Lucas barely had time to process the quest notification before the lights dimmed in the massive auditorium. Murmurs rose as the students, hundreds of them, shifted in their seats. The floor beneath them thrummed faintly, like something heavy was moving far below.
A spotlight flared on stage, revealing Headmaster Graye standing tall and sharp in his dark Delver uniform. His long coat, reinforced with sleek black plating, trailed behind him like a shadow. A Rank 7, the highest still living, and the man responsible for keeping what remained of humanity alive. His voice cut through the quiet like a blade.
"Welcome to Delver Academy. For those of you who believe this will be like any school you've attended before, allow me to correct that misconception immediately."
He let the silence settle, let the tension simmer.
"You have been accepted not because you are exceptional, yet, but because you may become so. But only if you survive."
A slow, mechanical grinding echoed from behind the stage, and the ground trembled again. A panel of the wall opened like a steel iris. What crawled out from the darkness was no training dummy.
It was a Rank 1 monster. A real one.
Gray-scaled and lean like a starving predator, the creature's four eyes scanned the auditorium with a low growl rumbling from its chest. Its claws scraped against the floor with a wet, metallic sound, and its mouth opened to reveal rows of jagged teeth that seemed far too human in shape.
Panic erupted instantly. Screams. The rush of bodies trying to get away. Chaos.
[Quest Notification] Survival Trial: InitiatedObjective: Work with fellow students to survive and eliminate the Rank 1 Threat.Time Limit: Until monster is slain.Warning: Death is permanent.
Lucas's blood turned to ice. There were no teachers stepping in. No barriers between them and the beast. This was real.
He ducked instinctively as the monster leapt from the stage into the crowd, crushing a chair and the unlucky student in it. Screams turned to cries of pain. Some students froze, others ran, and a few began trying to coordinate, barely holding their panic in check.
Lucas pushed through the crowd, trying to find cover, but instead he nearly tripped over someone who'd stood her ground.
A girl, tall, black hair tied in a simple braid, violet eyes hard as steel. She looked like she belonged here, even though her clothes were as modest as his own.
She didn't flinch when the monster roared again.
"Are you crazy?" he shouted.
She didn't look at him. "If we all scatter, it picks us off one by one. Someone needs to draw it in. Stall it. Keep it focused."
"That someone shouldn't be you," he replied. "Or me."
"I don't have a choice," she said, finally meeting his eyes. There was something haunted in them. "I came here with nothing. I have nothing. If I die, no one will miss me."
That shut him up. She stepped forward before he could stop her, and let out a piercing whistle toward the monster.
It turned to her instantly.
She threw a chair, smashing it into its shoulder. "Over here, freak!"
Lucas wanted to call her back, but then someone tackled him from behind just as the creature swiped in their direction. A huge student with broad shoulders, a buzz cut, and arms like stone dragged Lucas behind a pile of overturned seats.
"You okay?" the guy asked, breathing heavy. "I'm Daron."
"Lucas," he panted. "Thanks."
Daron peeked over the chairs. "She's baiting it. Ballsy move."
"Yeah, too ballsy."
Daron nodded. "We need a plan. I don't hit hard, but I can take a beating. You any good?"
"I can run fast and get winded immediately."
"Great," Daron said with a wry grin. "You'll fit right in."
Together, they moved toward the other side of the auditorium where a few students had stopped running and started regrouping. Among them, one was channeling faint wisps of mana through his palms, trying to conjure a barrier spell, while another girl with twin daggers adjusted her stance, clearly trained.
It was happening. They were forming a team.
The violet-eyed girl had managed to draw the creature to the far end of the room, and now she was dancing just out of its reach, using the broken debris to slow it down. She moved like someone who'd been in real danger before.
Lucas grabbed one of the discarded chair legs, gripping it like a bat. "We need to surround it. Wear it down."
"Won't be easy," Daron grunted, cracking his neck. "But we've got something better than weapons."
Lucas arched a brow. "What's that?"
"Desperation."
They waited for the right moment, just as the monster swiped and slammed itself into a row of metal seating. Lucas ran forward, swinging his makeshift weapon with everything he had. It cracked against the creature's side, not much, but enough to turn its attention.
Then Daron barreled into it from behind, taking a claw to the ribs but dragging it down. The girl with the daggers struck next, aiming for its joints. The spell-user landed a partial stun.
Lucas could barely breathe, could barely move, but together, they fought.
It took five agonizing minutes. Then ten. Then fifteen. Blood. Screams. One student lost a leg. Another was knocked unconscious. But eventually
The beast fell.
[Quest Complete!] Rewards: 3 Upgrade Points, Skill Card (Common), Trait Unlocked: Combat Adaptation (Lesser)
The auditorium went silent, save for the wheezing, pained breaths of the survivors.
Headmaster Graye stepped forward, impassive.
"Consider this your introduction," he said. "This world is not gentle. Neither are you."
Lucas turned toward the girl, now slumped against a wall, her braid undone and her breathing shallow.
"Hey," he said, offering her a hand. "You did good. What's your name?"
She looked at him, something flickering behind her eyes grief, anger, maybe just exhaustion.
"Reyna," she replied. "Reyna Kade."
Lucas knew that name. Her mother had been a legend. A Rank 7 who'd died 15 years ago. Everyone remembered her.
Reyna had nothing now. Just like him.
But maybe... they didn't have to face this alone.