The forest held its breath.
No wind moved through the branches. No insects chirped in the undergrowth. Even the faint hum of ambient mana seemed to have retreated, leaving only a suffocating stillness.
Kael stared at the figure standing between the trees.
Humanoid.
Tall.
Its limbs were long and slightly disproportionate, like something that had grown too quickly for its own structure. Dark veins crawled across pale skin, pulsing faintly beneath the surface.
But the eyes were the worst part.
Not glowing like corrupted monsters.
Not wild like beasts.
They were calm.
Curious.
And hungry.
"You smell… similar," the creature repeated softly.
Its voice was rough, as if unused to speaking.
Kael felt the Hollow react violently inside him.
Not in excitement.
In warning.
The sensation was unmistakable—like two magnetic fields pushing against each other.
This being carried something structurally related to the Hollow.
Not identical.
But close enough to resonate.
Leon stepped forward cautiously, golden aura igniting around his blade.
"What are you?" he demanded.
The creature turned its gaze toward Leon slowly.
"Food that talks," it murmured.
Then it moved.
No warning.
No buildup.
One moment it stood still.
The next it was gone.
Kael barely saw the blur before it appeared beside one of the second-years.
The student raised a barrier instinctively.
Too slow.
The creature's hand pierced through the aura shield like paper and grabbed the student by the throat.
Energy surged.
The student screamed.
But the scream lasted less than a second.
His aura collapsed instantly, draining into the creature's arm like water vanishing into sand.
His body fell limp.
Empty.
The Hollow inside Kael recoiled.
Not from the act.
From the method.
That wasn't absorption.
It was tearing.
Crude.
Violent.
Wasteful.
The creature exhaled slowly, eyes glowing brighter.
"Better," it whispered.
Leon attacked immediately.
His sword flashed with concentrated light, striking toward the creature's neck.
The creature twisted unnaturally, bending backward beyond human limits. The blade sliced only air.
It countered with a backhand strike.
Leon barely blocked, sliding several meters across the forest floor.
"Formation!" Mareth barked.
Spells ignited around the clearing as the remaining students spread out. Earth barriers rose. Wind blades cut through branches. Lightning crackled.
The creature watched it all with interest.
"Many flavors," it said.
Kael forced his breathing steady.
His instincts screamed at him to activate the Hollow.
To drain it.
To fight fire with fire.
But something felt wrong.
The creature's energy structure was unstable—like multiple mismatched fragments forced together.
If he tried to absorb that directly…
It might corrupt him.
Or worse.
The creature turned its head toward him again.
"Yes," it said softly. "You understand."
Kael's blood ran cold.
It could feel him.
Not just his aura.
The Hollow itself.
Mareth engaged.
Unlike the students, his aura exploded outward with terrifying force. A dense wave of pressure slammed into the clearing, forcing the creature back several steps.
"Everyone fall back!" Mareth commanded.
"I'll hold it!"
Leon hesitated.
But he obeyed.
The students retreated toward the unconscious scouts, dragging them away from the battlefield.
Kael moved with them.
Slowly.
Carefully.
The creature's eyes never left him.
"You're leaving?" it asked.
Kael said nothing.
Mareth's blade ignited with condensed mana, forming a shimmering arc of energy.
"Your opponent is me," Mareth said coldly.
The creature tilted its head.
"You are strong," it admitted.
Then it smiled.
"But you are not what I want."
It lunged.
Not at Mareth.
At Kael.
Kael reacted instantly.
He activated the Hollow—not fully, but enough to reinforce his body.
Time slowed.
The creature's hand reached for his chest.
Kael twisted sideways, letting the strike graze past him.
The impact shattered the tree behind him.
Leon intercepted, slashing across the creature's arm.
This time, the blade cut flesh.
Dark blood spilled.
The creature hissed.
"Annoying."
Mareth arrived a heartbeat later, driving his blade through the creature's shoulder.
The attack landed clean.
But instead of collapsing, the creature laughed.
Its body twisted violently as corrupted energy surged through the wound.
The injury sealed.
Not healing.
Reconstruction.
Kael's mind raced.
This thing wasn't just absorbing energy.
It was rebuilding itself using whatever fragments it had taken.
A patchwork predator.
Unstable.
But terrifying.
The Hollow inside Kael pulsed again.
Different this time.
Not warning.
Analysis.
It was mapping the creature's structure.
Identifying fracture points.
Possible extraction pathways.
Kael realized something.
If he drained the creature's core completely, it might kill it instantly.
But the risk was enormous.
The energy inside it was chaotic.
Mixed.
Corrupted.
And partially hollowed.
Trying to process that much incompatible energy could destroy his system.
Or transform him into something similar.
A parasite feeding on parasites.
The creature lunged again.
This time Mareth met it head-on.
Their clash shattered the ground.
Shockwaves ripped through nearby trees.
Leon joined the attack, coordinating strikes with precise timing.
For a moment, the two of them forced the creature back.
But it adapted quickly.
Each exchange made it faster.
Stronger.
It was feeding on residual energy from every attack.
Kael clenched his fists.
This fight is making it stronger.
He had to act.
But not recklessly.
The Hollow pulsed as if agreeing.
A new option surfaced in his awareness.
Not full absorption.
Selective extraction.
Instead of draining the core…
He could destabilize it.
Remove just enough fragments to collapse the system.
Kael inhaled slowly.
"Leon!" he shouted.
Leon glanced back mid-combat.
"Next time it repositions its core, force it upward!"
Leon didn't ask how Kael knew.
He trusted the call.
The creature attacked again.
Leon baited it with a high strike, then pivoted under its arm.
Exactly as Kael predicted, the creature shifted its core toward the chest to reinforce.
Kael moved.
The Hollow activated with surgical precision.
A thin thread connected to the exposed energy node.
He pulled.
Not much.
Just a fragment.
The creature froze.
Its internal structure faltered.
Mareth's blade struck instantly, driving through the destabilised core.
The creature screamed.
Not in rage.
In confusion.
Its body collapsed, energy dispersing violently as the structure holding it together unraveled.
Within seconds, nothing remained but a twisted husk.
Silence returned to the forest.
Heavy breathing filled the clearing.
Leon wiped blood from his lip.
"…What the hell was that?"
Mareth stared at the corpse.
His expression was darker than Kael had ever seen.
"That," Mareth said quietly, "was not a monster."
Kael felt the Hollow settle uneasily.
He had extracted something during the attack.
A fragment unlike anything before.
Not pure corruption.
Not pure aura.
Something in between.
Something that felt… engineered.
Kael looked down at his hand.
Inside his system, the new fragment pulsed faintly.
Unknown Energy Signature Acquired.
Classification: Incomplete.
Processing Pathway… Developing.
Kael swallowed.
The thing they fought hadn't been natural.
Which meant one terrifying possibility.
Someone was making them.
And if that someone understood powers like the Hollow…
Then Kael wasn't the only predator in the world anymore.
He might just be the newest one.