Location: Obsidian Academy — Elite Tier
Date/Time: 10 Emberrise, 9939 AZI — Afternoon
Realm: Lower Realm
The stone was warm.
Not sun-warm — it was late afternoon, and the upper reaches of the mountain had been swallowed by cloud since midday. This was different. A hum beneath the surface, a vibration so low it bypassed the ears entirely and settled in the bones. Jayde's palm pressed flat against the corridor wall as they climbed, and the heat pushed back.
Cultivation array embedded in the stone. Pre-Sundering design — layered, interlocking, self-sustaining. Whoever built this didn't carve an academy into a mountain. They carved the mountain into a cultivation engine.
The stairway narrowed as they ascended. Below, the Core tier sprawled — wider corridors, clusters of four-person dormitories, red robes moving in tight knots. The noise faded with every flight. By the time the last landing opened onto the Elite tier, the silence was thick enough to taste.
