Victoria crossed her arms, surveying the floating glyphs listing the lowest-ranked students from each specialization. "Alex," she said firmly, "you should take the Mage Knight position. Your sword work is clean, and your reaction speed makes up for any clumsiness with magic. I'll handle the War Mage role."
Alex gave a half-smile. "All right. Just don't blame me when I start swinging at squirrels."
Stella snorted. "They'd probably deserve it."
A few minutes later, two girls were led forward, joining the team without fanfare.
The first introduced herself with a nod and easy confidence. "I'm Kaia--Warden."
She was compact, lithe, with short, wind-swept auburn hair and sharp sea-green eyes. Her skin was sun-burnished, hinting at hours outdoors. Around her neck hung a pendant: a slender crystal threaded through what looked like faded ribbon--clearly worn, but clearly cherished.
"I don't care if I'm the lowest-ranked," Kaia added, "just don't ask me to sit still while casting."
Next came the second. She stood quietly, then offered a curt bow. "Liora. Battle Mage."
She had the kind of elegance that looked accidental--long silvery-black hair, and violet eyes that made you feel like you were the one being assessed. Her voice was calm, but not cold. There was calculation behind it, like she was always measuring risk.
Victoria nodded at them both. "Glad you're here. Let's get formation down."
She didn't waste time.
"Alex--take point. You're up front. Behind you, Liora. I'll stay center to control the field. Kaia and Stella, you're in the back. Kaia, don't rush ahead unless it's urgent. And no area-of-effect unless I say so. Got it?"
Kaia nodded. "No wildfires. Understood."
They turned as the warp step opened in front of them, glowing like moonlight caught in water.
As the group stepped through, their boot soles vanished one by one into shimmering air--leaving behind the safety of the academy and entering The Wilds of the White Phoenix.
High above the tree line, sunlight filtered through tangled branches. Birds chirped. Leaves rustled. And somewhere deep in the woods, a very large, very bored Scorpicore was sunbathing.
Scarlett, also known--mostly by herself--as "Lord of the Forest," sprawled lazily across a moss-covered cliff. She was a vision of contradiction: three meters tall at the shoulder, covered in a chaotic mane of crimson and gold-tipped fur, with streaks of white and black like accidental brushstrokes. Her lion-like body stretched out languidly while her bat-like wings twitched now and then from a passing breeze.
Her scorpion tail, long and segmented, flicked lazily above her as she clicked her claws and summoned a gold-rimmed pince-nez from a pocket dimension. When she perched it on her massive snout, the lenses expanded--projecting a magical map with blinking signatures like a live military feed.
"Let's see what the little squirrels are doing today," she muttered.
Scarlett's magical glasses, gifted by some now-extinct enchanter, let her zoom and sense mana cores from miles away. More importantly, it let her gossip about the humans like she was watching a soap opera.
"Hmm. One group near the Green Spring. Another at the River Clearing. Same drop points as last year. Ugh." She growled. "No creativity. Why do humans always do the same thing? Where's the surprise? The panic?"
At her side, a thick-furred wolf-beast named M'Rook snorted. "Orders?"
"The usual. Send three monsters per group. Don't kill 'em, just scare 'em. Make noise. Shake trees. Drop some dung. Be theatrical. Unless the Headmaster cheats first--then all bets are off."
"The who?"
Scarlett gave him a long, exasperated look.
"The Headmaster, M'Rook. Runs the big stone box you keep calling the 'made-mountain.' He's the top hat. The lead squirrel. The one with the long beard and longer plans."
From a nearby branch, Sentar--a giant hawk-like magical beast the size of a Piper Cub--flapped down, sharp eyes locked on the forest below.
"Whoa… Boss, you seeing this?" Sentar whistled. "Three of those students just landed with powerful artifacts. And one of them--look!" He zoomed in with his mana sight. "She's got a bright cyan core. And it's fluctuating like it's already trying to evolve. There's… blue, violet, and white streaks in there."
Scarlett froze mid-purr.
"Already forming auxiliary cores? Hah! One spark away from blooming, then fading back. That's not just talent--that's potential."
Sentar cocked his head. "What's a mana core?"
Scarlett groaned like someone just stepped on her tail.
"You're too young for that conversation, Sentar. Survive another twenty years, I'll teach you how to evolve again."
The hawk puffed up. "Again? I thought we were at the top of evolution."
Scarlett rolled over onto her back, her absurdly massive belly catching the sunlight. She purred, but it sounded more like an earthquake.
"Kid, I wasn't born a Scorpicore. First, I was a Shyf--a tree-cat. Then a house pet. Cute, round, great at naps. I got sick of scratching furniture and ascended."
"Wait--seriously?" M'Rook blinked. "You were… someone's pet?"
"Yep. Lived in a palace. Ate smoked fish off silver plates. Don't knock it till you've tried it. I still miss the pillows."
"Are you… making this up?" Sentar asked, suspicious.
"Nope. And if you keep doubting me, I'll call my friend Draganth. Used to be a salamander. Now he's a full-grown dragon with a vendetta against lizard skeptics."
Silence fell.
The magical beasts looked at each other, collectively deciding that even if she was lying, they didn't want to find out.
"Now, shut up and fan out. Termyn, you take the eastern basin. M'Rook, south ridge. Sentar, fly west. I'll go north. Intercept, but don't maul. Not yet. And remember--no eating the mages. We're not monsters."
"You literally are a monster," M'Rook mumbled.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, my lord."
With a smirk, Scarlett flapped her wings, kicking up a gust that scattered leaves across the treetops. Within seconds, she vanished above the canopy.
M'Rook turned to Termyn--a tusked, spike-backed boar creature--and sighed.
"She's impossible."
"I know," Termyn said, "but she's also terrifying."
"True."
They nodded in unison.
Then:
"What a d*ck," they muttered, as Scarlett's laughter echoed through the trees.