Chapter 75: The Anchor’s Choice
Master Vex’s hands shook as he wrote his final calculations on parchment. The emergency workspace buzzed with activity as assistants hurried around following his orders, but the artificer focused on dimensional equations that would either save them or destroy everything.
"The resonance patterns are working," he told the assembled leadership, his voice mixing hope with fear. Smoke from overworked essence conduits burned their noses.
Captain Aldric walked to the worktable, studying diagrams that might be their only chance. The crystalline matrices and essence conduits spread before them like mechanical guts. "How sure are you about these calculations, Master Vex?"
"The theory is solid, Captain. But..." Vex hesitated, his honesty fighting against desperation. His weathered fingers traced equations that had never been tested in reality. "This technique has never been tried before. We’re guessing based on principles that might fall apart under these conditions."
"But Captain," Vex continued, his voice getting stronger as excitement overcame despair, "there is one advantage we’ll have once the portal opens that could make all the difference."
He moved to another section of his workshop and picked up a badge identical to those given to the students its crystalline surface dark but carefully crafted.
"The badges," Captain Aldric said, studying the device with interest.
"Each badge has resonance crystals tuned to specific essence signatures," Vex explained, running his fingers over the complex patterns. "I built them with location tracking, but..." He paused, his academic honesty taking over. "The dimensional barriers are blocking any signal right now. I can’t detect the students while they’re trapped in hostile dimensional space."
Colonel Hestian leaned forward. "But once you open the portal?"
"The moment we establish a stable dimensional connection, the badges should start transmitting their locations assuming their wearers are still alive." Vex’s expression darkened. "The tracking will only work through the portal breach itself. We’ll have maybe minutes to find survivors and get them out."
Principal Whitmore felt a spark of hope cut through his despair. "So we’ll know where they are once the rescue starts?"
"We’ll know where the badges are," Vex corrected carefully. "Whether the students are still with them, still alive, still able to reach extraction points " He shrugged helplessly. "We won’t know those things until we make contact."
Colonel Hestian had been reading tactical reports from across the kingdom, and what he’d found made him sick. He looked up from scattered documents, his face pale. "Captain Aldric, we’ve found something worse. The guild responses to those seven standard rifts the pattern looks planned."
"What kind of planning?" Aldric demanded, though Hestian’s expression suggested the answer would make their situation worse.
"Iron Fang Guild sent their preliminary report from the Northshore rift." Hestian’s military instincts screamed at tactical problems that violated everything he understood about dimensional beast behavior. "They fought a pack of Shadowmaw standard B-rank threats. But instead of the usual territorial fighting, the beasts seemed more interested in watching their combat techniques."
Lucian looked up from his brooding, his pale eyes sharp. "Watching how?"
"The creatures would fight long enough to force the guild to use their abilities, then retreat before taking real casualties." Hestian checked another report, his voice growing horrified. "Crimson Blade Guild reported the same behavior at the Eastern Ridge manifestation. The beasts weren’t fighting to kill they were fighting to learn."
Principal Whitmore felt ice in his veins as the implications hit him. "You’re saying these creatures are studying our awakened abilities?"
"It goes beyond that." Hestian shuffled through reports with growing urgency. "I compared engagement patterns across all seven rifts. The creatures show coordinated intelligence, sharing tactical information across dimensional boundaries. When Azure Lance used their signature formation at the Southern Valley rift, the beasts at the Northern Mountains manifestation immediately developed counters to similar tactics."
The revelation hit the room like a physical blow. Master Vex’s instruments clattered against the table as his analytical mind processed the strategic implications. "That level of coordination requires a central intelligence running operations across multiple dimensional access points at the same time."
"While we pay guild bounties for each ’closed’ rift," Captain Aldric whispered, the full scope of their manipulation becoming clear. "The crown treasury is funding our own reconnaissance."
Colonel Hestian nodded grimly, his military experience painting an even bleaker picture. "Three guilds have already reported catastrophic losses, Captain. But not the standard losses you’d expect from routine rift clearing operations."
He grabbed a specific report, his voice hollow as he read. "Azure Lance’s forward team was systematically slaughtered at the Southern Valley rift. But according to survivors, the creatures didn’t kill them quickly. They disabled team members one by one, studying their abilities under stress, cataloging their responses to escalating threat levels."
"Vivisection," Lucian breathed, his voice carrying terrible understanding. "They’re not just collecting tactical data they’re conducting live combat research on our awakened."
Principal Whitmore sank into a chair, the weight of two hundred missing students suddenly crushing. "How many guild members have we sacrificed to this... research?"
"Forty-seven confirmed dead across six guilds," Hestian replied. "Another thirty-three missing, probably captured." He paused, his next words bleeding personal betrayal. "Captain, I’ve fought alongside these guild leaders for years. Marcus Ironforge of Azure Lance trained at the same garrison I did. Elena Brightblade from Crimson Sword helped evacuate civilians during the Westmarch Beast Surge. These aren’t just casualties they’re friends watching their people die while unknowingly feeding intelligence to their killers."
The personal stakes transformed abstract tactical analysis into visceral horror. These weren’t theoretical losses they were watching their kingdom’s defenders being systematically dissected by an enemy that understood their weaknesses better than they understood themselves.
Master Vex’s academic composure cracked completely. "The timing wasn’t coincidental. The moment the white rift opened, seven standard rifts appeared to split our response." His voice rose with dawning realization. "Whoever planned this studied our political structure, our guild contracts, our military deployment patterns they’ve been studying us for months."
"Years," Captain Aldric corrected grimly. "This level of preparation doesn’t happen overnight. Someone has been cataloging our defenses, our training methods, our awakened development programs for years. The Academy attack wasn’t the beginning it was the finale."