Chapter 76: The Tenth Stratum Vanguard

Chapter 76: Chapter 76: The Tenth Stratum Vanguard

"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." — Proverbs 16:18

•••

At dawn, the entire city heard the announcement.

BRONNG!

Every herald tower rang at once, sending deep bell sounds across the sky-docks. The noise was so powerful that teacups rattled from the Inner City walls to the harbor.

Within an hour, two official proclamations appeared.

One was posted at the academy gate under the Provost’s seal.

The other appeared on the barracks wall beneath the gray eagle emblem of the Inner City Military.

Both carried identical wax seals.

That alone told everyone something important was happening.

The academy and military wouldn’t coordinate like this for an ordinary celebration.

By nine in the morning, Meridian Hall was filled with the academy’s top three hundred students and several military observers.

At the front stood Proctor Harrison.

Beside him was Marshal Halden of the Inner City Military, a heavily decorated officer with an intimidating presence.

Harrison stepped forward and began reading the official announcement.

"By the joint authority of the Provost’s Council and the Inner City Military Command, the Vanguard Expedition is officially declared."

He paused.

"Objective: Conquest of the Tenth Stratum."

A wave of whispers spread through the hall.

Harrison continued.

"Nine strata have been conquered since the original charter was signed. But the Tenth Stratum remains completely unexplored."

"No known routes. No confirmed monster records. No survival statistics."

His expression remained serious.

"The expedition will continue until the Tenth Stratum is conquered. Casualty insurance will not be provided at this depth."

The students exchanged uneasy glances.

For three hundred years, the academy had conquered nine strata at the cost of countless lives.

Every exploration team sent into the Tenth Stratum had disappeared.

Yet among the top three hundred students, fear wasn’t the only emotion.

Many saw an opportunity to make history.

Marshal Halden stepped forward.

"Every conquered stratum has brought enormous wealth through mining rights, relic discoveries, and government revenue."

His powerful voice filled the hall.

"We control nine strata. The tenth remains unclaimed."

He looked across the students.

"And that is exactly why we must conquer it."

Proctor Harrison returned to the podium.

"Now, the Vanguard roster."

The hall immediately fell silent.

"Valerius."

The hall erupted into applause before Harrison even finished saying the name.

Valerius rose from the second row with the confidence of someone who had never experienced defeat.

Level 48. Aura-Knight.

Rank one out of three thousand students, with four consecutive semesters at the top.

He was handsome, powerful, and extremely proud of himself. His face was the kind sculptors put on medals, and he knew it.

A faint aura spread around him as he stood, immediately drawing everyone’s attention.

VMM!

Harrison continued reading.

Names two through ten followed, including a Sky-Lancer captain, the Warden twins, a Spell-Colonel on temporary assignment, two Deep Dive record holders, a siege engineer, a duelist, and a banner-mage.

Then came another name.

"Kole, Victor."

Whispers immediately spread through the hall.

Victor’s ranking wasn’t particularly impressive, and everyone knew his family had paid to secure his position.

The Koles had always used money to get what they wanted.

Victor slowly stood.

Expensive healing potions had restored his ruined face, although faint scars remained near his hairline.

But his mind hadn’t recovered from what happened in the crater.

BOOM!

The great doors suddenly slammed shut behind a late arrival.

Victor flinched violently, almost turning to flee.

He forced himself to remain standing.

Harrison continued.

"And Joel."

For a moment, the hall fell silent.

Then someone near the back muttered, "Modern art."

Laughter broke out.

But Valerius didn’t laugh.

"Rank fifty out of three thousand," he said loudly enough for everyone nearby to hear.

"I didn’t know they were accepting donations for the expedition."

[Ding!]

[Quest logged: ’Vanguard Expedition’. Objective: conquer the Tenth Stratum.]

[Party: elite roster, twelve. You are the twelfth.]

[Hidden objective updated: the Apex Tear sits at the bottom of the world. You are being paid to walk toward it.]

Joel sat in the fourth row, quietly taking notes.

He wrote nothing about the Apex Tear. That information was already in his records.

A pure Tear, formed at the bottom of the world. Consuming it whole could bypass a person’s genetic limit.

Whether that was true remained unproven.

But as of this morning, Joel finally had a departure date to investigate it.

•••

Afterward, Joel met Harrison in his office, which smelled of chalk and old paper.

"Rank fifty isn’t enough to earn a place on that roster," Joel said. "Who paid for my seat?"

"Nobody."

Harrison slid the siege-range report across his desk.

"Three destroyed walls. One student. No magical residue. The Marshal asked for a fortress, so I recommended you. You’re one of the academy’s best investments since the original charter."

He straightened the report.

"Officially, the expedition needs someone who can hold the line. The Tenth Stratum will test our defenses. I’d rather have someone who returned with a Stratum Boss’s skull protecting the students."

"And unofficially?"

"I stopped asking how students accomplish impossible things during my second year as proctor," Harrison replied. "Now I only care about who survives."

He looked directly at Joel.

"And you’ve been surviving things that should have killed you all year."

Harrison leaned back.

