The second corridor was quieter than they expected. A silence that was not empty. A silence that clung to the skin. The stone walls echoed the smell of old, dried blood. The ground was stained with dark patches that were no longer wet, hardened like crusts of black iron. Monster corpses were scattered without pattern. Some bodies still intact. Others half missing. And among them, a few living monsters wandered slowly, eating the corpses like wild animals that had forgotten they lived in a place far crueler than any forest.
Some monsters did not eat. They watched. Their eyes narrowed, following the movement of the two human groups entering the corridor.
Glenn gave a silent signal.
Two of his members advanced. Their steps were smooth like the brushing of cloth. Not rushed. Not tense. Not hesitant.
The result was immediate. One slash. One thrust.
Dead.
The monster fell with its neck cut clean. Its body hit the floor with a soft thud, softer than Ted's breathing.
Clive observed the details. The hips of Glenn's two members moved efficiently, rotating only as much as needed. Their wrists never passed a single wasted angle. Their arm muscles tightened just before each strike, then relaxed again as fast as a breath leaving the body.
Ted swallowed quietly."They've mastered Instructor Sendley's training completely."
Dorde replied in a low voice."Not just them. We've mastered it too."
Zorilla muttered without turning."Focus."
Clive did not need the reminder. His body was already focused. His muscles remained calm, but a fine tension ran along his spine. The faint light of the corridor reflected off his skin. The damp air entered his nose, passing through lungs that felt larger than before.
The energy from the core rose slowly like a line of heat crawling beneath the skin. Each step was steady. Every breath measured. His heartbeat was flat like the ticking of metal.
Another monster dove out of the shadows.
Clive moved faster than thought. The new instinct living in his skull pulled his body before his conscious mind could react. He tilted his torso just a few centimeters, enough to slip past the line of the creature's fangs. A small movement. Perfect precision.
His left hand rose. Fingers tightening like steel clamps. He struck the side of the creature's jaw. The sound was dry. The jaw cracked, its eyes widened, and the creature's body crashed against the stone wall before collapsing in a twisted heap.
Ted blinked hard."That was… incredibly fast."
Clive did not respond. His body was still processing the recently released energy pathway. There was a faint tremor in his shoulder muscles. Not a sign of fatigue. A sign of a new engine warming up.
The fight broke out instantly.
Four clusters of monsters surged from both sides of the corridor. Their movements were fast, chaotic, feral. The combined formation of Glenn's group and Clive's group split into two wings but did not collapse. Their movements were like gears forced to turn under heavy pressure.
Glenn's members held the front. Their speed sliced through space. Their swords were thin lines cutting the air with frightening precision.
Clive's group held the sides and rear.
Dorde, though his shoulder had not fully healed, swung his sword steadily. There was weight in every strike. When two monsters came at once, he cut both down in two steps. Their blood splattered across his skin, then dripped, but Dorde didn't falter.
Ted fought on the right. His strikes weren't as clean as Glenn's squad, but they were faster and sharper than the week before. His sword pierced the ribs of a small monster, then he pulled it out with an efficient short motion. Warm blood splashed across his cheek. Ted didn't even blink.
Zorilla smashed the creature crawling along the floor. He didn't slash. He broke. The monster's neck twisted half a circle before Zorilla threw its body against the wall. It bent at an unnatural angle, then went still.
Clive faced two monsters at once. Their eyes glowed faint red. Their jaws trembled, fangs smeared with dried blood. Clive heard their joints crack as they jumped.
He moved in a rhythm he didn't recognize before. A rhythm like a line. Straight. Without pause.
The first monster lunged at his face. Clive ducked, feeling cold air skim the back of his neck. His knee rose and struck the creature's lower jaw. Its skull shattered, fragments sticking to Clive's knee.
The second monster snapped at his shoulder. Clive caught its jaw with one hand. His grip tightened like a steel vise. He pulled, forcing the jaw to slip from its joint. The crack sounded like a breaking branch.
The creature dropped instantly.
Members of Glenn's group saw it. A quick glance. Almost invisible. But enough. Clive caught the shift in their breathing.
One of Glenn's members murmured softly, almost a whisper."He's only had a week to adjust his body."
Another added without turning."Even Dilos needed more than two weeks. And he still wasn't like that."
Glenn gave no comment.
The battle continued. They killed one after another. The number of monsters was large, but no longer frightening. The combined speed and strength of both groups cleared the corridor in minutes.
Monster blood flowed in thin lines across the floor. The metallic smell filled the air.
Then the corridor went silent.
Both groups assessed each other. Not with words. With how they stood. How their shoulders rose and fell. How they checked the angles of each other's formation. They were skilled at reading bodies. Because they knew this cooperation was temporary.
Once the monster with a core appeared, cooperation would turn into competition.
Glenn reorganized the formation."Let's move."
Clive nodded."To the third corridor."
Ted wiped the blood from his sword."If the second corridor is like this, the third will definitely be worse."
