Cold wind swept across the carriage station outside the Whispering Ravine.
Dozens of first-year students gathered near the stone pathway leading down into the canyon while academy instructors checked equipnt and communication crystals one final ti.
The massive ravine stretched across the earth like a giant scar.
White fog rolled endlessly from the depths below, even from above, the place felt dangerous.
Lina stood quietly near the back of the crowd while nervously clutching the strap of her bag. Qhuin rested inside with his fluffy white head sticking out from the opening.
His ears twitched slowly as he scanned the area.
The sll of damp stone, monster blood, and raw mana drifted through the cold air, and it was much better than classrooms.
Several armored instructors moved among the students as they activated blue communication arrays around the entrance.
The glowing crystals flickered weakly as they got closer to the fog.
Professor Valerius stood near the front with his arms crossed.
"The Whispering Ravine blocks long-range mana signals," he said calmly. "If you lose contact with your assigned unit, survival becos your own responsibility."
So students imdiately looked nervous.
Others tried to hide it.
Marcus stood near the center of the group with his Storm Eagle perched on his shoulder. Unlike before, the bird stayed strangely quiet.
It did not look at Qhuin once.
’Good. At least the thrall understood basic survival.’ Qhuin thought watching it.
A cheerful voice suddenly spoke nearby.
"Lina!"
Lina turned quickly.
Chloe and i jogged toward her through the crowd.
The mont Lina saw them, so of the tension left her shoulders.
"You made it," Chloe said with a grin.
i adjusted her glasses nervously. "You looked pale earlier..."
"I barely slept," Lina admitted weakly.
"That makes two of us," Chloe sighed.
She raised her hand and summoned her beast beside her.
A sleek little otter appeared in a splash of water before sliding across the stone path happily. Tiny frost crystals ford beneath its paws while its white whiskers glowed faintly blue.
"This is Ripple," Chloe said proudly.
The otter chirped before spinning in a circle.
i summoned her own beast next.
A tiny green-and-yellow bird fluttered onto her shoulder while soft leaf-colored mana drifted around its feathers.
"My Leaf-Finch mostly helps with tracking herbs," i explained softly.
Compared to the giant wolves and armored beasts owned by the nobles, their creatures looked harmless.
Qhuin almost respected it.
Not every beast needed to roar every five seconds.
Ripple suddenly noticed him inside Lina’s bag.
The otter leaned closer curiously. Qhuin stared back silently, causing Ripple to instantly freeze.
Then it quietly backed away behind Chloe’s leg.
Qhuin’s nose twitched smugly.
’Wise animal.’
A loud horn suddenly echoed across the canyon entrance.
Valerius stepped forward.
"Move out."
The students slowly began descending into the ravine.
The deeper they walked, the colder the air beca.
Huge cliffs rose around them while thick fog swallowed more and more of the pathway. Loose rocks crunched beneath boots as the first-year students followed the winding trench routes downward.
After only ten minutes, the academy entrance had completely vanished behind the mist.
Visibility dropped badly.
The communication crystals attached to several students flickered weakly.
The fog carried raw mana through the air, disrupting everything.
Qhuin sat quietly inside Lina’s bag while observing the environnt.
Narrow pathways, blind corners, and Unstable cliffs.
A perfect terrain for killing.
Far ahead of the group, Marcus casually adjusted the strap on his weapon belt.
At the sa ti, the Storm Eagle silently spread its wings and flew upward into the fog-covered cliffs above.
Nobody paid attention, well except Qhuin.
Through Blood Turn, he felt the eagle’s movents clearly.
The thrall obeyed Marcus’s hidden command without hesitation.
’Interesting. So this was the plan.’ Qhuin laughed in his mind
The class continued deeper into the trenches.
Towering stone walls blocked out most of the sunlight now. The pathways beca tighter and more uneven while fog rolled endlessly through the canyon.
Lina nervously stayed close to Chloe and i.
"This place is horrible," Chloe muttered quietly.
i nodded quickly.
"It feels like sothing is watching us."
Qhuin’s ears twitched.
