Chapter 13: Trial Grounds — Departure The moment the system broadcast rang out— "All units, prepare to depart." —the entire E3 class erupted like a shaken soda bottle.
"We're really going out to train?! For real this time?!"
"Wait, are we finally doing an actual dungeon?!"
The hallway buzzed with electricity—chaotic footsteps, backpacks clanking, and excited voices overlapping. Some students whooped with joy, others rushed to double-check their gear. Small groups naturally formed as they filed out, trailing behind the instructors like a disorganized parade.
At the front of the procession, Instructor Zhong Lan walked in silence. Her boots struck the floor with sharp, precise taps. In one hand, her personal terminal glowed with shifting diagrams. Her other hand swiped, tapped, adjusted—utterly calm, in control. Her coat fluttered behind her like a signal flag.
Their destination: the school's beginner-level trial field— Ashfield .
A name that sounded more like a graveyard than a classroom.
"This place better not actually be covered in ash," Su Xu grumbled, hastily tying up her long hair. Her neon-orange hair tie snapped into place with a defiant flick. "Why couldn't it be something cute? Like… Memory Meadow. Or Flower Garden."
"Because once you're done here, you'll never see flowers again," Xie Ping said cheerfully as he passed, adjusting the strap of his oversized cannon. "Don't worry, though. I'll protect you."
Su Xu rolled her eyes. "Hmph. You'll be the first to trip over your own shoelaces."
The class laughed, but a quiet tension crept in beneath the banter—half-excitement, half-fear. Ashfield was located deep beneath campus, nestled inside a high-security memory-module zone. The terrain mimicked a burned-out forest scattered with shattered ruins. All of it was synthetic, rendered from fractured memory data, but it felt real—scorching wind, brittle branches, even the faint scent of smoke.
This would be their first full-system combat simulation —the moment where theory became blood and motion.
Once everyone arrived at the staging platform, the system buzzed to life and began to auto-sort them.
A pale-blue window projected above their heads. [Squad Allocation Complete] Nie Shi. Lin Kui. Xie Ping. Su Xu. Lu Jingxing. One squad.
The reaction from the rest of the class was immediate—chuckles, gasps, even a few whistles.
"That lineup is chaos incarnate, " someone muttered.
"The porcupine, the ghost, the cannonball, the diva, and the edge-lord. What a dream team."
At the end of the corridor, the gate to Ashfield awaited. It resembled ancient stone, but shimmered faintly with silver nanolines—data veins pulsing like a heartbeat. As the five stepped up to the threshold, Zhong Lan finally spoke.
"Listen carefully."
Her voice was clear, controlled.
"Once you enter, the system will initiate a baseline memory simulation. Your objective is to retrieve five memory nodes scattered across the zone."
"Simulated enemies are active. Difficulty will scale based on your synchronization rate, individual performance, and team cohesion."
She paused. Then glanced—very pointedly—at Nie Shi , and then at Lin Kui .
"One more thing: Do not let your armaments resonate with memories that don't belong to you."
Nie Shi flinched.
That sentence… didn't sound like a general warning. It felt personal. [Trial Entry: Initiated] The gate rippled. Reality twisted—then reformed into a scene of desolation.
Blackened trees clawed at the sky. Walls, half-melted and half-collapsed, slumped like broken bones. Rusted machines lay embedded in the soil, overgrown with flickering data-vines. Memory fractures—like translucent shards of light—floated in the air, refracting the burned-orange sky.
The system's voice echoed in their minds: [Trial Initiated]
[Objective: Seize Memory Nodes — Phase One]
[Synchronization Tracking Engaged] "Let's go!" Xie Ping whooped, raising his armament— Little Boom —a modified cannon nearly as tall as he was. It hissed with unstable energy.
"So loud…" Lu Jingxing muttered, summoning his own weapon: a pair of short, electrified daggers that sparked with quiet menace. Lin Kui's Water Mirror hovered silently at her side, spinning slowly, glowing pale-blue as if scanning the environment. Nie Shi held Void in both hands. It felt colder than usual. He glanced around—but the weapon didn't move.
Not yet.
Their first enemies appeared without warning—three Simulated Chasers , low-tier constructs built for speed. They darted out from the trees in a blur of static and momentum.
"I got this!" Xie Ping charged, his cannon firing three quick blasts. Two hit square-on, blasting back the first two enemies.
But the third swerved around, heading for his exposed flank.
Su Xu reacted instantly. Flames erupted from her palm, spiraling like a whip before lashing into the enemy's path—burning it midair.
Xie Ping blinked. "You hit the one behind me?"
"I hit the enemy ," Su Xu corrected, arms crossed.
"Aww… were you worried about me?"
"Drop. Dead."
The third enemy dissolved in fire.
Lu Jingxing didn't say a word—he simply appeared behind the last enemy with a crackle of lightning, slicing it in half. As one of their teammates slipped on a scorched slope nearby, Lu didn't turn around—he just flicked his blade, sending out a static shield that stopped their fall.
"…So annoying," he muttered.
On higher ground, Nie Shi and Lin Kui remained in position, observing.
Suddenly, Water Mirror pulsed . Lin's brows furrowed.
"…It shook."
"Because of the enemies?" Nie Shi asked.
Lin shook her head. "No. I didn't activate it."
Nie Shi turned toward the treeline.
In his hands, Void … twitched. Just slightly.
Like it had noticed something.
Far off in the woods, on a crumbling ledge, stood a boy in a pristine school uniform. Meng Yao .
His eyes were calm. He tapped something on his terminal.
"Node data stable. Sync wave within norms."
He flicked through system tabs. Target: Void / Water Mirror / Thunder Fang / Boom Blaster / Flame Arc
Adjusting parameters… He typed.
"Minor tweak… complete."
Then looked up—and smiled.
Somewhere deep within the system's backend, an invisible log updated: [Perception Interference: Activated]
[Pathway Parameters: ±0.2%] And within Ashfield, the wind changed direction .