Professor Enderson clapped his hands together. Satisfied that everyone was present. "Alright everyone, please follow me. We will proceed to the portal chamber."
He led the assembled group towards a less ornate, more utilitarian wing of the academy. The students chattered nervously. Quite contrastive to he hired guards who moved silently with quiet efficiency. Forming a loose perimeter around the younger ones.
Jack looked at Rune. She bobbed gently in the air. Her light shifted into curious amber and vigilant orange.
They soon arrived at a heavy, reinforced door on the first floor. It was guarded by two stern-faced academy wardens. Clad in the silver and blue uniform of Lonestone Academy's transcendent security.
The door bore complex runic inscriptions. Glowing faintly even in its inactive state. Signifying powerful wards and protective spells.
With a series of intricate key turns and spoken incantations from Professor Enderson, the door groaned open. Revealing an enormous hall within. The air inside was still and cool. Thick with the subtle scent of arcane energy.
The hall was impressive in size and shape. A chamber with high ceilings. Floored with polished, dark stone.
At least twenty tall pillars and five massive, inactive portals stood within it. Each portal resembled a shimmering, oval-shaped membrane. Contained within ornate, metallic frames.
These frames were etched with glowing runes that pulsed with dormant energy. The portals themselves were dark. Like mirrors that reflected nothing. Waiting to be awakened.
"This is the Academy's Portal Chamber." Professor Enderson announced. His voice echoed slightly in the vast space. "One of these will take us to the Purplesky Realm."
Just as Professor Enderson finished his explanation, a new presence entered the hall. The air in the chamber seemed to thicken. Pressing down on everyone with an almost physical weight.
Everyone turned silent. Students visibly stiffened. Even the seasoned guards shifted uneasily.
Jack noticed the energy level of the newcomer. It was an illuminated powerhouse.
A bald, bespectacled old man of imposing stature entered from a side entrance. He had a long, flowing white beard and eyes that seemed to sparkle in cold, calculating glint.
He wore loose clothing and a mantle in deep midnight blue color. Embroidered with constellations of silver thread that subtly pulsed with light. He walked to their direction. Holding a staff carved from dark, polished wood. Topped with a glowing crystal that radiated a soft, violet light.
Jack immediately recognized the man. This was Grand Scholar Oarwinter. The Dean of Lonestone Academy. A man whose command over mystic arts was considered near legendary. His aura alone was enough to suppress every other transcendent in the room.
Jack and Reina had seen him in action in the Valley of Despair. During the vicious conflicts related to the mad scramble for the [Forbidden Chalice].
"Ladies and Gentlemen..." Professor Enderson cleared his throat, introducing the dean. "Our Academy's Dean. Grand Scholar Oarwintwer."
The dean's gaze swept over the gathered expedition members. His eyes lingered on each student. Then each guard, including Jack and Reina. Before settling briefly on Professor Enderson and Dr. Crafton.
He stopped before the central, most prominent portal frame. "Students! Professors! Guardians!" He said. His voice was deep, resonant, and carried an undeniable charm that commanded instant attention.
"You are about to embark on a journey into the Purplesky Realm." He continued. "This is a crucial step in the students' academic journey. It is a test not only of your magical prowess but also of your skills, your knowledge, and your judgement."
He shifted his gaze to the students. "Students... Remember your training. Be vigilant. Support one another. The realm has attractive appeals, but it also holds dangers unseen, and challenges unknown. Growth often comes hand-in-hand with adversity."
His words were an encouragement. But also a plain warning.
Then, his gaze sharpened as he addressed the guards. "As for you, Guardians..." His tone was blunt. "Your primary duty is the safety of these students. The Academy has invested much in their education. You will protect them with your utmost ability. Be vigilant. And do not, under any circumstances, underestimate the unknown."
His words were a direct command. An undeniable assertion of authority. No one dared to question him. The air thrummed with his power.
With his speech concluded, Grand Scholar Oarwinter raised his staff. The crystal at its tip flared brightly. Casting violet light across the hall. He spoke a single, guttural word of power. An ancient invocation that vibrated through the stones of the chamber.
The central portal began to shimmer. Wisps of purple and indigo light swirled across its surface. Coalescing into a vibrant, swirling vortex of color.
The air around it crackled with energy. And a faint, sweet, alien scent wafted from its depths. A strange scent that seemed familiar for some reasons to Jack.
"Professor Enderson!" Dean Oarwinter called. His voice was calmer now. But it was still authoritative.
Professor Enderson took a deep breath and nodded. He adjusted his glasses. And then strode purposefully towards the now active portal. Without hesitation, he stepped through the shimmering curtain of light. And disappeared from view.
The students, urged on by Dr. Crafton, began to follow. A mixture of fear and excitement was on their faces. The guards, including Leon Drake and Dr. Crafton, moved behind them. Their expressions were mostly grim, but ready.
Jack, Rune, and Reina were the last ones to enter.
...
The transition was instantaneous. One moment, Jack was walking through the portal in the stone-floored Portal Hall of Lonestone Academy. The next, he stepped out of the shimmering veil and felt his boots sink into something soft.
It wasn't mud. It was red moss. Thick and spongy. Covering the ground like a living carpet.
He didn't move immediately. He stood still. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the surrounding.
