The forest thinned as we moved, giving way to cliffs that plunged into the ocean below. From here, the sea looked endless, a sheet of dull silver beneath the gray morning sky. Wind howled along the rock faces, carrying with it the tang of salt and the cold bite of mist. Every breath felt like it scraped iron against my throat.
The path ahead wasn't a path at all. Just jagged stone, collapsed ridges, and thickets of skeletal trees clinging to the mountain's side. Above us, peaks of Ishtara rose into the clouds, their crowns buried in snow and storm. It looked endless.
Veyra had said it plainly: crossing the Mountain would take at least a month. Maybe two, if luck turned its back on us.
We walked in silence at first. Every footstep was slow, careful, the loose shale shifting beneath our boots.
The mist clung to us even in daylight, a pale blanket stretched across the trees and cliffs. Every step forward sank into wet soil, every breath was heavy with the scent of salt and iron. When the wind shifted, I could hear the ocean crashing somewhere far below, but the forest itself seemed endless grey trees rising like pillars, branches twisted, dripping from last night's rain.
We started walking at Sunrise Veyra had told us it would take at least a month to cross the mountain, maybe two if the weather kept turning against us. Two months in this place… the thought alone made my stomach knot.
Occasionally, We fought Layer 2 and Layer 1 hordes but It all ended with minor injuries. We were yet to face Layer 3 or above.
Nolan, Lex and Phoebe also had a Breakthrough from F to F+
Our boots squelched in the mud. Lex grumbled first, shouldering his pack like it was already too heavy." Feels like the mountain's trying to eat us alive. And we've only gone a mile."
Nolan walked slower than the rest, his mother close at his side, and Vivi kept glancing back at them as if making sure they didn't slip. Lily led the middle, bow ready even though there was nothing but fog and dripping leaves ahead. Phoebe kept pace beside me.
The weather turned quickly. By midday the clouds thickened until the sky was just a sheet of dull grey. Rain came next not heavy, but steady enough to soak cloaks and hair. Drops pattered against steel, trickled down chains under my blazer. My shoulders ached, not from fighting, but from carrying my own gear.
We stopped only when Veyra called for it. She raised her hand and crouched near a fallen log."Here. We'll take ten minutes. Check your feet. If they blister this early, you won't last a week."
I sat on a damp stone, pulling at the straps of my boots. The smell of wet leather mixed with the earth.
By evening the rain grew colder, slanting sideways with the wind. The mist seemed to move with it, pressing in thicker the further we went. Our fire the night before had felt like a small miracle. Tonight, it would be harder.
We stopped beneath a rocky outcrop, cliffs rising like black teeth on one side, the forest yawning open on the other.
Instructor Veyra called us and said in a even tone
"I will go look for a stream or river, stay in the area and look for a place to camp. We will meet in half an hour."
As she turned, She looked at us and said "Be safe, Don't go deep in forest"
After nodding we slumped on the ground, We decided to explore our surroundings for a while, Lily and Phoebe went out while the rest of us waited.
While waiting I saw Vivi sitting away looking at the humongous peak Infront of us. Her long pink hair was dried in blood but even then she looked something out of a fairy tale.
I got closer and sat next to her.
She just tilted her head and said with a smile on her face.
"Hey Sol"
"Hey, what are thinking about?"
She looked Infront at the humongous mountain and said:
"I am Just thinking, About how beautiful this place is, The grey clouds pouring on us, The metallic atmosphere and a Humongous Mountain Infront of me that looks likes It pierces sky. The eerie mist coming atop of this mountain feels as the the mountain itself is alive, Even though Numerous Beasts that could tear us apart lay here. It feels kinda peaceful."
"I mean when you put it like that, It is kinda peaceful"
while pondering, I inhaled a long breath of air, feeling a metallic smell in the air, It kinda smelled like the the first rain.
Compared to my last world, Where cities were polluted and air felt stale, This almost makes me feel alive.
After a while Lily and Phoebe came back both looked very pretty next to each other, Lily had her uniform and her black long hair in a pony, And Phoebe's Icy blue hair with her platinum eyes looked almost like a scene in the movie.
'Hey I am not too bad looking myself'
Lily spoke first
"We found a cave, Just up ahead. we can use it to camp"
"We should go check it out together" Phoebe said
"Have you explored inside?" said Lex
"No It's too dangerous for the two us to explore so we came here first"
Lex nodded
We were waiting for the teacher to arrive, But seeing that it will take time, We decided to go.
We also took Nolan's mom together as Its not safe alone.
***
The cave loomed out of the mist like a black wound cut into the cliffside. My legs ached from climbing, my throat burned from the salt air, and the others looked just as hollowed out. We had no food, no water, nothing but our weapons. A cave meant shelter walls between us and the forest.
But the moment we stepped inside, the air changed.
It was heavy. Wrong. The stink of iron and rot clung to the stone, so thick I could taste it. My boots crunched over something brittle not gravel. Bone shards.
Then came the sounds.
A dragging, scraping noise. Low breathing that didn't belong to anything human.
And out of the shadows came not one, but three beasts.
Even though lighting was dim we saw the beast clearly, I immediately checked their Status.
Cragskull Mauler
A hulking, bear-like creature, its body armored in slabs of jagged rock fused into its flesh. Its head was nothing but a cracked skull mask, teeth jutting out from stone.
Thread of Earth (Layer 2)
Thread of Bone (Layer 2)
Mirehowler
A wolf-like beast stretched too thin, its ribs poking through its skin, its mouth wide enough to split its skull. Drool sizzled as it hit the ground, eating through stone.
