Morning came with a silver mist hanging over the academy's courtyard. Bells echoed across the stone walls, steady and low a signal that the week of training had ended. Today, the disciples would leave the academy for the Wild Region.
Rin stood near the gate, his training robe still damp from the early fog. Around him, dozens of students talked in loud, excited voices. Some checked their weapons, others compared the size of their flux crystals. The air smelled of oil, metal, and nerves.
He watched them quietly.
The week had changed him. His body felt lighter and stronger after the strange body cultivation. His breathing was deeper, smoother. When he focused, he could feel tiny pulses in his limbs the hidden rhythm of his new strength. No one else noticed. To others, Rin was just a rootless student with average skill. That was fine. He preferred it that way.
The Instructor's Briefing
Instructor Kael walked into the courtyard with firm steps. He wore dark armor lined with blue flux veins that pulsed faintly beneath the surface. His eyes swept across the students.
"Today," Kael began, his voice calm but sharp, "you will enter the Wild. This is your first field test. Out there, the world does not follow academy rules. The weak are hunted, and mistakes can kill."
The crowd grew quiet.
Kael tapped the device on his wrist, and a floating screen appeared beside him. It showed a glowing map three circles of different colors.
"This," he said, "is the Wild Region. It is divided into three zones the Outer Circle, Inner Circle, and Core Zone."
He pointed to each area in turn.
"The Outer Circle has low-grade beasts. You will hunt there first. The Inner Circle has stronger ones only teams with high flux control are allowed in. The Core Zone is forbidden to all students. If you cross into it, even by mistake, we won't save you."
The words settled heavy in the air.
Kael looked over them once more. "Each of you has been given a refined flux crystal. It will help you recover your energy faster. Use it wisely. Do not waste it."
He raised a small crystal between his fingers. It glowed with a faint blue light, beautiful but strangely dull at the same time.
Rin looked at his own. The crystal was cool and perfect, like frozen water, but when he let his flux touch it, the energy felt… off. It was smooth but hollow, like a song missing its final note.
The System's voice whispered softly in his mind.
"Flux pattern unstable. Refinement structure incomplete. Estimated efficiency: 72%."
Rin's eyes flickered. So it's not just my imagination…
Preparing for Departure
The students lined up, their names being checked one by one. Packs were filled with food capsules, bandages, and spare crystals. Each team of five received a signal beacon for emergencies.
Kael moved among them, inspecting weapons and giving short advice. "Your weapon is an extension of your will," he said to one group. "If you hesitate, it will break before you do."
Rin stood at the back, carrying a simple steel spear on his back and a short dagger at his belt weapons the System had told him to choose.
"Spear: reach advantage, suitable for mid-range. Effective against large beasts. Dagger: quick draw, silent strike. Ideal for counterattacks."
He had trained with both for the past week, following the System's holographic demonstrations late at night when no one was watching. Every motion, from grip to stance, was refined again and again until his body remembered without thought.
While the others depended on instructors' lessons, Rin learned through exact simulation thousands of micro-corrections the System fed directly into his nerves.
Now, as he held the spear, it felt like a part of his arm.
The Road to the Wild
By noon, the academy gates opened. Rows of armored wagons waited outside, pulled by mechanical beasts that glowed with faint flux light. The road beyond the gate stretched into the forest a misty line vanishing into the green distance.
Rin climbed into one of the wagons with a small group of students. Sana was among them, her silver hair tied back neatly, eyes bright with curiosity. She looked at him once, as if trying to read what went on behind his calm expression, then looked away.
The wagon started moving with a soft hum. The academy slowly disappeared behind the trees.
The ride was long and silent except for the soft rumble of wheels. The forest grew thicker, shadows deeper. Occasionally, distant howls echoed through the mist low, mournful sounds that made some students tense up.
Kael's voice came through the communicator in each wagon. "Stay alert. The Wild begins beyond the next ridge. Once we arrive at base camp, you'll be assigned to your zones."
Base Camp
When they finally stopped, the students stepped out onto rough soil covered in moss and faint blue roots that glowed beneath their feet. Around them were tents, supply crates, and flux barriers marking the camp's boundary.
The air felt different here heavy with invisible power. The ground itself seemed to breathe.
Rin crouched down and touched the soil. Warm energy pulsed beneath it, but it wasn't like the refined crystal's energy. It was alive, raw, and vibrant.
"Natural flux detected," the System whispered. "Purity level: 94%. Organic signature confirmed."
Rin's eyes widened slightly. So this is what real flux feels like…
He looked around. The other students were already channeling their crystals, practicing their breathing techniques. Blue light flowed through their veins as the artificial energy merged with their roots.
But Rin hesitated. When he tried the same, the System immediately interfered.
"Warning. Flux pattern inconsistent with host structure. Proceeding may cause instability."
He paused, then stopped entirely. No one noticed. To them, he just looked like he was meditating.
Evening at the Camp
As the sun sank behind the forest, Kael gathered everyone around a campfire made of fluxwood blue flames that gave no smoke. The instructor's face flickered in the light.
"Tomorrow," he said, "your real test begins. Hunt, observe, and learn. Remember the purpose of this test is not killing, but understanding. The Wild will teach you what the academy cannot."
He paused, eyes narrowing slightly. "And never let greed blind you. Many have died chasing what they don't understand."
The students nodded, though some looked too eager for adventure to truly listen.
Rin stared into the blue flames. The light reflected in his eyes like stars sinking into water. The System spoke softly again.
"Environmental flux density is ideal for cultivation. Recommendation: gather local data during rest cycle."
He nodded slightly and looked toward the dark forest beyond the camp barriers. The mist there seemed to move with purpose, almost alive like something watching them from afar.
He didn't know it yet, but beyond those shadows, a different kind of power waited one that would change the way he understood the world's energy.
For now, he only felt that something about the refined flux crystal was wrong. It was too clean, too lifeless. The Wild, on the other hand, pulsed with energy that felt real untamed, but whole.
Rin closed his eyes, listening to the night sounds. The chirping of spirit insects, the faint rustle of unseen beasts, and beneath it all, the quiet hum of the world itself the rhythm that only he could hear.