The clearing materialized in fractured pieces – blood-soaked moss, Raven's ashen face, Storm's worried chirps. Then the symbols burned through his vision:
[STR: 20]
[SPD: 20]
[DEF: 20]
[MANA: 50]
[Urgent Quest: Level Up]
[For every level gained, user receives 1 free stat point]
Adam squeezed his eyes shut, the sterile text searing his retinas. *Disappear!* But when he opened them, the brackets remained, an unwelcome overlay on reality.
"Adam." Raven's voice was a rasp, stripped bare by exhaustion. His cracked spectacles magnified eyes ringed by deep bruises, his bandaged hands trembling faintly where they pressed on Adam's shoulder. "What happened? Your vitals crashed... like your core imploded." Pure, unvarnished worry filled his gaze. "Your eyes... violet, then empty. What *happened*?"
Lira stood before he could answer. Gauntlets gone, cradling her injured arm, her sharp focus pinning him. The fleeting smile was erased. "That final strike," she stated, voice cutting through the medic's murmurs. "It wasn't just fire. It felt... final. Like it erased the Ravager." She stepped closer, ignoring her sling being adjusted. "The energy... it *changed*."
Adam's throat locked. Panic warred with the crushing weight of exhaustion and Zara's loss. The symbols flickered insistently.
Wren appeared beside Lira, pale and silent. His unnerving stillness was a physical pressure, his eyes scanning Adam like a complex equation.
Garrick's boots crunched gravel, Kael a shadow beside him. The Instructor's scaled armor bore fresh damage, his flinty eyes sweeping the carnage – Cain sedated, Jax and Ryan near Tobin's covered form – before locking onto Adam and the dead Ravager. Kael's gaze was a scalpel.
Garrick's eyes fixed on the unnatural wound at the beast's throat: fur scorched in stark black and white, edges precise. "You," he stated, voice heavy as stone. He pointed at Adam. "Final blow. Kael reports anomalous discharge. Explain. Ashblade protocols don't produce *this*." He gestured at the kill zone.
Adam met Garrick's stare. The pressure was immense, but the confusing symbols faded under that iron gaze. He shook his head, voice rough with genuine bewilderment and fatigue. "I... I don't know what happened, Instructor. It was charging Lira... Cain was down... I just moved. Pure instinct. Had to kill it." He gestured weakly. "I just... struck."
Silence thickened. Raven's grip tightened. Lira's intense gaze held, unreadable. Kael remained impassive. Garrick assessed him for a long moment.
"Instinct," Garrick repeated flatly. He turned to Kael. "Core. Extract. Priority."
Kael directed medics with insulated tools to the Ravager's neck. Extraction was brutal. Energy crackled, resisting. Sparks of pure black and white spat, laced with gold flashes. Finally, a sharp *crack* echoed as they pulled free a hexagonal crystal the size of a fist.
It pulsed with contained fury. Swirling patterns of black and white energy coiled around its facets like serpents. At its heart, a pinpoint of molten gold burned with fierce intensity. The air vibrated with its latent power, making Storm chirp anxiously.
A medic scanned it. The readout flickered, stabilized. His face paled. "Instructor... Tier S. Frostclaw Ravager. Alpha Class."
A collective breath hissed. Tier S. Elite prey. Surviving was a miracle; killing it, impossible. Jax sank down. Ryan stared blankly. Lira's composure flickered.
Garrick's jaw tightened. He pulled a rugged comm device from his belt. "Command. Garrick. Green Glade Incident update. Three teams encountered the beast." His voice was grim bedrock. "Two casualties: Cadet Zara Vance, Cadet Tobin Reed. Survivors: Nine, critical injuries. Primary hostile eliminated." A weighted pause. "Target confirmed Tier S. Alpha Guardian: Frostclaw Ravager. Termination: anomalous discharge linked to Cadet Adam Ashblade. Core extracted: unique signature – monochrome oscillation, gold locus. Recommend Level 9 containment, Magi-Analysis. Full debrief upon return. Garrick out."
He clipped the comm away. "Move out. Now. Stretchers for Ashblade, Vance. Walk or be carried. Transport at secondary LZ in thirty." Medics secured the S-Tier core in a warded crate.
Adam tried to rise with Raven's help. Agony ripped through his back. The symbols slammed back:
[Vitality Low. Mana Reserves: 5/50. Seek Rest. Urgent Quest: Level Up]
[1 free stat point per level]
His legs gave way.
A cool, strong hand caught his elbow. Lira.
She stood close, grey eyes searching his face. Intensity remained, layered with stark gratitude. "Ashblade," she said, voice softer than he'd ever heard. "When it had me... you didn't hesitate. You took its rage." Her fingers tightened slightly. "You saved me. Thank you."
Her touch anchored him against the invasive text. He saw rare vulnerability in her eyes. Her other hand lifted, hesitant. Cool fingertips brushed the fresh scar on his shoulder – the mark from shielding her. A fleeting touch, gone instantly, but it burned.
"Don't vanish before I repay that," she murmured, intensity returning, laced with promise. Then she turned, following Cain's stretcher.
Adam swayed, Raven taking his weight. The symbols pulsed relentlessly:
[Vitality Low. Mana Reserves: 5/50. Seek Rest. Urgent Quest: Level Up]
[1 free stat point per level]
The ghost of Lira's touch faded as Raven guided him onto the stretcher. Ahead lay scrutiny, the S-Tier core's terrible weight, and the system's cold, incomprehensible demand.