The invigorating wave of E-Rank energy still thrummed through Kaelen's veins, a heady cocktail of vitality and power that made the very air taste different. The gray gloom of the Veil-Touched Wilds seemed less oppressive, the details of twisted flora and jagged rock sharper to his newly enhanced senses. The profound warmth in his core—the tangible, incredible prize of +25 years of lifespan—was a constant, reassuring presence. He moved with a confidence he had never known, each step feeling more sure than the last. The Sunken Star fragment was a heavy, throbbing weight against his hip, its innate light-based energy a constant, low-level irritant that hissed against his Umbral nature, a reminder of the trial he had overcome.
Isolde fell into step beside him as he neared the designated safe zone, appearing from the mist as silently as she had left. "The System's blessing suits you," she observed, her voice a smooth contrast to the wilds' whispers. Her keen eyes, the color of dark wine, scanned him with clinical appraisal. "You carry yourself differently. The first Ascension is always the most… transformative. The body revels in the new potential." Her lips curved into a sly smile. "It is a feeling one never forgets."
Before Kaelen could form a response, a new sensation ripped through him—a cold, psychic shiver that eclipsed the warmth of his ascension. A notification, urgent and searing, burned across his vision, its geometric runes feeling like frost on his mind.
{Warning: Curse Activity Escalation.}
{The Anchor has drawn significant hostile attention.}
{Incoming Threat Detected: D-Rank (Elite Hunter) - Phase Cat.}
{Recommend Immediate Evasion or Preparation.}
His newfound confidence shattered. His blood ran cold. D-Rank. Isolde's own words echoed terrifyingly in his memory: a pack of D-Rank Howlers was a threat for a full military squad. And now a creature of that same rank was coming for him, drawn like a magnet to the amplified beacon of his existence.
"Isolde…" he began, his voice tight, the word barely a whisper.
"I know," she said, her playful demeanor vanishing, replaced by the sharp, cold calculation of a strategist. Her eyes were already scanning the treacherous terrain, assessing angles and avenues of escape. "The System's rewards are never free. Your successful Ascension has made you a brighter beacon in the gloom. The Phase Cat is a particularly clever and vicious hunter. It can pass through solid matter for short bursts. Your shields will be less effective against an attack that originates from within your own defense."
This was the true, horrifying cost of his new power. The Anchor wasn't a static curse; it was a predatory entity that scaled with him, ensuring the danger never ceased, only evolved.
"There," Isolde pointed with a slender finger toward a narrow canyon up ahead, its walls thick with brittle, phosphorescent crystalline growths. "It will favor an ambush from within the rock itself. Your goal is not to defeat it—that is beyond you now—but to force it into the open and create an opportunity to break contact. Its intangibility is potent but has a brief cooldown period. That is your only window."
"You're not going to help?" Kaelen asked, a sharp spike of fear piercing his E-Rank clarity. Facing a D-Rank threat alone was a death sentence.
"My direct intervention would void the merit of your Trial and mark you as dependent in the System's eyes," she said bluntly, her tone leaving no room for negotiation. "This is no longer a test. This is the reality of your life. Your Curse. Handle it." With that final, cold instruction, she melted back into the shifting shadows, becoming an invisible observer, her presence a withdrawn promise of aid.
Kaelen was utterly alone. Again.
He sprinted for the canyon's mouth, the System's mental map flashing a relentless, hostile red ping that moved with terrifying speed, cutting a direct, impossible path diagonally through the solid cliff face. He could feel its focus—a cold, utterly predatory intent fixed solely on him.
He slid behind a large, weathered boulder, his heart a frantic drum against his ribs. Elite Hunter. D-Rank. A creature that considered stone and flesh to be equally permeable. Panic, cold and familiar, threatened to rise and drown his new-found strength, but the E-Rank energy within him—calmer, deeper—forced it down. Think. Isolde said force it into the open.
The Phase Cat emerged from the solid rock wall ten feet away without a sound. It was larger than any wolf, its form sleek and semi-translucent, like shifting smoky quartz. Its muscles coiled with lethal grace under its strange hide, and its eyes glowed with a sickly, intelligent yellow light. It didn't roar; it let out a low, vibrating purr that made the fragile crystals on the walls shiver in sympathy.
