The forest swallowed them as Nick and Kyle left the shelter behind.
Tall trees—thicker than buildings—leaned inward, glowing with faint mana veins. The ground lit softly with moss that pulsed under their steps, and distant cries echoed overhead in tones no normal creature should make.
Kyle adjusted the torn strap of his backpack. His face was set with worry.
"Tyler wouldn't have gone far," he said. "Not alone."
Nick nodded. "She hates being the center of attention, hates crowds… but being alone in something like this? That's worse for her."
Kyle exhaled slowly. "She overthinks too much. Every sound becomes a threat in her mind. She spirals. You know how she is."
Nick did.
He remembered Tyler stuttering through presentations, shaking uncontrollably before labs, muttering "I can't do this" even when she always could.
He remembered her freezing in a room of twenty people—but fighting fiercely when someone insulted a friend.
He remembered her harmless but disturbing "what if" thoughts that she joked about:
What if a tree just fell on me? What if a car swerved? What if the ocean swallowed the island?
Not suicidal.
Just the way her mind worked—always racing, always imagining the worst possible scenario.
Out here, in this forest?
Her thoughts would be screaming.
"We must find her," Nick said firmly. "She's like family. She needs us now."
Kyle nodded. "We're her anchors. We always have been."
They followed the faint path through glowing foliage. A soft mist drifted between trunks, thickening as they moved. Nick kept his senses sharp, feeling his Warborn instincts flicker beneath his skin.
Just as Nick stepped over a root, he froze.
"Kyle. Look."
Snagged on the edge of a massive glowing vine was a piece of cloth—pale lavender.
Tyler's hoodie.
Kyle rushed forward. "That's hers. She wore that today."
Nick crouched to inspect it. The fabric was torn unevenly, not cut. The ground nearby was disturbed, footprints scrambled, overlapping, pacing back and forth… then a sharp drag mark leading deeper into the forest.
Nick whispered, "This wasn't just her running. Something forced her to move."
Kyle's jaw tightened. "She must've panicked. When she's scared, she freezes first. Then she bolts."
Nick nodded. "And if something grabbed her attention, she'd follow… even if it was dangerous."
Kyle looked at him sharply. "Her thoughts. Those weird scenarios she makes up. She probably imagined something terrifying and ran straight into danger."
Nick didn't want to think about it.
Tyler's imagination was vivid. Too vivid.
He straightened. "Let's move."
They followed the drag mark deeper. The forest shifted subtly as they walked—mist thickening, sounds fading, colors brightening unnaturally.
Nick felt pressure build in the air.
The System chimed.
[Warning: Unknown Zone Detected]
Mana Distortion: High
Environmental Stability: Low
Creature Behavior: Erratic
Classification: Pre-Anomaly
Recommendation: Proceed with caution.
Kyle swallowed hard. "Pre-anomaly. That means a dungeon or something forming, right?"
Nick nodded. "Tyler went this way."
They stepped through the shimmering mist.
The world changed instantly.
The air felt heavy, almost liquid. Nick could hear his own heartbeat louder than the forest. Colors sharpened; shadows moved even when nothing walked through them.
The System pinged again.
[Entering Proto-Dungeon: Mana Bloom]
Structure: Unstable
Creatures: Highly Mutated
Rewards: Low to Moderate
Risks: High
Collapse Probability: 30%
Kyle whispered, "We shouldn't be here."
Nick clenched his jaw. "We don't have a choice."
The forest inside the anomaly felt… wrong.
Roots twitched when stepped on.
Leaves pulsed with a heartbeat rhythm.
The fog swirled with faint whispers like half-formed words.
Then Nick saw it.
Near a small clearing was a shoe.
A white sneaker with doodles drawn in colorful Sharpie.
Tyler's artwork.
Her style.
Her shoe.
Kyle ran forward and fell to his knees beside it.
"She was here. Nick, she was right here."
Nick crouched beside him.
There were more signs:
Footprints — small, fast, frantic
• A scuffed patch of dirt where she stumbled
• Fingernail marks in the soil
• A deep drag mark leading further in
"Something dragged her," Nick said quietly.
Kyle's hands shook. "She… she must've panicked. You know how she gets when she feels trapped."
Nick placed a hand on Kyle's shoulder. "She's alive. She always pushes through. She's stronger than she thinks."
Kyle nodded slowly.
A deep roar echoed through the anomaly.
Nick stood immediately.
"That wasn't small."
Trees shifted.
Leaves shuddered.
Something heavy moved between glowing trunks.
Kyle grabbed his metal bottle tighter. "Nick… do you think she ran because of that?"
Nick didn't answer.
His eyes were on the shadows.
The System issued a soft global alert.
[Party Alert: Threat Approaching]
Source: Unknown Tier
Distance: 70 meters and closing
Kyle whispered, "Unknown Tier?"
Nick stepped forward. "Get ready."
The shadows parted.
Two luminous eyes appeared.
Then two more.
A creature stepped out, twisted by mana, dripping a thick violet fluid. Its size dwarfed anything Nick had fought so far. Its breath steamed in the cool anomaly air.
Kyle whispered, "Nick… we can't outrun that."
Nick took a breath, feeling his Warborn blood heat beneath his skin.
"No," he said. "So we fight. For Tyler."
Kyle nodded beside him. "For Tyler."
The creature raised its head.
Nick clenched his fists.
The hunt had become a battle.
And somewhere deeper in the anomaly, Tyler was waiting.