"Elemental fission devices?"Kaywas shocked when he heard Senior Brother Zorro's words.His first thought went to the alchemical experiments he had helped his mentor Moses with over the past few years.
"That's right—exactly the ones we worked on in the lab," Senior Brother Zorro whispered. "Right now, the magic altar is blocking our view, so we can't see what's really going on inside. But once we all go in, you'll find that most of the devices around the spatial rift's entrance are straight from our alchemical lab."
Beyond this inside information, Zorro also mentioned that reconfirming a safe path around the spatial rift shouldn't take too long. Perhaps in just a few days, they could start exploring the magic altar and the rift as planned.
"Let's just hope the beginner and low-level apprentices can hold out a little longer," Kay sighed softly.
His sigh wasn't out of sympathy for those weaker apprentices. It was purely self-preservation—if all the weak apprentices died, the next ones in line would be intermediate apprentices like him.
Kay wasn't afraid of the uncertainties of planar exploration or spatial rifts. After all, living in the Underdark meant every day was a gamble with life. But he refused to walk into a certain death, or rely purely on luck. That kind of death was too meaningless. He'd survived over a decade of trembling life at the Dark Mage Academy—he wasn't about to become cannon fodder overnight.
As Kay and Zorro whispered in the tent, faint moans and the sound of bodies being dragged suddenly echoed through Shadow Valley. The three in the tent exchanged glances.
Senior Sister Phil reacted first. She rushed to the tent flap, lifted a corner, and peeked out quietly.
In Shadow Valley—still as bright as day—dozens of minotaurs were already at work. They carried out severely injured apprentices and mangled body parts from the magic altar. Many of the minotaurs themselves stumbled out injured; a few even had an arm severed clean off.
Unlike the injured apprentices, who screamed and wailed, the minotaurs were the epitome of endurance—they ignored pain entirely. Under direct orders from the official Dark Mages, they stayed silent no matter how badly they were hurt.
The sight of these injured apprentices made Kay and the other apprentices in Shadow Valley breathe a quiet sigh of relief. A survival rate below 100% meant there was still hope to live.
But their relief was short-lived. Look at the beginner apprentices carried out of the altar—none of them were intact! Those who survived were all missing arms or legs. The discarded body parts were so mangled that their original forms were unrecognizable, just piles of crimson flesh.
Veteran apprentices like Kay managed to stay calm. But as more blood and gore was hauled out, many new beginner apprentices snapped. They screamed, burst out of their tents, and tried to flee Shadow Valley.
Their fates were grim. Some stepped on the magical traps set by the Dark Mages around the valley and turned to charred corpses before they could even cry out. Others were herded back by minotaurs, dark creatures, and Owl Academy Overseers patrolling the area.
The ones forced back lost even the right to sleep in tents. They were dumped right in front of the magic altar—forced to stare at its thick stench of blood. And it was clear they'd be the first to explore the altar tomorrow.
Kay didn't care about the fates of these cowards. They hadn't yet learned the rules of the Underdark. Even if they survived the spatial rift by some miracle, they'd never last long in the Underdark.
Kay, Phil, and other senior apprentices focused instead on the injured apprentices being carried out. To their relief, the high-and-mighty Dark Mages didn't mistreat these "meritorious" survivors. They set aside a special tent area for them, and several Dark Mages even visited—apparently to extract information from the beginner apprentices.
Even more surprising: among the three quasi-mages who'd first entered the altar, one had survived. He wasn't unscathed, though—his legs had been severed at the roots. No one knew if a quasi-mage's abilities could regrow them, but Master Coroslon, an official Dark Mage and expert in such matters, might be able to give him new legs.
Unlike the beginner apprentices, this surviving quasi-mage was taken to the magic tower next to Kay's tent. Zorro knew him—Andar, a quasi-mage of equal strength to Zorro and a disciple of another official Dark Mage.
The fact that even a Dark Mage's disciple was thrown into this dangerous exploration showed just how desperate Menzoberranzan's Dark Mages were for the plane beyond the spatial rift. If Andar— a quasi-mage—had been maimed, what chance did weaker apprentices like Kay have of escaping unscathed?
The next afternoon, exploration of the magic altar resumed. This time, only a few dozen beginner apprentices were herded in—far fewer than the previous day. It seemed the Dark Mages didn't want to waste all the apprentices at once, or couldn't afford to.
But the result was similar. As soon as the apprentices were thrown into the altar, screams and wails erupted—like there was a man-eating monster lurking in its depths, the same one that had torn apart yesterday's victims. The cries dragged on, weighing heavily on the mood of Shadow Valley.
When the screams finally faded, the Dark Mages continued recording their data. The surviving weak apprentices were carried out by minotaurs and dark creatures. Their overall casualty rate was lower than yesterday—but few apprentices noticed. The sight of severed limbs still left most of them terrified.
