The Whisperkin's voice echoed calmly in their minds, despite the chaos it had just caused.
It stood still—eerily still.
Aside from the shattered ground around it, where a crater had formed beneath Ariel's punch, the faceless monster hadn't moved an inch.
"Like brother, like sister," it said with a mocking chuckle, the sound crawling through their minds like a cold breeze.
Ariel's breath hitched. Her eyes widened as she stared up at the creature in disbelief.
That was the same punch she had used to send the Scarbone flying, she realized, and he was one rank below Elite…
But this thing... it was only an F-Grade Elite.
And it had just taken the full brunt of her punch without budging.
"You... You're still standing?" she muttered, stepping back. Her right hand trembled violently, throbbing with pain from the impact. Her knuckles were red, possibly bruised. Did I even hurt it? she wondered.
The Whisperkin slowly turned its faceless head toward her, as if it could see despite having no eyes.
"Your brother did something similar once—only... he did it while still unawakened."
It raised a long finger and tapped its chest—right where she had punched.
Darren's jaw clenched as he watched the crater form beneath the Whisperkin—but the creature didn't even flinch. Not a stagger, not a twitch. Just silence.
He took a shaky step back, eyes wide.
That punch… it shook the ground… and it didn't even move it?
"What… what kind of monster is that?" he muttered under his breath, his voice barely a whisper. Cold sweat slid down his neck.
"You're lucky you're related to him. If not for him... I would've torn your head off without hesitation."
Jasmine's breath caught in her throat. Her eyes darted between Ariel and the unscathed Whisperkin. Her knees almost buckled.
"No way…" she whispered, clutching her chest. " That punch could have shattered a wall…"
She stared at the faceless figure, fear creeping into every part of her body as her lips trembled.
Ariel's eyes narrowed. Fear and anger battled within her, but survival instinct took control. She leapt backward, creating distance between them. Her breathing was shallow, chest rising and falling in quick bursts. Dust swirled around her boots as she skidded to a stop.
The Whisperkin gave no chase. Instead, it turned around slowly, its limbs moving with unnatural grace as it headed towards the portal that shimmered behind it—glowing with an ominous blue light that pulsed like a heartbeat.
"If you want to save your brother," the Whisperkin said, stepping toward the portal, "come to his school. We'll all be waiting. Of course..."
It paused at the edge of the portal, half-turned, as if grinning through the void of its face.
"Though you'll have to survive first."
And with that, it vanished into the light.
A heavy silence followed.
The ground still cracked under their feet, the crater steaming. A gust of wind rustled through broken signs and bent lamp posts nearby.
Mario collapsed to the ground with a thud, sitting down hard. His legs shook like jelly.
"Is… is it over?" he muttered, refusing to stand. He glanced around, trembling. "Please tell me it's over…"
But his words were met with the worst possible answer.
From the glowing portal, a new shape began to emerge.
Then another.
And another.
The light flickered wildly as dozens of figures began to pour through.
The System's warning holographic images popped in front of them one after the other.
[System Notice]
You have encountered a Gemini
Rank: Savage Beast
Species: Scarbone
Stats:
Strength: A
Agility: B
Speed: A
Intelligence: A
Final Rank: Scarbone A
Abilities: ??
Weakness: ??
[System Notice]
You have encountered a Gemini
Rank: Savage Beast
Species: Giga Titan
Stats:
Strength: A+
Speed: A+
Agility: A+
Intelligence: C
Final Rank: Giga Titan A+
Abilities: ??
Weakness: ??
[System Notice]
You have encountered a Gemini
Rank: Savage Beast
Species: Reaper
Stats:
Strength: A+
Speed: S
Agility: S
Intelligence: A+
Final Rank: Reaper S
Abilities: ??
Weakness: ??
The notifications kept flooding in. One after another. More species. More horrors. Each one stronger than the last. And all of them, just a single rank below the terrifying Elite level.
Their footfalls thundered as they emerged from the portal. The ground shook beneath their monstrous weight. One dragged a massive cleaver behind it, another had eyes burning like hellfire. Each of them radiated bloodlust. Each of them was death incarnate.
Ariel backed away, sweat beading down her temple. Celine clung to her arm, nearly paralyzed with fear. Darren's eyes darted, searching for a weapon, any weapon. Malric, however, remained standing, arms crossed, strangely calm in the face of incoming doom.
"If I told you," Malric said without blinking, "that you would survive till morning… would you believe me?"
Mario's head jerked toward him. His mouth twitched, his whole body trembling as he watched the growing crowd of monsters.
"Don't mess with me, you bastard!" he shouted, panic edging into his voice. "Now's not the damn time!"
But no one answered.
Because death was already walking toward them.
And it had more than one face.
********
Meanwhile, on Planet Zoic, the trainees had been given a month to prepare before the next test.
During one of those training sessions with Onilia, he received a message.
[System Notice]
Player is currently outside the Tutorial Zone. Awakening has been delayed.
Player has not selected a username. The right to choose a username has been revoked.
A username will be assigned automatically after personality analysis is complete.
Zane had blinked at the message, barely holding in a groan.
"Crap… I completely forgot to pick a badass name. Now I gotta act cool every second or the system might call me something stupid like... The Destroyer."
That thought had haunted him for days.
Now, as he lay flat on the cold stone floor of their personal training ground—right at the summit of the cursed mountain—he couldn't help but remember that moment. With the second test only a day away, he was finalizing everything he'd prepared.
Zane's body trembled, drenched in sweat. His chest rose and fell in ragged, desperate gasps. A dull, worn-out sword rested loosely in his right hand, its chipped blade stained with dust and dried blood.
His arms felt like lead. His legs refused to move. His vision was blurring at the edges.
But the training wasn't over.
Not yet.
"Come on, Zane," said a firm, clear voice. "One last time."
It was Onilia.
She stood several feet away, her sapphire eyes locked onto him like a hawk eyeing its prey.
Her breathing was steady, her shoulders were marked with dirt as she stood without a single bruise on her flawless blue skin. Her hands were wrapped in tight cloth strips for grip and protection. The tip of her sword gleamed under the light as it hung by her side, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
She looked calm—but deadly.
Over the past few weeks, Onilia had taken it upon herself to train Zane in whatever spare time they had.
She had taught him the basics—hand-to-hand combat, weapon mastery, and battle instincts. She never went easy on him. Every lesson was a test of survival.
Zane didn't answer.
He didn't have the strength.
His tongue felt like sandpaper. His lungs burned. His body screamed for rest. He just lay there, trying to pretend she'd walk away.
But Onilia wasn't the kind to show mercy.
Without warning, she leapt into the air, her blade flashing like silver lightning as she descended toward him.
She aimed straight for his throat.
Zane's eyes snapped open.
Instinct kicked in.
With a strained grunt, he rolled to the side, the jagged gravel biting into his skin as he barely dodged her blade. The sword slammed into the ground, right where his neck had been a moment ago, sending a sharp spark flying from the rock.
Zane coughed as dust blew up into his face, but he was alive.