I Can See Evolution Paths

Chapter 71: The Expedition Hall

The moment Arthur stepped through the enormous doors, he understood why this wasn’t simply another Academy branch.

It wasn’t.

It was a gateway for Beast Tamers departing and returning. Handlers shouted across the platform as wyverns shifted their weight. Students with packs ran in directions they’d already decided on before entering.

Not every Beast Tamer carried their own supplies. A massive tortoise beast slowly pulled several loaded wagons through the Hall without complaint.

Nearby, a hawk landed on its partner’s shoulder carrying a rolled-up map. "Found it?"

The hawk chirped proudly.

"Good work."

Further ahead, a snake beast lazily wrapped itself around its partner’s arm while they both watched the Mission Board.

Arthur’s eyes moved from one partnership to another. Then crates being loaded by people who’d done this so many times it looked effortless. Then slowly across the whole Hall.

The stone under his feet wasn’t smooth. Deep scratches covered parts of the floor, carved over countless years by supply wagons rolling in and out. High above, faded expedition banners hung from the ceiling, each carrying symbols Arthur no longer recognized.

Old maps were framed along the walls.

Some had entire sections crossed out.

Others had new paths carefully drawn over the old ones.

Arthur slowed. "They never threw them away?"

Athena smiled. "They were correct once."

Arthur looked at another map. "...Someone risked their life making these."

Athena nodded. "And someone else built on them."

Arthur smiled. "That’s really cool."

Between them were names carved directly into the stone, Beast Tamers who’d discovered something important enough that Pathfinder Academy never wanted to forget them.

Arthur looked around quietly. "...This is amazing."

Athena smiled. "I figured you’d say that."

"I’m a bit annoyed I delayed this."

"We needed you to focus on the tournament," Mithra pointed out, making Arthur sigh.

They continued inside.

At the center of the Hall, something rotated slowly.

Arthur hadn’t noticed it at first; the Hall had a lot going on. But he noticed it now, and once he did, he walked toward it without deciding to.

It was a globe. Not a small one. The kind that required looking up to see the top, floating at a height that put its equator at chest level for someone of average size.

Their world in projection: continents in different colors and textures, mountain ranges rendered in relief that suggested real altitude, oceans moving in slow currents, the enormous World Tree visible at the northern continent’s heart even at this scale.

Small lights appeared and disappeared across the surface at intervals. Each one was brief. Arthur watched one flash over the eastern continent and fade after three seconds.

"What do you think, buddy? Any places you want to visit here?" he asked softly.

Vedas studied the globe too. "That towering tree looks amazing. Or maybe swimming in that ocean."

Arthur looked over. "I didn’t take you for a swimmer, but the World Tree does look appealing."

Vedas smiled. "I didn’t know about the ocean before, but your mother told me about it. I experienced some memory crystals of it with Mithra and Melo."

"But you’d rather experience it yourself?"

"Yeah, I really want to."

"Then we will. Don’t you worry."

Vedas nodded. "I know. You never lie."

[Synchronization Increased: 55%]

[Additional Evolution Data Unlocked]

[Goblin King Evolution]

[Requirement: Restore Ancient King’s Authority: 0/3]

Arthur’s smile slowly faded. "...Authority."

He read the words again. Restore Ancient King’s Authority.

Ever since entering Pathfinder Academy, everything somehow kept leading back to Authority.

The simulation.

The throne.

The forgotten capital.

Now this. He let out a quiet laugh. "So that’s where this path is heading." His excitement only grew. Whatever the King Authority really was, he intended to uncover all of it.

His gaze returned to the globe, and he reached toward it, unable to hold back any longer. His fingers passed through the projection, and ripples spread outward from the contact point across the globe.

The mountains shifted slightly at his touch.

The oceans shimmered.

Arthur’s fingers lingered a moment longer, and a small section of the western continent glowed beneath his hand.

The Expedition Branch Staff laughed. "Careful."

Arthur looked over. "Why?"

"Every Beast Tamer does that."

Arthur blinked. "Touches where they’re going?"

The staff member nodded. "It doesn’t help. But somehow everyone still does it."

Arthur looked back at the glowing western continent. "I can’t blame them, everything looks incredible."

"It sure does. Are you here for missions or your first expedition?"

Arthur turned. "Is it that obvious?"

The staff member laughed. "I made exactly that face the first time. Every Beast Tamer does."

