Lyra did not linger after the contract was formed. She turned toward the forest as if the next step had already been decided long before Kael had any chance to question it.
"We move," she said.
Kael blinked, still trying to process the fact that he had just been pulled into another world and labeled as someone else's contracted entity. "Move where, exactly?"
"To the test zone."
He let out a quiet breath as he followed her. "That sounds like a place people usually die."
"They do," she replied calmly. "When they fail."
"That's not comforting."
The moment they crossed into the tree line, Kael felt the difference. The air seemed to sharpen around him, as though something unseen pressed lightly against his senses. It was not heavy or suffocating like the pressure Lyra had used earlier, but it was constant, like a presence that refused to be ignored.
He slowed slightly, glancing around. The forest felt too still, as if it were waiting for something to happen.
"You'll feel it," Lyra said without turning back.
"Feel what?" he asked.
She didn't answer.
He felt it anyway.
It was subtle at first, just enough to make the back of his neck tighten. Then it settled in more clearly—a sense that he was no longer alone, even when nothing was visible.
"…I don't like this," he muttered.
"Good," Lyra replied. "That means you're aware."
A low growl rolled through the trees, deep enough that Kael felt it more than he heard it.
He turned instinctively, his body tensing.
"Please tell me that's not aimed at me."
"It is."
"Of course it is."
The creature stepped into view slowly, as though it wanted him to see it clearly.
At a glance, it resembled a wolf, but its proportions were wrong. Its body seemed stretched too thin, its limbs slightly uneven, and the way it moved carried a subtle distortion that made it difficult to track.
Its eyes locked onto Kael immediately.
Not Lyra.
Him.
Kael let out a quiet breath. "Yeah, I feel very singled out right now."
"You are unranked," Lyra said. "You are the easiest target."
"That feels unnecessarily honest."
The creature lunged without warning.
Kael did not have time to think, and instinct took over before logic could catch up. He shifted his stance and raised his hands as the creature closed the distance.
The impact came—
But it did not land the way it should have.
Instead of striking him directly, the force shifted just enough to throw the creature off balance. Its momentum broke mid-air, and it stumbled awkwardly as it hit the ground.
Kael stared at his hands.
"…Okay," he said slowly. "That was not intentional."
Lyra's eyes sharpened immediately. "There."
He barely heard her. "I didn't even—"
The creature recovered faster this time, its aggression sharper now that it had missed.
"Focus," Lyra said.
Kael forced himself to steady, pushing aside the confusion. When the creature lunged again, he resisted the urge to panic and instead watched more closely.
Not the creature itself—
But the moment before it reached him.
There.
That shift.
He reached out instinctively and met it.
Something clicked.
The force twisted.
The creature's momentum redirected violently, sending it crashing into the ground behind him.
Kael blinked, then let out a slow breath.
"…Okay," he said. "That one might've been me."
Lyra moved without hesitation and finished the creature with a single, precise strike.
Silence settled over the forest once more.
Kael exhaled, still trying to make sense of what had just happened. "So… I think I just bounce things?"
Lyra shook her head as she stepped back.
"No."
She looked directly at him.
"You redirect force."
Kael considered that for a moment, then nodded slowly.
"…Yeah. That sounds a lot better."