A few days later, several spacecraft silently departed from the War Academy.

Within them were the newly enrolled students, tasked with completing their own Trials.

Only in this way could they showcase their potential and, at least nominally, contribute to the human race.

"My Lord, I’ve already taken over the artificial intelligence of the spacecraft. Currently, the entire vehicle is under my control.", Alpha looked at Liora and said, her form created out of semi-translucent blue lights that descended from the metal ceiling.

Liora nodded her head, not too surprised.

The person responsible for granting them access to the spacecraft had already informed her about its structure and overall operation process.

Just like most things in this world, the students did not have to pilot the spacecraft in person.

Instead, each spaceship possessed its own artificial intelligence, able to take in the students’ commands and perform them flawlessly.

For ordinary students, the ship’s AI was an indispensable assistant.

Liora, however, had no need for it to exist.

As a result, the moment she stepped onto the ship, she ordered Alpha to wipe out the immature artificial intelligence and take control over it.

Thinking of this, Liora glanced at Alpha, watching as her body flickered.

Then, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Have you checked the details of the Trial yet?" she asked.

Alpha immediately gave an affirmative nod.

Already knowing Liora’s meaning behind asking this question, she didn’t keep her waiting but took the initiative to explain.

"My Lord, I’ve already checked my database for the information regarding student Trials.", she prefaced her next words.

"For the most part, Trials are meant to test the students’ ability to perform under pressure, while working as a training ground for their eventual entry to the extraterrestrial battlefields. However, your Trial..."

Alpha briefly paused.

She waved her hand, and lines of text flowed out of her hands.

It was the message she had previously received from the War Academy.

...

Student Liora Augustus, these are the contents of your planned upcoming student Trial.

[Blood Forest Realm]

[Enter the Blood Forest Realm and survive for three months.]

-During this period, contact with the outside world is strictly prohibited.

-Use of technological weapons with power above Rank 6 is strictly prohibited.

-Requesting help from third parties is strictly prohibited.

-Trading information with the native aliens...

-...

Completion Reward: Authority Level Up. 100 million Contribution Points. ???

...

Looking at this message, which she had already gone through, Liora showed little response.

She didn’t say anything, but waited for Alpha to continue.

The other party did not keep her waiting. Moments later, she followed up on her previous words.

"The Trial assigned by the War Academy this time is somewhat... strange."

"This is a mission normally reserved for final-year students. Not as a Trial, but as a choice."

"Moreover, only the strongest among them have a chance. The minimum requirement is reaching Rank 5 before the student graduates."

Saying this, Alpha added:

"The Blood Forest Realm is an infamous mission. Pretty much all students know about it. The mortality rate of this mission is 99.98%. In the eyes of everyone, visiting this secret realm is but a death sentence."

Liora stroked her chin, understanding the meaning behind Alpha’s words.

Clearly, Alpha believed there was something wrong.

At least, it didn’t make sense to assign such a trial to a new student like her who had never performed any mission before.

Even if she had shown extraordinary potential and immense personal strength, this remained the same.

If anything, that made it even stranger.

"With the potential I’ve shown and my ability to become a Guardian in three different Blood Arenas, I should have long attracted the attention of the higher-ups."

"In a certain sense, I should have been protected from such dangers. As long as I grow up safely, I have a chance to become a pillar of the federation, after all."

Trials were indeed meant to test new students, and each Trial would harvest the lives of a large percentage of them. Even if all the students perished, the Academy would not change its mind.

However, rules were just rules after all.

Faced with a talented student like her, the Dean and the others should never have allowed her to face such a risk.

"Did I offend someone? Or is this a test?"

"Are they suspicious of my identity? Or that I’m hiding my strength?", Liora pondered, her eyes narrowing.

Raising her head, she looked out of the window, only to see a vast starry sky.

Turning her head, she couldn’t help but take a deeper look at the giant planet where the War Academy was situated.

By now, the spacecraft had long left it behind. The planet had shrunk into a tiny black dot on the distant horizon.

Yet despite the distance separating them, Liora could sense several unfathomable auras lurking beneath.

These were not Rank 7 or even Rank 8 Awakeners, but existences that surpassed even her former peak.

Her face turned solemn for a brief moment, as though she was contemplating something.

But only a brief moment later, that emotion disappeared. After giving a couple more instructions to Alpha, she made her way toward the room and resumed her practice.

--

The War Academy and the Human Federation as a whole referred to them as "secret realms", but in reality, these structures could be considered as other worlds that happened to be attached to the fabric of this universe.

No one knew how these worlds had been born, or how many of them there were in the universe.

All people knew was that certain entrances to the secret realms would appear from time to time, allowing the entry of Awakeners and other races.

The Blood Forest Realm was separated by several galaxies from the War Academy.

Even with the help of the spacecraft, whose speed could surpass the speed of light, it took Liora several days to reach her destination.

As the door of the spacecraft hummed and opened, the spaceship shrank down into a palm-sized form, settling onto Liora’s hand.

She put it away as her gaze swept around.

The entrance of a secret realm was not a one-way passage.

Beings from the universe could go in, while the creatures living inside these "worlds" could also use it to step into the universe.

As such, each secret realm entrance was carefully protected by a large number of forces.

Liora had heard about this from Alpha before, and she was now seeing it in person.

A giant fortress floated within the darkness of the starry sky, as though it were a planet.

Guns, cannons, lasers, and other futuristic weapons hang from the walls, pointing toward a black hole-like structure on the other side of where she stood.

The troops did not rely solely on mechanical weapons for defense. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Liora noticed several auras looming over the fortress, emanating a cold and bloodthirsty aura.

The fortress’s atmosphere dripped with blood.

The aura of bloodlust was so dense that it nearly gave Liora the illusion that she was back in the Demon World.

Yet the next moment, that illusion shattered.

A figure standing atop the fortress walls suddenly blurred. Then, it appeared in the sky and looked down at her.

"Halt!", a solemn shout echoed as Liora sensed hundreds of weapons locking onto her, ready to strike.

"State your purpose!"