Thread of Acid (Layer 1)
Thread of Hunger (Layer 2)
And Hollow Crawler
A centipede the length of a wagon, its carapace split with glowing fissures. Each limb ended in hooked claws that scraped sparks across the cave walls. Its eyeless head split open into a circular maw ringed with fangs.
Thread of Silence (Layer 2)
Thread of Dust (Layer 2)
'They looked injured, Most likely from each other' I thought
The three of them stood there, blocking the depths of the cave, their Threads thrumming so violently I could feel it in my chest.
Vivi whispered, "There's… more than one."
Lex cursed under his breath, stepping in front of us, knives drawn. Lily's bow creaked as she aimed, and Phoebe slid a kunai loose, her eyes sharp.
"Layer Two. All of them. Stay together." I said
The beasts moved in unison. The Mauler slammed a paw down, fissures cracking under our feet. The Mirehowler's scream tore through the cave, making my ears ring, while the Crawler scuttled silently along the ceiling, claws sparking as it came down on us.
The cave exploded into chaos.
The cave floor cracked beneath us as the Cragskull Mauler roared, the ground splitting into jagged lines that sent us stumbling. Before I could steady myself, the Mirehowler lunged, jaws dripping acid that hissed against the stone where I had been standing a heartbeat ago.
"Chains!" I whispered. The links burst from my chest, lashing around the Mauler's forearm, but the beast barely slowed. It dragged me across the floor like I was a ragdoll until Lex darted in.
"Bone Skin," he muttered, his arms hardening into pale stone. He slammed his gauntleted fist against the Mauler's jaw. The impact cracked rock, but the beast only staggered a step before swiping him aside. Lex hit the wall with a sickening thud.
The Hollow Crawler dropped from the ceiling like a collapsing wall, claws slashing. Phoebe's voice cut sharp through the chaos:
"Time!"
Her perception surged — I saw her slip under its strike, kunai flashing. She buried the blade between plates, but the beast screeched, thrashing. A cloud of dust erupted from its maw, choking the air, burning my lungs raw.
I coughed, barely able to see, when the Mirehowler's shriek ripped through the cave again. My ears rang. The wolf-beast's body blurred, faster than my eyes could track. It slammed into Nolan.
"Shield," he whispered through gritted teeth. A faint barrier shimmered, buying him a second — then shattered under the beast's claws. Nolan hit the ground hard, blood spraying from his shoulder.
Vivi was already there, hands glowing faintly. "Heal," she whispered, pressing them against him. The light slowed the bleeding, but her face was pale with strain.
The Mauler barreled toward us again. I flung my sword up, but its paw smashed against it, the force rattling through my bones. My chains wrapped tighter, straining against its bulk.
"Still," I gasped. The limb froze — two seconds of reprieve — and Lex was there, knives flashing into the beast's exposed throat. Blood poured, but the hide was too thick; the cuts were shallow.
Then the Hollow Crawler struck. A claw raked across Phoebe's side, throwing her across the cave floor. She didn't scream — just grit her teeth, blood soaking her tunic.
Lily's arrow whistled past me, slamming into the Crawler's open maw. It screeched, reeling back — but acid spit from the Mirehowler splattered the floor, forcing us all to scatter. Stone sizzled and melted underfoot.
Everywhere I turned was chaos. Lex staggered back to his feet, blood dripping down his face. Nolan tried to rise but collapsed again. Vivi hunched over him, trembling from exhaustion. Phoebe crawled to her sword, her breaths shallow.
And the beasts kept coming. Unrelenting. No pause, no mercy.
The Mauler ripped my chains apart with a roar. The Mirehowler leapt again, fangs bared for Nolan. The Crawler raised its claw, aiming to crush Phoebe where she lay.
We were going to die here.
Then a voice cut through the cave, steady as steel.
"Gate."
The air split open, light spilling into the dark as Veyra stepped through, her Threads flaring like a storm given shape. Chains coiled at her side, the shimmer of a Gate burning in her palm.
The beasts turned as one. And she moved.
The Mirehowler lunged first, jaws wide, acid spraying. Veyra's chains lashed out, searing through the air. They wrapped its throat and yanked it mid-leap, slamming it into the wall with a thunderous crack. Stone shattered. The beast howled once — then her blade flashed, severing its head clean from its body. Acid spilled, hissing against rock, but she didn't even flinch.
The Crawler shrieked, dropping from the ceiling, claws slicing downward.
Stone surged beneath her feet, spiking upward. Jagged pillars erupted, skewering the centipede's body as it fell. It writhed, screeching in silence — its own Thread stifling its death cry. Veyra didn't stop. Her chains coiled again, pulling the beast taut against the spikes before she drove her sword into its glowing fissures. The light inside dimmed. The beast hung limp.
The Mauler was last. It charged, the ground splitting with each step, eyes burning with fury. Its paw came down, big enough to crush a man whole.
The word cracked the air. I felt it in my bones — the crushing weight of hopelessness, like the cave itself had turned against me. The Mauler faltered. Its stride slowed, its Threads dimmed, its roar turned strangled.
Veyra moved then, a blur of steel and chain. She leapt, blade flashing once — twice — and landed behind it.
The Mauler froze. A heartbeat later, its head slid from its shoulders, crashing to the ground with an earth-shaking thud.
Silence.
The cave stank of blood, acid, and dust. The three beasts lay broken, their Threads fading into nothing. Veyra stood among their corpses, her sword dripping, her breathing steady.
Then she turned her expression softening as she looked at us.