The teacher continued, "Now the whole process of how a gate works. So in simple terms A gate is opened because of formation of the Heart, its a mass on energy that slowly engulfs more energy and goes on to maturity." He stopped and took a heavy breath.
"At the initial stage when a gate opens the heart is still immature and unable to let too much transfer, that's why during that phase the Spirit Beast can't come into our world. But as the Heart matures, the gate too and soon it allows Spirit Beasts to spill into earth."
Everyone was listening, silently. Lost in their own thoughts.
"The Expedition that goes inside to explore the gate has the responsibility to destroy the Heart and stop the Dimensional breakage from happening and come out with Spirit Essence."
Sezel's mind spiraled into chaos, Ok so if we destroy the heart then the gate closes, then doesn't it mean we would be trapped inside?
One of the other students raised his hand, after getting permission from the teacher he spoke. "Why can't we come out of the gate without destroying the Heart?"
Sezel was genuinely impressed by the question and baffled by his own stupidity, Good question indeed.
The teacher passed a smile to the class, it was obviously a fake one because what he told later was not something laughable by any means. "You step inside the gate from here, and you are transported to a random place inside the Gate's confined area. There is no gate inside." he went silent, taking in the dumbfounded expressions of the students.
"After the heart is destroyed, several gates open at places inside the Spirit Realm, providing one last chance to come back to the world of living."
Sezel was awe-struck, not by the magnitude of the revelation, but by the sheer, absurd complexity of it all. Whoever put that complex mechanism in place must have been a true genius of chaos. But who did? And how did it all come to be?
These were the questions the whole of humanity was desperately looking for answers to.
Why can't this baldy just tell us everything at once? Sezel scowled inwardly, his frustration simmering. Is he paid by the word? Does he get a bonus for dramatic pauses?
"So," the instructor said with an artificial cheer that was more unsettling than his grim pronouncements, "you enter the gate, harvest Spirit Essence, destroy the heart, and return. Simple."
Sezel glanced at him half shocked, Simple? He said simple. if its simple than i am the king of a forgotten empire.
In theory, it was simple, but the reality was far from being simple. The Spirit Realm wasn't a quiz to pass—all the above-mentioned tasks were to be done inside the enemy territory, the lair of countless Spirit beasts ready to kill and devour the moment they saw humans.
And worse, the beasts weren't confined within the realm. Maybe the heart was already mature enough to let the beasts come by when the gate opens. So the protection of a gate also becomes crucial.
Sezel thought of all this and wondered how many slayers were needed to work at a time to accomplish all the tasks.
The world indeed needs Slayers, I see. Sezel thought, a grim reality settling deep within his heart. Then i guess i will also become, a teacher just like baldy here and teach the next generation of Slayers.
A sudden voice, loud and shamelessly cheerful, snapped him back to the present. "Yo! How are you all today?"
Raelion stood in the doorway, a wide, unnerving grin plastered on his face, his black sunglasses looking like they'd been surgically attached at birth.
Can't this bastard ever enter a room quietly?
He gestured with a thumb over his shoulder. "Get up, everyone. It's time for your first practical class."
A ripple of excitement went through the room. Sezel, who had already had his fill of "practical" experience with Raelion already, followed the herd.
The Captain led them to a stark room, its center dominated by a scuffed fighting ring, its edges worn by countless battles.
Sezel gulped hard, What are we going to do here now?
"Sit in a circle around the ring," the captain ordered. Once the students were arranged to his satisfaction, Raelion hopped into the arena like a ringmaster at a particularly bloody circus. "Today," he boomed, "we will have a little fighting session."
A murmur rippled through the crowd. 'Wait... what?' Before Sezel could voice his confusion, another student beat him to it. "With whom?"
Raelion laughed, a sound that was both amused and a little cruel. "Who else is here? You will fight in pairs. You just have to make the opponent's back touch the ground, and you win."
Another voice, this one laced with a note of defiance, called out, "Aren't we supposed to fight Spirit beasts? What's the point of beating up fellow slayers?"
Raelion's expression darkened, the humor vanishing in an instant. His next words were a whispered frost that sent a chill through the room. "The biggest threat inside a gate… are humans."
The room froze. Sezel's breath caught. Humans? How?
He wasn't alone in his confusion; every other recruit stared with furrowed brows. Raelion, in turn, stared back at them. "Wait...didn't Hanes explain? A gate opens in three separate places simultaneously!"
Gasps erupted. Everyone present in the room looked at him, eyes wide with shock.
"Except an S-Rank one. S-Rank gates open only at one place, well that's what we can say, we don't have much data on them." He added, but that did nothing to help the situation.
Three simultaneous openings. It meant Slayers from different nations, different corporations, all converging on the same prize. It was an all-out war for Spirit Essence. "Listen," Raelion said, his voice low and serious, "the gate expeditions are small-scale battles between nations. And Spirit Essence... that's the gold everyone wants."
He paused as if trying to collect his words. "Spirit Realm is a bloody mess."
Sezel's heart skipped a beat. So at last, everything eventually circled around the gates and the Spirit realm. The cataclysm was sure both a tragedy and a boon to humankind, a curse humanity couldn't escape.
This... This is deeply messed up.
"Spirit beasts can only be killed by Spirit energy," Raelion pressed on. "Rank 1 slayers can't channel it externally—they have to fight with their bodies."
Hmm, Rank 1 can only use Spirit energy in their body so that makes sense, but fighting those monsters with bare hands is like telling a bull to run you over. Sezel grimaced at the mental image.
"Rank 2 and above project Spirit Energy through weapons," Raelion continued. "Rank 3 and higher wield the abilities provided by Fables, their bodies akin to Spirit Energy itself, killing beasts however they choose."
Sezel's mind flickered to his own Golden Fable. So, I can kill Spirit beasts however I want. But the thought was immediately followed by the bitter memory of his Rank 0 stats. Or maybe I can just bore them to death with my existential crisis.
Sezel was never this confused in his life. He was surrounded with questions, and most of them were about himself.
The practical class began. Raelion paired students for duels, their ranks announced for all to hear. Among the 200 new Slayers, only ten were Rank 4. And one, Krono Silvia, was a Rank 5, the sole Rank 5 in a decade of batches.
The current active number of Rank 5 slayers fell between 25 to 30 globally; others were either dead or retired because of old age.
As expected, he was undefeated. His duels ended in seconds, his movements a blur that Sezel couldn't even begin to follow.
His breath hitched as he saw him defeat about a hundred others just as soon as the matches started. He just disappeared and then the other slayer was gently placed on the ground, blinking as if waking from a dream, defeated before he could even realize.
Too fast, what is he even doing? His mind spiraled into chaos, brought back to reality by the captain as he announced his name.
Everything inside him went still.
He moved toward the ring like gravity had doubled. Every step felt stretched, heavy, unreal.
Now it was his turn to fight Krono. He slowly walked into the ring and gulped hard. Their eyes met, and he felt a weird sensation, his instincts screaming as the guy disappeared into thin air.