Something was beeping.
Kael stirred, groaning, as the sound cut through the fog in his skull. His body felt like stone — heavy, bruised, sore in places he couldn't even name.
He blinked against the dim light, squinting toward the source.
His wristband — the cadet map — was still active, flickering weakly. A soft red pulse blinked across the cracked display. The cave around him was quiet, but colder than before. Dust stirred in the corners. The fire had long since died out.
That's when it happened.
A sudden ripple of pressure filled the space — not physical, but… internal. Kael's breath caught in his chest as something lit up in the corner of his vision. A faint, black-violet shimmer curved in the air like drifting mist, forming a circular ring of broken glyphs and flickering data.
Then a voice spoke — smooth, worn, and unmistakably human.
"About time."
Kael flinched.
"Let's get out of here."
He looked around the cave, heart pounding. "Who—?"
[Nether Code System Booting…]
USER: VERIFIED
STATUS: RECOVERY (83%)
NEW CODELINE DETECTED: SHADOW KEY
[QUEST INITIALIZED]
Title: Survive the Hunt
Objective: Escape the ravine. Return to the academy.
Reward: System Stabilization – Phase I Unlock
The words faded as quickly as they came, leaving only silence and the low hum of the map on his wrist.
Kael sat there, stunned.
A dream. It had to be a dream.
He looked down at his right wrist.
The black marking was still there — faint, ringed like a tattoo, still warm with a strange, pulsing chill. It didn't look infected. It looked alive.
"...What the hell is happening to me?"
There was no answer.
Of course there wasn't.
He staggered to his feet, groaning. His ribs still hurt, but something felt… different. He didn't know what yet. Just that it was real.
He wasn't sure if the voice had been the old man's… or something else.
Outside the cave, the slope curved upward toward the ridge. Kael narrowed his eyes. He thought he remembered the way. The fall had scrambled him, but if he could get high enough—
A gust of wind carried a distant sound: shouting. And something else.
A roar.
Meanwhile…
The search team was smaller than expected — two cadets and a junior field medic. The instructors hadn't bothered with heavy support. They weren't expecting to find anyone alive.
Now they were running for their lives.
The Velkra Coil had returned — a different one from the training mission. Larger. Hungrier.
It lashed through the underbrush with surprising speed, its crystal-tipped tail cracking trees in half.
"Fall back!" the scout yelled. "We can't outrun it!"
The group skidded into a clearing near the ridge — boxed in by rocks and roots. The medic raised a stun lance. The lead cadet tried to shield them with a weak flame wall.
The Velkra reared up.
Kael pulled himself over the last ledge, panting. His muscles screamed with effort, but the climb had jolted him awake in ways sleep never could.
Then he heard it.
Roaring.
Screams.
He forced himself up and ran toward the sound.
As he reached the tree line, he froze.
The search team was cornered. The Velkra Coil towered over them, its maw open wide, tail slamming side to side.
Something inside Kael surged — not panic. Not fear.
Pressure.
"You feel that?" the voice asked, quieter now.
"That's proximity. Power calls to power."
Kael's eyes widened.
He didn't understand what was happening. But the beast… was going to kill them.
And without thinking — without trying — Kael felt the pull.
A flicker of heat in his chest. A buzzing under his skin.
The lead cadet's flame wall shimmered — and Kael's fingers sparked with the same heat for a split second.
It vanished just as fast.
But it was enough.
Kael rushed forward, grabbing a broken branch, and hurled it toward the beast's eye. It wasn't smart — but it was loud.
The Velkra turned.
Kael stood his ground.
Every part of him screamed to run.
But something whispered to stay.
The beast lunged.
Kael dove to the side.
The search team reacted fast — one tossed a smoke charge, another hit it with a stun burst. It roared again, tail swiping wildly.
Kael rolled to his feet, gasping.
The voice returned — not mocking, not urgent.
"Borrowed flame. Short sync. Good instinct."
"What?"
"You'll understand later. Move."
Together, the cadets managed to drive the beast back. It hissed, wounded and confused, and eventually retreated into the woods, crashing through brush as it vanished.
Silence followed.
The medic looked at Kael like he was a ghost.
"...You're alive?"
Kael didn't answer.
He looked down at his hand.
There was no flame now. No HUD. No voice.
Just him.
And yet… he felt stronger. His limbs lighter. His chest steadier.
When he flexed his fingers, they didn't shake.
Something had changed.