Night fell over Fallow's Reach like a shroud.
Nova's group moved through the darkened streets, their path illuminated only by distant fires and the faint glow of Priscilla's luminescent plants. The city had transformed after sunset—shadows deepened, sounds multiplied, and the constant sense of being watched pressed against them like a physical weight.
"Two blocks from the rendezvous point," Rina's voice came through the communication earpiece. Her group was approaching from the north, her spatial sense guiding them through the monster-infested streets. "Multiple contacts in the area. Gremlins, mostly. Something larger near the old market."
"Acknowledged." Nova signaled his group to halt. "Kaelen, status?"
The stone-skinned warrior closed his eyes, focusing on his enhanced senses. "At least twenty gremlins between us and the plaza. Maybe more. They're gathered around something—a building, looks like."
"Survivors?"
"Can't tell. But whatever they're guarding, it's important to them."
Valerius stepped forward, his spatial manipulation humming at the edge of perception. "I can warp us past the main group. Get us closer to the plaza without engaging."
"How many can you take?"
"Five. Maybe six if they're willing to be uncomfortable." He glanced at Liana, who had been quiet for hours. "The water girl stays. She's not ready for that kind of transit."
Liana's face fell but she nodded. She'd been struggling all day, her fear barely contained. Nova understood—this was her first real combat, her first taste of what the world outside academies looked like.
"You'll stay with Kaelen," Nova told her. "Clear a path for the other groups. If we're not back in two hours, extract and report."
"And you?"
"We'll be back."
GODLESS SYSTEM UPDATE
QUEST: "ACADEMY SURVIVAL" — STATUS UPDATE
Objective: Maintain Class A through first semester
Progress: Complete (Class A maintained, Rank 2 overall)
REWARD PENDING: Intermediate Cultivation Technique (Grade: Heaven — Fragment 1/3)
Reward will be delivered upon return to academy.
Nova dismissed the notification. Later. First, survive.
Valerius raised his hands.
Space twisted—not the gentle folding Nova used for teleportation, but something harsher, more aggressive. The world stretched and compressed, distances becoming meaningless, and suddenly they were standing in a different street, fifty meters past the gremlin pack.
Priscilla stumbled, her plants writhing in distress. "That felt... wrong."
"Space manipulation isn't gentle." Valerius rolled his shoulders.
The plaza lay ahead, its central fountain shattered, its cobblestones cracked and stained. And in its center—
"Gods," Priscilla whispered.
The anomaly wasn't invisible. It wasn't subtle. It was a swirling vortex of light and shadow that pulsed like a heartbeat. Around it, monsters gathered in ranks: gremlins, yes, but also creatures Nova didn't recognize. Quadrupeds with too many joints. Flying things with leathery wings. A massive shape that might have been a reptile or might have been something else entirely.
And at the vortex's base, half-hidden by the pulsing light, something grew.
A plant. But not like any plant Nova had seen.
Its stem was crystal, refracting the vortex's light into rainbow patterns. Its leaves were metal, sharp as blades. And at its center, a single flower bloomed—petals of pure darkness that seemed to drink the light around them.
Priscilla's breath caught. "That's—I've read about this. Soulbloom. It's supposed to be extinct. It only grows where dimensional barriers are thin, feeding on the energy between worlds."
"Valuable?"
"Priceless." Her voice was awed. "A single petal can heal any wound. The whole flower, properly refined—it could extend a lifespan by centuries. Advance cultivation by multiple orders. Create artifacts that—" She stopped. "Nova, that flower is worth more than this entire city."
Valerius's eyes gleamed. "Now I understand."
"Understand what?"
"Why the monsters are gathering. Why they're being drawn here." He pointed at the vortex. "That's not a dungeon breach. That's a convergence point. Two planes pressing against each other, about to tear. The Soulbloom is feeding on the energy, keeping the tear stable. If it's harvested—"
"The tear collapses. Everything here gets sucked into whatever plane is on the other side." Nova's mind raced. "How long until that happens?"
"Hours. Maybe less." Valerius studied the gathered monsters. "The real question is: how do we get to it?"
They weren't the only ones asking.
Other groups had arrived at the plaza's edges—shadows moving through ruined buildings, students preparing to make their move. Nova counted at least six groups, maybe more. All waiting. All watching.
"The moment someone moves, it's chaos," Kaelen's voice came through the earpiece. He'd found a vantage point with Liana, observing from a half-collapsed tower. "Those monsters are organized. Something's controlling them."
