The forest canopy filtered sunlight into patterns across the undergrowth. Elara Vaelen moved through it with quiet steps, her eyes scanning for anything unusual.
The soft hum of energy, the world's natural essentia, was a constant most hunters ignored. Here, it felt steady. Normal. She noted the mix of pine and oak. A transition zone. Close to water, if the humidity on her skin was any indication.
"We've traveled about four kilometers from the drop point," she said, marking their position on her mental map. "The anomaly should be within the next half-kilometer."
A dramatic sigh broke her concentration.
"Ela-chi, are we there yet? My paws are dying." Kiona flopped against a tree trunk, her twin black tails swishing in irritation. "Seriously, remind me why we couldn't take the Rover? I could be napping right now."
Elara's jaw tightened. "This is a reconnaissance mission. Stealth is paramount."
"S-sorry about the walk, everyone." Rin's nervous voice crackled through their Aetherlink Earrings. "The drone can't get a clear signal through all these trees. And Captain Zahara said we need the field experience since we're the newest squad members."
"This is a valuable training opportunity," Elara added, checking her gauntlets. "Your equipment is working properly?"
Static crackled. "Y-yes! I'm tracking your vitals and positions from the mobile command center. Both showing stable readings."
"Ooooh, 'valuable training opportunity,'" Kiona mimicked, pushing off the tree. "Listen to you, all proper and stuffy. Anyone would think you were born with that silver spoon shoved right up your—"
"Rin's sensors flagged an unregistered essentia burst here thirty-six hours ago," Elara cut in sharply. "The signature was chaotic. Potent. We could be looking at a new Gate."
Kiona stretched her arms above her head. Her generous curves strained against her customized uniform. "So it's a 'maybe' dungeon. We're walking for hours for a 'maybe.' You're lucky you're cute, Ela-chi, or I'd have turned back an hour ago."
"Please refrain from using that ridiculous nickname."
"Make me, princess."
Elara exhaled slowly through her nose. She would not let Kiona bait her. "Rin, what's our current distance from the anomaly?"
"Um, about three hundred meters northeast of your position. The signature is still active but... strange. It's not like any Gate reading I've seen before."
"Noted. We'll proceed with caution."
Ten minutes of careful navigation brought them to a small hill rising from the forest floor. Vines cascaded over a dark fissure in its side, nearly hiding it from view.
"T-that's it!" Rin's voice came through with renewed excitement. "The energy signature is coming from inside. It's... faint, but definitely there."
Elara approached the opening, her senses alert. Something felt wrong. The air around the entrance was still. Too still. She knelt, examining the soil. "There are no sentries. Even F-Rank Gates usually have guardian monsters near the entrance."
"Maybe they're on break?" Kiona suggested, peering over Elara's shoulder.
"Gates don't work that way." Elara activated her gauntlets. Intricate blue runes flickered across her forearms. "Stay alert. This is unusual."
The passage descended steeply into darkness. Elara led with Kiona following, both moving with hunter's caution. The tunnel suddenly opened into an enormous underground chamber. A vast, ruined space with towering pillars stretching into darkness above.
"Whoa," Kiona whispered, her typical laziness momentarily forgotten. "This place is huge."
"This architecture predates the Sundering," Elara noted. "These ruins might be thousands of years old."
"Ooh, look! Free money!" Kiona darted forward, breaking formation.
"Kiona, maintain position—" Elara began, but the neko was already crouched over something on the ground. She held up a small, glittering crystal.
"Wait. Don't touch—" Elara started, but too late.
"It's an Essence Fragment." Kiona turned it in her fingers. "Low-grade, but still worth something. And just sitting here for the taking!"
Elara frowned, taking the fragment. "This isn't a natural spawn pattern. Fragments don't just appear unguarded like this."
"Guys?" Rin's voice was hushed. "I'm scanning a lot of residual energy throughout the chamber. It's... messy. Like there was a fight. A lot of fights."
Kiona's ears twitched. "Look, there's another one." She pointed to another fragment a few meters away. "And another past that. They're making a trail."
"This isn't random." Elara's tactical mind raced through possibilities. "Someone or something is leaving these behind. On purpose."
"This is the best dungeon ever!" Kiona grinned. "No work, all reward!"
Elara was already moving, following the trail with increasing wariness. Fragments didn't form patterns. They didn't create breadcrumb trails through ancient ruins. Something intelligent was at work here. Something that had fought and killed Gate monsters and left their essence behind.
"Rin, are you detecting any registered hunter signatures in the area?"
"N-negative. You're the only squad authorized for this sector today. But..." Rin's voice dropped. "I'm picking up something strange ahead. Not organized monster signatures, just... chaos. Residual energy from multiple combat events."
The trail led them deeper into the ruins, through corridors and smaller chambers. With each step, Elara grew more tense. She activated her gauntlets fully. Blue runes glowed with combat readiness. Beside her, Kiona had dropped her lazy act entirely.
"I don't like this," Kiona whispered. "It smells wrong."