Arthur looked at the globe again, at the areas marked with symbols he didn’t know yet, at the regions with no marks at all, at the distances between places he’d been, places he hadn’t, and places that had no names on the projection at all.

There was a great deal of world.

As Arthur stepped away from the globe, another wall caught his attention. This one was covered with wooden plaques, hundreds of them, each carefully polished. He walked closer.

Northern Glacier Expedition.

First Crossing of Crimson Canyon.

Moon Valley Discovered.

Ancient Beast Nest Located.

Arthur read each one slowly. "These aren’t missions."

Mithra nodded. "They’re discoveries." She looked at the wall. "Every mission that leads to the discovery of a new secret realm earns a place here."

Arthur stared a moment longer. "That’s incredible."

He read another plaque, then another, then clenched his hands. "I want one."

Mithra looked over. "...A plaque?"

"Not because my name is on it." Arthur nodded. "Because it means we found something."

Mithra’s expression softened. "Well, it’s only a matter of time with our luck."

"You think so?!"

"Have faith in our misfortune." Mithra gave him a thumbs up, and he beamed at her.

Then he glanced over at the Mission Board. Thousands of crystal plates organized by color into sections, each labeled.

D Rank. Numerous small plates starting at eye level and stretching wide.

C Rank. Fewer, a different color.

B Rank. Fewer still.

A Rank. Darker plates, smaller text.

S Rank. A separate section, with a railing in front.

And above that, a narrow section with only seven plates.

SS.

Arthur tilted his head up at them. Athena stood beside him.

"These missions are open to all students, but the grades you can take depend on your Beast Tamer rank."

"I’m guessing D-Ranks are Bronze Beast Tier, and C-Rank is Silver Beast Tier?"

"Yep, but some missions are exceptions."

"What do you mean?"

"She means some missions can escalate into higher grades, or turn out less dangerous than originally stated," Mithra said softly.

"It just depends on the situation," Athena finished.

Arthur nodded, his eyes drifting lower until one crystal caught his attention.

C Rank

Investigate the disappearance of travelers near Black Mist Valley.

Arthur tilted his head. "That sounds interesting."

Athena grabbed his sleeve immediately. "We are too weak for it."

Arthur glanced back over his shoulder as they walked away. "Uh—"

"No."

Mithra laughed.

"Fine, someday," Arthur said.

Sun had been standing behind him this whole time. "Please don’t say that."

Arthur looked at him. "Why?"

"He’s afraid a normal mission with you will turn into a higher grade one."

"That sounds pretty amazing."

"No, it isn’t!"

Mithra and Arthur laughed at Sun’s glare.

The Hall moved around them while they stood at the board.

A Beast Tamer nearby held up what remained of his sword, the blade broken off mid-fight at some point during whatever the expedition had involved. His teammate looked at it.

"Worth it?" she said.

"Worth it," he confirmed.

They both looked satisfied.

A girl returned from the equipment area covered in mud from terrain that hadn’t been on the original map, took three seconds to confirm she was back, and went straight to the board.

"Next," she said.

Someone pinned a new crystal plate to the C-rank section from a ladder, and five students converged on the spot before it had even settled, like they’d been watching for it.

An older student patiently showed a first-year how to coil rope so it would come out cleanly under bad conditions. He did it twice, then had the first-year try.

Near the departure platform, someone said goodbye to a large wolf staying behind at the Hall instead of joining this mission. The wolf didn’t seem fully on board with the decision.

A professor near the door told a departing team, "Bring everyone home."

The team nodded.

Arthur was watching all of it.

"Everyone’s moving," he said.

Athena had been watching too. "The world never stops," she said.

Arthur smiled. "I like that," he said.

...

A convoy landed nearby.

One carriage had claw marks running across its side; another was missing part of a wheel. The lead wyvern carried several old scars beneath its scales.

Despite all that, the Beast Tamers climbing down were laughing.

One held up a cracked shield proudly. "Worth replacing."

"The shield?" his teammate asked.

He laughed, patting the large wolf beside him. "Yeah, it did its job keeping my buddy safe. Isn’t that right?"

The wolf happily bumped its head against his shoulder.

Another laughed. "Well, I can’t disagree with that."

Arthur watched them. "They look happy."

A convoy driver passing by nodded at that. "They came home safely. Best reason to be happy there is."

Arthur nodded quietly. "...Yeah."

