The alert on their watches had the effect of a bucket of icy water. The satisfaction of victory and progress evaporated, replaced by a nervous and acute tension.
"A tide?" whispered Arthur, his euphoria suddenly dropped. "They said "possible," right?"
"Instructors don't take this kind of thing lightly," said Lyra, already folding her holographic map. "If they send a warning, it's because the sensors have detected something concrete."
Hakime quickly analyzed the situation. The secondary rallying point, the Ravin des Anciens, was about an hour's walk to the southwest. A defensible area, according to the maps, with high rock faces.
We're moving. Right away," he ordered, his voice regaining its natural authority. "We lost enough time here. Arthur, your arm?"
Arthur turned his shoulder with a broad smile on his face. "Good as new! The level rise has solved everything. I'm even faster than before!"
They quickly filled their water bottles at the source, then set off, adopting a fast and silent pace of walking. The forest, already hostile, now seemed to be downright antagonistic to them. Every branch crack, every rustle in the bushes made them startle. The persistent haze always limited their visibility.
Their new statistics were felt almost immediately. Arthur, with his Agility boosted, moved like a shadow, his steps almost inaudible. He would go further and come back faster, reporting valuable information on the ground and the movements of small groups of monsters that they could avoid.
Conor, with his Strength and Endurance increased, advanced even more confidently, his shield seeming less heavy. Lyra, thanks to her increased perception, was often the first to detect a danger, pointing to a well-hidden Fongus or the gooey trace of a Slime.
Hakime, on the other hand, felt the difference. His 3 points in Endurance allowed him to better withstand the draining effect of the mist. His muscles, strengthened by the Strength points, responded better when littering his spear. But he remained aware of the chasm that separated him from his friends in terms of level. Every piece of ether had to be saved.
Along the way, they encountered the footsteps of other teams: hurried footprints, recent combat impacts, and once, a pile of ashes still hot that smelled of burning - the obvious signature of Loïd's fire.
They avoided two more minor skirmishes, neutralizing a small group of goblins with increased efficiency thanks to their new abilities. Each victory brought them a tiny amount of ether, but Hakime felt that the progression to level 3 would still be long.
As the sun began to decline seriously, dyeing the sky with orange colors that struggled against the greyness of the mist, they reached the entrance of the Ravine of the Ancients. It was a narrow fault in the landscape, between two walls of grey and smooth rock, about fifteen meters high. The place was already occupied.
About twenty students, belonging to four or five different teams, were gathered in the confined space. The atmosphere was tense. Some, visibly exhausted and lightly wounded, were resting against the walls. Others, like Loïd's team, stood aside, forming a distinct and suspicious group.
Loïd himself was leaning against the rock, his arms crossed. His team seemed intact, but his expression was dark. He looked at Hakime and the others when they arrived, a burst of defiance in their eyes. Elara Griffin, by her side, watched them coldly, while Kaito Tanaka adjusted her glasses with a detached air.
Other teams greeted them with a nod, recognizing them as familiar faces from the academy. One of them, a boy with a C rank blessing tied to the land, approached.
"Did you get the alarm too?" he asked, visibly nervous. "We saw groups of goblins moving north, as if they were fleeing something."
Hakime nodded. "We had the same feeling. Something is going on."
No instructor was visible. They were alone. The team leaders, including Hakime and Loïd, looked at each other with an unspoken question: who would take over to organize the defense of this ravine that would become their improvised fortress?
Night fell rapidly, and with it, fear grew. The abnormal movements detected by the sensors were no longer an abstraction, but an imminent threat to each of them. The ravine was a potential trap, but also their best chance of surviving what was to come. The shock was inevitable.