System, please just shut up

The speaker at the center finished detailing the map and quietly left the stand.

Then, one of the Pillars stood.

Aria Veyl's long coat swept slightly as she stepped forward, her casual smile replaced by an expression of sharp focus.

Her voice, calm but commanding, cut cleanly through the chamber.

"Now," She said, her voice resonating with an undeniable authority, "let's move to the matter of the Moonwake Alignment."

A ripple of quiet interest passed through the room.

Kael's attention sharpened, the Moonwake Alignment was all anyone in the student body spoke about nowadays.

"As always," she continued, her gaze sweeping across the seated cadets, "the city's High Circle has requested faction support. And as it has been for the past years, Silver Mane has been assigned to multiple sectors—some ceremonial, some structural, and some... less festive."

Behind her, the holographic map shifted—glowing lines tracing through different districts of the city, each marked with silver emblems for ceremonial duties or crimson warnings for high-risk zones.

"As you all know, some mentally unstable rats in the form of humans have been causing a lot of trouble in the city's districts lately," Her face suddenly twisted with a flash of genuine annoyance, a stark contrast to her earlier composure, as she continued, "and if our source is correct—of which it always is, of course—then they have something big planned out for the citizens on that day."

She paused, calmly walking around the stage, her sharp gaze meeting each member's eyes before she stopped in the middle and continued. "Our job is simple. We make sure that whatever those deranged, rat-faced abominations in the name human beings are planning does not see the light of day..."

Kael couldn't help but chuckle at her choice of words.

The "rats" she kept mentioning were, in simple and short terms... a cult.

Yes, exactly what would come to mind when someone heard the word: a shadowy organization of fanatics, often with cryptic symbols, dark rituals, and a disturbing adherence to a singular, extreme belief.

They called themselves "The Nameless Choir," and they kinda, well... wore rat masks.

According to what he had been hearing about them, they first appeared a couple of years ago as a small group of mages researching the true nature and origin of the Archive.

Of course, they were told to immediately stop their research and kicked out of their labs, because any knowledge relating to the Archive was considered sacred and not meant for the general public.

Not to mention the fact that the very being they were trying to experiment with was actively watching them. Even though it was well known that the Archive had never interfered in world matters, even when someone used its assistance for bad or evil purposes, nobody was willing to take a chance and test the limits of the unknown.

So the group of researchers were immediately dismissed from their circle and branded as lunatics.

The matter eventually died down and things returned to normal, that was until a couple of months ago when a group of people referring to themselves as "the freed ones" began popping up out of the blue all over the continent.

They claimed they had been freed from the shackles of humanity, which in this case was... the Archive.

Yep, that's right.

They believed the Archive was a cage meant to hold humanity back from what it was truly meant to become.

They believed in something called "The Becoming," a transformation that would unshackle the world from reality's false constraints.

No one knew what or who they worshipped, or where they drew their dark powers from, but they were not welcomed in any part of the continent... well, publicly at least.

You see, the world was heavily divided by a huge social stratification.

Even though Kael hadn't seen it himself, it was only natural that those who had access to the Archive were treated with far more respect and had more privileges than those who were not.

This wasn't one of those united worlds where the people with power fought and died for the weak in the name of honor and peace.

People were treated according to how much they provided to society. And unfortunately for the non-Archive holders, they didn't provide that much.

But that was not to say that they were mistreated or anything, everyone still had their rights and were treated equally in the eyes of the law.

However, the common folks didn't seem to see it that way.

So when a group of people suddenly showed up at their doorsteps telling them that the very thing that had ruined their lives and had given them multiple nightmares, especially after turning sixteen, was actually a shackle and an evil parasite that needed to be destroyed—they, of course, jumped at the information, not caring if it might have been true or false.

After all, a common human mentality was, "If I can't have it, why should anyone else?"

The cult, initially dismissed as a fringe group, began to spread insidiously.

What started as a small, tense gathering became a hundred, then a thousand, and now? who knew how many.

At first, the leaders of the various kingdoms didn't take them seriously, viewing them as mere civilians sulking about their lack of power, posing no real threat.

They were proven terrifyingly wrong.

Kael still wasn't sure if the information was true, but according to the whispers on the wind, these so-called Nameless Choir lunatics had actually found a way to destroy the link between a human soul and the Archive. Yeah, that sounded genuinely terrifying.

He didn't know where exactly their courage came from, but rumor had it they targeted the son of a high-ranking noble from Kandros.

They reportedly carried out so many experiments on him, that when he was finally found, he was mentally and physically broken.

But worst of all, his link to his Archive records had vanished.

Into thin air

This incident sent shockwaves throughout the continent, putting many on high alert and finally giving the world a sobering wake-up call. There was a threat that needed to be handled, and handled quickly.

Kael had no idea what these lunatics were high on, trying to start a war against all seven kingdoms, but he certainly wasn't interested in finding out.

'I've got my own problems.'