Chapter 57: Dimensional Harvest
"I’m worried about him," Damien continued, his voice dropping. "I mean, really worried. Not just about whether he’s alive, but about what he might be going through alone. Because if he really has been operating by different rules, if he’s been preparing for something the rest of us couldn’t see coming..."
"Then maybe he’s better equipped to survive than we think," Sarah finished.
"Or maybe he’s been isolating himself so much that he’ll face whatever dangers this place throws at him completely alone." Damien’s voice carried genuine pain. "And despite all his planning and calculation, Kael’s still just nineteen years old. He’s still the person who used to laugh at terrible jokes and stay up too late reading theoretical combat manuals because he found them interesting."
Sarah found herself studying Damien’s profile, seeing past the Academy noble to someone who genuinely cared about his friend despite the social barriers that had grown between them.
"When we get out of here," she said quietly, "you should tell him that. About missing the friendship you used to have."
"If we get out of here," Damien corrected, though his voice carried more hope than usual pessimism. "And if he’s still the person I remember underneath all that strategic thinking."
Before Sarah could respond, voices from the professors’ position grew more heated. She caught fragments of their debate and gestured for Damien to stay quiet as she moved closer to eavesdrop.
"We need to understand what we’re actually dealing with," Professor Leo was saying, his combat instructor’s authority clear despite his lowered voice. "A white rift manifestation changes everything about our survival prospects."
"White rifts are theoretical constructs," Professor Harold replied, though his tone carried uncertainty rather than conviction. "Mathematical models that exist only in research papers."
Sarah crept closer, using the massive Thunder Wyvern carcass as cover while Damien followed at a distance. ’This conversation could tell us what we’re really up against.’
"Theoretical doesn’t mean impossible," Leo continued grimly. "And what we experienced was definitely beyond normal rift parameters. The Academy’s dimensional wards should have prevented any spatial intrusion. For something to manifest inside our most secure facility means we’re dealing with capabilities that go far beyond anything in our current understanding."
"So what exactly are you saying?" Harold’s voice carried growing alarm.
"I’m saying that if white rifts are real, if they operate by the rules suggested in theoretical models, then we’re dealing with dimensional manipulation on a scale that could rewrite the fundamental laws of physics." Leo paused, choosing his words carefully. "Think about the classification stone and other ancient artifacts in the royal treasury. Some of the oldest records suggest they were recovered from white rift expeditions."
’Oh no,’ Sarah thought, feeling ice settle in her stomach as the implications became clear. The professors weren’t just worried about survival. They were questioning whether rescue was even theoretically possible.
"I’ve tried reaching Principal Whitmore through the emergency communication protocols," Harold continued, his academic composure beginning to crack. "Complete communication failure. Either the dimensional barrier is blocking all transmission, or..."
"Or the Academy doesn’t exist anymore," Leo finished with brutal honesty. "A white rift manifestation of the scale we experienced... the dimensional backlash could have consumed the entire facility."
The silence that followed was filled with horrible implications. If the Academy was gone, if their dimensional prison followed rules that made rescue impossible, then survival became their only option. And based on what Sarah had seen of this place, that was a very slim option indeed.
"So what’s our actual plan?" Harold asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "Because forty-two students and two professors aren’t equipped for indefinite survival in hostile dimensional space."
"That depends on whether this follows any recognizable patterns," Leo replied. "Normal rifts are anchored by apex predators. Kill the apex, destabilize the rift, create an exit pathway back to our dimension."
"But if the theoretical models are accurate," Harold said slowly, "white rift apex entities operate on a completely different scale. The legends speak of creatures that required ten or more S-rank awakened at masters stage working in perfect coordination."
"How many student at master’s stage do we have in our combined groups?" Leo asked, though his tone suggested he already knew the answer.
Another terrible silence.
"None," Harold confirmed. "The highest classification among our survivors is A-rank, except from Sarah and most of our students are still Adept-level since they just awakened."
’We’re completely outclassed,’ Sarah realized, backing away from the conversation. Her mind raced through the implications. They weren’t just lost. They were facing something that their group couldn’t even begin to challenge successfully.
She rejoined Damien, who read her expression with growing dread.
"How bad is it?" he asked quietly.
"Worse than we thought," Sarah replied, keeping her voice low. "If they’re right about what we’re facing, if this really is a white rift with an apex entity that requires Master-stage power to defeat..."
She didn’t need to finish. Damien understood the mathematics of their situation as clearly as she did.
"So we’re trapped here," he said.
"Unless we can find other survivors with capabilities we don’t know about, or discover some weakness in the dimensional structure itself." Sarah glanced back toward the professors. "They’re working from theoretical models, but theory assumes certain constants. Maybe this place has variables they haven’t considered."
’Or maybe we’re all going to die here, and I’m just trying to find hope where none exists.’
Before Damien could respond, Elena’s voice cut through their position with sharp urgency: "Professor Harold! The coordinated movement patterns have changed again. Multiple groups converging on our location, estimated arrival in less than twenty minutes."
The academic discussion was over. Whatever theoretical dangers they might face in the future, immediate threats were closing in with methodical precision.
As their combined groups prepared for emergency movement toward Harold’s cave systems, Sarah found herself thinking about Kael again. Not with romantic concern this time, but with tactical assessment. If he really had changed as dramatically as Damien suggested, if he’d become someone who thought in strategic terms and prepared for contingencies others couldn’t see, then maybe he was exactly the kind of person who could find solutions to impossible problems.
The question was whether any of them would live long enough to find out.