V7–14 spent their 72-hour recovery learning everything they could about the Zones. Piece by piece, the structure of the Academy began to make sense.
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ZONE 1 — The Orientation Hall
The colossal arena where every student first appears upon entering the dimension.
Constellation-pattern ceilings
Empire insignia the size of buildings
Dimensional monitors showing every race
Echoes that feel like standing inside the ribcage of a star
Purpose: Mass announcements, unified gatherings, first ceremonial trials.
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ZONE 2 — Race-Specific Wings
Twelve environments modeled after each Master Race's homeworld.
Examples:
Baka Arena — shattered peaks, ancestral-roar trials
Planticus Grove — glowing forests, vine resonance
Omini-Narian Fields — gravity drills, energy absorption pits
Jada Sanctum — psychic mazes, silent mirrors
Purpose: Weekly racial classes, advancement exams — and the traumatic initiation each student faced.
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ZONE 3 — Mixed Combat Arenas
Neutral battlegrounds meant for cross-race combat.
Gravity wells
Elemental chambers
Mirror domains
Monster zones
Time-distortion corridors
Purpose: Inter-villa battles, mixed-race tests, power scaling.
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ZONE 4 — Dormitory Dimension (Villas)
A paradise-like sub-realm of perfect silence.
Living architecture
Semi-sentient environment
Responds subtly to emotion
Purpose: Recovery and bonding.
V7–14's home.
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ZONE 5 — The Forbidden Corridors
Where all overseers, supervisors, and watchers reside — including the red-haired woman.
Shifting hallways
Dim gravity
Whisper echoes
Surveillance nodes
Purpose: Oversight. Secret evaluation.
Rule: No student may enter. Identifiers shut down if they try.
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ZONE 6 — The Central Tower
Home of the Overseer AI.
Dimensional regulators
Empire authority systems
Ancient machinery
Summoning halls
Purpose: High-level commands, punishments, and empire agendas.
Only the top 1% students might ever step inside.
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ZONE 7 — The Void Basin
A floating, silent dark lake.
No reflection
No sound
Gravity breaks
Energy disappears
Purpose: Unknown.
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V7–14: Under the Tree
The villa was peaceful — too peaceful for the weight of the information they had gathered.
They sat beneath a tall tree in the open expanse of their paradise: lush flowers, thin streams carving natural art, water tapping softly against stone. It was breathtaking, almost a warning: "people ruin nature."
This was a fact, the world would be perfect without people-wfen argued the wins are more than the losses
Rekthar shook his golden fur.
"Ah! That's a lot of information," he growled. "Where are we supposed to start? How does any of this make sense? How does this help us get stronger?"
"I think it does," Melissa answered gently, calming him. "They mentioned weekly racial classes. Maybe the classes teach us power, and the Zones gives us a way to use it."
"I agree,it sounds logical" Cairn said.
"But Zone 3, Eghosa chimed in… it talks about ranking. That's the part that bothers me."
"Why?" Sol-Vaar tilted his head. "Afraid you're too weak? If that's how you feel then—"
"That's not what I meant!" Eghosa snapped, embarrassed.
Before she could explain, Olenna cut in:
"Don't worry, Eghosa. Being weak at the start is normal. You can grow she remarked innocently."
Everyone was giving her that look — pity mixed with reassurance.
She stared at them, dumbfounded. How did her concern turn into a pity party? When did she become the "weakest"?
She opened her mouth to defend herself, but Amos' voice slid in calmly.
"I share your concerns," he said.
Everyone turned to him instantly, after all he hardly spoke for no reason.
"Zone 3 is concerning," he continued, voice low and cold.
"What makes you think so?" Cairn asked.
Amos closed his children's book and looked up.
"Because I see it as an opportunity… a danger… and a door." he said slowly in a cold voice
Sol-Vaar blinked. "Is he always like this?" he whispered to Cairn.
Cairn only shrugged.
"Think of it this way," Amos continued. "If Zone 3 exists purely for combat trials, it's useless."
"How?" Melissa asked.
"No student would voluntarily fight another student. That would reveal information about themselves — their strengths. Their weaknesses. No one would do that unless they had something to gain."
"So what's your point?" Olenna leaned forward.
"They would only fight for benefits," Eghosa said quietly.
Silence.
Amos gave a small nod — rare approval.
"Exactly."
Rekthar scoffed. "Isn't fighting benefit enough? I'd happily kill some of that white—"
"Not everyone thinks like you," Melissa sighed.
"I get all your points," she continued, "but Amos… what makes you sure the Academy wants us to fight?"
Amos looked at her slowly.
"I'm not one hundred percent sure," he said.
Everyone blinked.
Sol-Vaar narrowed his eyes. "…then what have we been discussing all this time?"
"I'm ninety-nine percent sure," Amos corrected.
Sol-Vaar threw up his hands as he said in an exaggerated voice as if he had been suddenly enlightened. "Oh! I get it now—you enjoy watching people suffer while thinking!"
The entire villa tried not to laugh. Amos just stared blankly, completely unmoved.
Melissa brought them back.
"So you think Zone 3 will have rewards. And you think the fights are encouraged. But why are you so certain?"
Amos finally asked his own question:
"When we did our racial tests in Zone 2… did any race have the same exam?"
"No," everyone answered.
"And did anyone remember how they got here afterward?"
I don't remember anything.. Eghosa started
"No… not clearly…" Melissa said
"Some parts, but not the end…" Sol-Vaar replied
"I remember a creature." Olenna answered
"I remember fighting my ancestors." Rekthar growled
"I remember judgment…" Cairn said
"But none of us remember arriving here," Cairn finished.
"Good," Those are the differences Amos said softly. "Now look at the similarities."
"…questions," Melissa whispered.
"Exactly. Questions," Amos said, rising to his feet.
"The tests were different — but the gaps were the same. The missing memories. The final flash. The arrival. All identical. Why?"
He looked around them one by one.
"Information," he said.
"That's what they want. That's what we lack. The difference between us and the overseers… is information."
He closed his book and sat back down.
"The question isn't if they'll give us incentives to fight," he said.
"The question is: what will they give us to make sure we do."
The words hit them like cold water.
Fear crawled into the group.
They had just realized how deeply — how invisibly — they were being manipulated.
Puppets dancing in a grand design they didn't understand.
Eghosa's hands trembled. Sweat formed on her neck.
Everyone else felt the same unseen pressure.
Only Amos sat peacefully beneath the tree, reading his children's book as if he hadn't just shattered their sense of control.
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