Chapter 78 - Chapter 78: When the Hunt Begins

Her wrist pulsed once—sharp, deliberate. Aria froze mid-step, her breath catching as the faint glow beneath her skin flickered like a warning, the path ahead darkening as if the light itself withdrew. "It's starting," she said quietly. Alpha Kael stepped closer instantly, his presence firm at her side. "Then we end it." Behind them, Ikechukwu exhaled slowly. "E no go easy like that." The figures that had guided them stopped all at once, then stepped back into the shadows and disappeared like they were never there. Silence dropped—not natural silence, but the kind that waits. Then something moved fast. Kael reacted first, turning sharply as a blur cut through the air. CLANG! His arm came up just in time, blocking a strike that wasn't fully visible, the force pushing him back a step. "Show yourself," he said, voice low, but there was no answer—only movement again, this time from the left. Aria turned, catching the shift before it fully happened, moving without thinking as her hand lifted and silver energy snapped into place. BOOM! The impact echoed, revealing it for a second—a humanoid shape, wrong, flickering, unstable, like it didn't fully exist in one place. Ikechukwu cursed under his breath. "Dem no even get body well." Another one appeared, then another, not rushing, just watching and testing. Aria's pulse quickened. "These are different." Kael nodded once. "They're not attacking to kill." Ikechukwu added, "Dem dey check una level." One of the shapes shifted closer, its voice distorted. "Begin survival phase." Then it attacked fast. Aria barely reacted in time, raising her arm as the strike came down, the impact forcing her back this time, her feet sliding against the ground. "Okay… so this is the hunt." Another moved toward Ikechukwu and he spun his staff instantly. CRACK! The hit landed clean, pushing the thing back but not breaking it. "…Una stubborn." Kael stepped in, precise and calculated, not wasting movement, reading them as he fought. Aria saw it too—they reacted, adjusted, learned just like her, and that thought settled deep. Then something shifted again, the air around her tightening from within, her power stirring not violently but deeper, like it recognized the moment. Aria exhaled slowly. "Alright… let's see who adapts faster." This time she moved first, acting instead of reacting, her energy flowing with her movement. One of the figures struck, she turned, redirected, and countered in the same motion, the impact hitting harder as the figure staggered. Ikechukwu let out a sharp sound. "…She don upgrade again." Kael stayed silent but watched closely. Aria didn't stop, her attacks sharper, cleaner, controlled. Another figure came at her and this time she didn't block—she caught it, her hand closing around something that barely had form yet she held it anyway, the space around her hand warping slightly as the figure froze. "Got you." Then she pushed. BOOM! It vanished into nothing. The others paused for a second—enough. "They can be destroyed," she said. Kael nodded. "Then we don't hold back." Ikechukwu grinned slightly. "Now you dey talk." The hunt changed instantly, no longer testing but pressure, the remaining figures moving faster, sharper, more aggressive. Aria felt it immediately—this was the real phase. Her heart pounded but her focus held as she moved through it—strike, block, counter, adapt. Kael fought beside her, their movements aligning without words, Ikechukwu covering their blind spots with precise timing, but even then they were being pushed back slowly. The figures weren't endless, but they weren't simple either—they learned with every move, just like her. Then Aria felt it again, that deeper pull, her power responding not to fear but to pressure, her breathing slowing, her mind clearing as everything else faded—the fight, the forest, the noise—until only control remained. Her eyes glowed faintly, silver with something deeper beneath. "Kael." "I know." Ikechukwu muttered, "…Make she no go over again." Aria stepped forward, not rushing, not reacting—commanding. Her hand lifted slowly and the space around them bent, the figures stopping mid-movement—not all, but enough. Kael moved instantly, Ikechukwu followed, and Aria held it, not forcing, not breaking—controlling. For the first time, the hunt slowed. Then a voice echoed through the forest, not from the figures but from everywhere. "Progress… acknowledged." Everything froze, the remaining figures stepping back—not defeated, not destroyed, but done. Aria lowered her hand slowly, her breathing steady but her body tense. "That's it?" she asked quietly. No answer. Then—"Phase one… complete." The pressure vanished instantly, the forest returning, but none of them relaxed, because if that was only phase one… then what was coming next would be worse.