Kade dropped like a stone.
No elegance. No dramatics. Just flopped flat onto his back in the dirt, arms sprawled like a tantruming child.
He stared up at the gray canopy.
"This is bullshit," he muttered. "I don't even like kids."
Elian took a cautious step closer, peering down at him.
"…Are you okay?"
Kade didn't answer. Just exhaled.
Elian tilted his head."I thought I was the child here."
Kade rolled his eyes. "Congratulations. You just unlocked sarcasm. We're doomed."
The boy crouched beside him."Should I—?"
"No. No talking. Let me sulk in peace."
He gave the sky another thirty seconds. Then sat up with a sigh.
"Fine. Let's figure out what you actually are."
"What do you mean…?"
"About the ability, you dipshit. You didn't do it on purpose, did you?"
"I mean… the only thing I saw was the ability, not the restriction. I guess this was the restriction. But I did want us to work together. Maybe not die together, though."
"If we ever see that shitty game master again, remind me to kill him."
"Okay. Will do."
Kade was already thinking of ways to break the bond. There had to be someone in this mess who could cancel abilities. That'd be ideal.
"Alright. A few rules while you're with me."He held up a hand, ticking them off."First, don't talk unless asked to. Second, if there's danger — stay close or run, depending on whether I'm around. Third, and most important: if your ability updates or you learn anything new, you tell me. Immediately."
He paused. Waited.
"Why aren't you saying anything? You're allowed to talk."
Elian blinked. Waited another beat.
"…I understand."
Kade studied him. Then asked, genuinely — not unkindly:"…Are you autistic?"
No answer.
Just a silent shake. Calm. Focused.
It unsettled him more than it should have.
He pushed off the ground with a sigh."Alright. Let's move. Staying in one place too long is an invitation to die."
Elian followed without a word. Quiet footsteps. Barely audible.
Almost unnatural.
The forest had changed.
Or maybe he was only now noticing.
The trees leaned in. Like eavesdropping. Their bark pulsed faintly, as if breathing. Gray vines curled down their trunks — slow, inching movements that stopped when watched.
And the air… thicker.
Damp with tension.
No screams now. No sounds at all.
Just distant crows. And something wet slithering between the roots.
Kade scanned ahead. No players in sight. No corpses either.
Which somehow felt worse.
He crouched beside a twisted tree, eyes narrowing."Elian. What direction were we heading?"
The boy pointed.
Kade followed the line of his arm——and froze.
Something hung in the branches.
Not a body. Not quite.
It was human once. Probably. But now—
Its skin was stretched. Too long. Head tilted at an angle no neck should allow. Its eyes held no pupils. Just black. Glowing faintly in the dim light.
It wasn't breathing.
But it was watching.
Kade took a slow step back."Okay. Change of plans."
The thing moved.Twitch.
Then it dropped — straight from the tree. Landed on all four.
No warning. No scream.
Kade turned on instinct. Snatched Elian and bolted.
Branches whipped past. Leaves tore at his face.
Not fast enough.
Something was behind them. Gaining.
He felt it — more than heard it — as the air shifted beside his neck.
A hand. Reaching.
He veered hard left, spotted a cave, and lunged.
"Get in!"
He shoved Elian through the gap and turned.
It was already there.
Fast. Inhumanly fast.
Bare hands. No weapons.
Kade met the first punch — parried, barely.The second struck his jaw. White light exploded behind his eyes.A third hit his gut. Solar plexus. Breath gone.
How?
Its range shouldn't reach—The next strike came. Kade flinched early — the blow grazed past.
It hadn't missed.
He'd just already started folding from the pain.
Then he saw its face.
And realized this wasn't a person.
It grinned at him. Or something like a grin.
Too wide. Too many teeth. Skin pulled tight like drying leather. No pores, no wrinkles. Just a pale, stretched mask.
Not human.
Kade didn't wait.
He slipped the dagger from his belt — Sera's dagger — and slashed.
The thing blocked with its forearm. Metal hit bone.
No reaction.
Kade ducked, spun low, and drove the blade upward.
This time, it sank in — right under the ribs.
The thing screeched. Not in pain. Just… noise. Loud. Piercing.
It lashed out, claws raking the wall as Kade stumbled back, panting.
The wound hissed. Flesh burned around the steel.
Poisoned? No — silver.
Sera's dagger was doing something. Hurting it.
Good.
It wasn't invincible.
But it was angry now.
And it hadn't even started.