The journey
---Yolo town
The transport gate hums. Metal. Cold. Blue light flickering at the edges.
People move around me. Awakened. Gear on their backs. Weapons on their hips. Mana flaring faintly around their hands. Even the lowest D-rank has a glow.
I don't.
My bag is light. Clothes. Water. Knife. The black book wrapped in cloth at the bottom.
No armor. No weapon. No ID card with a rank stamp.
Just a travel pass and a name.
*[POV: DAMIEN]*
_Skill: None._
_Status: Skilless._
_Destination: Dark Crest Academy._
Two weeks ago was the hunting. The first field exercise for all first-years who passed the Awakening Rite. Blue Portal #7. Seventy-two hours. Ten goblin cores.
I went. I survived. Barely.
I couldn't open the book afterward. Tried blood. Tried mana. Tried fire. Nothing worked. The leather stayed cold. Silent. Dead weight in my bag.
So I brought it with me.
*[POV: DAMIEN]*
_The only thing left of my parents. Can't leave it behind._
Dark Crest Academy isn't just a school. It's the biggest and most popular awakener university in the world. Two-year program. Train raw recruits into Level 3 powerhouses. Graduate, and you get a contract with the Guardians, the Syndicate, or the military.
Damien Pathfinder wasn't supposed to be on that list.
Skilless don't get accepted. Skilless don't get resources. Skilless don't get trained.
But Fred did something. Used his old status. His record. His influence from the war.
"Damien earned it," he told the admissions board. "He survived the hunting without a skill. That's contribution enough."
They approved it. Reluctantly.
I step through the gate.
---
*TRANSIT CORRIDOR – 05:03*
The corridor is white. Endless. No gravity. No sound.
This is Dark Crest's dimensional tunnel. It connects every major city to the island fortress.
Awakened float through it using mana to stabilize themselves.
I grab the handrail. Anchor myself. One pull. One step. One pull. One step.
A group of second-years passes me. Laughing. Talking.
"Did you see that Skilless? Trying to enroll at Dark Crest."
"He'll wash out in the first month. Waste of a slot."
"Fred Vance pulled strings for him. Politics."
I don't look at them. Don't respond.
*[POV: DAMIEN]*
_Words: Noise. Data: Irrelevant._
_Focus: Arrival. Focus: Survival._
The corridor stretches for twenty minutes.
Then the exit light appears.
---
*DARK CREST ACADEMY – DOCKING PLATFORM – 05:25*
Cold wind hits me first.
The platform is built on a cliff overlooking a black ocean. Below, the water churns with mana storms. Above, the sky is grey. No sun. Only the faint purple glow of The Breach on the horizon.
Dark Crest rises from the island like a fortress. Black stone. Silver steel. Towers that pierce the clouds. Bigger than any city I've seen.
*[POV: DAMIEN]*
_Structure: Fortress-class. Perimeter: 60km. Population: 80,000._
_This is where 0.3% of humanity becomes a weapon._
Students disembark around me. Awakened. All of them.
No one talks to me. No one looks at me.
I follow the crowd through the security arch. The scanner passes over me. Red light.
*[SCANNER: SKILLESS – LEVEL 1 – HUMAN]*
The guard frowns. Stamps my pass without a word.
I step onto Academy ground.
The first thing I notice is the weight.
Mana in the air is dense. Thick. It presses against my skin like static. Makes my chest tight. Makes my head heavy.
Awakened don't feel it. They breathe it.
I feel it because I have nothing to filter it.
*[POV: DAMIEN]*
_Environment: Hostile to non-awakened. Duration of exposure: Unknown._
_Adaptation required._
I adjust my bag. Keep walking.
The enrollment hall is massive. Marble floors. Banners with the Dark Crest sigil — a black tower with a silver crest.
The assignment board scrolls in blue light.
I find mine near the bottom.
*Damien Pathfinder – Dorm Block C – Room 107 – SKILLESS – 2-YEAR TRAINING PROGRAM*
Two years. That's the standard for all first-years. Theory. Combat. Portal tactics. Survival.
If you make it.
If you don't, you don't graduate. You don't come back.
An instructor blocks my path. Level 4. Uniform black with silver trim.
"You're Damien Pathfinder."
"Yes, sir."
"You weren't on the original enrollment list."
"No, sir."
"Fred Vance vouched for you. Contribution during the war. Don't waste it."
"I won't, sir."
He studies me. Sees the lack of rank. Sees the lack of fear.
"Block C. Room 107. Orientation starts in three hours. Don't get in the way of the awakened."
He steps aside.
I walk past him.
*[POV: DAMIEN]*
_Objective: Survive two years._
_Objective: Unlock the book. Or die trying._
The elevator doors close behind me.
Down to the basement.
-----
Note awakeners test will be conducted to give you guys your level and watches, spend the rest of your day knowing yourselves more better.