The path ahead twisted through blackened trees, their roots gripping the soil like claws.
Every breath carried the bitter scent of smoke and iron the memory of their fight still clinging to the air.
Kana walked at the rear, her fingers tracing the edge of her charm stone. The faint glow that had saved them moments ago had dimmed to a tired ember. Each step made her shoulders sink lower beneath the invisible weight of fatigue.
Jinto glanced back, whistling under his breath. "You look like a candle ready to melt. Need a break?"
She gave a humorless smile. "If I stop now, that barrier won't charge in time for the next fight."
Ren, leading the way, grunted. "Rest anyway. A healer who collapses is worse than no healer at all."
The words were blunt, almost cruel, but Haruki caught the edge of concern hiding behind them. Ren's tone wasn't scolding just… tired.
They stopped beside a cracked pillar half-swallowed by moss. Kana knelt and pressed her charm to the ground, drawing faint sigils that shimmered like moonlight. Energy pulsed once, twice, and then flowed through the soil.
Haruki crouched beside her, watching. "That takes a lot out of you, doesn't it?"
Kana didn't answer immediately. She stared at her trembling hands before whispering, "Healing isn't magic. It's the art of taking someone else's pain… and pretending it doesn't hurt you."
Her words hung in the cold air. Even the System orb above Haruki's wrist dimmed as if in respect.
He hesitated, then said quietly,
"Maybe pain's just proof that we still care. The day it stops hurting is the day we've given up."
Kana looked up at him, surprised. The boy who could barely hold a sword an hour ago spoke with a calm that didn't belong to an amateur.
A small smile touched her lips. "You sound like someone who's been hurt a lot."
Haruki shrugged. "Maybe. But that just means I've had more practice standing back up."
Ren turned slightly, hiding the faint curve at the corner of his mouth. Jinto chuckled under his breath.
The silence that followed wasn't heavy anymore—it was steady, strong. The kind that binds people after they've bled together.
Somewhere far ahead, a low rumble echoed through the forest the next trial stirring awake.
Kana rose, light flickering again in her charm. "Then let's keep moving. If the world's going to break us, we'll make it work for it."
Ren drew his sword, nodding once. "That's more like it."
Haruki smiled faintly, the earlier tremor gone from his hands. The fear was still there, yes but now it was walking beside something stronger.
Hope.
The rumble deepened until it shook the ground beneath their boots.
Ren raised a hand. "Stop."
The forest around them had gone still too still. Even the mist hung suspended in the air like glass. Then, with a thunderous crack, the soil ahead split open. A glowing rift tore through the earth, spilling violet light across the trees.
"Dungeon fracture!" Jinto shouted, stumbling back. "That's not supposed to happen outside the trials!"
"Tell that to the world," Ren muttered, slamming his shield into the ground. "Formation now!"
The light flared, and from within the rift crawled something skeletal. Its skin was half-formed, stretched over exposed bones. Dozens of eyes blinked along its arms, each staring in a different direction.
Kana gasped. "A Riftborn…"
"Lowest class, right?" Jinto asked hopefully.
She shook her head. "There's… no 'low' class for something that shouldn't exist."
The creature screeched, lunging. Ren intercepted, his shield lighting up as claws struck it with a sound like metal tearing apart. The impact forced him down on one knee.
"Ren!" Haruki shouted.
"Stay back!" Ren's voice cut through the chaos. His arm trembled, but he didn't yield. "If it breaks through me, you're all dead."
He pushed forward, gritting his teeth. "I've seen whole squads wiped out because no one stood their ground. I swore that if I ever led again, I'd never let that happen!"
The Riftborn shrieked, slamming against him again.
"A leader doesn't run from fear," Ren growled, pushing up with every ounce of strength, "he drags it forward until it breaks before he does."
The quote hit Haruki like a spark. The boy who had been watching, waiting, suddenly moved. He dashed forward, sliding under Ren's arm and slashing upward. His blade caught one of the creature's eyes, and a fountain of dark light erupted.
The Riftborn howled, stumbling back.
Jinto was already moving, slicing its hamstring-like tendons, while Kana thrust her charm toward Haruki, light wrapping his limbs like glowing armor.
"Go!" Ren shouted. "End it!"
Together, the trio surged forward blade, light, and speed merging into one decisive strike.
The Riftborn exploded into a burst of mist, leaving only its scream echoing through the void.
The rift flickered, then sealed itself with a sharp snap.
Silence returned.
Ren stood motionless for a moment, then exhaled shakily. "Good work. You listened."
Haruki met his eyes. "You said a leader doesn't run from fear. Guess that means the rest of us shouldn't either."
Ren smirked faintly. "Heh. Guess you do listen sometimes."
The forest floor was scorched black where the Riftborn had fallen. Ash and fragments of bone-like crystal glimmered faintly in the light of Kana's charm.
Haruki crouched beside the crater, brushing away soot. Beneath the layer of debris, he spotted something—smooth, metallic, and marked with strange geometric symbols that pulsed faintly with blue light.
"Hey, Ren… there's something under here."
Ren knelt, narrowing his eyes. "Careful. Could be residue from the fracture."
Jinto leaned over Haruki's shoulder, curiosity shining in his eyes. "Nah, look at those lines. That's ancient tech System architecture. Probably pre-collapse era."
"Pre-collapse?" Kana asked.
"Before the Bantings appeared," Jinto replied. "When humanity still tried to build Systems instead of just surviving them."
Ren frowned. "Then why is it here?"
Haruki brushed the dirt away completely, revealing a circular altar embedded into the ground. Strange runes spiraled inward, forming a symbol like an open eye.
As his fingers hovered over it, the runes flared to life.
