Three days passed with accelerating tension as the first-years prepared for the Shroud deployment.
Equipment checks. Core-activation drills. Survival protocol reviews.
Instructors moved among them, offering guidance that swung between practical and grimly philosophical.
"Maintain spatial awareness. Don't lose sight lines to exit points."
And, from another corner, delivered just as calmly: "Some of you will die. That's acceptable. Learn from others' mistakes instead of making your own."
The day of deployment arrived with a grey morning that seemed absurdly appropriate for entering a corrupted dimension—an overcast sky suggesting the universe understood the significance of the trial awaiting the students.
Five hundred first-years assembled in Sparkshire's main courtyard, their expressions showing a spectrum of emotions from eager anticipation to barely controlled fear.
