The forest was thick with mist, the trees casting long shadows under the fading light of the sun. As Lucien's group trudged forward, guided by the old map, their faces bore signs of weariness—clothes torn, arms scratched, sweat trailing down their brows.
Spirit beasts had ambushed them more than once along the path. Though none were high-level threats, they had come in swarms, testing both endurance and teamwork.
Jessica wiped a streak of blood from her cheek and squinted ahead. The terrain finally opened up.
"Guys," she called out, her voice strained but hopeful. "There's a lake ahead."
The group halted.
"We should stop here," she continued. "It's getting dark. Pressing forward in the evening would be reckless."
Jordan nodded, stretching his arms. "Agreed. We'll rest here and resume tomorrow at first light."
Lucien, who had been silent for a while, surveyed the surroundings with a sharp gaze. His senses probed the nearby thickets.
"Fine," he said. "We'll set up camp. This spot is defensible. No signs of territorial markings or heavy spiritual disturbance."
They moved with practiced coordination. Jordan and another student began pitching three durable, spirit-inscribed tents. Lucien knelt to prepare the bonfire, using a controlled flame technique. Jessica and a quiet girl named Mira laid out basic rations—jerky, dried fruit, water bottles infused with minor spirit energy. The group's synergy was clear—they had done this before.
Unseen by them, a shadow lingered a hundred meters away.
Riven.
Perched behind a thick tree trunk, his masked face betrayed no emotion. But his eyes scanned everything—movements, patterns, even the layout of the tents. "Efficient. Disciplined. Not bad."
He adjusted the strap of his satchel. "Luckily, I brought food too," he muttered.
His gaze drifted upward, landing on a towering walnut tree. The broad branches and dense foliage made it the perfect vantage point.
"Jackpot," he smirked.
Scaling the tree with precise movements, Riven soon nestled himself among the branches. Hidden behind leaves, he had full view of the lake and the group below.
Time passed. The bonfire crackled. Laughter—soft, cautious—rippled from the camp. Tension eased, if only slightly.
Riven unwrapped a strip of meat and chewed thoughtfully. "So far, they're behaving like a team. But can they survive when the forest truly bares its fangs?"
As the moon climbed higher, the camp quieted. Tents zipped closed. The fire dimmed to glowing embers.
Riven leaned back against the bark, letting sleep claim him.
What none of them saw—what not even Riven noticed—was the pale pair of eyes behind a moss-covered rock.
White. Empty. Watching.
At Midnight.
The flames of the bonfire flickered, unnaturally. A sudden gust swept through the clearing. The mist deepened.
Then, without warning, the fire snuffed out.
A chilling silence followed.
Then—
Scrape.
A footstep.
Another.
A figure stepped into the dying moonlight, hunched and trembling.
Its skin was deathly grey. Eyes glowing white like glass marbles. Spine bent grotesquely. Its lips peeled back in a crooked grin, revealing jagged, rotting teeth. Viscous drool dripped from its chin.
And then… it screamed.
"EEEEEEEE-AHHHHH!!! RAAAAAAWWWWWRRRR!!"
The sound pierced the night like a dagger.
Three more emerged from the darkness behind it. The entire forest seemed to go still.
Lucien shot upright in his tent, heart pounding.
Jordan also burst out next, blade already drawn.
"What the hell!?" Jessica shouted, eyes wide with horror.
The four ghouls stood before them, grotesque and twitching.
Mira shrieked. "What are those—!?"
Lucien's jaw clenched. "Formation! Don't panic!"
Each student took position, forming a semi-circle around the dying fire pit.
Riven's eyes opened sharply from his perch. His gaze dropped to the ghoul-like creatures.
"Not beasts. Not humans. Undead? Cursed constructs?" he mused.
But he didn't move. Not yet.
"Let's see how they react."
The first ghoul lunged.
Lucien parried the clawed hand with his short blade, sliding back a foot.
"Too strong for basic undead," he grunted.
Jordan unleashed a flame arc from his palm, searing another ghoul's shoulder—but it didn't flinch.
Jessica flung two spirit talismans, binding one to the ground temporarily.
Mira backed away, conjuring a defensive barrier.
But the ghouls were fast. Unnaturally so.
