The news of the Spring Trial was fully announced on a Thursday morning.
That day’s class was Cecilia’s theory lesson. When she walked into the classroom, she held only a single sheet of parchment in her hand.
“I’ll briefly mention the Spring Trial in advance today.” Her voice was not loud, yet it was enough to make the sparse noise in the classroom vanish instantly. “The trial is scheduled for next week, at the wastelands on the edge of the Central Continent, lasting seven days. The specific details will be issued to you then. For now, I’m notifying you of one piece of information in advance: this Spring Trial’s results will decide something.”
She paused for a moment.
“This summer, the Central Continent will host a continent-wide, all-races strength competition. The Beastkin, Human, Elf, and our Dragon races will all take part. Every academy in the Western Dragon Domain will send representative teams, and our academy will also select people to participate. However, the slots are limited. The selection criterion is the results of this Spring Trial.”
A low murmur of unrest rose in the classroom. Several students sitting in the front row exchanged glances.
“The rules and rewards of the all-races strength competition will be announced later. For now, you only need to know one thing.” Cecilia’s gaze swept from the front of the classroom to the back. “Only those who perform outstandingly in the trial will obtain the qualification to compete. The slots are limited—grasp them yourselves.”
She picked up the paper on the lectern, confirming she had not forgotten any key points.
“Any other questions?”
“Teacher,” a male student in the front row raised his hand, “are the competition slots selected according to individual results or team results?”
“Both team results and individual performance will be referenced. The final list will be determined by the academy based on overall performance throughout the entire trial.” Cecilia answered crisply. “So it’s not just about completing the tasks. How you do them, and how well you do them, are all within the academy’s considerations.”
After she finished speaking, no one asked any further questions. Cecilia waited for the students until they confirmed there were none, then put the paper away.
“That’s all for today. Class dismissed.”
The people in the classroom stood up one after another and walked out. Discussion rose and fell, the content more or less the same—basically all about that competition.
Elsa turned and said the words “all-races competition,” but before she could finish, Reggie had already walked off, probably heading to the cafeteria to continue talking about it.
Xuan Xi remained seated and did not hurry to stand. Her fingers rested on the edge of the desk, tapping it intermittently. Sigrdrífa sat beside her, looking at her with a puzzled expression.
“A continent-wide all-races competition, huh.” Xuan Xi repeated the words to herself.
Sigrdrífa leaned back against the chair and turned her head to look at her. “When the time comes, people from those races might also come.”
“Mm. It’s written about in books, but I’ve never seen them in person.”
Xuan Xi took her hand off the edge of the desk. “First get through the Spring Trial. We’ll look at the rest later.”
Sigrdrífa did not reply. The two of them walked out together. The people walking ahead were still chatting about the competition; their voices drifted over intermittently from the far end of the corridor, mixed with footsteps and the sounds of collisions coming from the distant training grounds.
One week later.
The morning wind blew over from the training grounds. A light rain had fallen the night before, and residual puddles still remained in the gaps between the stone slabs, reflecting the not-so-clear sky.
The five-person group had already assembled. Each carried their own backpack as they stood in front of the teleportation array. Elsa squatted on the ground, carefully checking the supplies inside. Reggie stood beside her watching her. Veralis’s backpack was the most neatly packed; the water flask and tool pouches in the side pockets were lined up in a row.
Cecilia walked over from the opposite side of the training grounds. Her short black hair was slightly lifted by the morning breeze. Empty-handed, she walked up to the front of the teleportation array and stopped before the crowd. Her gaze swept over Xuan Xi and the others in turn.
“Spring Trial. The location is the wastelands on the edge of the Central Continent. The teleportation array will randomly send you into the designated area. For the next seven days you will need to complete the tasks on your own. The academy will not provide supplies or communication support. If you encounter a situation you cannot handle, you may fire a signal flare—but firing a signal flare equals voluntarily abandoning the assessment qualification.”
She paused, ensuring everyone had heard clearly without missing anything, then continued.
