The morning assembly near the end of Kravengard started with a chilling breeze that cut right through the fabrics of their gear.

Sixty freshmen stood huddled together near the entrance of the excavation site.

They all wore the handmade dwarven suits.

These thick garments were technically designed to monitor their life signs and provide emergency magical support if their vitals dropped into dangerous zones.

Right now, the bulky suits just made the terrified teenagers look like clumsy children waiting for a harsh punishment.

Before them lay the real horror.

They were staring down into a dark hole.

The drop extended at least fifty meters below the surface, and none of the ground was visible through the shadows.

Strange, high-pitched sounds echoed up from the pit.

It sounded a lot like sharp claws scratching against stone and beasts fighting among themselves.

Ten other teachers surrounded the perimeter of the group to keep the students contained and organized.

Professor Sianna stood quietly at the very back of the faculty line.

Azrael looked at her immediately.

The human vessel’s biological memories flared to life inside his brain without his permission. The lingering consciousness fed him detailed context about the quiet woman.

They apparently had a complicated past filled with late-night conversations and soft moments.

Azrael pushed the annoying memories down because he simply did not care about a dead boy’s romance.

He filed her away in his mind as a dangerous emotional variable.

She did not look at him directly.

Her eyes stayed glued to the floor, but her pale fingers kept twisting the silver ring on her left hand in a nervous rhythm.

’She knows something is wrong,’ Azrael thought, analyzing her stiff posture.

’Her intuition is sharp, but she lacks the courage to act on it. A typical mortal flaw.’

Professor Blaze stepped up to a raised boulder and clapped his hands loudly to gather their scattered attention.

"Listen to me right now," Blaze shouted over the howling wind.

"This D-rank excavation will last five days. You all have your specific path assignments memorized. Your suit monitors are permanently synced to our faculty network. There will be no exiting before the third day unless you are bleeding out or missing a limb. Am I making myself clear?"

A few scattered nods rippled through the crowd.

"Sianna, make sure the vital monitors are properly synced," Blaze called out to the back of the line.

Sianna nodded quickly, pulling her gaze away from the floor.

"The network is secure, Professor. All sixty suits are transmitting healthy pulses."

"Good. Keep an eye on the students. They look like they might faint before we even cross the threshold," Blaze muttered dryly.

Azrael kept his physical posture exactly like Shane’s usual stance.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and maintained a slight forward lean.

It was a tedious performance, but the disguise was necessary to avoid drawing Boros or Arthur’s attention again if they were near him.

Only a few of the ten teachers would actually be coming down into the cave with them.

The rest were just here for perimeter security to ensure no wild beasts ambushed them from the surrounding forest while they climbed down.

Melissa stood very close to his side.

She was positioned close enough that her arm brushed against his heavy sleeve every time she shifted her weight on the rocks.

She played the part of the devoted friend with scary accuracy, masking her demonic loyalty behind a bright student smile.

Across the sea of bulky dwarven suits, Zephyr stood like a carved stone statue.

He did not pay any attention to the hole or the professor’s speech and just stared holes directly into Azrael’s back.

The boy suspected something was wrong after their encounter in the cafeteria, and he was not hiding his hostility anymore.

All the students shifted uneasily on their feet.

The echoing sounds from the pit grew louder and more frantic.

"How do they hide this hole from the public?" Azrael asked in a low whisper, not bothering to turn his head.

"A pit this large right near the capital would draw endless curiosity."

Melissa leaned in slightly to answer his quiet question.

"They do not leave it open like this all year, my lord," she whispered back, her breath warm against the cold air.

"Unless academy divers are jumping for an official expedition, these holes will be blocked with magical sheets that are practically impossible to break. Commoners do not even know these entrances exist. The nobles have seen one or two on their private lands, so they are slightly more prepared for the sight."

Azrael nodded slowly.

’They seal the monsters away and pretend the world is safe,’ he thought.

’Mortal ignorance is always their greatest shield.’

Despite this cave only being a D-rank threat, everyone in the freshman class was visibly scared.

The seniors had told them horrific stories about their own past experiences underground, and those dark tales were currently freezing the freshmen in place.

"You look pale, Lucien," a student named Dane muttered nervously to the blonde noble standing nearby.

"Shut up," Lucien snapped back, his voice shaking slightly.

"I am just cold. The wind up here is freezing."

"Did you hear that scratching noise?" another girl asked, gripping the sides of her helmet tightly. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"It sounds like a hundred crawlers waiting right at the bottom for us to drop in."

"The teachers would not send us into a trap," a boy argued, though he did not sound convinced at all.

"The monitors will save us if we get bitten."

"Monitors do not stop teeth from tearing your throat out," Zephyr said loudly, stepping closer to the group. His eyes flicked toward Azrael for a brief second.

"You have to rely on your own strength down there. Do not trust anyone else to save you."

Azrael ignored the obvious provocation.

He found their hesitation highly amusing.

These children wanted to call themselves elite Awakeners, but they were afraid of a simple shadow.

The Abyss was filled with horrors that would shatter their fragile minds in a single heartbeat, yet they trembled at the sound of minor beasts.

’I can’t believe my army was lost to these weaklings.’

Professor Blaze checked his pocket watch and frowned at the delay.

"Time’s up," Blaze announced loudly, pointing a stern finger at the closest group.

"First squad, step up to the edge and jump. Let us get this over with so we can set up the base camp."

Nobody moved.

The sixty students just stared at the terrifying drop.

Some swallowed hard, and others took a half-step backward away from the ledge.

The fear of the unknown dark was paralyzing them as scratching sounds from the deep seemed to mock their cowardice.

"Did you lose your hearing?" Blaze barked, his patience wearing thin.

"I said jump right now!"

"You are all elite academy students. Behave like one!"

Still, the students remained frozen in place.

Zephyr gripped his fists, preparing to step forward to break the tension, but he was not fast enough.

Azrael let out a mocking sigh.

He pulled his hands out of his pockets and walked straight to the front of the line.

The terrified students parted nervously to let him through.

He did not wait for the faculty to call his name or assign his squad order because he knew Shane never waited for permission from anyone.

"Pathetic," Azrael muttered under his breath.

He stepped right off the ledge without another word and let gravity pull him down into the abyss.