One broke through and tackled Jordan, who grunted and rolled with the impact, slashing upward.
Black blood sprayed.
Another clawed at Jessica, forcing her behind Lucien's shield.
"Fall back!" Lucien shouted, his voice hoarse with tension. "Control their movement! We don't know their weakness yet!"
The group adjusted quickly, forming a tight semicircle. But even their practiced formations trembled under pressure.
Suddenly—
A ghoul lunged toward Mira.
She froze.
Its claws were inches from her throat.
"No!" she screamed, her eyes wide, breath caught in her lungs. Time seemed to slow. She closed her eyes, bracing for the end.
SHIIINK—
A flash of black sliced the air.
The ghoul's head flew from its shoulders and hit the ground with a thud.
Everyone turned—shocked, confused. What just happened?
The headless corpse fell beside Mira with a sickening squelch. She opened her eyes in disbelief.
"W-What…?" she gasped. "I'm still… alive?"
Her heart thundered in her chest. For a second, she'd already mourned her life. But there she was—alive, untouched.
And yet… no one stood near her.
No teammate. No ally.
Just a fresh corpse and the lingering scent of smoke.
Up in the trees, a black figure crouched silently—Riven.
He adjusted his dagger, flipping it once in his gloved hand with casual ease.
He'd used his concealment technique and flash step to kill the ghoul in a blur, then returned just as swiftly. No one noticed him.
He leaned against the bark with a half-smile behind his mask.
"These kids… geniuses of Crimson Vale? Hmph. They haven't even danced with death before. No sense of real battle instinct yet. Still… better than expected."
Mira, meanwhile, blinked at the lifeless corpse and quickly snapped out of her daze. She wasn't going to waste the second chance.
"Whoever it was… thank you," she whispered, then rejoined the formation.
The battle resumed.
It was brutal. One ghoul leapt over Jordan's head but was knocked mid-air by Jessica's spirit talisman. Another clawed at Lucien's chest, leaving a slash before he countered with a piercing strike to its spine.
Blood. Grunts. The scent of burning talismans filled the air. They were pushed to their limit.
Explosions of spirit energy rippled through the clearing. Defensive arrays cracked. Swords shattered. A few nearly collapsed from exhaustion.
One hour later—
It was over.
Four ghouls lay still, their bodies steaming with residual curse energy.
The students collapsed to the ground, soaked in blood and sweat. Their chests rose and fell in sync, trying to catch breaths that seemed to escape them.
Jessica broke the silence. Her voice was calm, but the tremor in it betrayed the toll.
"We… would've died if not for our coordination."
Jordan nodded, his brow furrowed. "Those weren't ordinary undead. I analyzed their fluctuations mid-fight… three were at the 6th Stage Veinroot Realm, and that first one… was definitely 7th stage."
He narrowed his eyes. "We're still in the outer region. That shouldn't be possible."
No one answered.
Mira sat with her knees drawn to her chest. Her eyes were fixed on the headless ghoul beside her.
She raised her hand hesitantly.
"That first one... was about to kill me. But something or someone had killed it. I didn't see them. But… I know it wasn't any of you."
Jessica looked at her, then at the body. "You're saying someone else is following us?"
Jordan frowned. "That close? And we didn't notice?"
Mira nodded, chewing her lower lip.
"But… why save her and disappear?" another teammate asked, confused.
Jessica placed a hand on Mira's shoulder gently. "Let it go for now. Whoever it was… helped us. Let's focus on recovering."
Mira nodded, but she couldn't shake the thought. "Who are you? And why are you watching us?"
Lucien remained silent. But his gaze swept the surroundings with unease.
"Someone fast enough to kill a ghoul in a single instant. Without being seen. Either a shadow cultivator… or someone far above our level."
Back in the treetops, Riven exhaled slowly.
"They're suspicious now. But good. That'll keep them sharp."
He looked toward the deeper forest—where the ghouls had come from.
"Why were creatures that strong outside the inner zone?" His eyes narrowed. "Either they were pushed out… or something darker's crawling its way to the surface."
"The Red Lotus Forest… something's wrong with it. I can feel it."
The breeze rustled the leaves around him. It was cold again. Too cold.
Below, Lucien reignited the bonfire. The flames flickered back to life, casting dancing shadows across the tents.
