Volume One, Chapter Eighteen: Departure

The steel behemoth, long dormant beneath the luminous moonlight, slowly awakened as the gates of the Autumn Hunt Base swung open. Each team emerged in single file, moving swiftly yet in utter silence. Beneath their quiet composure, excitement and exhilaration simmered. To take part in the most anticipated event of their high school years—the Autumn Hunt—set every participant’s heart racing.

The mission itself was broad and vague; throughout the event, there were no teachers to organize or supervise. Everything depended on the students’ own cooperation and coordination. Every now and then, unexpected “little surprises” would emerge... Yet, despite this, the sign-up rate for the Autumn Hunt neared one hundred percent every year.

For this was the students’ first true “conquest” relying solely on themselves, venturing beyond the Safe Zone into the wilderness. Treading into the unknown was thrilling, but the chance to prove oneself set their blood aflame.

Unlike ordinary exams and tests, the Autumn Hunt had no rules to shackle the participants—there was but one goal: overcome every obstacle and return as swiftly as possible. No matter the means, so long as you returned to the base with the Hunt’s insignia, you were deemed to have completed the task.

Of course, internal strife was strictly forbidden. The absence of rules meant students could use any method to complete the challenge, even skipping out, but never to sabotage their peers for personal advantage. Should infighting occur, the military would intervene, disqualifying the offenders from the event. Back at school, those who sought revenge would face detention and disciplinary action.

To avoid rivalry between classes, students of Tianshui High participated in units—each class forming larger teams, then dividing into smaller groups of four, with final results calculated by group performance.

“Eager for conflict? You’ll have plenty of chances to scheme against one another in the monthly exams. For the Autumn Hunt, I expect you to focus on one thing—finish the course as a team! Your enemies are not your companions, but the wilderness beyond the Safe Zone!” So the principal, Cheng Shanhai, had declared boldly over the school broadcast.

Adjusting the oversized rucksack on his back, Mo De kept up with the three ahead, jogging together into the wild beneath the night sky.

The moon hung bright, the wilderness vast and empty. Human figures darted over gravel and withered grass, as insignificant as ants in a migration, leaving barely a trace on the land beyond the Safe Zone.

Forced marches were the foundation of every Autumn Hunt, the prelude to further challenges.

At the front, the chubby Wu Fan, usually clumsy at running, now moved with surprising agility despite his heavy load. Faint tracks left behind bore witness—Wu Fan had activated his ability.

Though his academic and athletic scores were consistently low, Wu Fan’s awakened power placed him among the top three in the entire school—out of over a thousand upperclassmen.

Now, having entered the later stages of his Awakened Inspiration, Wu Fan had begun to master the art of “Embodiment.” With his “Gravity” power, he dramatically lightened the burden of his weight and gear.

The two girls following did not activate their abilities, just as Mo De had not. Both had only recently broken through to the Inspiration stage; their control was not yet as smooth as Wu Fan’s, requiring preparation before using their abilities. At this pace, such powers were of little help.

In fact, one purpose of the Autumn Hunt was to help students of the Awakening and Inspiration stages master their abilities through challenge and hardship. Many prodigies who reached the Embodiment stage in high school did so only after breaking their own limits in the Hunt.

Compared to the Safe Zone, the air outside was fresher but colder. The cool night breeze was battered and scattered by the rushing crowd, left behind as the base receded into the distance and disappeared.

Splitting his focus, Mo De kept pace with his group while inwardly sensing the elusive anomaly within himself. It flitted about as if playing hide and seek—whenever his mind approached, it darted away.

It fled; he chased. It could not escape forever. Within his own body, it was only a matter of time before he caught it. His will, transformed into a net, closed around the anomaly, stabbing into it like a knife to extract the information within.

All the while, Mo De’s feet did not falter as he organized his findings in his mind. Suddenly, the anomaly erupted, coalescing at a distance before leaping about, as if mocking him.

A jolt like a hammer blow struck his mind; he staggered but quickly steadied himself, accelerating to catch up with his group.

The three ahead glanced back. Seeing Mo De wave a reassuring hand, they turned and pressed on.

As his mind settled, Mo De struck again at the hidden anomaly. “You dare fight back? If I don’t break you today, I’ll take your name!” he muttered.

He could not say how many rounds of chase and evasion, how many mental blows he had endured—it felt like countless hammer strikes to his head. Were it not for his robust constitution, he would have collapsed long ago. Yet, each effort yielded results; with every pursuit and eruption, the anomaly was gradually absorbed. More and more information surfaced in his mind. As he finally tore apart the last thread of the anomaly, no explosive backlash followed. Instead, Mo De sensed something new taking shape within him—a power no longer foreign, but truly his own.

“Did I absorb the anomaly, or did it assimilate me...?” The thought came unbidden to Mo De.

The daily training of an Awakener, repeated hundreds or thousands of times in a few short hours, had become a violent pursuit and forceful extraction. Each backlash was withstood by his hardy body. Only recently initiated into this stage, Mo De, during the mad dash, gradually mastered his own ability.

He extended a finger, focusing his will. A shimmer of gold flickered at his fingertip, trembling and faint, not yet strong enough to take form.

“It worked!” Mo De clenched his hand, overjoyed. He had resigned himself to never becoming an “Awakened,” but after an unexpected turn, he had found the anomaly and now possessed a power of his own.

But something was amiss. Mastering an ability—didn’t that mean he had already entered the Inspiration stage? Yet, in all his years at the “Tide,” he had never heard of anyone breaking through so quickly after awakening.

Unable to solve the mystery, Mo De decided it must be the result of long preparation, and resolved to ask others upon returning to the “Tide.”

He forgot one thing: the teacher who had taught him the ways of the Awakened, the man called Li Changsheng. Had an ordinary Awakened attempted to forcefully extract their anomaly so relentlessly, they would have lost consciousness long before now.

Setting aside his divided focus, Mo De returned his attention to the journey, just as the three ahead shifted formation—Su Ziwen, who had led, fell back, letting Ji Keqing take the front.

With the pace easing, Su Ziwen dropped beside Mo De, asking softly, “Did you break through?” The cool clarity in her gaze left no room for evasion.

“Yes, just now,” Mo De admitted. He felt a twinge of frustration—how could the class monitor sense his breakthrough so keenly?

“Congratulations,” Su Ziwen replied lightly. She had only just noticed the dramatic shift in his aura, and now, satisfied, a faint smile touched her lips. After all, Mo De had been stuck before awakening for so long; finally breaking through was no small feat.

Some unspoken understanding passed between them, and Mo De grinned with delight.

“Keqing, you’re up to break the wind next.”

“Alright, just say the word!”