’Sothing probably was.’
Then—
A sharp cracking sound echoed high above the trench,most of the students froze instinctively.
Several instructors looked upward imdiately.
"What was that?" soone shouted.
The fog overhead shifted slightly.
Then the cliffside exploded.
BOOOOM!!
Massive rocks crashed downward into the trench behind the group.
Students scread as dust and debris blasted through the canyon.
The ground shook violently.
Lina nearly lost her balance.
Qhuin jumped from the bag onto her shoulder automatically as stone fragnts scattered across the pathway.
More rocks collapsed behind them.
The trench was filled with smoke and dust.
By the ti the noise finally stopped, a massive wall of broken stone completely blocked the path behind Lina’s section of the group.
Panic imdiately spread.
"We’re cut off!"
"My communication crystal stopped working!"
"Where are the instructors?!"
The thick fog swallowed most voices before they could travel far.
Lina looked around anxiously.
"Chloe?! i?!"
No answer ca.
The collapse had separated students into different sections of the trench.
Qhuin narrowed his eyes slightly.
Above the cliffs, hidden behind the fog, Marcus’s Storm Eagle quietly landed on a distant rock formation.
The thrall had caused the collapse perfectly, no one saw it.
To everyone else, the unstable cliffside had simply broken naturally.
Marcus slowly stepped through the dust toward Lina with several other students nearby.
His expression looked calm and concerned.
"Is everyone alright?" he asked.
Lina nodded shakily.
"I-I think so..."
One of the other students looked nervously toward the blocked trench.
"We need to regroup with the instructors."
Marcus glanced toward a narrow pathway leading deeper underground.
"I think there’s another route through the lower trenches," he said. "It should reconnect with the main path further ahead."
Qhuin remained completely still on Lina’s shoulder.
’Lies.’
The eagle had already shown him the route earlier through their connection.
Marcus was leading them downward intentionally.
Unfortunately, Lina was too panicked to notice.
Another student swallowed nervously.
"We can’t stay here. Wild monsters will co after all that noise."
Marcus nodded imdiately.
"Then let’s move."
The small separated group quickly followed him deeper into the canyon.
The further they descended, the darker the ravine beca.
Eventually, even the weak daylight overhead nearly disappeared behind the towering cliffs.
Cold air drifted through the narrow pathways, and water dripped slowly from the stone walls.
Lina’s footsteps beca shakier with every turn.
Qhuin quietly morized the route.
The lower abyss, exactly where the ambush was waiting.
After several more minutes, Marcus finally stopped near a massive listone archway leading into a dark cavern below.
The entrance looked ancient.
Jagged claw marks covered parts of the walls.
Lina slowed imdiately.
"...This doesn’t look safe."
Marcus turned toward her calmly.
"It’s just a shortcut."
Qhuin’s ears twitched sharply, he had movent, several mana signatures hidden nearby.
Then—
CLANG!!
A giant iron grate suddenly crashed down behind Lina.
Her eyes widened.
Heavy chains locked into place instantly across the cave entrance.
The other "students" imdiately stepped backward.
A glowing magical barrier activated behind the grate.
Lina spun around in panic.
"W-What is this?!"
Footsteps echoed from deeper within the darkness.
A tall figure slowly stepped out from the shadows beyond the barrier.
Marcus smirked slightly.
"Right on ti."
Lina’s face paled.
The man standing there was older than them.
A senior with dark academy markings lined his coat while a long scar crossed one side of his jaw.
Marcus’s cousin.
His cold eyes slowly moved toward Qhuin, hatred flashed across his face instantly.
"That rabbit," he said quietly, "is the reason my shadow Hound is dead."
Lina stepped backward imdiately.
"I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!"
The senior ignored her completely.
Instead, he reached toward the darkness behind him.
A heavy tallic sound echoed through the cave.
Chains rattled slowly.
Then a massive iron cage beca visible deeper inside the abyss.
Sothing huge moved within the darkness, low breathing echoed across the cavern floor., as two enormous red eyes slowly opened inside the cage.
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