The announcement came three days later.
All second- and third-year students would participate in a mandatory herb-gathering expedition to a low-risk open dungeon near the western ridge. Teachers, assistants, and guards would accompany them. The dungeon would remain open for three days, and the goal was simple: collect specific plants, document their environment, and return safely. It was presented as a learning experience, a calm break from intense training.
Eira did not believe that for a second.
The timing was too perfect.
Lily noticed it too.
"So this is it," she said quietly when they read the notice together. "The place where something finally happens."
"Or where someone plans to make it happen," Eira replied.
Neo frowned. "You're talking like it's dangerous."
"It might be," Lily admitted.
Lara bit her lip. "Then why are they sending all of us?"
"Because hiding something is easier when there are many people," Eira said.
Preparations filled the next few days. Ryn packed tools and small traps, just in case. Neo filled flasks with purified water. Lara prepared stabilizing charms for her mana. Lily helped coordinate supplies with the teachers, her student council authority making things smoother.
The caravan left at dawn.
Carriages rolled along forest roads, carrying laughing students, nervous teachers, and crates of supplies. The mood was lighter than Eira expected — some students treated it like a trip, others like a challenge.
Eira watched the trees carefully.
He felt watched back.
The dungeon itself was not a cave, but a massive hollow in the earth where thick plants grew unnaturally tall. Light filtered in through broken stone above, illuminating glowing moss and thick roots that twisted through the walls like veins.
"This is an open dungeon," a teacher explained. "It does not close. But that does not mean it is harmless."
Tents were set up in the safe zone.
Students were grouped and assigned areas.
Eira stayed close to Lily, Neo, Lara, and Ryn.
They worked through the first day quietly, collecting herbs, recording growth patterns, and returning before dusk.
Nothing happened.
That was worse.
The second day, the dungeon shifted.
Not visibly.
Not loudly.
But Eira felt it.
The air thickened. The mana felt heavier, like a pressure building under the skin.
Lily noticed too.
"You feel it," she said.
"Yes."
"So do I."
They warned a teacher.
The teacher smiled politely.
"Dungeons fluctuate," he said. "That's normal."
It wasn't.
That night, the forest around the camp felt too silent.
No insects.
No birds.
Just the crackling of the fire and the sound of students breathing.
Eira barely slept.
And when the ground trembled just before dawn, he was already awake.
A scream cut through the air.
Not from fear.
From pain.
Eira was on his feet instantly.
Students poured from tents in confusion.
A shockwave of mana rippled through the camp, knocking several people off balance.
Lily ran to him. "That wasn't a monster."
"No," he said grimly. "That was a spell."
Something was finally moving.
And this time, it wasn't hiding anymore.