The descent of The Iron Leviathan was anything but smooth. The airship rattled like a dying beast as it plumted through the oppressive atmospheric wall of the southern frontier. The ship's underbelly hull slamd hard into the dirt, grinding against volcanic gravel for fifty ters before the hydraulic mooring claws bit into the reinforced iron pylons of Staging Camp Oga.
The mont the main cargo ramp hissed downward, the sheer, unbridled weight of the Abyss hit the students like a physical blow.
The air was thick, tasting of ash, sulfur, and a tallic tang that made the lungs burn. The sky above wasn't blue; it was a swirling vortex of bruised violet clouds fed by the massive plus of prival mana rising from the chasm just two miles away.
"Move out! Form up by squads! If you lag behind the automated defense turrets, the local fauna will have you digested before sunset!" A scarred, Tier-3 Vanguard Captain scread from the gantry, his voice reinforced by mana runes.
Kai stepped down the ramp, his movents fluid and unhurried. The mont his Tempest Stride boots touched the gray, dead soil of the frontier, a sharp, static vibration buzzed at the base of his skull.
[System Notice]
High-density Prival Mana field detected.
SSS-Rank Talent 'Eye of the Primordial Sovereign' is passively refining ambient energy.
Daily attribute stabilization rate increased by 5%.
Unlike the other freshn, who were visibly staggering under the localized gravitational anomaly of the rift, Kai walked as if he were on a leisure stroll. His effective Endurance of fifty-six made the crushing pressure feel like nothing more than a light sumr breeze.
He took a quick scan of Staging Camp Oga. It was a brutalist fortress of cold-rolled steel and concrete, surrounded by a periter of automated railgun turrets that continuously thumped into the fog, painting the distant hills with arcs of kinetic blue fire.
"Kai." Elena caught up to him, her midnight-blue spellblade armor pristine despite the ash-laden wind. She held a sleek, holographic tactical map out between them. "The vanguard legion only controls the upper three tiers of the chasm. The freshn trial zone is restricted to Sector 4—the Ashen Terraces. It’s filled with Level 12 to 15 Gorgon Crawlers and Abyssal Stalkers."
She glanced around, noting the heavily ard rcenary groups lingering near the camp’s supply depots. They wore mismatched armor emblazoned with the crests of independent guilds—The Bloodhounds, The Iron Syndicate, The Shadow Fangs. Their eyes weren't on the rift; they were locked onto Kai.
"They already know who you are," Elena muttered, her hand resting on the hilt of her rapier. "Marcus Vance’s bounty has hit the underworld network. Half an million imperial credits for your core, staged as a 'frontier casualty'."
"A generous price," Kai replied, a thin, dangerous smile cutting across his face. "Let's make sure they earn it."
Before they could plan further, a shrill, mocking laugh echoed from the squad gathering area behind them.
Leo Vance was standing amidst a group of four older, upper-year students who had been attached to the freshman cohort as 'guides'. They wore the heavy, spiked armor of the Vanguard Iron Guard, their levels hovering around 15 to 17.
"Look at the trash, completely clueless," Leo sneered, though he kept a safe twenty feet of distance from Kai, his voice shaking slightly despite his bravado. "Enjoy the surface air while you can, Raven. The Ashen Terraces are very unforgiving to unawakened cripples."
Kai didn't even turn his head to look at him. To an elephant, the buzzing of a mosquito was nothing more than background noise. His gaze was fixed on the massive, jagged tear in the earth at the edge of the camp—the maw of the Great Abyss.
"Attention, all recruits!" the Vanguard Captain roared, cutting off Leo's posturing. "The periter gates are opening. Your objective is simple: survive six hours in Sector 4 and bring back at least three Tier-1 Abyssal Shards. Fall back if the crimson fog rolls in. Go!"
The heavy, triple-layered iron blast gates groaned as they parted, revealing the steep, jagged pathways winding down into the violet-lit depths of the chasm.
The students moved in tight, defensive formations, their elental shields flaring to life as they crossed the threshold. Leo and his upper-year guides blurred forward, intentionally kicking up a cloud of dust to obscure Kai’s vision as they dived into the ravine.
Kai lingered for a mont, letting the crowd distance themselves. He reached into his tactical vest and pulled tight the straps of his gauntlets, his violet eyes reflecting the deep crimson light of the underworld below.
"Are you staying with the main vanguard force?" Kai asked Elena without looking back.
"My father ordered to secure the eastern ridge with the main Reinhardt cohort," Elena said, her expression serious. "But Kai... if the rcenaries corner you—"
"They won't corner ," Kai interrupted softly, his thumb gently testing the guard of the Desolation Blade. "They will just find out why the Vance family had to bury their elite squad in the dark."
With a sudden, silent burst of motion, Kai stepped over the threshold of the base. He didn't use the main pathway. His boots detonated with a quiet hum of azure static as he used Aero-Glide, launching his body directly off the sheer cliff face and plunging straight into the unchecked, howling abyss below.
The final hunt had officially begun.
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