The deeper Scourged Zone stretched endlessly before Instructor Mira, its landscape twisted into forms that defied natural logic. Bioluminescent vegetation pulsed with rhythmic intensity as the night claimed the territory completely, casting everything in shades of blue-green that made depth perception unreliable.
Three hours of searching. Three hours of nothing but false signals and empty terrain.
Mira's amber-gold eyes scanned the darkness ahead, her aether sense pushed to its maximum range. The sphere of awareness extended two hundred meters in all directions, translating the environment into readable information that her mind processed automatically.
She sensed movement ahead of her, but she didn't slow her pace.
The creatures emerged from behind a formation of crystal rocks, their massive forms blocking the path forward. Coiled Titans, D-rank beasts that resembled serpents but with thick, segmented bodies covered in overlapping plates of hardened scale. Each one was twelve meters long, their heads triangular and equipped with jaws that could crush tungsten.
They coiled defensively, sensing her approach.
Mira walked forward without breaking stride.
The first Titan struck, its body uncoiling with explosive force. The attack was fast and powerful enough to shatter a Guardian's defensive barrier.
Mira raised one hand casually.
Her palm connected with the Titan's skull mid-lunge. There was no flash of aether, no visible technique, just application of force through refined cultivation and decades of combat experience.
The impact created a sound like thunder compressed into a single point. The Titan's head snapped backward with such violence that its neck vertebrae shattered audibly. The body went limp instantly, momentum carrying it past her to collapse in a heap.
She stepped over it without looking down.
The second Titan tried to attack from her blind spot, moving with the pack intelligence D-ranks sometimes displayed. It wrapped toward her legs, attempting to constrict and immobilize her.
Mira's foot came down on its body with precision. The force drove through scales, through muscle, through bone, pinning it to the ground. Before it could react, her other hand struck downward in a knife-edge chop that severed its spine completely.
It was dead before it could feel the pain
The third Titan, demonstrating more intelligence than its companions, attempted to flee. It turned and began slithering away with desperate speed.
Mira's hand extended, fingers spreading slightly. A pulse of compressed aether shot forward, an ember light that distorted the air. The projectile caught the Titan mid-retreat, punching through its armored body and exploding out the other side.
The creature collapsed, twitching once before going still.
The entire encounter had lasted less than fifteen seconds.
Mira continued walking, leaving the three corpses behind without ceremony. Her expression carried frustration rather than satisfaction. D-rank beasts were obstacles, and nothing more to her. Dispatching them meant nothing if she couldn't find her student.
"Where are you, Kaelen?" she muttered into the darkness.
The beacon tracker was still jumping between false coordinates. The aether density spike was still interfering making the device unstable.
She'd been searching for nearly three hours now. The sun had set completely, replaced by the Zone's eerie luminescence and the aurora patterns that danced across the sky. Night brought increased danger even in the secured outer ring, and this was significantly deeper than that.
The nocturnal species were waking up. She could sense them moving through the darkness, attracted by the concentrated aether that marked living things. Most stayed away from her once they sensed her cultivation level, but not all creatures had that kind of self-preservation instinct.
Mira quickened her pace, moving with efficiency, her boots barely made sound against the crystal-strewn terrain.
She noted the increasing beast activity. F-ranks scurrying through the vegetation, E-ranks prowling the middle distances, occasional D-rank signatures at the edge of her awareness.
The encounter with D-ranks wasn't uncommon, but the frequency was higher than expected. And according to Davos's last transmission before communications cut out, he'd engaged D-rank threats before encountering the two B-rank humanoids that had forced the emergency.
That pattern was strange. Not impossible, but unusual in the safe Zone for it to matter enough to note.
Still, even B-ranks posed no real threat to her. She was Vanguard rank, her cultivation several tiers beyond anything in this region. The only reason she'd quickened her pace was to reach Kaelen and Davos before their situation deteriorated beyond recovery.
If they were even still alive.
Mira pushed that thought away and kept moving.
...
The Crystal Serpent's eyes reflected the cave's dim light as it coiled near the entrance, its body tense with predatory focus. Kaelen crouched in defensive position, his gauntlet raised, controlling his breath, despite the exhaustion pulling at every muscle.
This was the fifth serpent encounter since the initial two. Fifth overall fight in this damned cave.
