Chapter 61: Projection Hall
Wade balanced his tray as he and Rowan made their way through the cafeteria towards their usual spot.
The long tables were already filled with adventurers, the sound of chatter and the clatter of cutlery mingling with the air.
As expected, Ingrid was already seated at their table, eating quietly, her bow propped against the bench beside her.
Sliding into his seat across from her, Wade tilted his head. "How come you’re always here first? Do you just like the food that much?"
Ingrid glanced up, expression flat, before answering in her low, even voice. "I train early in the morning. Always have."
Rowan chuckled as he sat down next to Wade, piling food onto his fork.
"And when she says train, she means brutal training. Ingrid doesn’t do easy. She was already tearing down drills before she even became an adventurer."
"Honestly, if we all lost our powers tomorrow, she’d probably still be the most terrifying one here."
Wade raised his brows, studying her.
Ingrid didn’t respond to the praise or the jab. She simply kept eating with her usual focus, as if she hadn’t heard a word.
Before Wade could ask more questions, Sebastian appeared, taking a seat opposite Ingrid, a calm smile on his face.
Unlike them, he carried no food tray. He must have eaten earlier.
"Finish up," he said, his gaze flicking over the three of them. "For today’s training, I’ve rented a projection hall."
Wade leaned forward. "Projection hall?"
Rowan grinned. "Oh, you’ll like this. It’s one of the guild’s best training tools."
"They can project solid images of beasts into the room. You can fight them like the real thing, without worrying about the consequences of dying."
"Exactly," Sebastian confirmed with a nod. "We’ll be doing horde fighting drills today."
Wade’s eyes nodded. Does that mean the rumors of the horde outside the city were true? Was Sebastian trying to prepare them for it?
"I want us to learn how to move together against overwhelming numbers, and to trust each other’s positions." Sebastian continued.
"The better we coordinate here, the smoother it’ll go when it’s the real thing."
Rowan’s grin widened, his eyes glinting. "Now that sounds like fun."
Wade swallowed a mouthful of bread, curiosity stirring in his chest.
He hadn’t seen a projection hall yet, and the idea of fighting without risking his neck had its appeal.
They finished their food in companionable silence after that, trays scraped clean.
Then, almost in unison, they stood and gathered their things, Sebastian already turning towards the door.
Wade fell in step behind him, Rowan and Ingrid close by, as they left the cafeteria.
Sebastian led them down the corridor to the projection hall, and Wade’s eyes widened the moment they stepped inside.
It was a wide, cavernous chamber, large enough to hold at least a hundred people if needed.
Every wall gleamed with white panels, the surface smooth and pristine, the marble-like stones humming faintly with energy.
The ceiling was equally stark, glowing faintly with artificial light that made the whole place feel detached from the outside world.
"This is..." Wade murmured, spinning slowly in a circle, "different."
Rowan chuckled. "Told you. It’s like stepping into another world, isn’t it?"
Sebastian, already moving with a soldier’s focus, strode toward one of the walls.
He pressed his palm against a panel.
Lines of light rippled outward from his handprint, running in neat geometric patterns until they reached the far edges of the room.
The panels lit up one by one, flooding the hall in a pale glow.
"I’m calibrating the hall," Sebastian said over his shoulder. "The system needs to recognize us as the active participants before the projections will respond."
After a few moments, the glow settled back into its resting state, the light concentrated at the floor’s edges.
Sebastian removed his hand and walked back towards the center of the chamber.
The others instinctively joined him, forming a loose square.
"Here’s how this works," Sebastian explained. "We’ll be beset on all sides."
"The rule is simple. Each person focuses on their side. Do not interfere with someone else unless absolutely necessary."
"The entire point is to build trust in each other’s ability to hold the line."
Wade swallowed, his grip tightening on his sword hilt.
"If you receive a pseudo strike severe enough to count as a killing blow, the system registers it."
"You’ll feel the hit pass through you, but it won’t harm you. Instead, the projection will end, and we’ll reset."
Sebastian’s eyes swept across each of them, lingering a moment longer on Wade. "If that happens, don’t panic. It’s training."
"Understood," Rowan said with a grin, already rolling his shoulders.
Ingrid simply nodded, her face blank.
Wade gave a nod too, a small grin appearing on his face.
This should also be good enough for training for his upcoming solo dungeon run.
Sebastian raised his hand, and the panels around them pulsed.
Slowly, streams of light began to gather in the empty space.
The pale glow thickened, swirling like mist before hardening into solid forms.
Dark, glassy bodies took shape all around them.
Mirror Wraiths, the same as the ones they’d fought in Shattered Hall.
In seconds, a horde surrounded them, their eyes glinting with unnatural light.
"Form up!" Sebastian barked.
Each of them turned to face their designated side, weapons ready.
Wade’s heart calmed as the nearest wraith lunged.
He swung his sword in a wide arc, his blade biting through its torso.
The creature shattered into shards of fading light.
Another rushed him from the side, and Wade twisted, narrowly parrying the attack.
His muscles strained as he followed through, driving his sword up and under its chest before it shattered too.
Around him, the others fought with their usual skill.
Rowan fought with his staff, wielding it like a club. He kept bashing the wraiths, killing them quickly.
Ingrid danced with deadly fluidity, her arrows striking at near point-blank range with unerring accuracy.
As for Sebastian, he was like a wall, his axe cleaving through wraiths like paper.
Time passed and Wade kept swinging, panting, his arms already burning from the pace.
The wraiths kept coming, their glassy claws slashing, and their numbers unending.
He managed to down more than a hundred, but his defense slipped as two rushed him from opposite sides.
He blocked one, but the second’s claw slipped past his guard, stabbing straight into his chest.
Wade gasped as the projection slid through him like ice.
For a split second, it felt real.
His body shuddered, his knees buckling. Then the wraith faded into sparks of light, leaving no wound.
The rest of the horde flickered and vanished at the same time.
The entire chamber reset, returning to the sterile emptiness of before.
Sebastian’s voice rang out, loud and commanding. "Ready yourselves!"
Light was already gathering again at the edges of the hall, forming the next wave of enemies.