Dawn broke cold and gray over the assembly point. Hundreds of students prepared for departure, their nervous energy filling the air with tension.
Class A moved with military precision, their enchanted gear gleaming. Classes B through D checked equipment with varying degrees of confidence.
Robin and Norman stood at the edge of the crowd, ignored by everyone.
"Move out!" the Academy officer commanded.
The teams dispersed into Gloomwood Forest through different entry points. Robin watched them go, loud, obvious, announcing their presence to anything with ears.
"They're treating this like a parade," Norman observed, his enhanced hearing picking up the chatter and clanking armor from multiple teams.
"Let them." Robin turned toward their assigned entry point, a narrow game trail that led deep into the forest's heart. "We're not here to make noise."