His body showed the accumulated damage. His uniform torn in multiple places, dried blood marking where previous attacks had landed, visible exhaustion in the slight tremor of his hands. His HP had dropped in addition to each encounter, his A.E. reserves depleting despite careful management.
But his technique had improved. Each fight taught him something new about their movement patterns, their attack preferences, the brief openings that appeared when they committed to strikes.
The serpent lunged.
Kaelen activated Chrono-Perception.
His mental strain intensified.
The world fractured into slow motion. The serpent's movement became readable, its muscles tensing before the strike, the trajectory clear and predictable. But his perception was slightly slower than usual. Fatigue affected his skill efficiency, made the temporal perception less pronounced.
He dodged with Flash Step anyway, muscle memory overriding conscious thought.
[–19 A.E.]
[A.E.: 375/480]
Reality blurred. He appeared behind the serpent's extended strike, already moving into counterattack position. Aether coating formed across his gauntlet automatically, the technique was his second nature now.
[–3 A.E./sec]
[–3 A.E./sec]
His enhanced fist drove into the serpent's exposed underbelly, the combination of the gauntlet strength and aether coating created a devastating impact at the vulnerable point.
CRACK
Scales shattered. The serpent's body convulsed, pain overriding its hunting instinct. Its tail whipped around reflexively, catching Kaelen in the ribs despite his attempt to dodge.
[–18 HP]
[HP: 311/380]
Pain exploded through his torso. He gasped, stumbling slightly, but forced himself to power through. The serpent was wounded now, its guard compromised. He couldn't give it time to recover.
His second strike caught it in the skull, enhanced force driving through bone. The serpent collapsed, twitching once before going completely still.
[+650 XP]
[+650 XP]
[+650 XP]
[Base Level Up]
[System Level Up]
[Shop Lv.1 –> Lv.2]
[+300 SP]
[Base Level: 11] (1020/3600 XP)
[System Level: 10] (520/3000 XP)
[HP:380/380]
[A.E.:480/480]
His HP and A.E. had being refilled from the base level up, but the physical exhaustion and mental exhaustion remained.
Kaelen sagged against the cave wall ignoring the notifications, his chest was heaving from exhaustion. Flow Regrowth activated automatically, golden time-threads becoming faintly visible as they wove through the fresh damage to his ribs. The healing was slow but steady, taking the edge off the worst pain.
"That's five," he muttered to the empty air.
Behind him, Davos sat propped against the back wall. The observer had been watching the entire fight with assessment, tracking Kaelen's movement, noting the improvements and the deteriorating efficiency.
Kaelen forced himself to move despite the exhaustion. He grabbed the serpent's body and dragged it toward the cave entrance, the effort made his ribs protest with sharp reminders of the recent hit. Outside, he placed it with the previous four corpses, a growing pile further away from the cave entrance that marked their survival.
While outside, he harvested the E-rank crystal from the serpent's core. Five crystals in total now, glowing faintly in his palm before he secured them in his equipment pouch.
When he returned to the cave, he sat heavily near Davos. Silence stretched between them for a long moment while Kaelen caught his breath.
"Your fighting style," Kaelen said finally, breaking the silence. "It's different from what they teach at the academy."
Davos's gray eyes tracked him with interest. "You noticed."
"Hard not to." Kaelen leaned back against the wall. "The academy focuses on aether-enhanced techniques, using energy to amplify every movement. But you fight like... like the technique itself matters more than the enhancement."
"Muay Thai," Davos said. The words carried weight, history compressed into two syllables. "Pre-Descent martial art from old Thailand region. Developed centuries before the Veil tore open, refined through generations of fighters who had nothing but their bodies and their will."
He shifted his position carefully, mindful of his injuries. "The Art of Eight Limbs. Uses fists, elbows, knees, shins. Every part of your body becomes a weapon. Emphasis on devastating close-range strikes, on conditioning that lets you take punishment and keep fighting."
Kaelen listened intently, his exhaustion temporarily forgotten.
"The academy teaches aether-enhanced combat," Davos continued. "It's useful, effective for cultivators with deep reserves and against beasts. But it relies too much on energy. Run out of aether, and half your techniques become useless."
He met Kaelen's gaze directly. "Muay Thai works even when you're empty. Pure technique. Pure will. The kind of fighting that matters when everything else fails. Specifically designed to fight humans."
"Is that why you used it, against the beasts?" Kaelen asked.
