The first clash was chaos.
Screams, steel, and blood filled the underground arena as monsters hurled themselves into the crowd of candidates.
A massive boar, its tusks crackling with sparks, tore through a group of novices. One boy fell, his scream cut short when the beast's hoof crushed his skull. His companion, a falcon, shrieked—and dissolved into dust the moment its master died.
> So it's true, Ethan thought grimly. If the Hunter dies, the bond dies too.
Shadowfang lunged forward, intercepting a fanged lizard that snapped at Ethan's leg. The wolf's claws raked across the beast's scales, golden sparks flashing as Oath Link synchronized their movements. Ethan felt the strike as if it were his own arm slashing through flesh.
The lizard shrieked, fell limp, and shattered into black mist. A faint glimmer drifted into Ethan's chest—the Essence Crystal of the slain monster.
A translucent notification flickered before his eyes:
> [Essence Acquired: 3]
So this was it. The trial wasn't just about survival—it was about hunting.
---
"Stay together!" a girl's voice cut through the noise. Ethan turned to see her—a spear-wielding candidate with a serpent companion coiled around her arm. She was rallying a few survivors, forming a defensive circle.
But just as quickly, a hulking brute of a candidate laughed and shoved past them.
"Circle up if you want. I'll claim the cores myself." His beast—a horned gorilla—roared and charged straight into the fray.
The girl cursed, but there was no time to argue. A pack of shadow hounds leapt from the darkness, jaws snapping.
Ethan's instincts screamed. He grabbed his dagger, channeling the bond with Shadowfang. The wolf blurred into motion, intercepting the first hound while Ethan pivoted to stab another in the throat. Their link surged, movements syncing in perfect rhythm.
The hounds fell, one by one, until silence briefly settled around him.
---
Ethan panted, sweat dripping down his face. His eyes flickered to the others. Already, seven candidates lay dead. Their companions gone, their marks fading into nothing.
The girl with the serpent met his gaze.
"You fight well. Name?"
"Ethan." He kept his answer short, eyes scanning the arena.
"I'm Lyra. If you want to live, stick with me. This trial isn't just about killing monsters. They'll throw worse things at us—starvation, exhaustion, betrayal."
Her words struck a chord. Ethan remembered Seris's warning. Survive three nights… hunt or be hunted.
And then, as if to prove Lyra right, the arena shifted. The stone walls rumbled, runes pulsing with light. Gates creaked open—not one, but many.
From within emerged a new wave of monsters, larger, stronger, hungrier.
A two-headed direwolf stepped out, its eyes glowing red, fangs dripping with venom. The air itself seemed to vibrate with its killing intent.
Around Ethan, candidates froze in terror. Some stepped back. Others trembled.
But Shadowfang growled low, fur bristling, golden fire sparking from his claws. The bond between them thrummed with wild energy, as if the wolf was daring Ethan to fight.
Ethan clenched his dagger tighter. His heart pounded like a war drum.
> "Fine," he whispered, eyes locked on the beast. "Let's show them what a real bond can do."
Shadowfang howled—a sound that cut through the chaos like thunder—and together, Hunter and companion charged toward the monster that could kill them both.
---
Chapter End.
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