The doors of the conference hall closed quietly.
The last students had also left the hall, and now only eight selected students were sitting in silence on their seats.
Professor Aldric looked at them for a few moments without speaking.
His gaze calmly passed over each of them; Lian, Seraphina, Cassian, Liana, Selina, Marcus, Rindo, and Nathan’s empty seat.
The best current students of the academy had gathered here, and talents who could be said to definitely play a big role in the future of the country and maybe the world.
Then he quietly took a deep breath.
"Well... from this moment, the information you are about to hear, must not be shared outside this room."
The atmosphere of the hall immediately became more serious, Aldric raised his hand and a large hologram formed behind him.
First an image of the Ruined Realm appeared, a moment later, several golden cracks lit up in different parts of the map.
"You probably all think that a Special Area is just a more dangerous region of the Ruined Realm." He paused for a few seconds.
"But that is a wrong assumption." The image changed again, this time a spatial crack was displayed that connected to a completely different world.
Forests with unknown colors, mountains floating in the sky, lakes from which blue light rose to the sky.
"A Special Area..."
"Is actually a small world, a world that is located inside the Ruined Realm itself." Aldric continued.
"The rules inside that world might be completely different from the rules of the Ruined Realm."
"The flow of time might be slower or faster, the mana density might be several times higher or even lower than normal."
"Some skills might work weaker there, some skills, on the contrary, might gain several times more power."
He displayed another image, species of plants and metals that no one in the hall had ever seen.
"The monsters of that world only live there, the plants, metals, raw materials, and even the mana resources there are unique."
"Some ancient civilizations only existed inside Special Areas and no trace of them has been found in the Ruined Realm."
His gaze turned on everyone and Aldric said in conclusion.
"If we consider the Ruined Realm as a large world, Special Areas are small worlds that are attached to that continent."
These were explanations he had given before, but he felt the need to explain again, Special Areas are very rare, and most of the time when one is found, its danger level is very high.
So high that only awakened ones above level 40 receive permission to enter.
Although they now had a Special Area that new awakened ones had received the right to enter.
"If you have any questions, ask."
The first person to raise her hand was Selina.
"If we die inside, do we really die? Or are there different rules?"
"Yes, like anywhere else, death inside a Special Area... is real death." Aldric answered without pausing.
Selina said nothing more, but was somewhat disappointed, she had expected that maybe death in such a place was not really real death.
"Can we leave whenever we want?" This time Marcus asked.
Everyone’s ears perked up, this was a very important question directly related to the importance of their decisions and thought process.
Aldric nodded calmly.
"If you find the exit gate... yes, but if you can’t, you have to stay inside that world until the mission ends."
"Sometimes after entering a Special Area, the system issues a Quest, in such conditions, until the Quest is completed, no exit route will be activated."
"Sometimes there is no Quest at all, and in that case, the only way out... is to find the key to that world."
"Every Special Area has at least one exit key, but, finding it is not always simple, and obtaining it is usually even harder."
"Among you, there is one person who is very good at finding keys, you can ask for his help."
Everyone’s gaze fell on Lian, they knew that the professor meant him, Lian was the only awakened one among them who had been summoned as one of the 25,000 victims and had managed to escape by finding a key.
And he clearly had a lot of knowledge in this area, which made them somewhat relieved.
But Lian, seeing how they were relieved, gave a bitter smile, he knew where keys could be found in the Ruined Realm.
But he had no idea about finding keys in Special Areas, information about such places is very limited.
And this made him ask himself whether his ability to enter and exit the Ruined Realm would work there? Could he enter or leave whenever he wanted?
If it worked, then he had no need to worry.
"Could there be native humans living inside?" Liana asked this time.
Aldric was silent for a few seconds.
"It is possible, especially after the discovery and capture of the first native humans in the current realm."
This sentence made everyone look at Lian again for a moment, the news of capturing a native human had spread almost throughout the entire academy.
But no one except the commanders knew more details about it, and the person who had captured that human was sitting next to them.
"But it’s not just humans, there might be other intelligent species living inside that world too."
"Species that are neither human nor monster, but have civilization, have culture, have emotions, and live like us."
This did not surprise them because they were fully aware of the existence of intelligent species, species that currently ruled the Heavenly Realm.