Kana gasped and stumbled back. "It's reacting!"
Ren's hand went to his sword. "Haruki, move"
But before he could, light surged upward, wrapping around Haruki like liquid fire. The System orb above his wrist blinked erratically.
[Unknown Core Detected. Authentication: Accepted.]
[Z-Core Fragment Awakening in Progress...]
The voice wasn't the same cold, mechanical tone as before. This one… almost sounded alive.
Haruki's vision blurred. Images flashed in his mind cities floating in the sky, colossal beasts bowing to men made of light, and a single voice whispering:
"The world doesn't choose heroes. It just gives the broken a chance to rebuild it."
He gasped, pulling his hand back as the light dimmed. The altar went silent again, as if nothing had happened.
Kana rushed to his side. "Haruki! Are you okay?"
He nodded slowly, chest rising and falling with uneven breaths. "Yeah… I just saw something. A memory, maybe."
Ren's gaze hardened. "Whatever that was, it wasn't normal. Keep it quiet for now. We can't risk the Guild catching wind of this."
Haruki looked at the faintly glowing runes, a quiet resolve forming in his chest.
"Maybe destiny isn't something that finds us," he murmured. "Maybe it's something we dig out ourselves one scar at a time."
The others fell silent. For a brief moment, even the forest seemed to listen.
The forest mist began to thin as the squad pushed forward. Faint lights flickered ahead lanterns swaying from metal poles, marking the border of another Hunter camp.
Ren slowed, raising a hand. "Eyes sharp. We're not alone."
From between the trees emerged a group of six. Their armor gleamed, marked with the silver insignia of Guild Division C higher rank, better gear, sharper eyes.
The one in front, a tall man with ash-grey hair and a jagged scar across his cheek, smirked as soon as he saw them. "Well, well. If it isn't the F-Rank rookies."
Ren's posture stiffened. "Kaito."
Jinto rolled his eyes. "Great. The hyenas have arrived."
Kaito's squad laughed, spreading out lazily, their weapons casually unsheathed. "Relax, we're not here to babysit you. Just cleaning up the leftovers. Heard something about a Riftborn around here."
Kana stepped forward. "We already handled it."
That earned a chorus of mocking whistles. "You? Please. You'd faint at the smell of real blood."
Before Ren could snap, Jinto cut in, grinning wide. "Funny thing about underestimating peopleit usually ends with you face-first in the dirt."
The smirk on Kaito's face twitched. "Big words for someone hiding behind a rusted dagger."
Jinto's grin didn't fade. "Maybe. But at least I sharpen mine with effort, not ego."
Ren gave a faint grunt that might've been a laugh.
Kaito's eyes narrowed as he noticed Haruki, still standing quietly behind them. "And who's the new pet? Doesn't even have a proper System display."
Haruki met his gaze calmly. "I don't need to show mine to know it works."
Something in his tone steady, unwavering made Kaito pause. For a moment, even his squad shifted uncomfortably.
"Strength," Haruki said softly, "isn't about being noticed. It's about being ready when no one's looking."
The words hung in the air, quiet but sharp.
Kaito scoffed, breaking the silence. "Cute speech. Let's see if you still talk like that when the next Rift opens." He turned, signaling his squad to move out. "Try not to die before the report's due."
As they vanished into the mist, Jinto muttered, "I swear, that guy's ego has its own gravity."
Ren exhaled slowly. "Ignore him. But remember his name—men like that don't forget humiliation."
Haruki looked at where Kaito disappeared, his hand tightening on his blade. "Then I'll give him a reason to remember me for the right reason."
By the time the mist faded completely, night had settled over the ruins.
Ren found a sheltered spot beneath a collapsed archway, the remains of an old watchtower swallowed by vines. The group built a small fire; its flickering light pushed back the shadows just enough to make them feel human again.
Jinto dropped beside the flames with a groan. "If I ever see another goblin, I'm running the other way."
Kana smiled faintly as she poured warm water into a dented kettle. "You say that now, but you'd chase one for loot the moment it dropped a shiny coin."
He grinned. "You know me too well."
Ren sat a little apart from them, sharpening his sword in steady, rhythmic motions. Sparks danced with each stroke. Haruki watched him, fascinated by how calm he seemed after the chaos of battle.
"You don't rest much, do you?" Haruki asked quietly.
Ren didn't look up. "Rest is earned, not given."
Kana frowned. "Even warriors need to breathe."
Ren's sharpening slowed for a heartbeat. "Breathing's easy. Living with what happens when you stop fighting that's the hard part."
His tone carried something heavy. Regret. Memory. Haruki didn't press.
The kettle whistled softly. Kana handed everyone a tin cup of weak tea. "You know," she said, looking into the fire, "we all talk about fighting to survive… but sometimes, surviving isn't the same as living."
Jinto raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like something the old monks would say."
She smiled sadly. "Maybe they're right. Life isn't measured by how long we last but by how much we can still care, even after the world stops making sense."
Her words silenced the group for a while. The fire crackled, sending up orange embers like tiny stars.
Haruki leaned back, letting the warmth wash over him. "That's… actually something worth remembering," he said softly.
Then the flickering orb on his wrist blinked once.
[SYSTEM UPDATE DETECTED. NEW CORE PROTOCOL ACTIVATING...]
[Warning: Emotional Sync at 42%. Unstable Connection.]
The glow pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat, each flash a little faster.
Ren noticed and tensed. "Haruki… what's happening?"
Haruki stared at the light, feeling a pulse of awareness not his own something inside the System responding to his emotions.
He whispered, almost to himself, "Maybe… it's learning from us."
The fire cracked louder, a burst of sparks rising into the starless night as if the world itself was listening.