Chapter 74: The Expedition Report

Only after making several searches had he discovered that third-years were the only ones permitted to freely go outside the Academy grounds, which meant that for his first two years, he would essentially be trapped here with no way to leave.

If he never left, he would never be able to pursue his revenge, and the more time that passed, the more difficult it would become.

But now, with this expedition, there was finally a chance, and Declan had even been able to narrow down Sir Tonald’s last known position.

Finally, he could make some progress!

Tomorrow was Sunday, which meant there would be no classes, and he could easily guess that the expedition would most likely begin then.

He had originally planned to play games through the night and drown himself in combat simulations in his training room afterward, but instead, he turned off the TV and immediately headed toward his bedroom.

He needed to make sure he was in peak condition tomorrow.

_____________

DRRRIINNG!

The sound of the alarm ringing woke him as a blue light flickered through the room.

Declan picked up his device and glanced at the time.

"5:15."

He jumped out of bed and quickly got dressed before moving into the living room, where he grabbed his bag from the table and headed toward the wall just behind the TV.

After tapping rhythmically against the surface, he waited.

WHIIIIR!

The sound of machinery whirring echoed through the room as the wall shifted inward, revealing a hidden compartment from which a platform slowly emerged.

Several objects rested on it, some shaped like cubes, others faintly spherical, while a few were shaped like small prisms.

Declan picked up five cubes, three spheres, and a single pyramid that rippled with golden light, storing all of them inside his bag before grabbing his device and leaving the dormitory.

By the time he stepped outside, it was 5:35.

"Let’s see what all of this is about."

Ten minutes later, he arrived at the designated building. Declan checked the map, and his brows furrowed slightly when he saw the location.

This building wasn’t an ordinary one.

In fact, it was normally labeled as inaccessible to all students, including both first- and second-years.

It was a staff building, yet the signal on his map clearly indicated that this was the exact place he had been instructed to report to.

Normally, the building displayed a red inaccessibility mark, but today, that mark had turned green, just like the buildings he was permitted to enter, confirming that he had indeed come to the right place.

"Huuuuu..."

After releasing a quiet breath, Declan moved forward and pushed open the glass door.

The moment he stepped inside, however, he couldn’t help but feel a mild vibration passing through his body, almost as though he had just crossed through some kind of invisible field.

Then, as the sensation disappeared and the world around him seemed to solidify, he found himself standing inside a hall.

It was a hall of pure white, containing five seats along with a levitating platform suspended in the air without any visible means of support.

"Probably just Tlec forces,"

he mused to himself, but before he could examine the platform any further, he felt several gazes land on him.

Declan’s brows creased as he looked toward the four people occupying four of the five seats before quickly checking his device again.

"5:46."

They came this early!?

"What the!? A first-year!?"

"Dude, did you lose your way!?"

"Wait, wait, wait, isn’t this that newcomer genius with that girly-ass name?"

"The Declan dude!?"

Declan’s eyes dimmed as he looked at the four second-years.

He had never liked second-years, and his relationship with them was about as bad as it could possibly be.

Before anything else could be said, however, silence suddenly fell over the room as a burst of brilliant white light illuminated the entire space, immediately capturing everyone’s attention.

The light came from the levitating platform.

"That is..."

"Sir Lycanoid!?"

They said and Declan raised an eyebrow.

"Sir Lycanoid!?"

’What is he, some kind of werewolf?’

Declan stared up at the new figure standing atop the levitating platform, which remained remarkably stable despite having no visible support.

The man stood nearly three meters tall and possessed a commanding presence that immediately drew every eye in the room.

His coiled black hair trailed down across his broad shoulders, while a neatly kept beard framed his strong jawline, but what stood out most were his eyes, which were an intense yellow with a faint golden glow flickering within their depths.

He wore a formal suit and trousers that only emphasized his powerful, towering frame, and even without doing anything, he seemed to radiate an unmistakable sense of authority and pressure.

His golden eyes surveyed the room before he finally spoke.

"Sit."

The command was directed toward Declan, who was the only person still standing, so he stepped forward and took the final vacant seat.

"For those of you still confused, Declan Ezra, the first-year newcomer, will be going along with you on your expedition."

