[TIME REMAINING: 1HOUR 50MINUTES 30SECONDS]
The desert wind howled low, a haunting lullaby through the Drazan dunes. Each gust sprayed golden sand against Ethan's blood-crusted face, but he didn't flinch. His body trembled under the weight of Velina, who went unconscious on his back once again. His muscles burned, cracked, begged him to stop.
But he didn't. Not with the beacon ahead. Not with the storm still burning in his chest. Every step was defiance.
He dragged his boots across the sand, one foot after another, hands trembling, eyes blurred. The Leviathan Mark etched across his forearm and chest throbbed faintly, pulsing like a fading ember, hidden beneath the cloth he'd wrapped it in. His WRATH had dipped below the oversurge threshold, but the ache of using it still echoed in his bones. His blood had dried against his skin. His breath was shallow.
And yet, the beacon grew closer.
A light. A promise. A demand.
[TIME REMAINING: 1HOUR 38MINUTES 10SECONDS]
Quietness reigned, then came the sound. Skittering. Hissing. The shuffle of clawed feet brushing over sand.
He stopped.
A trio of shadows emerged from the dunes. Class I Tartarus beasts. Their jagged forms glinted under the sun, low to the ground, hunched like hyenas fused with sand-burrowing serpents. Their carapace looked cracked and dry, but sharp. Their movement, twitchy. They weren't hunting to feed.
They were hunting to break. Ethan could feel it. The pressure in the air. Not deadly, but designed to test. He laid Velina gently against a shaded dune, brushing sand from her lips. She murmured but didn't wake.
Then he stood. No words. No fury. Only resolve. The beasts behaved like clowns and it raged him.
The beasts lunged.
The first came low, tail whipping around to trip him. He leapt sideways, rolled, and swung his blade upward in a perfect arc, a quick shrrk! of steel ripping into flesh. The beast shrieked and spun, but Ethan was already behind it, slamming his foot into its side to send it sprawling.
The second beast pounced from a ledge, jaws open, he sidestepped and rammed the hilt of his blade under its jaw. Bone cracked. He grabbed it by the neck and slammed it to the ground.
The third tried to catch him unaware, a tail jab lashing toward his back.
"Tch."
He ducked, slashed. A clean vertical cut split the tail. The beast hissed and staggered.
Ethan didn't let up.
Strike.
Dodge.
Strike again.
He fought like a man possessed, but not with rage this time.
With purpose.
Steel bit into hide. Claws snapped in air. His breath came sharp and fast, but his focus was razor-sharp. In under four minutes, the three Class I creatures lay dead in the sand. Black blood pooled around their twitching limbs. No time to extract cores, his life was more important.
[DESSERT RUNNERS DEFEATED]
[+15 EXP GAINED]
[CURRENT EXP: 43/600]
He turned away. He didn't look back.
[TIME REMAINING: 1HOUR 22MINUTES 00SECONDS]
The journey resumed.
The suns climbed to their peak, cooking the air. The sand shimmered with heat mirages. Ethan carried Velina across uneven terrain. His legs buckled twice. Once, he fell to his knees, face planting into the hot sand, lips cracked. He didn't scream. He didn't curse. He just stood back up.
The beacon, now, was close. He could see the pillar of light clearly, a shimmer of blue reaching into the sky, barely a few dunes away.
And then he heard them.
Whispers.
As he staggered over the final hill, the field before the beacon unfolded. A wide stretch of flattened desert where dozens of aspirants had already gathered, some resting, some glaring toward the final arrivals.
The moment they saw Ethan, the moment they saw the blood, the dust, the unconscious Velina strapped to his back, the murmurs began.
"He's alive?" "He carried her all the way?" "No damn way..." "What the hell is this freak made of?" "...he should be dead."
Some snarled in disgust. Others averted their eyes. One or two scoffed loud enough for him to hear. The noble-born group, cloaked in clean robes and polished armor, sneered.
"Trash always crawls to the finish line." "Maybe the worms helped him." "Tch. I bet he cheated."
Ethan didn't say a word.
He reached the edge of the beacon's circle, a glowing field surrounded by embedded crystal pillars. A group of white-robed mages stood at the threshold, casting gentle healing spells on the wounded.
As Ethan stepped inside, the magic took hold. Warm energy surged into his aching limbs. His back straightened slightly. His muscles stopped twitching.
They rushed to take Velina from his back.
"Her ribs are cracked, minor bleeding, she needs rest," one said.
"How long has she been unconscious?"
"Since a serpent fight," Ethan rasped.
They looked at him, wide-eyed.
One healer blinked. "You carried her through the Crimson Fanged Serpent zone... alone?"
He just nodded.
They quickly took Velina onto a cot, administering potions and glowing salves. One mage gestured for Ethan to sit. He did, groaning softly as the aches finally caught up with him.
A soft blue glow enveloped his legs, then his arms, slowly knitting flesh and cooling the burn of muscle fatigue. His WRATH bar flickered, stabilizing under the mages' calming aura.
[WRATH: 50/35]
[STATUS: NORMALIZING]
---
****Academy – Drazan Expanse Observation Chamber****
The mirror-like projection hummed with shifting images, the beacon, the scorched battlefield, the aspirants.
Three knights stood still.
"He made it," the youngest knight murmured. "Thirty minutes to spare. After all that..."
"He faced three scorpions, two serpents, and who knows how many others," the second said. "Carrying another. And he didn't stop."
"He didn't use flashy spells," the older one noted. "Just raw instinct. Grit. Something else kept him going."
They watched as Ethan refused a second healing wave, choosing instead to sit silently beside Velina, his blade resting across his lap.
"...He's not like the others."
The older knight remained silent, his gaze locked.
"Do you still think he's from one of the noble families?"
"No," he said at last. "But I think... something ancient clings to that boy. And it's waking up."
------
Beacon Circle – Thirty Minutes Remain
The sun had dipped. A soft breeze stirred the desert. Ethan sat alone, cross-legged, eyes closed.
His Leviathan Mark no longer burned, but pulsed gently, like the heartbeat of a sleeping monster.
Velina stirred on her cot, groaning lightly. Ethan opened one eye and looked over.
She blinked at him. "...Did we make it?"
He smiled faintly. "Yeah. We made it."
She smiled back, then fell asleep again. Ethan leaned back, eyes to the darkening sky.
They'd reached the beacon.
But he knew this was only the beginning.
[TIMME REMAINING: 00HOURS 00MINUTES 00SECONDS]
[ASPIRANTS PASSED: 100]