They kept moving toward Platform Seven. The deeper Arthur walked into the Hall, the older it felt. Fresh boot prints crossed stone worn smooth by thousands who’d come before. Some pillars still carried old carvings where explorers had marked the year they returned. One corner held a faded map so old that half the coastline no longer matched the current world.

Nobody had removed it.

Instead, someone had framed it.

Arthur smiled. "They kept it."

Athena nodded. "Because it was correct once."

They reached Platform Seven at the far end of the Hall’s exterior section. The convoy waiting there was nothing like the Academy transport convoys that had brought them to Pathfinder in the first place.

Those had been built for comfortable travel.

This had been built for what came after comfortable travel ended. Heavier framing on the carriages. Supply wagons with proper locking mechanisms on the cargo sections.

The wyverns were larger than standard transport wyverns, carrying themselves like animals that had already been through conditions the standard ones hadn’t.

The handlers moved efficiently, without needing to discuss anything.

Everything felt serious, because it was.

...

The man standing near the lead carriage was somewhere in his late thirties, a scar crossing one forearm from something he’d survived, and the tiredness on his face read as experience rather than defeat.

He looked at Arthur’s team like someone who’d been told to expect them.

"So," he said. "You’re Arthur’s team."

"We are," Arthur said.

The driver laughed. "I’ve heard a fair amount already," he said.

Sun eyed the driver with the look he used when he’d spotted incoming information he wasn’t sure he wanted. "Almost afraid to ask," Sun said.

The driver scratched his cheek. "But you know, the louder the rumors, the less I usually believe them."

Arthur grinned. "Those tend to be the most interesting ones, though."

The driver smiled. "I agree, which is why I rarely believe them. Yet some of the drivers who were with you guys on the first day believed them instantly. So if they can believe you, I guess I can too."

"Can you thank them for me?"

"Of course, after I return." The driver looked at Vedas. Then Melo. Then Kong. Then Athy. "You’ve got quite the group."

Arthur nodded proudly. "They’re amazing."

Sun cut in immediately. "He’s talking about our beasts."

Arthur blinked. "Does it matter? You and them are all part of our group. And we’re all amazing."

Sun trembled at that and looked away.

"Someone’s embarrassed," Mithra said lightly, making Sun cough and turn even redder. The beasts weren’t doing much better, which only made Mithra more amused while Athena giggled.

The driver smiled. "Let’s start loading, then."

Loading took thirty minutes. Weapons in the secured rack. Armor worn and confirmed. Packs in the cargo section, except for the emergency supplies, which everyone kept within reach because they were emergency supplies.

Handlers walked one last pass beside every wyvern, checking wings, scales, and harnesses.

One wyvern nudged its partner’s shoulder, and the handler laughed and scratched beneath its jaw.

"Yeah. We’re heading out again."

"Prepare for departure," someone called.

Sun checked his backpack again and then his emergency pouch. Then the straps holding both together.

Arthur watched him. "...You’ve checked everything three times."

Sun didn’t stop. "I’m making sure–"

"You already did."

"I know." Sun finally looked up. "It’s our first real expedition." The smile on his face carried more excitement than confidence. "I don’t want to forget something important."

Arthur smiled. "You won’t." S

un looked at him for a second before laughing quietly. "You always sound so certain."

Arthur shrugged. "I have a good team."

Sun shook his head. "Guess we do."

Arthur settled into the window seat and looked out at Platform Seven, the Hall beyond it, and, faintly visible at the far end of the Academy’s campus through the afternoon light, the Evolution Archive’s tower.

He’d arrived at Pathfinder Academy through a hole in the enrollment tower.

He was leaving through a door actually meant for departures.

That seemed like an improvement.

He looked forward.

...

The wyverns cleared the platform in one coordinated motion, and the convoy rose.

The Academy dropped away beneath them, shrinking with altitude, losing its individual details and becoming a complete shape instead. The crystal lights of the Beast Chamber District were visible from up here.

The Expedition Hall’s platform shrank to a dot. The World Tree, replicated in the great globe, stood in the actual landscape to the north, its true scale only visible from above.

Then the Academy was gone, and the world spread out below them, forests and rivers and mountain ranges just beginning, with everything beyond visible only as shapes at the horizon.

Arthur watched it from the window.

Vedas sat beside him, looking at the same view.

Arthur smiled. "We’re really leaving."

Vedas nodded. "The world is huge."

Arthur looked out the window. "...Then let’s explore all of it."

The convoy flew west.