The walk back to the academy was silent.
No one celebrated the victory.
No one even spoke.
The forest itself felt wrong after what they had encountered. Every rustle of leaves sounded suspicious. Every shadow looked like it might hide another creature like the one they had just fought.
Kael walked near the rear of the group, helping carry one of the unconscious scouts.
Outwardly, he looked calm.
Inside, the Hollow was anything but.
The fragment he had extracted from the creature pulsed irregularly inside the system, like a broken gear trying to turn within a perfectly functioning machine.
It didn't integrate.
It didn't dissolve.
It simply existed.
And that made Kael uneasy.
Normally the Hollow processed everything immediately—refining, stabilizing, converting.
This time it hesitated.
As if it was unsure how to categorize what it had taken.
That alone told Kael how dangerous the fragment was.
Mareth finally broke the silence.
"What we encountered was not a natural monster," he said without turning around.
No one argued.
Leon glanced back toward the forest.
"It spoke," he said quietly. "Monsters don't talk."
"Correct."
"And it drained aura the same way corrupted beasts do."
Mareth shook his head slightly.
"No. Corrupted beasts consume mana instinctively. That creature was selective."
Kael's chest tightened.
Selective.
That meant intelligence.
Planning.
Understanding.
Mareth continued walking.
"This incident will be reported to the council immediately. Until further notice, no student will leave the academy grounds without senior supervision."
Leon frowned.
"So the border really is collapsing."
"Not collapsing," Mareth said.
"Changing."
When they returned to the academy, the reaction was immediate.
Healers rushed the injured students to the infirmary. Messengers ran between administrative buildings. Defensive arrays around the walls brightened as additional layers activated.
The academy was shifting into defensive posture.
And Kael knew exactly why.
If even one creature like that could infiltrate the border zones, the entire balance of power in the region was at risk.
But that wasn't what worried him most.
What worried him was what the creature had said.
You smell… similar.
The Hollow pulsed faintly again.
Not aggressively.
Just acknowledging the memory.
That night, Kael locked his door and activated the Hollow fully.
The internal structure unfolded before his perception like a mechanical galaxy of rotating layers and floating fragments.
Bronze aura.
Earth fragment.
Mid-grade monster core.
Corruption shard.
Each one orbiting the central void.
And now…
The unknown fragment.
It was darker than the others, its energy structure jagged and incomplete. Instead of rotating smoothly, it twitched sporadically like a damaged component.
Kael focused on it.
"Analyze," he whispered.
The Hollow responded slowly.
Not instantly, like before.
Which was another bad sign.
Unknown Fragment Analysis Initiated
Structural Origin: Artificial
Energy Composition: Hybrid
Stability: 34%
Integration: Incompatible
Kael frowned.
Artificial.
That confirmed Mareth's suspicion.
Someone had created that creature.
But the real problem was the hybrid composition.
It contained corrupted mana.
Normal aura.
And something else.
Something hollow.
Kael leaned forward slightly.
"Compare structural patterns."
The Hollow obeyed.
A projection formed within his perception.
Two overlapping structures.
The fragment from the creature.
And the architecture of the Hollow itself.
They were not identical.
But they shared principles.
Layered absorption.
Fragment integration.
Adaptive restructuring.
Someone had attempted to replicate a system like the Hollow.
And failed.
The creature they fought wasn't a perfected predator.
It was a prototype.
Kael's thoughts raced.
If someone was experimenting with Hollow-like abilities…
That meant three terrifying possibilities.
First—someone had discovered a similar power source.
Second—someone had studied a being like him before.
Or third…
The Hollow wasn't unique.
He exhaled slowly.
None of those options were comforting.
A knock came at his door.
Kael instantly suppressed the system.
"Enter."
Leon stepped inside.
He looked tired.
Not physically.
Mentally.
"You felt it too, didn't you?" Leon asked.
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"Felt what?"
Leon closed the door behind him.
"That creature's aura. It was… wrong."
Kael shrugged lightly.
"Corruption tends to be."
Leon shook his head.
"No. I've fought corrupted beasts before."
He hesitated.
"Those feel like madness."
Leon looked directly at Kael.
"This one felt like hunger."
Kael said nothing.
Leon rubbed the back of his neck.
"When it looked at you… it reacted."
Kael kept his expression neutral.
"You're imagining things."
Leon sighed.
"Maybe."
But the doubt remained in his eyes.
He walked toward the door again.
"Just be careful, Kael."
"About what?"
Leon paused.
"About becoming something the academy can't control."
Then he left.
Later that night, Kael returned to the internal system again.
He stared at the unstable fragment.
Artificial.
Incomplete.
Dangerous.
The Hollow had refused to integrate it.
But it hadn't rejected it either.
It was… studying it.
Learning from it.
Adapting around it.
Kael felt a quiet chill.
Even when he tried to restrain it, the system continued evolving.
Not actively consuming.
But preparing.
As if anticipating future encounters.
Kael closed his eyes.
"Remove it," he ordered.
The Hollow pulsed once.
Then responded.
Removal impossible
Fragment partially anchored
Extraction risk: Structural damage
Kael opened his eyes slowly.
So once something entered the system…
It could never fully leave.
Every fragment became part of him.
Forever.
He leaned back against the wall.
The implications were clear.
Every fight.
Every extraction.
Every decision.
They were permanent.
And if he kept absorbing unknown fragments like this…
Eventually, the Hollow might become something even he couldn't predict.
Across the academy grounds, far beyond Kael's awareness, someone watched the border forests through a shimmering observation array.
The projection showed the creature's final moments.
The extraction.
The destabilization.
A figure cloaked in dark robes leaned closer to the crystal.
"…Interesting."
Another voice spoke from the shadows.
"You're certain?"
The robed figure nodded slowly.
"The resonance signature is unmistakable."
The crystal flickered again, showing Kael's silhouette in the clearing.
"A natural Hollow carrier," the figure whispered.
"After all these years…"
A thin smile appeared beneath the hood.
"…we finally found one."
The projection faded.
And somewhere far beyond the academy walls, something ancient stirred with renewed interest.