The academy was already awake when Kael stepped into the corridor, though the usual morning energy had taken on a different shape. Footsteps were quicker, voices lower, and doors opened and closed with purpose rather than routine.
Field packs rested against walls outside several rooms, straps fastened tight, travel cloaks folded with more care than uniforms normally received. The mission had settled into the academy overnight, turning preparation into a shared language.
Kael moved toward the exit, adjusting the strap across his shoulder. He had packed lightly, just as instructed, though the weight felt heavier than the contents alone could explain.
A small envelope waited on the bench near the dormitory entrance.
It hadn't been there yesterday.
The seal was simple wax, pressed with an emblem he knew too well — a crest worn down by time, its lines no longer sharp, but still unmistakable.
House Valeris.
He picked it up, feeling the old imprint beneath his thumb before breaking the seal.
The message inside was brief.
You have been assigned to the western region.
Do not draw unnecessary attention.
Your survival is more important than your performance.
The family name cannot afford further loss.
No signature.
None was needed.
Kael folded the paper once and slipped it inside his pack without comment. The words carried no warmth, but they did not need to. They were practical, distant, and unmistakably real.
Behind him, Darian approached, already fastening his cloak.
"You look like someone handed you extra homework," he said lightly.
"Just travel instructions," Kael replied.
Darian accepted that answer without pressing, turning instead toward the courtyard where teams were gathering. Lyra stood near the fountain, adjusting the strap on a case that clearly carried more notebooks than necessary. Seraphine spoke quietly with an instructor, her expression calm but attentive.
The sky above the academy was pale and clear, morning light stretching long shadows across the stone.
Headmaster Vale stood at the head of the assembled students, Marrow beside him, along with two other instructors Kael did not recognize. Their presence alone made the mission feel less like an exercise and more like a responsibility.
"You will travel in stages," Vale said, his voice steady. "Observe your surroundings. Follow direction. Remember that the people you encounter are not part of your training."
The message was simple.
This was not about proving talent.
It was about preventing failure.
The groups began moving, leaving through the western gate in organized lines. Beyond the academy walls, the road curved through open fields before narrowing toward distant hills. The world felt wider with each step, the air less controlled, the sounds less muted.
Darian walked at an easy pace beside Kael, pointing out changes in terrain as they moved. Lyra drifted between observation and note-taking, her curiosity momentarily overcoming her nerves. Seraphine remained attentive, her gaze scanning the horizon more often than the road itself.
The academy behind them gradually became smaller, its white stone fading into the distance until it looked like part of the landscape rather than a place apart from it.
Kael felt the shift without needing to name it.
Inside the walls, magic had been structured, measured, corrected.
Out here, it simply existed.
The road rose gradually toward higher ground, the instructors setting a steady pace that left little room for idle conversation. Still, the presence of his team made the silence less isolating.
Darian eventually spoke, his voice quieter than usual. "Never been this far west," he admitted. "My town's north. Different kind of trouble up there."
Lyra glanced toward the distant ridgeline. "Mana behaves differently in mountainous regions. If the reports are accurate, the fluctuations could be tied to underlying fault patterns."
Seraphine listened without interrupting, then said, "Border wards fail when they are stretched too thin for too long. Sometimes instability is less about sudden change and more about neglect."
Kael absorbed their words, feeling the letter's presence in his pack like a small weight against his back.
House Valeris had once held lands not far from this region.
He didn't say it aloud.
The instructors called for a brief halt near midday, allowing students to rest and adjust their gear. Kael sat on a low stone wall at the edge of the path, watching the wind move through the tall grass beyond the road. The motion was simple, natural, but something in the air felt faintly uneven, as though the world itself was carrying a tension too subtle to see without looking closely.
He let Law Observation brush the edge of his perception, not fully active, just enough to sense.
The flow of mana here was less stable than near the academy, currents shifting without the neat boundaries of structured arrays.
It wasn't violent.
Just… unsettled.
He released the skill before the familiar ache could form.
Darian dropped down beside him, offering a piece of dried fruit. "We'll be fine," he said, as if continuing a conversation that had never been spoken aloud.
Kael gave a small nod.
Across the path, Lyra pointed something out to Seraphine, their conversation focused, grounded in details rather than worry. Marrow stood a short distance away, watching the horizon, his expression unreadable.
After a short rest, the group rose and continued west.
The road narrowed as hills began to rise ahead, the terrain shifting gradually from open fields to rougher ground. The sky remained clear, but the air felt different here, carrying a quiet pressure that settled beneath awareness.
Kael adjusted his pack and fell back into step with the others, the steady rhythm of travel replacing the contained patterns of academy life.
No one spoke for a while.
There was simply the sound of boots against stone and the distant call of wind moving through higher ground as the academy disappeared fully from sight behind them.