The registration hall opened before dawn.
A narrow chamber carved into the outer wall of the Arcane Academy, lit by floating glyphs that hummed softly in the darkness. Notices flickered across a crystal panel—missions, assignments, casualty disclaimers.
Most students never came here willingly.
Eryon arrived early.
He stood alone in front of the mission board, eyes scanning the listings.
Field Mission Classification: OptionalEligibility: Rank 250 and aboveRisk Level: E–D
Optional.
That word meant nothing.
Eryon knew how the academy worked. Optional missions were where unstable students were filtered out quietly. No exams. No audience. Just results—or disappearance.
The system stirred.
[Mission Interface Detected] [Analyzing Available Failure Environments...]
Failure environments.
Eryon ignored the chill crawling up his spine and continued reading.
Most missions were routine: rift monitoring, creature observation, supply escort. Low rewards. Low danger.
One entry pulsed faintly.
Mission ID: F-013Location: Southern Rupture Zone (Restricted Tier)Objective: Rift Stabilization AttemptRecommended Participants: 3–5Status: Understaffed
Understaffed meant one thing.
People had refused.
Eryon selected it.
The crystal chimed.
[Warning] Selected mission exceeds optimal survival parameters.
"Confirmed," Eryon said quietly.
The glyph sealed.
His name appeared beneath the mission ID.
The assembly point lay beyond the academy's inner walls, where protective enchantments thinned and the air grew sharp with distortion.
Three other students waited.
Two glanced at Eryon and looked away immediately.
The third—a girl with short ash-colored hair—studied him openly.
"Rank two-forty-eight," she said. "You're brave. Or stupid."
"Both," Eryon replied.
She snorted. "Name's Mirella Voss. Rank ninety-two."
That earned him a second look.
High-ranked students rarely volunteered for missions like this.
An instructor arrived, expression indifferent.
"You know the rules," he said. "This is not an exam. Intervention is not guaranteed. If you withdraw, you will be marked."
Marked.
No one withdrew.
The instructor activated the gate.
The world twisted.
The Southern Rupture Zone felt wrong.
The ground pulsed faintly beneath their feet, veins of unstable mana glowing through cracked stone. The air shimmered, bending light in unnatural ways.
Eryon's skin prickled.
The system reacted immediately.
[High-Instability Zone Detected] [Environmental Failure Probability: Extreme] Recommendation: Engage and observe.
Observe what?
A screech echoed from deeper within the zone.
Something moved.
The creature emerged from the distortion like a nightmare stitched together incorrectly—humanoid, but elongated, limbs bending at impossible angles. Its surface rippled as if unable to decide on a form.
"Class D," Mirella muttered. "That wasn't in the briefing."
The creature lunged.
Chaos followed.
One student screamed as a limb shattered his barrier instantly. Another was thrown aside, crashing into a rock wall and not getting up.
Mirella moved fast, precise spells snapping into place.
"Vale! Support!"
Eryon raised his hand.
Mana surged.
Collapsed.
Pain exploded behind his eyes.
[Critical Spell Failure] [Hostile Entity Detected] Evolution Priority: MAXIMUM
The system flooded his vision.
[Mutation Path Generated] Option A: — Reinforce stability — Lower output Option B: — Integrate environmental instability — Accept contamination
Contamination.
Eryon remembered the archive reports.
Structural Deviance.Removal from records.
The creature advanced, reality warping around it.
Mirella shouted something he couldn't hear.
Eryon chose.
"Option B."
The pain was immediate and overwhelming.
It felt like his mana channels were being torn open, forced to accept something alien. The air itself poured into him, sharp and chaotic.
[Adaptation Complete] New Trait Acquired: — Rift-Resonant Mana — Spell forms unstable — Persistence significantly increased Warning: Human compatibility decreasing.
Eryon screamed.
Then he cast.
The spell did not form a shape.
It spread—a ripple of distorted force that resonated with the rupture itself. The creature shrieked as its body destabilized, form unraveling from the inside.
It collapsed in a cascade of fractured light.
Silence followed.
Mirella stared.
"What—what was that?"
Eryon dropped to one knee, blood seeping from his nose.
"I don't know," he said honestly.
The system displayed new data.
[Combat Outcome Recorded] Failure converted into environmental dominance. Anomaly Level: Elevated
The rift began to stabilize—slowly, unwillingly.
An emergency signal flared overhead.
Extraction.
Mirella moved to help him up, hesitating only briefly before gripping his arm.
"Next time," she said quietly, "warn me before you break reality."
Eryon managed a weak smile.
"There won't be a next time like this."
He wasn't sure if that was a promise or a threat.
Back at the academy, healers worked in silence.
No questions were asked.
That night, Eryon lay awake, body burning, mind sharper than ever.
The system activated one final time.
[Mission Complete] Evaluation: — Survival: Achieved — Objective: Partial Success — Deviation: Severe Notice: Subject no longer compatible with low-risk environments.
Outside his door, unfamiliar footsteps paused.
This time, they did not move on.
Eryon closed his eyes.
Optional missions were never optional.
They were invitations.
And he had just accepted one the academy could not ignore.