"There’s politics behind this roster. The Kole family bought a seat to restore its reputation. The Marshal wants a grand display. And Valerius wants to become a legend."

He paused.

"Whatever your personal goals are, keep them under control and stay in formation."

He picked up another document.

"Muster is in three days. You have permission to requisition equipment from the armory."

"Dismissed."

•••

The line at the gear depot moved painfully slowly.

THUNK!

The clerk stamped another strap, armor plate, and document before calling the next student.

When Joel reached the counter, he found Victor Kole at the next window.

Expensive healing potions had restored Victor’s hands, but they still trembled whenever he remembered the crater.

Some scars remained. A curved mark along his jaw, a thin line across his throat, and a deeper wound that no potion could heal.

Every time Joel appeared in his sight, Victor remembered what had happened.

Victor seemed ready to say something, but the moment Joel looked at him, his confidence disappeared.

"You," Victor muttered. "They let you near sharp objects now?"

"Mascots travel free."

"They’re calling this a conquest." Victor tightened his grip on his equipment strap. "People die during conquests."

"People have been dying all year on routes drawn by a professor," Joel replied quietly. "At least you bought your way into an honest expedition this time."

Victor stared at him.

Fear and resentment flashed across his face, but he said nothing.

He collected his equipment and walked away, keeping as much distance between himself and Joel as possible.

•••

At dusk, Valerius found Joel in the sparring yard.

His golden aura reached the yard before him, causing even the gravel to shift slightly.

VMM!

"The museum piece," Valerius said. "I heard you stopped blood in the archives. Eleven students and an archivist claimed they saw it. That’s exactly why I don’t believe it. Rumors spread faster when everyone agrees."

"Then you should ask someone who was there."

"I am the primary source. Rank one. Level 48. Whatever you did to that hunter in the basement, the Tenth Stratum will throw something worse at us."

He increased the pressure of his aura.

The powerful golden energy pressed down on Joel’s shoulders.

But Joel remained completely still.

Valerius tried to sense his emotions, but every attempt returned nothing but static.

No fear.

No reaction.

Not even a flinch.

That irritated Valerius more than fear would have.

"You’re not afraid of me."

"I’ve checked my accounts," Joel replied. "Fear isn’t included."

"When we descend, stay in the middle of the formation and behind me. Legends are heavy. I don’t carry luggage."

"Noted," Joel said. "I’ll send you a bill if yours falls over."

[Ding!]

[Party member logged: Valerius. Level 48, [Aura-Knight]. Rank one of 3,000.]

[Reads you as: luggage. Appraisal: pending.]

Valerius left the yard just as he had entered, with the confidence of someone who always came first.

The gravel, however, slowly shifted to face Joel instead.

•••

Roan and Sybill reacted differently to the news.

"I built the lattice that tracked a Level 55 for an entire week," Roan complained, tapping his slate. "And they chose a man whose main talent is showing off his aura."

TIK-TIK!

His assignment was listed as Support Column, Surface Detail.

"Do you know what that means? It means I’ll be sending my bills from above."

Then he handed Joel twenty wax-sealed beacons, each slightly different from the others.

"If someone cuts one connection, the others will send stronger warnings. Nobody cuts my lines twice."

Sybill handed Joel a small knot of gray thread.

It contained six hours of her strongest, slowest hex magic.

"It can undo one deadly knot. Just one."

She closed his fingers around it.

"Listening is cheaper than touching. This is the most expensive thing I own. Bring it back, or don’t come back."

"The Tenth Stratum has no shadows, Architect," Nyx warned from Joel’s own shadow.

"Then I’ll bring mine," Joel replied.

Nyx immediately disappeared deeper into his shadow.

Three days remained until muster.

Across the academy, preparations were already underway.

The military polished its equipment, Marshal Halden prepared his grand expedition, and Valerius continued behaving like a hero who already had a statue waiting for him.

Banners decorated every tower, celebrating the coming conquest of a place nobody had ever successfully explored.

Joel had already finished packing.

The theory about the Apex Tear still needed confirmation.

But now he had a departure date, a military escort, and an official uniform.

The academy was going to conquer the Tenth Stratum.

Joel was going shopping.

[========== STATUS PROFILE ========]

Name: Joel

Level: 34

Class: [Aegis Juggernaut] (Epic, Unique) [External: Flesh-Guide (F), Level 1]

Fate Points: 16

[--- Passive Traits ---]

• Domain of the Inertia Sovereign (Pinnacle, Active): a 50-meter sphere where all kinetic energy is his to rule. Rulings: inert, or absolute.

• Juggernaut Vitality: Epic-tier regeneration.

• Caustic Filtration: organic toxins and acids, below the 10th Stratum.

• Cognitive Fortress (Mythical, Passive): sealed black box. All reads return static.

[--- Standing ---]

• Merit: 9,100 (audited). Rank: 50 of 3,000. Roster: the twelfth of twelve.

• Vanguard Expedition: three days to muster. Objective: the tenth stratum, blank on every chart.

• Apex Tear: theory on file. Verification: now has a departure date.

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