Sir Lycanoid’s words boomed throughout the hall, ringing clearly in the ears of the second-years as their brows furrowed.

Having a newcomer join them on a special expedition such as this was already strange enough, but none of the students in this room were ordinary second-years.

They were among the best of the best, the highest-ranked students in the Challenge Rankings, yet the Academy had chosen a newcomer to accompany them.

How ridiculous was that?

"Also, this is not some last-minute addition, but a fully deliberated decision made by the Exploration Board and passed on to the Principal, who agreed with it."

Sir Lycanoid’s gaze swept across the four second-years.

"He’s just as important as any of you are to this mission."

His voice left no room for argument.

"You can all get to know each other better after the briefing, but for now, we will focus on the mission."

In the next moment, his palms spread wide, and a holographic projection emerged from his hands, displaying the image of an island surrounded by water.

"This is Germunda Island, one of the unexplored zones of Mordran."

"As you all may already be aware, the invasion of the Ember Race brought in the energy of Arcane, whose descent upon Mordran magically widened the planet to ten times its previous size."

"Right now, the five cities in Mordran, containing all human populations, cover only twenty-five percent of the entirety of Mordran, and only thirty-five percent of Mordran has ever been stepped upon by humans."

"The remaining sixty-five percent are all unexplored zones, which the human race has not officially claimed."

"This Germunda Island is one of them."

He explained, and now it made more sense to Declan.

"Exploration from NCEG, Mordran’s Core Exploration Group, has been ongoing on this island for about six weeks now," he continued. "The information that can be shared with you is that Germunda Island is a ruin of an alien race capable of using Arcane, just like the Ember Race."

"This island seems to have been a fragment of that world, and just a week ago, the NCEG came across an abnormal portal, which they believe holds the key to truly unlocking the secrets of Germunda Island."

"An abnormal portal?" one of the second-year students, the tallest among them, who towered over all of them even while seated, asked.

He was a white-haired, handsome young man with a focused expression.

Sir Lycanoid’s palm closed and then opened again, causing the hologram to shift and display the image of a large blue gate adorned with glowing blue lines.

"This is the portal."

"According to research, the material it’s built with is one of the hardest known, and any attack made on it simply disappears, devoured by the Arcane runes drawn upon the door."

"But we have noticed that when one of the Core members touched it, it opened, hence revealing that the runic door is a Law-type."

’Runic door? Law-type?’

These phrases were confusing to Declan, but apparently not to the second-years, as another student asked.

"What are its runic laws?"

She had eye-catching, shiny purple hair and matching eyes.

"Firstly, it only reacts to those below the age of twenty-five. Anyone who touches the door above that age cannot open it."

"And while the explorers tried using those below twenty-five to open it and having the much older ones enter afterward, that didn’t work."

"All of them were immediately sent flying out of the vortex, and it closed instantly, refusing to re-open until three days later."

"This makes it clear that only those under twenty-five are allowed in, and the oldest recorded among all of you here is twenty-four."

"So, you’re the perfect candidates."

"Its second rule concerns power waves. No Nexian beyond Heart Core is allowed in. Anyone stronger will be immediately rejected."

"A requirement that each of you here also fulfills."

"These are the two laws."

He explained, and while Declan had no understanding of Runic Laws, he still got the gist of things.

"You might be thinking the NCEG should be able to find those who fulfill these requirements, and yes, you’re right."

"But not just anybody can be allowed in," Sir Lycanoid said.

"And why is that?" the tall, white-haired young man asked.

"That is because the key pieces discovered about Germunda Island itself have made its value rank reach Level 900!"

He said it, and gasps of shock escaped from the second-year students.

"Level 900!?"

"Yes. That’s Germunda’s current value level," Sir Lycanoid confirmed.

"This portal is the last key to unlocking all of its secrets, and if that is done, its value could very well shoot up to 1500, possibly even more."

"For such a high-value exploration, only the best of the best Nexians below twenty-five years old and at most Heart Core Fusers can be chosen."

"The mission has been specifically issued to us at X-Guard, and X-Guard has chosen each of you."

"So, do not think this is just an ordinary exploration."