Zorilla tightened his position."Focus."
They stepped forward.
The third corridor greeted them with different air. Colder. Heavier. As if the corridor itself was breathing in an unnatural way.
Pressure emerged.
A pressure only Clive and Dilos felt clearly. A pressure coming from a core.
Glenn stopped. He raised his hand. His group froze. Even the smallest movement vanished.
Clive signaled his own group. Ted pressed against the right wall. Zorilla to the left. Dorde stepped back two paces to guard the rear.
The third corridor was dark.
The torches from the previous corridor illuminated only a few meters past the entrance. The rest was swallowed by thick blackness, like a curtain of night covering the eyes.
Glenn grabbed a torch from the stone wall. The flame lit up, its shadow dancing across his face.
"It's inside."
Clive answered shortly."I know."
Dilos nodded too."I can feel it."
The energy in Clive's body responded. Its pulse rising. Not fast. Not slow. But constant, like the beating of steel machinery.
"We move slowly," Glenn said. "Same formation."
They entered.
The first step pierced through the cold that bit into their skin. Their breathing changed. The air in this corridor felt heavier.
Five steps.
Ten.
Fifteen.
The darkness pressed in from every direction. Glenn's torch illuminated only a small circle. Beyond that lay absolute black.
Then a sound appeared.
A soft scraping across the floor.
Everyone froze.
Breaths were held.
Clive focused his hearing. His new senses locked onto every tiny sound. Ted's rapid heartbeat behind him. Zorilla's short breaths. Glenn's pulse hammering against his own temple. All of it was clear.
Then there was another breath. Heavy. Wet. As if air was being forced through fluid-filled lungs. From ahead. From the side. From above.
Glenn raised the torch. The light touched the ceiling.
Dark shapes clung to it. Motionless. Waiting. Dim red eyes glowed faintly like embers refusing to die.
Glenn cursed under his breath. "It's a trap."
The first monster dropped.
A spider-like body with a melted human head. Its mouth was torn wide, teeth clattering like surgical tools. Glenn slashed it before it even touched the ground. The body split open. Hot black blood splattered against the stone.
A second monster fell. Then a third. A fourth. The corridor exploded with movement. Huge shadows jumped from the walls, the ceiling, from cracks that had been empty seconds earlier.
"Circle formation," Glenn barked.
His group moved fast. Clive pulled his team into the formation. Backs met backs. Space tightened. Breaths mingled. The smell of blood thickened the air.
The battle erupted.
Crossing slashes. Stabs hitting bone. Short screams. Shrill roars. Blood misted the corridor, turning every inhale into the taste of hot metal.
Clive moved without hesitation. His body worked on its own—precise, efficient. The energy inside him flowed into his muscles like molten red metal fresh from the forge.
The first monster he killed with a direct thrust through the eye. The second with a horizontal slash that severed its neck. The third fell with a single strike of his sword hilt to the skull, the crack echoing down the corridor.
But their numbers didn't stop. Every fallen monster was replaced by two behind it.
And in the middle of the chaos, Clive felt it.
The pressure. A presence heavier. Denser. Closer.
He turned.
Two glowing red eyes pierced the darkness. Large eyes, as big as a clenched fist. Vertical pupils narrowing into thin blades. Dark striped patterns—like faint tiger markings—appeared above the creature's brow.
Everyone knew instantly. This was the monster with a core.
The creature stepped out.
Nearly two and a half meters tall. Arms too long, fingertips brushing the floor. Skin dark gray and scaled, reflecting the torchlight like wet stone. Beneath ribs jutting like a cage, a blue light pulsed slowly.
It did not walk like a hunter. It walked like the owner of this place.
Glenn growled. "Focus on defense first."
The creature vanished from sight.
Not truly vanished. It moved too fast.
One second at the far end of the corridor. The next, right in front of the formation. Its long arm swung. One of Glenn's members nearly lost his head if Dilos hadn't intercepted the strike with a swift slash.
Glenn shouted something, his voice drowned out by another monster's roar.
Clive was already moving.
His body surged forward, driven by an instinct that felt like a call from inside his bones. His new energy vibrated violently in his chest, pulling him toward the creature.
The monster turned. Its red eyes bored into Clive, as if evaluating the contents of his body. Clive felt something cold scrape down his spine. The sensation of being seen. Measured. Matched.
The creature raised its hand.
The blue light in its chest flared bright. The air trembled. Pressure slammed into Clive, pushing him back several steps. His knees almost buckled, but he forced himself to stay standing.
Glenn seized the opening.
He leapt, swinging his sword with full force at the monster's neck.
The creature turned.
And blocked.
Bare hand against metal. Sparks burst. Glenn's sword was knocked aside. It didn't cut. It didn't pierce. It didn't even break the skin—only left a faint white scratch.
Glenn's expression changed. He didn't even have time to breathe.
The creature struck.
Its massive hand swung rapidly toward Glenn's head.