But none of them felt warm.
Because the forest no longer felt like a place filled with beasts.
It felt like a graveyard waiting to be filled.
High up in the walnut tree, Riven sat silently, gaze fixed on the dying embers below. His expression unreadable. Yet behind the mask, thoughts swirled like a hidden storm.
"The reason I can kill a monster like that so easily… it's not normal."
His hand rested lightly on the hilt of his dagger.
"It's the forbidden Veinroot inside me. Not natural… not even stable. But it devours the spiritual energy of the world like a starved beast. It doesn't follow the rules of this realm."
His eyes narrowed, glowing faintly in the moonlight.
"Even though I'm only at the First Stage of the Veinroot Realm… since the day I purified my body with the Voidless Flame, something changed. This body has become a vessel of power."
"If I go all out—I'm confident I can slay even an Eighth Stage cultivator."
He exhaled slowly, cold mist rising from his breath.
"Normal logic doesn't apply to me anymore."
A gentle smile curved his lips. As a memory bloomed—Warm eyes. Silken hair. A soft voice whispering his name.
Kaira.
"You'd be angry if you saw me risking my life like this, wouldn't you?"
His smile lingered. For a moment, the hardened aura around him seemed to melt.
But he shook his head, banishing the image from his mind.
"It's not the right time to think about it," he muttered, voice low. "Not yet."
Still… the smile didn't fully vanish.
Down below, the group sat quietly around the fire, each lost in their own thoughts. Their bodies were battered, but after consuming the healing elixirs they'd received from Institute, their wounds had faded, and energy slowly returned.
No one spoke about sleep.
No one dared.
Not after that.
The flames crackled faintly until dawn began to break across the horizon. The early light kissed the tops of the trees, turning the mist into gold.
Lucien stood first, brushing dirt off his cloak. "Let's move. The longer we wait, the more unpredictable this place becomes."
The others followed in silence, eyes sharper now, minds more focused.
And so, as the sun rose above the cursed forest canopy, the team continued toward the inner region.
Riven moved behind them, a shadow among trees, never seen, never heard.
Two days passed—
Time in the forest moved strangely—fluid and uneasy, like walking through a half-forgotten dream.
The environment grew more hostile.
Towering black trees with gnarled bark loomed above, blotting out the sun. The air was thicker here—cloaked with a toxic humidity that clung to their lungs.
Venomous insects buzzed in the brush. Some plants had teeth. Others moved.
The group traveled with extreme caution.
A narrow, unpaved road came into view—little more than a crude trail of packed dirt and gravel. Faint footsteps, some recent, were etched into its surface.
A shattered wooden sign lay at its edge, barely legible: DANGEROUS!
Written in black ink, now faded and smeared like dried blood.
The five of them stood before it—Lucien, Jessica, Jordan, Mira, and a fourth boy whose eyes never stopped scanning the forest.
Jordan frowned, tilting his head slightly. "So… we're finally here?"
Lucien unfolded the map again, tracing a path with his finger.
"There's no mistake. This is the entry point to the inner region," he confirmed, his voice calm but tight.
He paused, brows furrowed. "But from this point on… the map has no markings. It ends here."
Silence followed his words. A heavy silence.
Jessica looked around cautiously. "Then it's uncharted territory from here. Meaning… we're on our own."
Lucien nodded. "We've come too far to turn back. Let's move. Eyes open. Weapons ready."
One by one, they stepped onto the path. Shadows seemed to slither around their feet.
And a few moments later…
Another figure appeared where they had once stood.
Riven.
He looked at the broken sign, then at the trail vanishing into the abyss of twisted trees.
"So this is the inner region…"
He closed his eyes, listening. The wind was different here—thicker, slower, almost sentient.
"This place… something's off. The trees, the air. Even the silence feels hostile. Something's waiting inside. I can feel it."
His instincts—the instincts of a warrior reborn were never wrong.
"Whatever's here… it's not just beasts. It's something older. Something that remembers pain."
And yet, despite the creeping dread, a glint of excitement sparked in his gaze.
"Let's see what secrets this forest is hiding."
Without a sound, he followed after them—one shadow among many.
And the deeper they walked, the more the Red Lotus Forest began to awaken.