Kaelric crouched at the edge of the clearing, eyes sliding past frost-laden Heartspire leaves toward the jagged mouth of Breathless Depths Cave.
The air here was thick, almost viscous, pressing against his lungs, and a sour-sweet metallic scent, tinged with something rotten, clung to his nostrils. It was the cave's greeting, a subtle warning that even a single breath carried weight.
A gnarled trunk twisted nearby, roots sprawling like grasping fingers. Its fruits glowed faintly, no larger than walnuts, like embers imprisoned in crystal. The essence inside pulsed unevenly, seeping outward in a viscous haze that rose from the ground. Sharp and clinging, it burned the senses, whispering promises: raw power, whole aperture, limitless absorption, if one ignored caution.
One person would not be enough. He needed two: one to deflect the pulsing mytes, another to retrieve the mutated stones without letting their volatile essence contaminate his vitalis. Any mistake could tug at the aperture in ways he could not yet fully predict. The stones' aura bled into the roots, distorting light, twisting perception. He crouched lower, brushing snow-matted grass, committing the scene to memory. Observation alone would not suffice. He would go deeper—and claim what was his.
The cave itself seemed alive. Smooth stone pulsed faintly beneath his fingertips, veins glowing, the walls breathing. Condensation dripped from the ceiling in luminous droplets, falling into shallow pools that shimmered in unworldly colors. Shadows stretched and twisted around every crevice, flickering grotesquely under the weak torchlight, creating illusions where none existed.
Daren stood beside him, already gripping the torches he had brought. Kaelric's eyes narrowed. "I told you to bring a light," he said, tone neutral, "a Relic, anything that glows consistently. We will need it to see properly."
Daren held the torches higher, their flames flickering weakly in the heavy air. "We are not all as rich as you, sir prodigy," he mocked, the words half jest, half challenge, but the cave swallowed the humor slightly, leaving only a strained edge. Kaelric let a small, dry smile escape.
The torches would suffice, barely, but he could feel the difference immediately. Shadows danced unpredictably; the suffocating aura of the cave would distort them further. "Fine," he said, moving toward the entrance, "but stay close. Keep the flames steady. One misstep and the aura will claw at your aperture before you even notice."
Daren's grin widened, and he stepped forward eagerly. "Yeah, whatever. Don't worry. I have got the torches. They will be fine."
Daren kept his voice low. "My only question, Kaelric… why use a Relic at all? You're a prodigy. Most of us would kill to have your talent. Why take the Relic enhancement for rank two? Most C grades can pass to rank two without it."
Kaelric didn't slow. The faint shimmer of mytes shifting in the cavern wall brushed the edge of his vision.
"Talent doesn't make me perfect," he said "I need this for my own reasons."
His tone was mild, but the finality in it pressed the rest of Daren's curiosity back into his throat.
The torches flickered against the cave walls, throwing twitching shadows over the mytes shifting in the stone. Daren walked behind Kaelric watching him lay out the cave, remember not to venture where it was told not to. "You know," he said casually, "this relic is the rarest in the whole vault. Hardest to refine too. Most people avoid it because gathering the ingredients can get you killed. But the benefits? Unmatched."
Kaelric's hands didn't stop moving.
His expression didn't shift.
But inside, a single thought hit him like a stone hammer:
"…Hardest?! Rare?! I memorized this one because it said 'easy refinement' at the bottom of the tablet…"
Daren nodded, oblivious. "Still, you picked well. It is the kind of thing only a madman or a genius would attempt down here."
Kaelric exhaled slowly through his nose, pretending that was a compliment. "I have my reasons."
Inside, he added a quieter, much more honest one: "Next time, read the entire tablet, idiot."
Realizing the mistake he made. There was no chance of backing off now, besides, he could not refine anything harder, he was not a master at refinement like elder Averith.
But then he focused at the cave.
"Watch the walls," he instructed quietly, his voice low. "The creatures here at this part of the cave are not large, but they move silently. Wyrm-mites, cave rats. they will swarm if provoked. Keep the lights steady and follow my steps exactly."
