Chapter 824: Assessment Announcement (3)
Chapter 824: Assessment Announcement (3)
Liam’s gaze shifted briefly, not enough to look directly at Sheila, but enough to be aware of where she sat.There it was.
The academy had not forced the structure, but it had created the opening. Sheila and Edith would need to move quickly now, before uncertainty allowed others to begin forming alternatives. Chris would likely understand the same thing. If he had been waiting for the practical exam announcement, this was the moment that gave him a field to work with.
Lucia’s voice drew his attention back.
"Eldervale is not empty," she said. "The realm contains hostile entities, unstable regions, Myst irregularities, and environmental hazards. You will be provided with a field guide containing the information the academy has been able to confirm."
She lifted two fingers.
At the front of the stage, space shimmered. A long table appeared through a clean spatial summoning, its polished surface filled with neatly arranged books. There were roughly a hundred copies, stacked in precise rows, each bound in dark material with the academy crest stamped on the front. The title was visible from the first row: Eldervale Field Threat & Survival Guide.
"These books contain current academy-confirmed information regarding known threats, regional hazards, identified behavioral patterns, and survival notes," Lucia said. "Each of you will take one before leaving. You are expected to study it. But understand this clearly: the guide does not mean you know everything within Eldervale."
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
"The academy has discovered much. It has not discovered everything. If you memorize the guide front to back and enter the realm believing there are no unknowns, you will be a danger to yourself and everyone around you."
The warning landed heavily.
Lucia allowed it to remain before continuing. "There is one hostile presence I will name here directly because it is not simply another entry in the guide."
The projection shifted again.
The map darkened around the outer regions of Eldervale, and a vague shape appeared far beyond Veyrhold’s central area. It was not a clear depiction, more like a silhouette formed from partial reports: towering, distorted, wrapped in antler-like protrusions and ragged black growths, surrounded by faint rings of red warning marks.
"The Warden," Lucia said.
The name changed the air, though none of the students knew enough to fully understand why.
"The Warden is an apex entity within Eldervale. You are not to engage it. You are not to test it. You are not to lure it. You are not to provoke it in the hope of proving strength, earning glory, impressing your peers, or satisfying whatever reckless impulse occasionally infects students in your year." Her tone remained calm, which made the warning sharper. "If the Warden is sighted, your priority is avoidance, retreat, and immediate communication to your command structure."
A student swallowed audibly somewhere near the middle rows.
Sir Regulus spoke then, his voice low but carrying across the hall. "If you attempt to fight the Warden, the academy will not mistake stupidity for courage."