In the Nightmare Realm, within the manor house—the largest building in Houndswell Village—a middle-aged man sat behind his desk, idly playing with a stack of papers.
This was the conference room.
Aside from him, there were several other people present. But one could easily tell from the aura alone that this man was their leader—the Village Lord.
A man sitting on his right spoke, "My lord, recently we have been receiving very low-quality goods from Tellus."
Another man added, "Yes, my lord. Even though we've been complaining nonstop, they don't care about us."
Another voice joined in, "They've grown arrogant after gaining some power."
The man on the Village Lord's right spoke again, "My lord, this is a serious issue. Other villages are receiving good-quality goods. If we let this slide, our economy will take a hit."
The Village Lord sighed. A chill of cold air escaped his mouth as the room's temperature dropped.
"It seems," he said calmly, "they've forgotten who rules Houndswell."
At the outskirts of Houndswell Forest.
Zuko and Lara had joined the hunt. It was their first time. They were assigned to the crooked-faced instructor's class. Zuko and Lara stayed away from the arrogant gray-haired boy named Kael. He had been arrogant from the start, and since they were new, they kept their distance from him.
Zuko had already seen the Nightmare Realm before. He knew this beautiful forest hid many dangers. He was nervous—but seeing Lara, with her wondrous and curious gaze, made him feel a little at ease.
Lara was in her own world. She didn't know the dangers lurking around them. "Zuko, see the flowers? They're so beautiful. They're glowing so bright."
Zuko forced a smile. His face grew paler with each step they took. Their instructor hadn't given them any training—he was taking them straight into a hunt.
Zuko's family also had training facilities. Although he wasn't very interested in the Nightmare Realm, he wasn't dumb enough to ignore something this basic. He had joined Etherion's Mysterious School because of Lara. After awakening, she had accepted the offer from Mr. Dordo.
The instructor said smugly, "Do not worry, kid. I'll protect you. You don't have to hunt today. Seeing things with your own eyes is the best way to learn."
Zuko nodded. But inwardly, he opposed the idea. The Nightmare Realm was reality. They needed time to adjust—this wasn't a movie where you could casually throw people into danger on the first day.
Lara held his hand. "Just relax, Zuko."
Kael, who was walking in front, was in his own world.
Heheheh. I scammed that kid. I got it. I got the Rank Two core. Who was dumb enough to give a Rank Two core to a 5 year child? These Nightmare Realm people are so stupid.
Earlier that day, while roaming the village, he had scammed a kid from a big family in the Nightmare Realm. He exchanged a Rank One core for this Rank Two core, which was larger than a Rank One core and worth almost fifty of them.
He didn't take it out of his pocket. He simply played with the core inside as he walked.
"Still no hounds, Jim?" the instructor asked the student who was dressed like a bodyguard.
Jim nodded.
Kael spoke, "Let's go deeper. It's boring to only fight Shadow Hounds."
The instructor replied in a bootlicking manner, "It's no sweat to take down stronger Rank One tainted for our talented Kael. Let's go. Heheh."
Lara was also feeling nervous as they went deeper. The flowers stopped glowing, and the forest gradually grew darker. Her breathing turned ragged. They had walked almost five kilometers nonstop. The uneven ground made it very difficult to navigate.
Zuko was in a bad state himself, but he still supported Lara.
"Huff… huff…"
"Instructor, can we take a rest?" Lara asked.
Kael said, "How weak? How weak?"
The instructor replied with a smile, "It's training, girl. Good training is always harsh."
Zuko's feeling of ominous dread kept growing. Wasn't this instructor too careless? But he was Rank Two. Zuko forced himself to relax as he reassured himself—the instructor was Rank Two. It should be fine… right?
The instructor spoke again, "This is Paw Hounds territory. Everyone, switch to normal torches and see if you can find any paw prints in the forest."
Jim suddenly stopped and looked down. "There are paw prints to the right. Everyone, stay alert now."
Lara grew nervous as she held onto Zuko. Zuko was shaking, but he controlled himself, taking long, steady breaths.
The instructor and Jim moved to the front and back of the group, positioning themselves around Zuko and Lara.
Kael turned toward Lara and sneered, "What a loser your friend is. See how he's shaking."
He smirked as he stepped forward.
Big orange eyes glowed in the darkness. At first, only the eyes were visible, but slowly a gray-black body stepped forward.
Paw Hounds were large hounds—almost one and a half times bigger than Shadow Hounds. Each of their paws was like a hammer. One strike to the head, and you were dead.
At first, Lara thought it was cute.
Then the hound growled, its mouth opening wide as saliva dripped while it lunged forward.
That was when she realized this wasn't a normal hound.
Kael looked at the hound. He stretched his hands as they slowly turned into claws. Jim aimed his gun at the Paw Hound.
Zuko followed Jim, his hands shaking as his finger rested on the trigger. Lara wasn't in any state to react. Zuko himself was barely keeping his balance.
Paw Hounds were slow. Kael, who was very fast with his passive skill already stacked with an active speed skill, struck first. He drove his claws into the hound's back.
The hound roared and slammed into a tree. Bark scattered as a small but noticeable dent appeared in the trunk.
Jim fired a bullet at its hind legs, weakening it further. This Paw Hound was strong—unlike Shadow Hounds, which could be shot dead with a single bullet. The shot barely injured its muscles. Its tough bones withstood the impact.
Kael took his time after that, gradually injuring the beast until it finally collapsed. He smirked.
"Lowly beast."
He tore open its chest and pulled out the core. Lara shut her eyes, her hands trembling as the image burned into her mind. Lara tightened her grip on Zuko's hand without realizing it.
But as if luck was not on their side, more and more orange eyes flickered in the darkness. At first, they were calm—but the group was too big. Far too big.
Kael's group had to protect the others while fighting. That was the real issue.
The instructor's face paled as he saw the number of hounds.
"Gang Leader, we're just grinding for school at this point," Leo grunted.
"We don't even have any good abilities, but they're constantly snatching the loot," Fedric spoke with displeasure.
They continued picking up the cores from the Shadow Hounds as they talked. Kira watched them and sighed. Drayen felt the same.
He knew this was the problem holding them back—but what could they do? The best solution Drayen could think of was to leave Houndswell Village and grow strong elsewhere, far away from the university's radar. But he was too weak to try that idea.
The Nightmare Realm was vast and dangerous. He still needed strength.
Patience was required to go against an institution like this. You couldn't go around screaming and opposing the system head-on. There were other ways—bribing the collectors who kept the accounts, or falsifying the reported loot. Normally, you would integrate into the institution and exploit its loopholes.
But this case was different.
The best loophole was running away.
He had already looked into it. After becoming a Nightborne, he gained access to the special network used by Nightbornes. He didn't hack anything—he simply searched. And everything he found pointed to one conclusion.
Run away. This was the best way.
Fedric spoke, "Anyway, Drayen, do you know that Zuko and Lara have also joined a mysterious class—and ended up in that jerk's class?"
Drayen nodded. "It should be their training days. I wonder how their training is going?"
His peaceful thoughts were interrupted by a worn, trembling cry.
"Help… help…"
Drayen and the others stood up, scanning their surroundings.
A girl stumbled toward them. Her clothes were dirty, her shadow-leather coat torn in several places. She was injured, her breathing ragged.
As she drew closer, Drayen's pupils shrank.
"Lara."