“There are three tasks. First: survive. Within seven days you must maintain the entire team’s condition without supplies, and arrive at the designated teleportation point to return to the academy by four o’clock in the afternoon on the seventh day. Exceeding the time limit counts as failure; triggering the rescue signal early also counts as failure. Second: hunt. There are mid- to high-level magical beasts of varying numbers in the area. Their ranks are slightly higher than those you encountered in Echo Valley last semester. You need to find them, kill one of them, and bring back its skull as proof. Third: collect. Nine collection points are marked on the map. You must reach at least three of them and bring back the specified samples from each. The types and quantities of the samples are marked on the map—read them carefully yourselves before setting out.”
“Ranks higher than those we encountered in Echo Valley last semester?” some students raised questions.
“Not by much, but the attributes will be different.” Cecilia glanced at the speaker.
“The red circles on the map are dangerous zones, the yellow circles are known water source locations, and the green dots are collection points. Plan your routes yourselves. There are no supply sources of any kind within the area. Once the supplies you brought are used up, they’re used up.”
After Cecilia finished speaking, she took half a step back and raised her hand to indicate the direction of the teleportation array. “Any questions?”
No one spoke.
Cecilia confirmed there were no questions and lowered her hand. “The teleportation array will activate shortly. Enter in groups.”
The five-person group stepped onto the teleportation array. Pale blue light flared up from beneath their feet, climbing upward along the stone pillars and enveloping the five of them in radiance. The light grew brighter and brighter; the stone pavement on the ground grew blurry. The wind was shut out beyond the light curtain, and a low humming sound rose from underfoot. Then the solid sensation beneath their feet vanished. Their vision filled with white light, and all that remained in their ears was the sound of wind and the drone of the teleportation array operating.
After the light dissipated, the feeling underfoot became firm sandy soil.
A dry wind blew from the north, carrying fine grains of sand that struck the face with a slight stinging sensation, like sandpaper rubbing against the skin.
The field of vision was extremely open—so open that no cover of any kind could be seen. In the distance were gray-brown mountain ridges; nearby were sparse shrubs and some exposed rocks. The ground was a mixture of cracked earth and sand and gravel.
Xuan Xi squatted down and pressed her palm against the ground. The surface was hard, with a thin layer of floating dust on top, while underneath was a compact layer of gravel. She brushed aside the floating dust with her fingers and could see the grayish-yellow sand and stones below—extremely dry, with almost no moisture at all. She stood up, patted the dust from her hands, and brushed the grains of sand clean from her palms.
“The spiritual energy concentration is much lower than at the academy,” she said. “My perception range has been weakened considerably, and my consumption has increased. Endurance will need attention.”
Sigrdrífa stood beside her, her gaze sweeping the surroundings once. She pulled the map from the side pocket of her backpack and unfolded it. Elsa, Reggie, and Veralis all gathered around as well; the five of them put their heads together. Nine areas were marked on the map in red ink; the green dots were distributed in different locations. A dotted line started from the starting point, circled around two red circles, passed three green dots, and then connected to the end point.
“We’ll go this way.” Sigrdrífa’s finger slid along the line. “First to the first collection point. Along the way we can observe the terrain, and the hunting targets are most likely to appear near the ridge line.”
“Why that way?” Elsa asked.
“Wind-attribute magical beasts prefer high places and open terrain for their habitats, and the ridge line happens to meet both of those conditions. Besides, the first collection point is right on the way there, so we can complete part of the collection task along the way.”
Elsa nodded in agreement.
Reggie had already begun walking in that direction. The backpack that was like a small mountain on his back did not seem heavy at all; his entire gait was steady. Elsa followed right behind him, occasionally cheering him on. Veralis walked in the middle of the group, holding a small booklet that appeared to be some kind of illustrated guide. She did not look at her feet while walking, yet every step precisely avoided the loose stones and hollows.
Xuan Xi walked toward the rear of the group, with Sigrdrífa beside her. There was about half a step of distance between the two of them. The sandy soil underfoot made fine, crisp sounds with their footsteps. The clouds on the horizon gradually grew thicker; most of the sunlight was blocked, and the patches of light on the ground were slowly diminishing, as if something major was about to happen.