Whispers spread through corridors and lecture halls. Some students were excited, others nervous. Vale and Lyra just exchanged a long look when they saw the announcement.

"Designated Location: The Low Vale Forest. Objective: Investigate and Subdue Unknown Anomalous Creatures. Group Assessment. Survival Priority."

Beneath that, it simply said:

"Departing 6:00 AM."

The Low Vale Forest was roughly two hours west of the academy, a stretch of ancient woodland warped by residual Aether. It was known to be unpredictable. Strange fogs appeared without warning. Aether-charged wildlife mutated there more often than anywhere else near the capital.

Even second-years didn't go there unsupervised.

So when Vale climbed aboard the carriage at dawn—dressed in reinforced leather armor, twin daggers strapped to his back—he was already running mental combat drills. He didn't like uncertainty, and this mission reeked of it.

Lyra was already inside, seated with her sword resting across her knees. She looked calm—but Vale could tell from her posture that she was running through every stance Mistress Seraphine had drilled into her.

Other students filed in—some from their theory class, others from combat specializations. There were archers, staff-users, brawlers. Everyone had a different look in their eye. Some were hungry. Some were scared.

The BriefingThey disembarked at a stone outpost just shy of the forest's edge, where three instructors stood waiting: Master Corven from Vale's class, Mistress Seraphine, and a third—Instructor Halden, a tactical officer from the strategy department.

"No drills," Halden said curtly. "No resets. This isn't a simulation. The creatures inside have been corrupted by excess Aether. Some rank one. Maybe rank two. Assume hostility. You're in teams. Watch each other's backs."

The students were split accordingly. Vale joined a five-person recon team—he recognized Mae, the silent dagger user, and a tall spear-wielder named Iven. Lyra was assigned to the main vanguard, leading a group that included Selis and Donelle.

Before parting, Lyra walked up to Vale and held out her palm. "Try not to get stabbed."

He bumped her hand lightly with his knuckles. "Only if you promise not to set the forest on fire."

Her smile faltered for a heartbeat, and she said, more softly, "We've trained hard. Let's trust it's enough."

They moved out.

Inside the ForestThe Low Vale Forest felt alive. Not in the vibrant, natural way—but in a silent, watching kind of way. The mist thickened with every step. Trees loomed like old guards, their roots pulsing faintly with Aether residue.

Vale's team moved quietly, ducking between trees and sweeping their sector for signs of movement. The silence was suffocating—until it broke.

A distorted howl echoed ahead.

"North," Iven hissed, adjusting his grip on the spear. "Rank one, maybe mutated wolf-variant. Fast. Grouped."

They found them moments later—three creatures, vaguely lupine but wrong. Their joints bent backward, and crystalized growths jutted from their skulls. Aether leaked off them in visible threads.

"Go," Corven's voice came through their enchanted ear sigils.

Mae was the first to move, darting into the left flank like a shadow. Vale followed on the right, blades drawn, breath steady.

He didn't hesitate. One wolf leapt for him, and he rolled low, slashing across its underbelly. The beast yowled but didn't fall. Another came from behind—it almost clipped him, but Iven's spear pinned it mid-leap.

It was brutal. But it worked. They dropped all three within three minutes.

Elsewhere, the vanguard team was pushing through a clearing.

Lyra led the charge. Selis shielded the front while Donelle covered the rear with piercing, Aether-tipped strikes.

One of the mutated deer-like creatures rushed her. Lyra sidestepped, sliced behind its legs, then drove her blade into its side. It vanished into ash, dispersing in the mist.

Their teamwork had improved. All of them.

Especially Vale and Lyra.

AftermathBy late afternoon, the mission was declared a success. The students had encountered fifteen corrupted beasts—most rank one, a couple verging on rank two—and not a single casualty.

They gathered back at the outpost, bruised but alive.

As the sun dipped low, Vale sat alone near the perimeter, checking his gear.

Then his status window shimmered faintly.

Quest Completed: Practical Combat Test

Reward: Synchronisation +2%

He blinked. Then another message followed.

"Good work, Vale Lumire. Attention breeds resonance. You are on the correct path."

[Message Fragmented]

"Synchronisation… deeper than compatibility. It is convergence."

Vale stared at the message, the word convergence repeating in his mind like a whisper.

He stood just as Lyra approached, eyes wide.

"Did you get something just now?" she asked.

He nodded. "Synchro went up. Got a message. It mentioned convergence."

She exhaled, brushing damp hair from her face. "Same. But… what does it mean?"

"I don't know. But I think it means we're getting closer. Not just to each other. To something bigger."

They didn't say it aloud. But they both felt it—that humming awareness under their skin. The faint trace of someone else's memories just beneath the surface. They were becoming more than students now.

Something was waking inside them.

And this test… was just the beginning.