"Huh?" Davos was puzzled.
"You didn't use it against the D-ranks, you used it against the humanoid B-rank beasts." Kaelen said.
"Yeah."
"Could you teach me?" The words came before Kaelen fully processed them.
Davos studied him for a long moment. "You sure? It's a brutal training. Conditioning that breaks most people. Not just learning techniques, but rebuilding your body to handle the impact."
"I'm sure."
A faint smile crossed Davos's face, the first real expression of approval he'd shown. "If we make it out alive, I'll teach you properly."
The 'if' hung between them like weight they both recognized but chose not to acknowledge directly.
They sat in silence for another moment, both processing the implicit promise and the uncertainty it carried.
Then Kaelen spoke again, his tone shifting to something more practical. "If we don't get help tonight..."
"We help ourselves in the morning," Davos finished. "Agreed."
They discussed the route, estimated time to reach the perimeter patrols. Kaelen pulled up a mental map of the terrain they'd covered during the mission, calculating the most direct path back to secured territory.
Davos checked his injury. "I can walk by dawn. Won't be fast, but mobile enough. The regenerative gel has done its work. Movement will hurt like hell, but I've operated through worse."
Their plan formed through quiet discussion. First light, they'd move. Slow but steady progress toward safety rather than waiting for rescue that might not arrive.
It wasn't ideal. But it was better than staying vulnerable in hostile territory indefinitely.
...
10:00 PM
Security patrols moved through the corridors, ensuring all students were in their designated dorms. Curfew was at 10:00PM and the academy's rules were strict
In scattered rooms throughout the student quarters, four people processed the day's events in isolation.
Lira sat on her bed, unable to even consider sleep. Her roommate had asked twice if she was okay before giving up and leaving her alone. Now Lira just stared at the ceiling, her silver eyes tracking invisible patterns in the dim light.
"Come back," she whispered to the empty room.
The words carried all the fear and hope she couldn't express to anyone else. Kaelen might not be her blood brother, but he was the only family she had left and he was out there somewhere. Fighting or dying or already dead. And she could do nothing but wait.
Her hands clenched into fists against the blanket.
...
Daniel sat surrounded by pulled data on survival statistics. His tablet screen glowed in the darkness, displaying numbers and probabilities that his mind kept recalculating .
He'd been at this since returning. Pulling every piece of information he could access about B-ranks, survival rates for cultivators at different levels.
The numbers refused to improve no matter how he approached them.
B-rank beasts had sixty to eighty percent kill rate against Sentinel-level opponents. Two of them meant exponentially worse odds. Kaelen's cultivation level was Initiate. The probability of survival was less than five percent even with Observer Davos providing support.
Daniel's hands shook as he stared at the screen.
Finally, he closed the tablet. He couldn't look at the numbers anymore. Couldn't keep torturing himself with statistical certainty that contradicted what he desperately wanted to believe.
He lay down in the darkness, but sleep wouldn't come.
...
Torven sat in a meditative position on his room floor. His roommate had learned months ago not to disturb him during these sessions. The dermal plating had partially emerged across his arms and shoulders, protective scales reflecting the faint moonlight through the window.
He wasn't sleeping. He was cultivating.
His amber eyes opened in the darkness.
"He will survive," Torven said quietly to the empty room.
It wasn't hope, it was a statement of fact delivered with conviction that came from knowing Kaelen enough to trust his survival instinct implicitly.
He'd seen Kaelen fight before. Seen him adapt, overcome, refuse to quit even when every rational assessment said he should. That kind of determination didn't die easily.
Torven closed his eyes again and returned to his meditation.
...
Sera sat at her desk, reviewing notes from the day's classes. Her crystalline gray eyes moved across the text with efficiency, processing information and filing it away.
To an outside observer, she appeared completely calm. Unaffected by the emergency that had consumed everyone else.
But her hand had traced the same line of text four times now without actually reading it.
She set down the stylus and leaned back in her chair.
Kaelen was competent. She'd observed enough of his behavior to recognize that. He made tactical decisions quickly, adapted to changing circumstances, didn't panic under pressure. Those traits suggested higher survival probability than raw cultivation level indicated.
But probability wasn't certainty. And even competent people died when circumstances exceeded their capability.
Sera closed the notebook and prepared for bed. Worrying accomplished nothing. Either Kaelen would survive or he wouldn't. Her concern couldn't influence the outcome.
