The forest didn't look like a forest.
Black trees rose from the ash-strewn ground, skeletal and twisted, their branches like gnarled fingers clawing at a violet sky. Smoke drifted lazily between trunks, carrying the smell of burnt leaves and iron. The air was thick, almost liquid, and every inhalation stung his lungs.
Aiden Draven walked silently, boots pressing into the gray ash, each step muffled, swallowed by the forest's unnatural stillness. His sword hung at his side, red energy pulsing faintly along its blade. The Devourer inside him stirred with impatience — he could feel faint whispers from the trees, shadows of creatures yet to come, and the latent magic of the land vibrating under his skin.
He didn't speak. There was no one to speak to. Alone, always. Survival demanded focus, calculation, and patience. Anything else was weakness.
---
The ash shifted. A sound — not wind, not movement — something deliberate. A hiss, low and wet, echoing off the blackened trunks.
Aiden froze.
The Devourer stirred. Hunger coiled within his chest. He didn't need eyes to sense the predator.
A figure burst from the mist. Not a human. Not a player. Something else — an animal-like creature, but not fully natural. Four legs, claws like razors, fangs glinting in the dull light. Its body flickered slightly, digital edges distorting, as though it existed half in this world, half in the code beneath it.
Aiden's eyes narrowed. Not a monster from the first cycle… different.
The creature growled, low and resonant. Its eyes glowed faint red. Hunger mirrored his own.
> [Entity detected: Level 42, hostile, magical essence: high]
It lunged.
Aiden's hand went to his sword. Red energy flared along the blade as he activated the Devourer Protocol. The moment he struck, he didn't just cut — he absorbed the creature's magical essence mid-strike. The Devourer hummed, hunger sated briefly, muscles moving almost of their own accord.
The creature's howl echoed through the forest as it dissipated into light fragments. Aiden didn't flinch. He had done this countless times now.
> [Entity consumed. Frost Bite Skill acquired. Mana Essence +12%]
He exhaled slowly. Survival was more than killing; it was learning. Every monster, every spell, every enemy was a lesson. And he devoured those lessons ruthlessly, without mercy.
---
Hours passed. The forest thickened, shadows deepening into unnatural shapes. Ash drifted in spirals, carried by a wind that seemed almost sentient. Something whispered beneath it, words he couldn't understand, half memory, half code.
He paused. A fragment of energy glimmered faintly among the roots of a blackened tree — too deliberate to be natural. A Core fragment? Perhaps.
He approached carefully. The Devourer pulsed in anticipation. Hands brushing the ash, he reached for it.
> [Warning: High corruption risk if absorbed directly]
Aiden didn't hesitate. The fragment shimmered, resisting, and then he inhaled, drawing it toward him. The Devourer surged, a violent twisting of energy inside his chest. Pain. Pleasure. Hunger. Power. All merged, spilling through his veins as the fragment entered him.
> [Fragment acquired: Ashen Heart. Skill gained: Flame Resistance Lv.1, Shadow Step Lv.1]
Aiden staggered, hand pressed against his chest, breathing shallow. Every acquisition carried a cost. He could feel his own essence fraying at the edges, a faint whisper of himself dissolving into the Devourer.
He didn't care. Not yet.
---
Then came the sound of footsteps — slow, deliberate, heavy. Human. Alive.
He froze.
From between two blackened trunks, a figure emerged. A woman, clad in tattered robes, long dark hair framing a face pale as snow, eyes sharp and calculating. She carried a staff carved from the same black ash that littered the ground.
> "I've been waiting for you," she said. Calm, confident, no hint of fear.
Aiden studied her. Her aura wasn't hostile, but it was… potent. Magic radiated off her in waves, subtle, dangerous. She wasn't a random player. She wasn't a monster. She was… an equal, maybe even a threat.
> [Human entity detected: unknown allegiance. Magic: High. Combat potential: Significant.]
Aiden's hand rested on his sword. "And you are?"
She smiled faintly. "Call me Selene. I know what you are."
He didn't flinch. He rarely did. "You're dangerous."
"I could say the same about you," she replied. Her voice carried a strange weight, authority and calm, like a predator observing another predator. "You devour everything. Every life, every spell… How long before you devour yourself?"
Aiden's lips twitched faintly, almost a smirk. "The Devourer doesn't eat itself. It only takes what it needs."
Selene's eyes narrowed. "Do you even know what you're carrying? That thing inside you — it's not just a tool. It's a curse. Every fragment, every soul you consume… it's eroding what makes you human."
Aiden didn't respond. She was correct, of course. But humanity was a luxury in a survival game like Eidolon. He didn't need it. He needed power. Knowledge. Survival. Everything else was irrelevant.
> "I'm here for the Northern Core," he said finally. "Move, or stay out of my way."
Selene tilted her head. "I can't do that. And I won't. The Core is mine, as much as it is yours."
Without another word, she raised her staff. Dark flames erupted from the tip, curling toward him. He barely had time to react before the first wave hit, freezing the ground under his boots and shattering stone around him.
Aiden activated Devourer Protocol fully this time, letting the energy surge through him. His blade glowed red as he parried, absorbed, and countered in a single fluid motion. Each attack Selene launched was partially consumed, partially resisted — feeding the Devourer, sharpening his reflexes, heightening his senses.
The battle became a dance, each movement precise, fluid, beautiful in its violence. Sparks of red clashed with curling black flames. Ice, fire, shadow, and blood — all merged under Aiden's control.
> [Warning: Corruption risk increasing — 43%]
Hours could have passed. Minutes. The storm of ash and magic obscured the forest. The Devourer thrummed in his chest, impatient, demanding more.
Finally, he forced her back with a sweeping strike, frost energy rippling from the sword, and she stumbled, eyes flashing with respect.
> "You're stronger than I imagined," she said, panting. "But the game… it's bigger than both of us. This forest… the next Core… You'll see soon enough. Nothing is as it seems."
Aiden didn't answer. He didn't need to. Words were meaningless. Survival was action. Knowledge was power.
He stepped past her, leaving her kneeling in the ash. The Northern Core glimmered faintly on the horizon, the ultimate prize for this stretch of the cycle. He felt it — the pull of its fragment, almost like a heartbeat in the code beneath his feet.
And in the back of his mind, a whisper he couldn't ignore:
> "Find me… Aiden Draven…"
The Devourer pulsed. Hunger, patience, focus. He didn't know what lay ahead, who Selene truly was, or what trials the Ashen Forest would hold. He didn't care.
He only knew one thing: nothing would stop him from reaching the Core. Not monsters. Not players. Not the system. Not even himself.
Aiden Draven walked forward...
> [Cycle Two – Survival Day 3 begins…]