It phased, its form blurring into insubstantiality for a heartbeat, and flowed through the boulder he was hiding behind, its cruel, hooked claws materializing an inch from his face to rake toward his eyes.
Kaelen reacted on pure, honed instinct. He didn't summon a shield in front of him. Instead, he funneled his Umbral energy downward, creating a sudden, platform of solid shadow at his feet and launching himself backward in a desperate, ungainly leap. The claws whistled through the empty air where his head had been, the force of the swing gusting against his face.
He landed hard on the uneven ground, his new E-Rank agility the only thing that saved him from a broken ankle. The Cat turned, its form solidifying fully, a low growl rumbling in its chest. It was blindingly fast.
It lunged again, a blur of smoky death. Kaelen threw up a shield of concentrated darkness. The Cat's claws struck the umbral barrier with a sound like screeching metal. The shield held for a microsecond before shattering under the immense force, the backlash of energy throwing Kaelen backward like a doll. He slammed against the hard canyon wall, the impact driving the air from his lungs in a painful gasp.
It's too strong. The thought was a cold dart of pure fear. His F-Rank shard would be a nuisance to it. His new E-Rank power was not enough for a direct confrontation.
The Cat paced, its glowing eyes fixed on him, a predator knowing its prey was cornered. It began to phase again, its body shimmering, intending to come at him from the wall itself, from an angle he couldn't possibly defend.
Force it into the open. Isolde's words echoed. But he was in the open. Unless the "open" wasn't the ground...
As the Cat's form began to blur into intangibility, Kaelen made a split-second decision. He didn't target the creature itself. He focused all his will, all his fear, all his newly ascended power on the brittle, unstable crystalline ceiling of the canyon directly above the Cat's position.
He didn't form a sharp shard. He molded his energy into a massive, blunt hammer of pure Umbral force and, with a grunt of effort, slammed it upward into the overhanging rock.
The sound was deafening. A network of cracks spiderwebbed across the ceiling. Then, with a groan, large chunks of sharp, glowing crystal and rock shattered loose, crashing down in a devastating avalanche directly onto the spot where the Phase Cat was standing.
The creature, caught in the vulnerable moment mid-phase, was forced to abandon its attack and solidify completely to defend itself. It screeched in fury and surprise, batting frantically at the tons of falling debris with its powerful claws, momentarily trapped and distracted.
This was the window. Not to attack, but to escape.
Kaelen didn't throw a shard. He ran. He poured every ounce of his energy, his terror, his will to live, into his legs. He ignited his Umbral power not as a weapon, but as a fuel, pushing his body to speeds a normal human could never achieve. He became a shadow himself, bolting from the chaotic canyon and back toward the relative safety of the open wilds.
A enraged, muffled screech echoed behind him, buried under the roar of the rockfall. His gamble had worked. He hadn't tried to fight a D-Rank threat he couldn't hope to beat. He had used his environment, his wits, and a fraction of his power to survive. It was a lesson in true efficiency.
He didn't stop running, his breath sawing in his lungs, until the blessed, blinking light of Havenfall's safety perimeter was firmly in view. He collapsed to his knees just outside the boundary, gasping, his body trembling with spent adrenaline and exhaustion. The Phase Cat had not followed; the rockfall had either injured it or delayed it sufficiently.
He had survived his Trial. And then he had survived its brutal, immediate aftermath. The price of power was eternal vigilance. The Anchor would never, ever let him rest. The warmth of his extended lifespan now felt like a countdown, each second paid for in advance with terror.
Isolde emerged from the treeline a few minutes later, a look of genuine, unfeigned appraisal on her face. "You didn't fight it," she stated, a hint of respect in her tone. "You used its strength and your environment against it. You outthought it. That is a far more valuable lesson than any victory achieved through mere brute force." She extended a hand to help him up. Her grip was firm. "Welcome to E-Rank, Kaelen. The real game has truly begun."