Beside him, Reina had also stepped out of the portal. Her hands instinctively moved to the holsters of her handguns on her waist. She was also observing the surrounding carefully.
Rune floated near her shoulder. The fairy guide's body was pulsing with a steady, cautious yellow light.
After a while, the portal where they came out from flickered and disappeared. There was no turning back now. They were stranded here for at least a week.
Professor Enderson and Dr. Crafton each held a [Portal Summoning Scroll] to return back to Lonestone Academy. But these scrolls needed at least a week of stabilization to be activated safely.
Of course, Jack could use his [Nine-Anchor Portal Ring] to return with a few number of people anytime. But the portal ring wasn't designed to transport a large number of people like their current expedition members.
Jack looked around. Not far from them, the twenty students, two teaching staff members, and eight guards were moving cautiously. Slowly spreading out. Exploring the place.
He looked up. The sky above was an impossible shade of deep purple. Torn through the center by a jagged, horizontal streak of emerald green light. One that didn't flicker or fade. It looked like a scar on the atmosphere.
He took a deep breath. The scent hit him again. The alien, floral musk that had seemed familiar through the portal. Now, standing within it, the familiarity turned into a cold realization.
"Crap!" Jack muttered under his breath.
He knew this realm. He had been here before. Though not exactly this location and not through an established portal.
This was the realm he was thrown into when he was dealing with the five transcendent bank robbers in Lonestone. This was where he had acquired the precious [Spatial Ambers]. It was a place of high-tier resources. But it was also a place of absolute lethality.
He clearly remembered. Somewhere in this realm, a super-gigantic hydra, mountain sized, lay dormant. That was the biggest creatures he had ever seen. And very likely, the most deadly ones.
He could still remember it clearly. The creature felt it was much stronger than even the most powerful illuminated transcendent being. Only beings like the Saint of Joy or Rainsister could face it.
Jack observed the surrounding even more carefully. The trees around them weren't normal trees. Their barks were a dark, bruised violet.
And they didn't just stand there, unmoving. These barks throbbed. A slow, rhythmic pulsation moved through the wood. As if the forest itself had a heartbeat.
The leaves were even stranger. Phosphorescent amber fronds that didn't rustle so much as they tinkled like glass when the wind caught them.
"Incredible!" Professor Enderson whispered. Adjusting his glasses. He was already pulling out a notebook. "The bioluminescence is even more pronounced than the previous expedition notes suggested."
Dr. Crafton was no less enamored. He was looking at the floating jellyfish above them. The dozens of translucent creatures drifted through the air lazily. Unbothered by the humans.
They trailed long, glowing filaments. Ones that occasionally sparked when they touched the bulbous fungi growing from the ground and the trees. The fungi themselves emitted a steady blue glow. Illuminating the shadows cast by the pulsating violet wood.
Jack turned to Reina. "Love!" He called in blunt, low voice. "We need eyes in the sky. Now."
Reina didn't ask questions. She knew that look on Jack's face. It was the look he wore when the situation was serious.
She reached into her spatial bag and pulled out a sleek, metallic, bird-like object. The Silver Hawk. It was a mechanical drone Jack had created with his steamrune technology. It was a present that had been bound to her.
She held it aloft and whispered a command. Injecting a precise amount of mana into its core.
The Silver Hawk's eyes glowed golden. Its wings snapped open with a mechanical hiss. And it took flight. Circling the group once before shooting upward. Turning into a tiny dot in the purple haze of the sky.
Reina then pulled out a rectangular monitoring tablet. Its screen flickered to life. Showing a grainy but high-definition top-down view of their surroundings.
The other guards and the two scholars noticed the movement. Dr. Crafton walked over. His eyes glinted with an excitement. "A surveillance construct? Efficient, Mrs. Night. What are you looking for?"
"Information." Jack replied calmly. "We don't like being blind in a place that might want to eat us."
He signaled Reina. She walked to one of the pulsating violet trees and stuck the monitoring tablet onto the bark using a magnetic clamp.
The students, driven by a mix of curiosity and the need for safety, crowded around. Even the Professor Enderson and the bodyguards leaned in.
"This is the Silver Hawk's feed." Reina explained to the group. "It's mapping the immediate geography."
The screen shifted as the drone reached its cruising altitude. The view was breathtaking and terrifying. It turned out that they were on an island.
It wasn't a normal island in the blue ocean though. It was a landmass floating within a sea of thick, indigo mist. The mist obscured everything below a certain depth.
"Look there!" Jack pointed to the center of the screen.
The feed showed the forest they were currently standing in. From above, the pulsating trees looked like a shifting amber sea due to the tree leaves.
Reina manipulated the hawk mentally. Sending the drone further out. "Moving west..." She murmured. "Assuming we are now facing north."
"The compass doesn't work." Leon Drake commented dryly. "And there is no sun or stars. No one will complain about wrong direction."
The forest gave way to a vast, undulating red grassland. It wasn't grass as they knew it. But millions of thin, red stalks that moved in unison. Herds of alien animals moved through the stalks.
These creatures were huge. They looked like the mixture of rhinoceros and armadillo. They had armored plates that looked like polished granite. They moved slowly. Yet, it still exuded extreme danger.