"Any sign of what?"
"Negative. But whatever it is, it's smart. They're positioned to defend every approach."
Nova studied the monster formations. Kaelen was right—the creatures weren't just gathered randomly. They were deployed. Gremlins in screening positions. Flying creatures overhead. The larger beasts positioned to counterattack any breach.
Military tactics, he realized. Something here has military training.
In another life, he'd seen similar formations. Demon armies used them. Abyss creatures had learned them through centuries of war with human forces.
But this wasn't the Abyss. These were monsters from other planes, creatures that shouldn't know human tactics.
Unless something was teaching them.
"We need to draw them out," Nova said. "Create a diversion that pulls the defenders away from the Soulbloom."
Valerius raised an eyebrow. "And who volunteers for that diversion?"
"The groups who want the flower for themselves." Nova's voice was cold. "We don't tell them it's a diversion. We tell them it's an opportunity. Let them attack first, draw the monster response, and we slip through during the chaos."
"You're proposing using other students as bait."
"I'm proposing using their ambition as a tool. They'll attack anyway—the only question is whether we benefit from it."
Priscilla stared at him. For a moment, she looked like she might argue.
Then she nodded slowly. "It's logical."
"Always."
Valerius contacted the other group leaders.
The response was immediate—five groups agreed to a coordinated assault. None of them knew about the Soulbloom. None of them knew about the convergence point. They saw an opportunity to clear the plaza, earn ranking points, and maybe find something valuable in the aftermath.
Nova let them believe it.
"We move in ten minutes," Valerius reported. "The other groups will attack from three directions. We wait thirty seconds, then go straight for the center."
"And the monsters?"
"Will be busy dying."
Ten minutes passed like hours.
Nova checked his blades. Checked his mana—842 units, enough for eighty teleports at full range. Checked his group: Priscilla pale but determined, Valerius calm and calculating, the others ready.
In the distance, the first explosions signaled the attack.
Gremlins screamed. Flying creatures dove. The massive reptile-thing bellowed and charged. Chaos erupted across the plaza as five student groups engaged the monster horde.
"Now," Nova said.
They ran.
The plaza was a nightmare of movement and violence.
Nova teleported through the chaos, his blades finding throats and eyes and joints with mechanical precision. Priscilla's plants surged around her, binding monsters, creating paths, protecting their flanks. Valerius warped space to redirect attacks, to shorten distances, to confuse any creature that got too close.
The Soulbloom grew closer.
Fifty meters. Thirty. Ten.
A massive shape blocked their path—the reptile-thing, wounded but not dead, its eyes fixed on them with intelligence that shouldn't exist in a simple monster.
"Go," Valerius shouted. "I'll hold it."
Nova didn't argue. He grabbed Priscilla and teleported past the creature, landing directly before the Soulbloom.
The flower pulsed with dark light. Up close, its beauty was terrifying—petals of absolute darkness, stem of crystalline light, leaves like forged steel.
"Harvest it," Nova said. "Quickly."
Priscilla's hands trembled as she reached for the flower. Her plant affinity sang in response, recognizing something ancient and powerful.
The moment her fingers touched the stem, everything changed.
The vortex screamed.
Light erupted from the convergence point, blinding and deafening. The monsters froze mid-attack. The students stumbled. And in that moment of frozen chaos, Nova saw something in the light—a figure, human-shaped, watching him with eyes that burned like dying stars.
You, a voice whispered directly into his mind. I know you.
Then the vision shattered.
Priscilla held the Soulbloom in her hands, its roots severed, its light fading. The vortex was collapsing, shrinking, pulling reality back together.
"Run," Nova said.
They ran.
Behind them, the plaza dissolved into chaos.
Monsters fled or died or simply vanished as the dimensional tear sealed itself. Students screamed and fought and tried to understand what had just happened. The military would arrive within minutes to secure the area.
Nova didn't care about any of it.
He was running toward the perimeter, Priscilla beside him, the Soulbloom clutched to her chest, and his mind was filled with a single thought:
I know you.
Who had spoken? What had seen him through that tear?
And why did the voice feel familiar?
END OF YEAR EXAMINATION — DAY 2 COMPLETE
Group 17 Final Standing:
Civilians Rescued: 12
Monsters Killed: 73
Special Objective: Anomaly Investigated — Complete
Group Ranking: 1st of 20