That night, another group of apprentices tried to flee. This time, the Dark Mages had no mercy. The escapees were shot down by dark creatures or Academy Overseers on the spot. Half their bodies were devoured by the grotesque dark creatures; the other half were strung up around Shadow Valley with spider silk—as a warning.
It seemed that after four days of testing and sacrificing hundreds of apprentices, the Dark Mages no longer cared about wasting a few more.
The apprentice tests and sacrifices in Shadow Valley lasted four days. Over those four days, even intermediate apprentices like Kay suffered—let alone the low-level and beginner ones. Finally, on the fourth day, an official Dark Mage appeared and announced that the spatial rift's danger had decreased significantly. Kay had begun to fear he'd break under the pressure.
A small incident happened on the third night. A low-level apprentice named Tiddy somehow found Kay's tent and begged for shelter. By the end of the fourth day, over 400 beginner apprentices had been sacrificed—but 30 or 40 still remained, so low-level apprentices like Tiddy weren't yet at risk.
Kay hadn't spoken to Tiddy much in recent years. She'd spent that time trying to cling to him, and he now regretted ever helping her during Master Coroslon's anatomy classes. She'd been promoted to low-level apprentice either last year or the year before—proof she had some talent. But talent meant nothing in Shadow Valley. With no mentor or powerful allies to protect her, she'd had no choice but to beg Kay.
In the past two or three years at the Academy, Tiddy had used Kay's name to avoid trouble and opportunities—helping her climb to low-level apprentice. But this time, she didn't even get to see Kay. Senior Sister Phil nearly hit her with a Fire Chain Dagger, singeing a lock of her hair as a warning.
The Dark Mages had forbidden infighting among apprentices (unless they tried to flee), so Tiddy didn't dare bother Kay again. It seemed women really were the best at dealing with other women.
On the fifth day after Kay and the others arrived in Shadow Valley, the last group of beginner apprentices was thrown into the altar for testing. Vice-Dean Darlon finally announced that quasi-mages would take over next.
Senior Brother Zorro had spent the past few days preparing. Thanks to his spatial storage device—far larger than Kay's—he'd even pulled out a portable mini alchemical table. His work: several one-use magical arrows. As his junior apprentices, Kay and Phil each received one.
"Too bad time's short, and the alchemical conditions here are terrible," Zorro sighed. "I could've made higher-tier magical arrows otherwise."
Each of Zorro's arrows was infused with a mid-tier spell. Combined with inscriptions for Sharpness, Haste, Wound Rending, and Poison Infusion, these one-use items were top-tier among mid-tier magical equipment.
Pressed by the need to survive, Zorro had even made a breakthrough in alchemy.
The next day—day six—Zorro entered the magic altar and never came out. Kay tried to contact him with a crystal ball, but it remained dark and silent.
Since Zorro was part of the last group of quasi-mages, Vice-Dean Darlon announced that evening that high-level apprentices would be next. The order—from strongest to weakest—proved the altar's danger had truly decreased. The Academy would never waste its rare top-tier apprentices otherwise; most were disciples of official Dark Mages.
That same night, Senior Sister Phil burst into Kay's tent.
"Senior Sister, you—!" Kay had been meditating. He froze as her lips crashed into his.
"No one knows what's on the other side of the spatial rift," Phil said. "No one knows if we'll ever come back. Tonight might be our last chance. I need you to satisfy me."
Kay's resistance faded, but he still warned, "Bows is still nearby."
"I told him to leave. That fatty won't ruin our night," she whispered with a smile.
Their night together was intense—two hours passed before Phil left, satisfied. She'd barely stepped out when Kay's girlfriend Lina walked in.
The air in the tent was thick and stale. Lina frowned, her small face twisting slightly.
Unlike Phil, Lina wasn't driven by desire. She hadn't come to sleep with him—she was worried about his stamina. She'd heard their noises from her tent, and even their most passionate nights together had never lasted that long.
Kay was exhausted. Satisfying Phil was always a physical chore—nothing like the tender intimacy he shared with Lina. With Lina, it was about connection: emotions and souls merging. With Phil, it was just physical pleasure.
Given the choice, Kay would always pick Lina. She was younger than him, but he often curled up in her arms like a child. For all his experience surviving the Academy's cruelty, this intermediate apprentice was still just a young man.
They held each other that night, saying nothing. Listening to each other's heartbeats was enough to feel each other's thoughts. They stayed like that until dawn approached.
When Shadow Valley's magic bell rang, Lina prepared to leave. Kay grabbed her hand and pressed a short staff into her palm—one of the five magical items his mentor Moses had given him, capable of unleashing the high-tier spellStorm Arrowin an instant.
Lina tried to refuse, but Kay kissed her, cutting off her words.
"We have to survive to see each other again. Promise me that," he said, his voice soft but firm.
Lina knew how many magical items Moses had given Kay. She nodded and accepted the staff, her eyes glistening.