Daren nodded, though the gleam in his eyes betrayed excitement. Kaelric allowed it; part of the value in this descent was observing how well Daren adapted, how his instincts measured against the cave's subtle threats.
Step by step, they moved deeper into the cave.
He could endure the wyrms and rats attacks, this was not where the Queen hibernated.
The Queen Myte was hibernating, the smaller mytes also would not frenzy or have formations.
Even now, the cave tested them, tugging at the edges of thought, daring Kaelric to make a misstep. He allowed himself a single thought, a silent warning: this place would test more than strength. It would test restraint and the discipline to resist temptation.
Daren shuffled closer, torches flickering in the thick, alien air. "Feels like it is already trying to eat me," he muttered with a nervous laugh.
Kaelric's lips curved slightly. "It might," he said. "And it will if you let it. Follow me exactly. One mistake and we will not have the luxury of retreat"
The air grew heavier with every step. Kaelric flexed his fingers; the obsidion-black claws hidden beneath his nails shimmered out in controlled arcs. Small, fast, regenerable, a tool for sudden strikes if something lunged from the shadows. The Vitalis tree outside had been only the first symptom; the real sickness pulsed from deeper within.
Only Stoneheart and Irondusk wielded true power in the Moonglint Ranges. The rest clung to the margins. Irondusk itself bore a flaw: many of its cultivators followed unfavored paths, rare and resource-hungry, difficult to synchronize with the Iron Path. Strength on paper, unreliable in execution.
Nearby, Daren's torches sputtered, throwing fractured light across slick stone and the pools of mutated Vitalis. Each one glimmered faintly, unhealthy, alive.
Kaelric moved with quiet precision. A subtle shift of his foot sent a ripple through his stance as the relic beneath his heel adjusted, balancing him. Another Relic braced for sudden impact, ready to absorb the cave's oppressive pressure.
The Vitalis throbbed like a second heartbeat, tugging subtly at their apertures.
A ripple along the wall. Then three more. Thin, pale bodies emerged, translucent, pulsing in rhythm with the cave's heartbeat. Wyrm-mites.
Kaelric paused. Daren's torches illuminated their jittering shadows. A claw detached, spinning through the air, striking one wyrm dead-center. It shrieked, metallic and high-pitched, barely slowed.
Daren sucked in a breath. "That's a dark-path relic, are you insane?!"
"Focus," Kaelric said, already moving. "Or die."
"They… they're still moving?" Daren whispered.
"They feed off the Relic's essence," Kaelric explained. "It hardens them."
More shapes spilled from the cracks, moving with eerie coordination, sharing one mind. Kaelric pressed his palm to the air. Stone rippled outward, forming a barrier that absorbed the cave's pressure. The swarm crashed against it, halted safely.
Daren exhaled sharply. "They're… too tough."
"They are coordinated. And greedy," Kaelric corrected. He sent another claw slicing at the edges. A few fell. Most did not. Everything in the cave seemed to push them forward, tempting mistakes.
"Close," Kaelric instructed. "Stay near me. Keep the flames steady."
They edged forward. Pressure tugged at their apertures. Daren's posture dipped, teeth clenched, resisting the pull. Kaelric allowed a faint thought: "good."
Scurrying along the wall—rats this time, faintly glowing, clicking teeth in rhythm with the wyrm-mites. Kaelric shifted the barrier, guiding the swarm while leaving a narrow path.
"This first stone is fragile," he murmured. "Move slowly. Do not let its aura touch your aperture."
Daren nodded. He reached out, fingers trembling as the stone's pull pressed at him. Kaelric steadied him, hand on the elbow.
"Slowly. Keep it level. Take your time."
The aura curled around Daren's wrists, testing focus. Sweat beaded at his temples, but he held. Kaelric's storage Relic opened on his neck, the toad mouth waiting to swallow the stone safely.
The stone pulsed violently once, testing them. Then… click. Locked in place.
Kaelric exhaled, chest still taut. Daren stepped back, torches shaking, eyes tight with quiet triumph.
"You held on," Kaelric said. "Even when it tried to twist your will."
"I… didn't want to lose to it," Daren whispered.
"No," Kaelric said. "You didn't."
The first stone secured, and Breathless Depths was only beginning to test them.