But as she lay in the darkness, her mind kept returning to the practice hall earlier. To Lira's breakdown. To the raw fear in Daniel's voice. To Torven's absolute conviction.
To the realization that somewhere along the way, she'd started to care about whether Kaelen came back.
She closed her eyes and forced herself toward sleep.
...
Kaelen noticed the details gradually. His eyes had adjusted to the cave's dim light over hours of occupation, and now subtle things emerged that he'd missed initially.
Scratches on the walls. Too regular to be natural erosion, marking specific heights and patterns that suggested intentional scoring.
The scent underneath the dust and blood. Something musky, organic, the kind of smell that came from a creature marking territory.
The floor worn smooth in specific paths, patterns that showed repeated movement through precise routes.
He stood slowly, his exhaustion temporarily forgotten as his awareness sharpened.
Davos saw it too. The instructor's gray eyes tracked the same details Kaelen was noticing.
"This isn't an empty cave," Kaelen said quietly.
"No," Davos agreed. "It's not."
The scratch marks were at precise height, consistent across multiple locations. Something large sheltered here regularly. The territorial marking patterns became obvious once recognized, a predator claiming space and warning others away.
"Something lives here," Kaelen continued, his voice barely above a whisper.
"And we're in its den," Davos finished.
They'd been resting in a predator's home. Whatever it was hadn't returned yet, but that was luck rather than safety. Eventually, it would come back. And finding intruders in its territory would trigger aggression that neither of them could handle in their current condition.
"We need to move," Davos said. "Now."
Kaelen knew the observer was right. But Davos's condition made movement dangerous to him. The exertion would reopen wounds, accelerate bleeding, potentially cause complications that could kill him as surely as any beast.
But staying was more dangerous.
"Can you walk?" Kaelen asked.
"I'll walk." Davos's tone left no room for argument. "Help me up."
Kaelen moved to support the instructor, carefully easing him to his feet. Davos's face went pale as he put weight on his injured leg, a sharp intake of breath marking the pain he was forcing himself through.
But he stayed upright.
"Let's move."
They made their way to the cave entrance slowly. Each step was measured carefully. Kaelen bore most of Davos's weight, his own exhaustion temporarily overridden by necessity.
Outside the cave, night had fully claimed the sky. The scourged zone was lit with the bioluminescence of plants and the aurora of the sky.
"Which direction?" Kaelen asked.
Davos's eyes scanned the terrain, he was going through risks and options with the information available. "Away from here. That's enough for now."
They began moving. The pace was agonizingly slow, limited by Davos's injuries and the treacherous terrain. Kaelen kept his Spatial Awareness actived despite the constant mental drain, the three-meter detection radius their only early warning system.
Every shadow was a potential threat. Every sound demanded caution. They were moving deeper into the Zone rather than toward safety, but they had no choice. The cave behind them was a death trap. Out here, they at least had options.
Kaelen supported Davos's weight as they navigated between formations of crystal rocks. The structures glowed faintly, casting strange patterns across the ground that made footing uncertain.
Behind them, the cave entrance disappeared into darkness.
Neither of them saw what emerged moments later.
...
In the deeper recesses of the cave, darkness stirred.
Something massive shifted position, disturbed by instinct that recognized intrusion even in sleep. Its eyes opened in the darkness, gleaming with reflected light that had no visible source.
Its nostrils flared, scenting the air. Foreign presence. Blood. Fear. All the markers of a prey.
A sound emerged. Not quite a growl, not quite a hiss. Something between the two that resonated through the cave with bass vibration.
The creature rose, its form still hidden in shadow. Its size became apparent through movement, through the way darkness seemed to condense around its shape.
It moved toward the cave entrance with purposeful grace. Each step was silent despite obvious mass. Predatory efficiency refined through generations of evolution and aether transformation.
At the entrance, it paused. The night air carried information, scents that told stories its instincts understood perfectly.
Two beings. One injured. Both weak. Moving slowly through territory that belonged to the Zone's hunters.
Easy prey.
The creature's eyes tracked the trail they'd left. Disturbed earth, blood drops.
It began following. Not rushing. No need for speed when the prey was wounded and slow. Just an orderly pursuit, the kind of hunt that does not require explosive action
The gap between hunter and hunted would close inevitably. It was just a matter of time.
