I took a deep breath, letting the dense, heavy air of the clearing fill my lungs. The stench of blood and burnt wood still lingered, reminding me of the chaos that had erupted there seconds earlier. Slowly, I closed my hand, drawing back the four bluish orbs that still floated around me like tamed lightning until they vanished into my palm.
I needed to focus. I had to find the archer and the wind mage before they tried any surprise attack.
I shut my eyes for a moment and let my senses expand. I searched for the slightest distortion, the faintest tremor of prana that could betray the release of a black arrow.
I waited. And I waited more.
The silence was so absolute it unsettled me; even the wind seemed frozen, as if the world itself refused to disrupt my concentration. But… nothing happened. No shot, no sign.
I frowned and began to walk.
I moved through the remnants of the battle—splintered trunks, still-smoldering craters, embers clinging to leaves. The field looked dead, as if life had been scoured from it.
I climbed to the rise where the first shots had been fired, a perfect vantage point. I scanned the surroundings carefully, searching for footprints, traces of presence, any clue. But there was nothing. Absolute emptiness.
"What happened...? Did they run?" I muttered, annoyed.
I kept searching, checking the ground, the trunks, but it was pointless. The two of them had simply vanished.
It was logical, of course. The archer and the wind mage were supports; without their frontline fighters, there was no reason for them to stay. Fleeing was the smartest move.
And yet… something in me refused to accept that conclusion. I wanted to end it with my own hands, not just scare them off until they bolted.
I sighed and lifted my eyes to the horizon, toward my incubator. The distance was far too great.
"I'm too far... I can't open a rift from here."
"I need to rest a little... and deal with my back."
The pain throbbed like embers buried in my flesh. I touched the area, feeling torn skin, charred fabric, blood trickling in thin lines. It wasn't fatal, nothing that would stop me from fighting, but it was irritating—a reminder of how close I had come to being struck more seriously.
I had to take care of myself—be more careful from here on out.
Exhaling deeply, I let electricity surge through my body. Lightning spread across my muscles, crackling in the air. With a single step, I vanished, tearing through space and leaving behind only the sharp echo of thunder.
But the silence didn't last.
The ground quaked behind me, and for a moment I almost thought it was a landslide. Then came the impact.
A colossal paw slammed into the clearing, cracking the blood-soaked earth like clay. The air filled with a sharp, acrid scent—a mix of sulfur and smoke.
I turned instinctively, and before leaving, I saw a massive shadow moving between the shattered trees.
The creature lowered its head, sniffing the ground as if it could sense my trail and that of the two fugitives I had failed to find. Its crimson eyes glowed in the dark, casting light across the destruction.
Then it raised its snout, looked in the opposite direction from where I was running... and left. Probably after the pair.
"What the hell is that?!"
I knew there would be wild beasts in this place, but that thing was an absolute predator. Precise. Unstoppable.
And for a moment, I wasn't sure if I should be more worried about them… or about myself.
**
In the stands, the initial silence was heavy, almost suffocating. Many had bristled at seeing Glenn strike his opponents from behind, judging it as cowardice in a tournament meant to exalt direct confrontation.
But when he rose without hesitation against four competitors, the impression shifted quickly. The courage to face simultaneously an armored warrior and a feral fighter backed by a wind mage and an archer sparked murmurs of respect, as if the crowd were forced to admit: there was no retreat in his eyes.
What followed, however, turned the air into sheer disbelief.
The fight hadn't lasted long—just a few exchanges and dodges—but it was still impressive, especially in the lethal sharpness of his abilities.
Spectators looked at one another, mouths agape, trying to grasp whether what they had witnessed was overwhelming power or simply opponents not up to par.
It was so fast their minds struggled to keep up. Gasps of shock mingled with muffled exclamations, and for a moment it seemed impossible to accept that respected warriors had been crushed in just a few minutes.
But shock soon gave way to collective catharsis. The crowd erupted in shouts, not just for what they had seen, but for the raw thrill of the fight, for the sensation of standing before something that brushed against the impossible.
Even so, doubts lingered—was this truly Glenn's strength, or merely the result of having caught his enemies off guard?
Discussions lit up across the stands, while on the central dais of the coliseum, three figures observed with enigmatic eyes. Selene, as calm as the moon. Lyra, like an unmoving shadow. And Drakk, with gleaming eyes.
**
I stood before the incubator, inside the cave that hid my beast egg. The air there was damp and heavy, the mineral scent of the rocks blending with the faint metallic aroma of the energy radiating from the artifact.
In the basin of crystalline liquid, six sky-blue orbs floated softly, like stars trapped in a submerged firmament.
One of them had already begun to unravel, its essence fragmenting into cosmic beams that spiraled upward and were absorbed by the prism suspended above.
Faint bluish rays of light reflected off the cave walls, as if I stood within an inverted sky.
"There's no energy leakage… so I don't know if it's possible for anyone to track my cave because of the incubator," I murmured, more to reassure myself than out of any real logic.
The safety and secrecy of this place were the central stakes of the tournament; if another competitor discovered it too early, all my efforts would be reduced to dust.
I tilted my head, gauging the pace of the orb's disintegration.
"From the look of it, it'll take a little over two hours before the first egg fully unravels… could it be there's a time limit between each one, and that's why the deadline is ten days?"
The question pulsed in my mind.
I sighed and finally decided: "Well, I'll find out soon enough. Best use this break to treat my back and return to peak condition."
From my nexus, a faint light glowed over engraved runes, and I pulled out a small travel pouch, nothing remarkable. Inside was a pungent ointment, made from medicinal herbs.
I carefully spread it across my back. The freshness stung when it touched the cuts, but the pain quickly gave way to relief, as if my flesh were grateful.
Then I pulled out a fresh tunic, clean, unstained by blood. The fabric slid over my skin, cool at first touch, warming quickly.
My eyes stayed on the incubator the whole time, hypnotized by the dance of light.
An hour passed, and finally the orb that had been unraveling crumbled completely, vanishing into the liquid. The process stopped there.
Even with the other five still floating motionless, nothing happened.
Inside the prism, my beast egg glowed faintly, like the shy pulse of a firefly in the dark. But it was not a strong, steady glow.
I watched it in silence, feeling the strange blend of hope and unease the sight stirred in me.
"Looks like… the next one won't be consumed until tomorrow."
My voice echoed dryly against the cave walls.
I clenched my fists and drew a deep breath, rising once more.
"Then let's go after the ones still missing."