The room was quiet.
Rush stood at the narrow window, already dressed, pack resting against the foot of the bed. Morning light hadn't fully arrived yet — just the pale grey suggestion of it along the eastern rooftops, the Academy grounds still and dark below.
He had been awake for an hour.
He turned from the window, sat at the desk, and picked up his pen.
Mother, Father,
I hope everything at home is well.
The Academy has been busy. I'm doing fine. My mana control has improved more than I expected.
I've made a few friends.
Slavic — he asks too many questions and writes everything down like he's afraid knowledge might disappear if he doesn't trap it on paper. Somehow he's usually right about things, which makes the questions harder to avoid.
Ethan — quiet. I still don't know much about him. I don't think he intends to change that.
Nia — she's kind. Clumsy sometimes. But reliable in ways that matter.
And Jennifer.
A pause stretched across the page before the next line formed.
She's difficult to understand. Confident. Unpredictable. I think she understands more than she lets on. I'm not sure what to make of that yet.
Training has been intense. Spell casting, mana integration, combat application — things I was already familiar with but at a different level.
They've classified my core as first stage Verdant.
Today is our first field exercise outside the Academy grounds. My squad has Slavic and Jennifer.
How is Liz?
Tell her not to cause trouble while I'm gone. Tell her to keep training.
A small pause.
I love you all.
— Rush
He read it over once.
Then folded it carefully, pressed the Ryanheart seal into the wax.
He stood, crossed to the window and opened it.
Worth trying, he thought.
Then he stretched his arm, palm facing towards the roof and pushed mana. Khaos Blocker activated as always but he didn't require much mana to create a mana construct.
He focused, created an image of a bird in his mind and—
"Konstrukt"
Violet mana seeped out of his palm taking the shape of a Raven, its wings folded flat.
He pressed the sealed letter against its chest. The construct absorbed the letter, accepting it.
"Castle Hart." Rush said quietly.
The Raven's wings unfolded. It lifted from his palm without sound, caught the grey morning air, and was gone — a small dark shape rising above the rooftops before disappearing into the pale sky.
Rush watched it go for a moment.
He picked up his pack and left.
The dormitory corridor was almost empty at this hour — just the low burn of mana lanterns and the distant sound of the Academy waking somewhere.
Rush adjusted his pack strap and walked.
I have been searching the Archives since our synchronization, he said internally. Every classification record. Every mana theory text I could access.
His eyes moved over the grass in the yard.
Nothing. Not a single mention of an Origin Core anywhere in Etherion's records.
Beelzebub surfaced slowly.
I am not surprised boy.
Does it not exist at all?
Beelzebub answered calmly.
Origin Core predates Etherion's classification system. The scholars who built your world's mana frameworks had never encountered one. They could not document what they had never seen.
Rush turned a corner.
You said once that your archive holds one previous signature. Another Origin Core.
One, Beelzebub confirmed. A single record.
A pause heavier than most.
And why did you not tell me about it?
Silence.
Your mind and core are not yet capable of receiving that information.
You're saying I'm not strong enough to know.
I'm saying the information is too large for what you currently are... that will change.
Rush said nothing for a moment. He filed it. Another shape without its substance.
Then I'll get stronger, he said. I don't want more questions piling up.
He kept walking.
"RUSH." A voice called out from behind.
He turned. His gaze caught Slavic and Ethan.
"Slavic. You don't need to shout in the corridor."
"Sorry... You were lost in thoughts."
"Alright. Get here fast."
Rush looked at Ethan.
"Hi Ethan."
"Hi."
"You're early," Slavic said, falling into step.
"You're later than I expected."
"I was studying about Hunter's Willow." Slavic adjusted his glasses. "Did you know the mana saturation levels are twice than the surrounding plains? Which means we may encounter monsters from F-Rank to C-Rank at least."
"I know," Rush said.
Slavic looked at him.
"You read the report."
"Last week."
Slavic continued walking without breaking the stride.
Then looked at Ethan.
"Ready?" Slavic asked him.
Ethan said nothing.
Which meant yes.
Students were already gathering at the main gate.
Assembled in loose formations — some talking too loudly, some standing too straight, some checking their packs for the third time. The energy was high and slightly uncontrolled, the particular excitement of people stepping outside a boundary they had lived within for a month.
Ethan peeled off toward his own squad without a word. Rush and Slavic continued toward the assembly area.
Rush's eyes swept the groups as he walked.
Richard stood near the left gate post with Amber and Cristofer, relaxed and easy in the way of someone performing relaxation for an audience. Rosetta stood slightly apart from them, stopwatch in hand, posture straight. She caught Rush's eye briefly across the assembly area.
Nothing passed between them.
But she looked at him a fraction longer than the situation required.
Rush moved on.
Further along the carriage line, Darius stood speaking quietly with another upperclassman. Unhurried. Relaxed. He glanced across the assembly area — found Rush and gave a small nod.
