Ray finally slowed to a halt at the edge of a fortified encampment.
The perimeter was guarded not by the ragtag, filth-covered scavengers of the Dead Zone, but by individuals wearing uniforms similar to Ray's white coats with gold trim, pristine and out of place against the rotting wood of the palisade.
An Zhe's blood ran cold. He knew this place.
This was the East Camp. It was where Kevin, a deranged A-rank Awakener, had once ruled as a king.
In Digul City, camp wars were rare because survival took precedence over territory. However, the East Camp was unique. It was situated far from the dense monster habitats. While this location had its positives, fewer beast attacks and safer nights, it had a fatal flaw: starvation. Without monsters nearby, there was nothing to hunt. And unlike their grotesque appearances suggested, the beasts of the forest were the only source of edible meat.
Faced with scarcity, Kevin had found a gruesome solution. He had an appetite that regular rations couldn't satisfy. He began recruiting weak Awakeners and refugees, promising them safety from the beasts. Once they were inside, he would slaughter them. Kevin served human meat to his inner circle and feasted on the rest himself.
An Zhe had been one of those recruits. He had smelled the metallic stench of the kitchens, realized the horror, and barely escaped with his life. That flight had led him to the West Camp and the bald man he eventually served.
But now, looking at the camp, Kevin was nowhere to be seen. There were no heads on spikes, no smell of rotting flesh. The people with Ray, this organized, powerful group, must have cleared the place out. They had likely swatted Kevin like a fly.
"Welcome to temporary base camp," Ray said, straightening his collar as if he hadn't just kidnapped someone.
As An Zhe walked through the gates behind Ray, the atmosphere was suffocating. Dozens of people stopped what they were doing to watch them. They were all young, all beautiful, and all radiated a subtle, humming power.
An Zhe instinctively hunched his shoulders, feeling the grime on his skin burning under their gaze. He felt like a rat scurrying across a banquet table. But as he glanced around, he realized their eyes weren't on him. They were looking at Ray.
"He's back?" "Is that the guy Ray went to save?" "He looks like a beggar."
Ignoring the whispers, Ray marched toward the center of the camp. There, standing by a command table filled with holographic maps, was a man who demanded attention without saying a word.
He was tall, with hair the same shade of sun-bleached blonde as Ray's, though cut in a sharper, more military style. He wore the same uniform, but his bore more insignias. He was young, barely twenty four, yet the air around him felt heavy, dense with a power that made the air in An Zhe's lungs feel thin.
A subordinate bowed stiffly. "Student Ray has arrived with a participant, Brother Aiden."
Aiden.
So this was the man Ray was afraid of. An Zhe looked at him and immediately felt a crushing pressure, a sensation like gravity had doubled solely for him. Unlike the brutal, wild strength of the camp leaders in Digul City, Aiden's power felt controlled, refined, and infinitely deeper.
Aiden didn't look at Ray. His ice blue eyes locked onto An Zhe.
"Rank?" Aiden asked. His voice was quiet, yet it cut through the noise of the camp instantly.
An Zhe swallowed hard, his throat dry. "F."
The silence that followed was deafening. Several people nearby scoffed.
Aiden slowly shifted his gaze to Ray, his expression unreadable but terrifying. "You disappeared for three hours to bring me an F-rank?"
"He has a very rare power!" Ray pleaded, his hands coming up in a defensive gesture. "Brother Aiden, you have to see it. It's blood manipulation. You will be surprised."
"Blood manipulation is useless without a high Hemocore density," Aiden said dismissively. "Lily."
From the shadows of the command tent, a girl stepped forward. She was petite, with jet-black hair cut into a bob, and looked even younger than An Zhe. She held a strange, metallic monocle in her hand.
She didn't speak to An Zhe. She simply raised the device to her eye and looked at him.
An Zhe felt a strange tingling sensation wash over his body, as if he were being scanned by an invisible laser.
"Status check," Lily said, her voice robotic.
[STARFALL INDEX / PROXY SCAN]
Name: An Zhe
Age : 17
Rank: F
Hemocore Capacity: 0%
Skill Type: Blood Manipulation (Parasitic Variant)
Potential Class: F
An Zhe froze. The Starfall Index was a system that supposedly only the owner of the body could see. It was the interface of the soul. For her to read it out loud meant her perception abilities were monstrous.
Aiden looked at the projected data and sighed. It was a sound of profound disappointment. "Hemocore zero percent. Potential F. Ray, he is trash."
"But the skill-" Ray started.
"Parasitic Blood Manipulation is a defect," Aiden cut him off. "It means he can't generate power for long, either stealing others blood or using his own weak blood"
Aiden turned his back on them. "We are leaving tomorrow at dawn. We do not have time to run a charity for the locals."
"Are you not going to let him take the test?" Ray asked, his voice losing its usual chaotic bounce.
"No," Aiden said, checking a map. "Throw him out."
Hearing this, An Zhe's heart hammered against his ribs.
He wasn't surprised. He knew he was weak. He knew he was technically 'trash' by their standards. But he also knew what lay outside these gates. If he was thrown back into Digul City now, after being seen with these outsiders, the other camps would torture him for information he didn't have. Or worse, he would starve.
This arrogance, this dismissal, it was his only lifeline.
"Please," An Zhe's voice cracked.
He dropped to his knees in the dirt. It was a humiliating gesture, surrendering the last of his dignity, but survival had no room for pride.
"Please allow me to take the test," An Zhe pleaded, pressing his forehead toward the ground. "Give me a chance."
The camp went silent. Ray looked uncomfortable, shifting his weight. Lily looked bored.
Aiden slowly turned around. He looked down at the boy groveling in the dust. There was no pity in his eyes, only a cold, calculating curiosity. He let the silence stretch for a full minute, letting the pressure build until An Zhe felt like he might pass out.
"You want a chance?" Aiden asked softly.
"Yes," An Zhe breathed, looking up.
"Fine. You can take the test."
An Zhe felt a rush of relief so potent it almost made him dizzy. His lips slowly curved upward in a tremulous smile. "Thank y-"
"But," Aiden interrupted, his voice dropping an octave, becoming darker than the forest night. He took a step closer, looming over An Zhe.
"We are looking only looking for Elites"
Aiden leaned down, his face inches from An Zhe's.
"If you pass, you come with us. But if you fail..." Aiden stared directly into An Zhe's trembling pupils. "You'll die."