A few days later, an announcement came from all the Academy speakers. It broke the morning silence.
"Attention, first-year students. The first practical examination will commence in forty-eight hours. Report to your assigned orientation halls for team pairings and objective briefings."
A buzz of excitement and anxiety swept through the student body. This was it.
Jonah was in the library with Vanessa, going over the final details of his upcoming synthesis, when the announcement came. They exchanged a look. The deadline had just been moved up.
"Looks like your rival is going to get his wish sooner than he thought," Vanessa said, closing her datapad.
Jonah felt a familiar knot of tension tighten in his gut. "I'm not ready. The synthesis will take at least twelve hours, maybe more."
"Then you'd better start soon," she replied calmly, already getting to her feet. "Let's go. We don't want to be late for our pairing."
The orientation hall was a very crowded and messy place filled with nervous new students. Students were being called up to a central podium in pairs, receiving their assignments from a stern-looking instructor.
They were being sent into "The Preserve."
He described it as this massive, fenced-in forest inside the Academy, packed with low to mid-tier Demonic Beasts. It was all monitored, but no less risky.
"Your goal isn't to wipe them out," the instructor called out. "Any Elite can swing a sword. We are training you to be more than just soldiers. You are problem-solvers. Your test is a resource-gathering mission."
A list of required items appeared on a large screen behind him.
1. A handful of Iron-Billed Woodpecker Feathers.
2. A sample of living Glow-Moss from a hidden cave deep underground.
3. The heart of a Raging Boar.
A buzz of nervous chatter moved through the crowd. Raging Boars were tough, hot-tempered, and nearly impossible to bring down.
This wasn't going to be a walk in the park.
He saw Draven across the hall, standing with a group of other well-dressed, arrogant-looking nobles. He was very excited, almost unable to stand still. His eyes looked over the crowd, clearly searching for Jonah.
"Next pairing: Draven Stone and Kaelen Thorne," the instructor called out.
Draven's face fell. He was paired with another Manifestor, a brawler like himself. He looked at Vanessa with great anger. She was the best Mage in their year.
It was clear who he had wanted to be paired with. A powerful Manifestor and a skillful Mage would have been an extremely hard team to defeat.
"Next: Vanessa Mayborne ," the instructor announced.
Vanessa stepped forward. The hall became a bit quieter. Everyone wanted to know who the best Mage would be teamed with.
"And… Jonah Aldrich."
People started whispering. Jonah, the quiet boy from the Undercroft with the strange mark, was teamed with the best student? The one whose creations were just 'pets'? Draven looked ready to blow up. His face, already red, turned deep purple from anger.
Jonah walked forward to stand beside Vanessa, aware of every eye on him. This was no random pairing. He glanced over at the edge of the hall and saw Seraph standing with her arms crossed, watching them with a neutral expression.
This was her doing. She was putting her pieces on the board.
The instructor handed them a datapad with their mission details. "Your synergy is your greatest weapon," he said, though he sounded like he was reciting a line Seraph had forced him to memorize. "Don't waste it."
As they stepped down from the podium, Draven blocked their path. His eyes burned with anger.
"This is a joke," he said, his voice low and angry. "The Headmaster's favorite student is with the best mage? They are just protecting you. They are giving you extra help."
Vanessa, who normally avoided confrontation, stepped slightly in front of Jonah. "Perhaps the instructors believe a strategic mind is more valuable than a blunt instrument," she said, her voice cool.
Draven's jaw tightened, but he couldn't think of a clever reply. Being called foolish by the smartest girl in the school clearly hurt his pride.
He looked angrily at Jonah again. "This changes nothing," he said. "I'll finish the tasks before you even start. And I'll prove that your tricks don't work in a real fight. The Preserve is not a training hall, scrapper. It's a wild place that hurts the weak."
He pushed past them and stormed off to join his own partner, who looked deeply uncomfortable with the whole situation.
"Well," Vanessa said, turning to Jonah with a sigh. "That went just as I expected."
"He has a point," Jonah admitted as they walked out of the hall. "His team is all raw power. They can just smash their way through to the objectives."
"And we can't," Vanessa finished for him. "We have to be smarter." She gave him a sidelong glance. "So, what's the plan? And what exactly can your… creations… do? The ones you haven't shown me yet."
They spent the rest of the day in Jonah's room, planning. It felt different from their theoretical 'synergy project.' This was real. This had stakes.
Jonah finally explained the full capabilities of Shard and Nyx.
Her early doubts soon became a strong, interested feeling.
"So Shard isn't just a tough bug, it has a sonar sense?" she asked, her mind already racing. "Like a bat? It can map its surroundings in total darkness?"
"In 360 degrees," Jonah confirmed. "And Nyx doesn't just have a hard shell. Its Disorienting Dust can create a safe area, confuse enemies, and cloud their senses."
Vanessa's pen flew across a fresh datapad, her handwriting a blur of notes and diagrams. "So you have a scout and a defender. Your Progeny handle looking around and keeping us safe. My magic will handle obstacles and offense. We don't need to smash through things. We can be precise. Efficient."
Jonah nodded, a plan beginning to form in his mind. "We go for the feathers first. Shard can locate the woodpeckers without us having to climb every tree. Then the caves for the Glow-Moss. Shard can map the tunnels so we don't get lost or walk into an ambush."
"Leaving the Raging Boar for last," Vanessa finished, a grim look on her face. "The biggest threat. But also… your biggest opportunity."