Rush returned it.
He seems different today, Beelzebub said.
Must be nervous. Leading first-years to the Hunter's Willow. It's a responsibility.
Maybe. But be careful boy.
Beelzebub said nothing further.
"Where's Jennifer?" Slavic muttered beside him. "She's late."
"She's on time. We arrived early."
She came through left corridor with Sophie and Nia at her side, unhurried, already reading the assembly area as she walked. Her eyes moved across the squads, the upperclassmen, the carriage line — cataloguing without appearing to. The composed ease of someone who had walked into rooms full of important people since childhood and learned to read them before being read.
She found Rush and Slavic and crossed to them without adjusting her pace.
"Slavic," she said, by way of greeting.
"Jennifer." Slavic looked up. "Did you—"
"Read it," she said.
Slavic deflated slightly.
She looked at Rush. A brief, assessing glance that took in his pack, his posture, his expression.
"Ready?" She said. "It's a big day,"
"I am. Always."
The corner of her mouth moved. She looked back at the assembly area, reading it again. Her eyes settled briefly on Nia's group. Then on Richard's. Then on the carriage line.
"Nia's with Ethan and Patricia," she said quietly.
"Yes."
"It's good for her."
Nia and Sophie said their goodbyes and peeled off toward their own squads. Jennifer watched them go briefly, then turned back to the gate.
Professor Spellworth arrived with Miss Claire and two other professors at his sides.
The assembly area went quiet without being asked.
He surveyed the groups once — the particular survey of someone confirming a count rather than making an impression.
"Today's field exercise takes place beyond Academy grounds in Hunter's Willow," he said. "You will operate within your assigned squads at all times. Your upperclassman's instructions are to be followed without question."
A pause and he continued.
"This is not a construct exercise. What you encounter in that forest is real. You will conduct yourselves accordingly."
He looked at the upperclassmen.
"Distribute the pouches."
They moved to their respective groups. Darius reached Rush's squad and produced three pouches, handing them out one by one.
Rush took his.
It was light. Too light for its size.
It didn't feel empty.
"Storage medium," Slavic murmured beside him, already examining his own. "Compressed spatial fold — the internal capacity exceeds the external dimensions by a factor of—"
"Slavic..." Rush said.
Slavic stopped talking.
"Basic supplies," Darius said, looking at the three of them with easy authority. "Rations and your weapons."
He said it with the calm certainty.
"Understood," Rush said.
Darius nodded and stood beside Rush.
Spellworth's voice carried one final time across the assembly area.
"Board your carriages."
The carriage was plain — dark wood, narrow benches, windows open to the morning air. Rush, Slavic, Jennifer and Darius took the third one in the line. The door closed. A moment later the gate opened and the wheels began to move.
Slavic opened his notebook immediately.
Jennifer looked out the window, watching the Academy walls fall away behind them, Prasta spreading beyond — catching the early light.
Rush sat across from Darius.
Darius sat with his forearms resting on his knees, looking at nothing in particular. The picture of an upperclassman on a routine exercise. Comfortable. Unbothered.
Rush watched the road ahead through the front window.
The city thinned gradually. Rooftops gave way to outer districts. Outer districts gave way to the wide open expanse of the Golden Plains — pale grass under a cloudless sky, the road running straight and narrow through it.
After an hour the plains ended.
Hunter's Willow emerged from the horizon — first a dark line, then a mass, then a wall of ancient trees stretching as far as the eye could follow in either direction. The canopy was dense and high. The trunks were wide and dark. The space between them was swallowed in deep still shadow.
The carriages slowed.
Stopped.
Everyone climbed out onto the grass.
Rush stepped down and looked at the forest.
The air here was different. Denser. The trees were old. The silence between them was the silence of something that had been watching long before any of them arrived.
Slavic was already excited.
Jennifer stood beside Rush, pouch settled, eyes on the treeline.
"There it is," she said quietly.
Rush said nothing.
Professor Spellworth stepped to the front of the assembled group, the forest wall rising behind him.
"That's Hunter's Willow behind me. You stay there. Hunt monsters and return tomorrow morning at this exact location. There's just one C-Rank monster in there and that's the highest in Hunter's Willow. Any questions?"
Slavic raised his hand.
"What if we encounter it?"
"Don't face it alone and inform the team leader –the upperclassmen. They are all strong enough to face it alone but will not."
A pause.
"Remember, the upperclassmen will not take part in any direct combat. They are the guide and the strategist. Everyone clear."
"Yes professor." Everyone confirmed in unison.
"Ok then. Squads separate here," he said. "Move out."
Rush looked at the treeline one more time.
Inside his chest, the Origin Core pulsed once — steady, quiet, controlled.
Get ready, child, Beelzebub said. This forest has what we need.
Rush adjusted his daggers on the thighs.
And walked toward the trees.