Kaelen and Davos continued moving through the darkness, unaware they'd been marked. Unaware that something followed their trail with certainty, closing distance at its own pace.
The Zone's night pressed in from all sides, beautiful and merciless.
...
They'd covered maybe half a kilometer when Davos needed rest. His breathing had become labored, the exertion taking its toll despite his determination. Kaelen helped him settle near some rocks that offered minimal cover but was better than nothing.
"We have company," Kaelen said quietly.
His Spatial Awareness had picked up movement. Three beasts approaching from different angles, coordinated in a way that suggested it was a pack.
"What are we looking at?" Davos asked.
"Can't tell yet." Kaelen replied.
The signatures moved closer. Thirty meters. Twenty. Then they emerged into view.
[Scourged Wolf Pack]
[Rank: E] (×3)
Three wolves, but mutated beyond natural size. Each one was massive, nearly as large as a bear. Crystals protruded from their spines and shoulders, glowing with internal light. Their fur was patchy, revealing hardened skin underneath that looked more like armor than flesh.
Their eyes reflected the Zone's luminescence as they circled, assessing the two humans with calculation that went beyond mere animal instinct.
Kaelen positioned himself between the wolves and Davos. His stance was defensive,his gauntlet raised. He couldn't use his mobility skills freely, not when it meant leaving the observer vulnerable. Had to stay close, maintain position, fight from a fixed point.
The wolves probed cautiously. One feinted left, testing his reaction time. Another circled right, looking for an opening. The third hung back, watching.
Kaelen used Aether Manipulation to create small barriers as they tested him. Simple constructs, just enough to deflect exploratory attacks.
[–8 A.E.]
[–8 A.E.]
The first wolf lunged suddenly, committing to real attack. Kaelen deflected its jaws with his gauntlet, the impact jarred his arm. He counterstriked immediately, enhanced fist catching it in the jaw. The wolf yelped and retreated.
The second attacked from his right side while he was committed. Kaelen activated Flash Step, blurring across the short distance to intercept.
[–19 A.E.]
He caught it mid-leap, his gauntlet connecting with its ribs. The enhanced strike drove breath from its lungs, sent it tumbling to the ground.
The third wolf tried to circle toward Davos while Kaelen was occupied. He used Aether Burst, the explosive release of compressed aether driving it back.
[–29 A.E.]
Behind him, Davos activated his ability briefly. He shot a green beam energy at one of the wolves, deterring it.
"I'm not dead yet," Davos grunted. But the effort clearly cost him. Fresh blood seeped through his bandages where the wound had reopened.
Kaelen pressed the advantage Davos had created. He moved on the first wolf, the one he'd struck in the jaw. It tried to dodge but its injury made movement slower. His enhanced strike caught it in the skull. The impact killed it instantly.
[+150 XP]
The second wolf recovered and attacked again. This time Kaelen was ready. He met its charge head-on, timing his counterstrike perfectly. The gauntlet connected with devastating force. Another kill.
[+150 XP]
The third wolf recognized the shift in odds. Its pack advantage was gone. Both its companions were dead. It backed away slowly, its eyes tracking Kaelen but not committing to attack.
Then it turned and fled into the darkness.
Kaelen let it go. Chasing would mean leaving Davos unprotected. Not worth the risk.
He stood there breathing hard, checking his status.
[Base Level: 11] (1170/3600 XP)
[System Level: 10] (670/3000 XP)
[HP: 380/380]
[A.E.:416 /480]
Behind him, Davos was reapplying pressure to his wound. The bandages were soaked through again, the white fabric turned dark red.
"We can't stay here," Kaelen said. "The bodies will attract more."
Davos nodded weakly. "Keep moving."
Kaelen helped the Davos stand again. They left the wolf corpses behind and continued through the Zone's night.
The search for safety continued. They moved between rock formations, through patches of bioluminescent vegetation.
Kaelen's sensed that they were being tracked, he could never tell if it was the same creature or different threats. Just knew they were being tracked. That something out there was aware of them, following at a distance.
He didn't tell Davos. The instructor had enough to worry about.
"We'll find something," Kaelen said with more confidence than he felt.
Davos didn't respond. Just kept putting one foot in front of the other, forcing his injured body through movement that should have been impossible.
They continued through the darkness. Still moving and searching for safety that seemed increasingly unlikely.
The Zone was alive with threats on all sides. And behind them and the night stretched endlessly ahead.