It seed that whatever had caused the rift evolution either had a grudge with Silas and Chloe, or it was purely random, because out of the forty-four participants who entered the rift, forty-two were all gathered atop a mountainous region.
The sun was slowly setting beyond the mountains. Orange and crimson light painted the horizon, casting long shadows across the camp. The students had already finished setting up tents, so they were eating or talking quietly. Most were still trying to process the fact that they had been thrown into a completely unfamiliar environnt.
Fear lingered in the air. Nobody wanted to say it aloud, but everyone could feel that sothing was very, very wrong.
Inside the largest tent in the camp, the four supervising teachers sat around a portable lantern with a rough map of the surrounding region sketched on a piece of paper under it. The atmosphere was heavy, as no one was smiling. The map had been crudely drawn.
Mr. Fatars leaned forward and rubbed his temples. The usually loud and energetic instructor looked unusually serious.
"We need to stop pretending this is a normal Awakening Outing."
Nobody disagreed. Mrs. Loraine folded her arms.
"Then let’s hear it."
Fatars nodded and started.
"The first problem is the terrain," He pointed toward the crude map. "We entered through a Yellow Rift. Yellow Rifts don’t have ecosystems this large. They don’t have mountain ranges stretching beyond the horizon, or weather systems this complex, and obviously do not have this much mana in the atmosphere."
The other teachers exchanged looks. They had all noticed it. The mana density alone was enough to make so of the unawakened students feel uncomfortable or even make them awaken without trying.
Fatars continued.
"The second problem is the wildlife." He glanced toward the tent entrance. "Did everyone see the tracks this afternoon?"
Several nodded. One of the instructors spoke.
"The ones larger than vehicles?"
"Those ones."
Fatars exhaled. "A Yellow Rift cannot support creatures that large." His voice beca grave. "Which ans we have only two possibilities." The lantern flickered, while everyone waited with baited breaths, already feeling a sense of dread creeping up their spines.
Fatars finally spoke.
"We are either inside a Blue Rift..." The tent beca quiet. "...or sothing even worse."
His statent confird their fear. They could feel it. He wasn’t wrong. Among the four teachers present, Mr. Fatars possessed the most rift experience. He was a B-Rank Awakener. He was not the strongest teacher in Valecrest, or the most talented, but when it ca to surviving inside rifts, very few could compare to him.
He had participated in dozens of expeditions, cleared countless rift zones, lost friends, teammates, and nearly died more tis than he could count. When soone like him looked worried, everyone listened.
Mrs. Loraine frowned. "Could the rift have evolved after we entered?"
"That’s my current theory," Fatars nodded.
"Is that even possible?"
"It shouldn’t be."
The answer made everyone uncomfortable. Fatars leaned back.
"Rifts evolve all the ti, but evolution usually takes years, sotis decades. What happened today happened in seconds. Plus, it is possible that a day has already passed on Earth. Ti can be different from Earth in rifts."
The teachers fell silent. One of them finally asked the question everyone had been avoiding.
"What about rescue?"
Fatars stared at the lantern. For several seconds, he said nothing. Then he spoke.
"Forget rescue."
The words hit like a hamr. One teacher nearly stood up.
"What?!"
"If this is a Blue Rift, then nobody is coming," Fatars looked directly at him. The tent beca deathly quiet.
"The military won’t enter blindly, the Evaluation Board won’t enter blindly, and the governnt won’t enter blindly." His expression hardened.
"They’ll investigate, gather information, prepare teams, make plans, all of that takes ti. It could be days, weeks, that is a lot of ti. Plus, we have to consider the possibility of a rift evolution happening again. We are basically all alone, with little to no information. We’ve already lost two students, and one is an S-Rank."
The reality settled over the tent like a suffocating blanket. Thirty-eight students, four teachers, trapped inside a rift that had no business existing on their own.
One of the instructors clenched his fists.
"So, what do we do?"
Fatars imdiately answered.
"We survive. We need to stop thinking like teachers and academy staff." His gaze swept across the tent.
"We are survivors now." Nobody liked hearing it, but nobody could deny it either.
"We move carefully, avoid unnecessary battles, conserve supplies, establish a secure camp, and gather information. If an awakening happens, we stop, allow it to happen to whichever student it is before we continue. The more awakened, the better our chances of survival."
Fatars pointed toward the map again.
"And most importantly..." His eyes narrowed. "We find the missing two."
The atmosphere imdiately shifted. Silas Ashard and Chloe Montreal. The two students who hadn’t appeared with the others. The two students currently missing sowhere in a world that might contain monsters far beyond their original expectations. Nobody knew that one of them had already slaughtered an entire wolf pack, or that the other had wiped out hordes of monsters and stolen an orc chief’s daughter.
As far as the teachers knew, the pair were in grave danger. Fatars sighed.
"Tomorrow at first light, we start searching."
Outside the tent, the last rays of sunlight disappeared behind the mountains. Night descended upon the Rift.
And far away, in different corners of that vast world, both Silas and Chloe unknowingly continued moving toward destinies that would shake far more than just Valecrest Academy.
***
Silas and Gromda sat around a not-so-little campfire made by the orc lady. Despite her shut-in nature because of her proclaid "ugliness", she still knew so basic stuff like making fire and cooking. Well, the cooking part was sothing else, but yeah. The kind of fire she had created could be seem from a few kiloters aways. While others were trying to hide to survive, these two were literally showcasing themselves to the world, while enjoying roasted spider at. Apparently, their at was a delicacy filled with a good amount of mana. Silas could feel his strength increase from just eating it.
As for how it was prepared, Gromda did. Roasting was sothing common everywhere, so they were cool.
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