The orientation room was smaller than the foyer. A long table. Chairs around it. A whiteboard on the wall. Alistair stood at the front. The team sat down. Lucian took a seat at the far end. Cora sat across from him. Mason sat next to Cora. Sera sat next to Mason, still on her phone. Derek sat next to Lucian. Dr. Blackwood floated behind Derek, arms crossed.
Alistair looked at each of them.
"You're all Prime Humans. That means you're already stronger, faster, and more durable than any normal human. But strength alone won't keep you alive. You need to understand what you're fighting."
He picked up a marker and drew a line across the whiteboard.
"A long time ago, this world was the only world. No Veil. No hidden supernatural. Just humans and the natural order. Then something changed."
He drew a circle on one side of the line.
"The First Crossers. That's what we call them. Beings from somewhere else. Another dimension. Another reality. No one knows exactly where. They tore open fissures in the fabric of our world and poured through."
He drew jagged lines between the circle and the line.
"The First Fissures. Gates between worlds. The Crossers came in waves. Some were like animals. Mindless. Hungry. Others were intelligent. Cruel. They saw humans as prey. Or slaves. Or toys."
Sera looked up from her phone. Just for a second.
Alistair continued.
"Humanity was losing. Badly. We had numbers, but they had power. A single Crosser could wipe out a village. A group of them could destroy a city. Our weapons barely scratched them. Our armies couldn't stop them."
He drew seven stick figures on the other side of the line.
"Then something happened. The world itself responded. Or fate. Or whatever you want to call it. Seven humans were chosen. They were given the ability to transcend the normal limits of their race. They became the first Prime Humans."
Cora leaned forward.
"Chosen by who?"
Alistair shrugged.
"No one knows. Some say the world has a will of its own. Some say it was a natural evolution. Some say the Crossers brought something with them that awakened humanity's potential. The records from that time are incomplete. What matters is what happened next."
He drew lines from the seven stick figures to the circle.
"The seven Prime Humans fought back. They were strong. Stronger than anything the Crossers had seen. They killed the invaders. Closed the fissures. Drove the survivors into hiding."
He drew a large X over the circle.
"But the Crossers didn't leave completely. Some stayed. Hidden. Waiting. And their presence started to change things. Humans who survived contact with them started to develop abilities. Not Prime Humans, but something else. The first hunters."
Mason spoke for the first time. His voice was low.
"That's when the Veil War started."
Alistair nodded.
"Correct. The Crossers who remained didn't want to fight fair. They hid among humans. Possessed them. Corrupted them. Created monsters. The hunters hunted them. Back and forth. For centuries. The war never really ended. It just... evolved."
He drew a thick line across the entire board.
"Then came the Great Veil. About four hundred years ago. A group of Prime Humans and senior hunters worked together to create a barrier between the normal world and the supernatural world. They called it the Veil."
Cora frowned.
"They just... made a barrier? How?"
Alistair set the marker down.
"Sacrifices. Seven Prime Humans gave their lives to power the ritual. Their names are carved in the Ashen Guard memorial hall. We honor them every year."
The room was quiet.
"The Veil separates our world from the supernatural world. Now called the Veiled World. Most humans can't see through it. They explain away strange events as accidents. Mental illness. Hoaxes. The hunters and the Ashen Guard work to maintain the Veil and deal with anything that slips through."
He looked at each of them.
"That's where you come in. You're not just Prime Humans. You're the next generation of hunters. The ones who will protect the Veil and everyone behind it."
Lucian raised a hand.
"The Crossers. Are they still around?"
Alistair's expression didn't change.
"Some. The original ones are long dead. But their descendants? Their creations? The things they summoned? Those are still here. Demons. Beastkin. Vampires. Wraiths. All of them trace their origin back to the First Crossers in some way."
Dr. Blackwood floated closer to Lucian.
"He's oversimplifying, but the bones are there."
Lucian ignored him.
Alistair picked up the marker again.
"Any other questions before we move to the armory?"
No one spoke.
"Good. Follow me."
He walked out of the room. The team followed.
Down another hallway. Through a door with a keypad. Another hallway. Then a large metal door with a wheel in the center.
Alistair spun the wheel. Pulled the door open.
The armory.
Weapons lined the walls. Swords. Axes. Spears. Bows. Guns. Things Lucian didn't have names for. Some glowed faintly. Others looked completely ordinary.
Alistair stepped inside.
"These are Veiled weapons. Forged with supernatural materials and enchanted by the Ashen Guard's best crafters. Each one has its own properties. Some are better against demons. Some against spirits. Some against physical threats."
He gestured to the walls.
"You each get to pick one weapon. One. This will be your specialty. The weapon you train with. The weapon that becomes an extension of you. Choose carefully."
Cora moved first. She walked to the wall and picked up a short sword. Silver blade. Dark hilt. Similar to the one she had summoned earlier, but more solid. She tested the weight.
"This one."
Alistair nodded.
Mason walked slowly. He looked at the axes. The maces. The gauntlets. He picked up a pair of heavy gauntlets made of black metal. They had runes carved into the knuckles.
"These."
"Heat-resistant," Alistair said. "Good choice for your ability."
Sera put her phone away for the first time. She walked to the wall and picked up a crossbow. Small. Compact. Folding stock.
"This."
"Explosive bolts," Alistair said. "And a thermal scope. Good for tracking."
Derek fidgeted. He looked at the weapons but didn't touch any.
"I don't know what to pick."
Dr. Blackwood sighed.
"The staff. The one with the bone inlay."
Derek pointed at a wooden staff near the corner. It had white inlays shaped like bones.
"That one."
Alistair raised an eyebrow.
"Spirit-conductive. Rare. Good choice."
Derek picked it up. The staff hummed faintly.
Dr. Blackwood nodded.
"Acceptable."
Lucian walked last.
He looked at the walls. The swords. The axes. The spears. The guns.
Then he saw them.
Two swords. Matched pair. Black blades. Silver edges. Simple hilts. No ornamentation.
He picked them up. One in each hand. The weight was perfect. The balance was perfect.
"These."
Alistair's eyes narrowed.
"Twin fang blades. Forged from star-steel and silver. Light. Fast. Deadly. Most hunters can't handle two at once."
Lucian spun them once. Twice. Sheathed them on his back.
"I can handle it."
Alistair looked at him for a long moment.
"We'll see."
Cora watched Lucian with narrowed eyes. She was still thinking about his stats. His fighting. His secrets.
Derek was just happy someone could see Dr. Blackwood.
Mason said nothing. He just put on his gauntlets and flexed his fingers.
Sera went back to her phone.
Alistair clapped his hands.
"Orientation is over. Training starts tomorrow at six in the morning. Don't be late."
He walked out.
The team stood in the armory, holding their weapons.
Lucian looked at his twin blades.
Then he looked at Cora.
She looked away.
He smiled. Just a little.
Then he followed Alistair out.