The sun had barely risen the next day when the academy bells rang louder than usual, their deep chimes echoing through the stone halls of Blackmoon Academy. The air was still crisp from the lingering chill of the Moonrise Trials, but a strange current rippled beneath the surface of the morning silence—a hum of energy, excitement, anticipation.
In the central courtyard, students began to gather, bleary-eyed and bruised from the night before but drawn out by the unmistakable sound of the head instructor’s voice projected through the academy-wide speaker rune system.
“All students who survived the Moonrise Trials,” came the deep, commanding voice of Head Instructor Rhys Calloway, “congratulations. You have proven yourselves worthy of the title Alpha in training. Your strength, instinct, and