And their numbers are also very significant, fairies, elves, dwarves, and various other spiritual and mythical creatures like phoenixes.
And this made Liana’s face light up, because if there was an intelligent species there, she could obtain one of them as her summon.
"What is the main goal of this mission?" Lian asked quietly, changing the atmosphere a little, he knew that the federation would not just give them permission to enter such a place for no reason.
Aldric gave a small smile.
"For the federation? Or for you?"
"For the federation, exploration, information gathering, discovering new technologies, and obtaining anything that can increase humanity’s power."
He walked a few steps in the hall.
"But for you, this is an opportunity for progress, an opportunity to become stronger, an opportunity to surpass your limits." His gaze became more serious.
"All of you need to know one truth, we are at war with monsters, and we have conflicts and tensions with the Heavenly Realm, and we will definitely fight the Heavenly Realm in the future."
A few people unconsciously frowned, and hatred appeared in their eyes... the Heavenly Realm... an unknown world that wanted to colonize their world.
Lian noticed the hatred in their faces and chuckled inside, he knew the truth about the Heavenly Realm because he is a Vorhelm, he knows that it is they who attacked and want to colonize the Heavenly Realm.
But all the people do not know this truth, the federation and governments have published false narratives that the Heavenly Realm first attacked their world and is trying to colonize them.
"We are quite sure that this is the last Ruined Realm, the existing evidence confirms this, so we must use every single opportunity that exists inside it."
"Become stronger and cleanse the Ruined Realm so that one day we can free both our own world and the Heavenly Realm."
No one said anything, but determination could be seen in their eyes, and Liana asked again.
"What about those other two, Roderick and Elena, are they coming?"
"Official notifications have been sent to both, but the final decision is theirs, if they don’t come, their quotas will be lost and they will miss the entry opportunity." Aldric answered.
Marcus frowned.
"Is it possible that someone would miss such an opportunity? Where are they now?"
Aldric just remained silent, neither confirming nor denying, and this silence created more questions in everyone’s minds.
A moment later, the map image changed again, a point lit up in the northwest.
Base #9
A few people were surprised, Base number nine, which was very far from their Base, and the professor explained.
"The Special Area entrance has been discovered within Base number nine’s range, to get there, you will need to travel for about a week inside the Ruined Realm."
"A week?" Selina said in surprise.
Aldric nodded.
Inside the Ruined Realm, there is no direct transfer between bases, the intense mana interference makes long-range portals completely unstable.
For this reason, all transportation is done with military caravans.
And unfortunately, for this reason, they needed to be on the road for a week.
"For all of you, this will be your first real journey between different bases."
"Is the route safe?" Rindo asked.
Aldric smiled.
"If you had asked me this question three days ago, my answer would definitely have been no." Then he gave a brief look at Lian.
"But now the situation is different." He lit up three areas on the map.
Ironfang Ravagers.
Thunder Spine Serpents.
Ironhorn Marsh Drakes.
"The destruction of these three races has opened the main routes for the first time, the caravan can move almost without major conflicts."
"This is considered one of the country’s greatest recent achievements."
"Of course, don’t think the route is completely safe, the Ruined Realm is never safe." He displayed a few more images.
Unknown monsters and even large herds led by an alpha monster.
"Any of these could appear on your path, so don’t lose your caution even for a moment."
"From this moment, you have only one day to prepare, obtain all the equipment you need."
"Potions, weapons, food, camping equipment, anything you think is necessary, you might be outside the base for several weeks."
No one objected, everyone knew that the mission ahead of them was different from all previous missions.
When the meeting ended, students rose from their seats one by one, but right before the hall door opened, Aldric’s voice stopped them again.
"Don’t forget one thing."
Everyone turned back, and the professor stared at the eight students with a serious look.
"A Special Area... is not a place for foolishness."
"As soon as you enter, you might be separated from each other, there is no guarantee that you will appear next to your friends, so from now on, learn how to survive alone."
"I wish you success."
The hall doors quietly opened.
But this time, no one spoke to anyone else while leaving.
It had become clear to everyone that the Special Area was not a normal mission.
But rather an entry into an unknown world; a world where no one could predict what awaited them.