Elara nodded. The air carried the unmistakable scent of recent violence.
They approached a junction where the passage split. From the right corridor came a sound that froze them both.
"SKREEEEE!!!!"
"Since when do goblins run from anything?" Kiona murmured, her ears flat against her head.
"COME TO DADDY!"
Elara and Kiona exchanged a single look of mutual alarm before pressing themselves against the wall beside the junction. Elara's mind cataloged what they knew. Unauthorized human presence. Monster kills. Pursuit behavior. Male voice. Unregistered essentia signature.
"Rin," she whispered. "Can you get visual?"
"Launching micro-drone now," came the shaky reply. "B-be careful!"
Before the drone could arrive, a small, green figure burst into view. A goblin scout ran for its life, scrambling across the stone floor on all fours. Its beady eyes were wide with terror. Foam flecked its jaw as it gasped for breath.
A figure emerged from the passage behind it. A blur of movement so fast Elara barely processed what she was seeing.
A man. Covered in blood, dirt, and sweat.
And completely, utterly naked.
A crude bone weapon left the man's hand. Elara's mind was still trying to process his nudity when the shiv buried itself in the back of the goblin's skull with devastating force.
The creature dropped instantly. Its momentum carried it forward in a slide across the stone.
Time seemed to stop.
The man stood over his kill, breathing heavily. Every muscle in his lean body was defined. Taut with exertion and slick with sweat and grime. Blood splattered across his chest and arms. His gaze was fixed on his kill. His jaw tight. A faint flare to his nostrils as he breathed in the scent of violence.
And he was completely, unabashedly naked.
Her eyes dropped lower involuntarily, then immediately snapped back up as a furious blush heated her cheeks.
Beside her, Kiona had a completely different reaction. The tension in her body melted away, replaced by a slow grin. She wasn't scared or offended. She was intrigued. Her gaze swept over him without shame. From the corded muscles of his arms to the... well.
"AH! N-N-NAKED MAN! EXTREMELY NAKED MAN!" Rin's panicked voice squeaked through their Aetherlinks at a pitch that made Elara wince. "C-Captain, what are my orders?! Do I... do I censor the feed?!"
The man, still catching his breath, muttered to himself. "Looks like that's the last one, Arcan." The name was unfamiliar. Foreign to Elara's extensive knowledge of registered hunters.
Then he turned. Finally sensing their presence. Storm-gray eyes locked with hers.
A moment of absolute, stunned silence hung in the air. The naked, blood-soaked man. The two armed huntresses. The dead goblin between them.
And then several things happened at once.
Kiona let out an appreciative whistle.
Elara's runes flashed blue as she raised her gauntlets defensively.
Rin's voice screamed through the Aetherlink. "WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"
The man's eyes widened, then narrowed as he assessed the two women.
"Well," he said, his voice a rough growl that sent an unwelcome shiver down Elara's spine, "this is awkward."
The absolute understatement broke something in Elara's carefully maintained composure. She, along with Rin over the comms, let out a collective scream that echoed through the ancient ruins.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
The man winced, covering his ears. "Fuck's sake, was that necessary?"
"YOU'RE NAKED!" Elara finally managed to say, her voice an octave higher than normal.
"Yeah, no shit. You try waking up in a monster-infested cave with no clothes." He looked down at himself, then back at them with a raised eyebrow. "Are you just going to stare, or does someone have pants I can borrow?"
Kiona's purr was audible now. "I don't know... I kind of like the view."
"KIONA!" Elara snapped.
"What? I'm just appreciating nature." Her tail swished playfully behind her.
The man's lips twitched in what might have been amusement. "At least someone here has taste." Then his expression hardened as he glanced between them. "Now, who the hell are you people, and what are you doing in my dungeon?"
"Your dungeon?" Elara found her footing in indignation. "This is an Azure Sentinels operation. You are unauthorized personnel in a designated scouting zone."
"Azure what now?" The man frowned.
"He doesn't even know what the Sentinels are," Kiona said, her ears twitching forward. "Where did you come from, hot stuff?"
"That's classified," he replied smoothly.
"You can't classify nakedness!" Rin's voice came through the comms. "I'm calling Captain Zahara! This requires senior intervention!"
The man tilted his head, searching for the source of the voice. "Who's the squeaky one?"
"None of your concern," Elara said firmly. "You need to come with us for questioning. After we find you... appropriate attire."
A slow, dangerous smile spread across his face. "And if I say no?"
"Then we'll have to take you by force," Elara answered, her runes glowing brighter.
Kiona licked her lips. "Promise?"
The man laughed. The sound made his face transform from intimidating to boyishly handsome. "I like her," he said, pointing at Kiona. "She can take me anywhere she wants."
Elara pinched the bridge of her nose. This mission had gone completely off the rails.
A naked, unregistered anomaly with combat skills was flirting with her teammate over a dead goblin in an ancient ruin.
And worst of all, Captain Zahara was going to absolutely love this story.