Raven's gaze snapped away from the window and the silent park. Standing beside his table was Iris, the quiet girl he had only just met in the office yesterday. She wore a simple black shirt and black pants, the stark colors offset only by the muted sheen of her leather boots. Her expression was as reserved as he remembered, her eyes distant, yet she had approached him.
"No, go ahead," Raven replied, waving a hand toward the empty chair across from him.
Iris slid into the seat with a quiet, practiced grace, setting a steaming coffee mug on the table. She didn't offer a greeting or an explanation for choosing his company; she simply settled in.
"Does she not even remember my name?" he thought, a flicker of mild annoyance crossing his mind.
To fill the slight silence, Raven took out his communicator to check the time: 9:47 AM.
"You're Raven, right?" She asked, her voice low and even, finally breaking the quiet between them.
"Yes," he confirmed, taking a deliberate sip from his coffee.
"So, have you decided which course to choose?" she asked. Her distant eyes finally focused on him, though without much expression, making the question feel more like a demand than a conversation starter.
"Well, that came out of nowhere," he thought, leaning back slightly in his chair. "There's not much time left to prepare. Someone smart told me to choose the Wilderness Survival course."
"And are you following their advice?" She pressed, her gaze unblinking.
"Why do you care, Miss Dracula?" The thought was sharp and involuntary.
He held her stare. "Yes."
He finished his coffee. "What about you? Have you decided?"
"I have decided on the Basic Combat and the Orbit Creatures Study course," she replied.
Raven nodded and took out his communicator to check the time: 9:53 AM.
Iris asked. "Would you like to exchange numbers?"
"Huh. That came out of nowhere," he thought, clearly in disbelief, but seeing her striking red eyes focused on him, the sudden request felt less bizarre and more imperative. He straightened in his chair. "Sure. Iris."
She lifted her communicator. The devices chimed softly as she tapped its edge against his. Raven glanced down; a new connection request was waiting on his screen. He tapped Accept.
He stood up. "Well then, I'm heading to the auditorium."
To his surprise, Iris gulped down the rest of her coffee in a single, quick motion. She set the mug down with a soft clink and said, "Let's go together. It's almost time for the speech."
"Is she trying to be friendly because she doesn't know anyone here?" he thought, reevaluating her sudden shift in demeanor. The directness was still there, but now it was colored by a definite haste.
Raven smiled and said. "Sure you know where it is?"
She stood up and said. "Yes, follow me."
He nodded. After handing his empty mug to the lady at the counter, he followed Iris out of the cafeteria. As they walked, he kept a safe distance from her—just enough so she wouldn't intrude on his limited spatial awareness. This new sense of his was proving to be both helpful and troublesome for him.
After some time, Iris stopped in front of a wide, open doorway and stepped inside. Raven followed her, leaving the bright, high-ceilinged corridor behind and entering the auditorium.
The space was vast and dimly lit, the sheer scale of it pulling focus immediately. It was a classic lecture theater design: a huge, fan-shaped room dominated by steeply tiered seating upholstered in deep burgundy fabric. The floor sloped sharply down toward a wide, elevated stage at the far end. Even with only a few students already milling around the rows, the air felt thick and still.
The primary lighting came from strategically placed recessed fixtures that highlighted the acoustic paneling on the walls—dark wood carved into complex, geometric patterns designed to silence echoes. Raven noticed the massive, unlit projection screen dominating the stage, flanked by towering speaker arrays. The sound of their boots on the carpeted steps was swallowed instantly by the room's engineered silence.
Iris moved with the same reserved grace as before, selecting a pair of seats about midway down the tiers and close to the central aisle. She looked back to see if he was following, then simply settled into the seat closest to the aisle.
Raven slid into the seat beside her. The deep red fabric was soft and welcoming. "Nice place," he commented, the words feeling surprisingly small in the immense room.
Iris gave a minimal nod, her red eyes already directed toward the distant stage, betraying no further reaction to his presence.
"When will this damn speech start?" he thought, irritated.
The wait wasn't long. The vast auditorium continued to fill until a palpable static of anticipation hung in the air. Then, a tall man wearing a sleek black and gold uniform appeared center-stage. He had broad shoulders, an athletic build, and dark red hair and eyes that matched his serious expression. He gave the Stargazers a long, assessing look that silenced the room completely.
"Is dark red hair and eyes a natural color or a mutation brought by the Orbit?" Raven whispered, leaning slightly toward Iris.
"Dark red is both a mutation and a natural color," she replied, her voice a low, even whisper.
The man on the stage spoke, his voice carrying easily through the hall's acoustics without sounding overly loud.
"I am Exalted Elias. Stargazers, welcome to the academy."
"Exalted. Wonder which rank that is," Raven thought.
Elias continued, his serious gaze sweeping the audience. "In about a month's time, you will be summoned to a place in the Singularity Realm. Some of you might think you are well prepared. You are not. The Singularity Realm is merciless and cunning. The moment Orbiters begin to think too much of themselves, they die. I've seen countless Stargazers like you lose their lives. I have also seen experienced Sages lose theirs. Even the strongest of humanity—the Rank 6 Pulsars—are not assured to survive."
"Thanks for the motivation," he thought sarcastically.
He heard a nervous whisper from the students sitting behind him. "Even the Pulsars, the legendary saints."
Exalted Elias continued.
"In the following 5 weeks, we will do everything in our power to increase your chances of survival. You will receive training from the best instructors in the world, but in the end, whether you return from the Singularity Realm alive depends only on one person, that is you. The responsibility to survive is yours and yours alone."
Raven scanned the front rows. The Stargazers there had undisguised fear in their eyes, their initial excitement completely extinguished. He glanced at Iris. She, however, held the same unsettlingly blank expression on her face, her red eyes fixed on Elias as if absorbing every syllable without a hint of internal turmoil.
"What did I expect, really, from the dracula girl?" he thought, the nickname cementing itself in his mind. Her composure was either perfect control or total apathy.
Exalted Elias drove his point deeper.
"You are not children anymore. You have already been chosen by the Orbit, and you have passed the first trial, so you already know what it's like. Your family, your tutors, your friends can't help you anymore."
Raven understood what Exalted Elias was doing. He had to make the Stargazers feel afraid, because fear was the only thing that would keep them alive. It was a cold, necessary lesson in this new reality.
Exalted Elias paused for a second, allowing his words to sink into the heavy silence of the auditorium, then gave a curt nod to the Stargazers. His expression remained utterly serious, his voice now taking on a sharper, more instructional edge.
"Now we will talk about the difference between the Trials and the Singularity Realm."
Raven was all ears now. The sarcasm was gone, replaced by a focused intensity. He needed information about the Singularity Realm.