The moment Maya stepped through the rift, the ground vanished beneath her feet.
There was no falling sensation—just a sharp displacement, like her body had been picked up and set down somewhere else without permission. Her boots hit solid ground, knees bending on instinct. She steadied herself, crossbow already half-raised before she consciously realized she was holding it.
Alex stumbled in next, swearing under his breath as he caught himself with the hammer Tayan had given him. Connor appeared last, landing in a crouch, eyes already scanning.
They were no longer in the forest.
The sky above them was a flat, colorless gray, stretching endlessly without clouds or sun. The air felt heavy but breathable, carrying a faint metallic scent that clung to the back of the throat. The ground was stone—smooth in places, cracked in others—forming a wide circular platform that extended farther than they could see clearly. There were no trees, no buildings, no landmarks. Just stone and open space.
Maya turned slowly, taking it in.
"This isn't…" Alex started, then stopped. He looked around again. "This isn't a rend."
Connor didn't answer. He knelt and pressed his palm against the ground, then rapped his knuckles against it. Solid. Real.
"Whatever this place is," Connor said, standing, "it's stable. At least for now."
Maya nodded. Her head felt strange—not dizzy, but alert in a way she didn't like. Tactical Awareness was already working, quietly sorting space and distance, though there was nothing yet to analyze. Too open. Too empty.
They regrouped instinctively, backs not quite touching but close enough to move together.
No sound reached them except their own breathing.
Then, without warning, the world shifted.
The far edge of the stone platform blurred, like heat rising from asphalt. The air thickened, compressing inward. Maya felt pressure behind her eyes, sharp and brief, and then—
Something formed.
At first it looked like smoke gathering itself into shape. Dark, dense, moving with purpose. The shape pulled upward from the stone, limbs emerging unevenly, as if the ground itself were pushing it out.
Alex took a step back. "Tell me you're seeing that too."
"I am," Maya said.
The thing finished forming and stood upright.
It was taller than Alex, hunched slightly forward, with long arms that nearly brushed the ground. Its surface wasn't flesh or metal, but something in between—dark, ridged, as if made from layered stone dust fused together. Where its face should have been was a shallow depression with two faintly glowing points set deep inside.
It turned its head toward them.
Connor's jaw tightened. "Contact."
The creature moved.
Not fast—but deliberate. Each step cracked faint lines into the stone beneath its feet. Its head tilted as it advanced, as though studying them.
"Okay," Alex muttered, tightening his grip on the hammer. "Guess talking's out."
Maya raised her crossbow fully now, sighting down the shaft. "Don't rush it. We don't know how it reacts."
The creature stopped ten meters away.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
Then it lunged.
It covered half the distance in a single bound, arm swinging wide. Maya fired.
The bolt struck its shoulder and sank in—but instead of blood, the impact sent a ripple through the creature's body, like a stone dropped into thick liquid. It staggered but didn't fall.
Alex charged before Maya could tell him not to.
He brought the hammer down with both hands. The impact landed squarely against the creature's chest, releasing a visible shockwave that cracked the air. The force knocked the creature backward several meters, slamming it into the stone.
Alex stumbled, breathing hard. He stared at the hammer, surprised. "Did you see that?"
"Focus," Maya said.
The creature rose again, slower now. Cracks ran across its torso where the hammer had struck. The bolt embedded in its shoulder began to dissolve, breaking apart into wisps of dark smoke that drifted upward.
Connor moved to the side, circling. He drew one of the daggers Tayan had given him, testing the weight.
"No weak points obvious," he said. "Movement's predictable, though."
The creature roared.
The sound wasn't loud, but it vibrated through the ground. The stone beneath their feet hummed in response.
Maya felt something brush against her awareness—a sense of timing, of positioning. She didn't question it.
"Alex," she said quickly, "hit it again when it commits. Connor, legs."
They moved.
The creature swung at Maya this time. She rolled aside, the blow missing her by less than a meter and smashing a shallow crater into the stone. Connor darted in low, slashing at the creature's leg joints. His blade bit deep, and the material there fractured like brittle rock.
The creature faltered.
Alex didn't hesitate. He slammed the hammer down again.
This time, the creature collapsed.
Its body broke apart, not falling but unraveling—chunks dissolving into thick smoke that rushed outward, then inward again. The smoke split into three streams and surged toward them.
Maya flinched as it passed through her chest.
There was no pain. No sensation at all, really—just a brief warmth, then nothing.
Alex blinked. "Did… did that thing just go into me?"
Connor looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers. "I think so."
Before any of them could process that—
The air shifted again.
Fourteen more shapes began to rise from the stone.
Maya exhaled slowly and raised her crossbow.
"Get ready," she said.
The fourteen remaining creatures did not hesitate.
They did not wait, circle, or test.
They came all at once.
The ground trembled as they surged forward, a wall of distorted bodies moving with a single intent. Claws scraped stone. Teeth clicked and snapped. Their movements were uneven but coordinated, like something driving them from behind rather than instinct pushing them forward.
"Spread—no!" Maya snapped immediately. "Back-to-back!"
They collapsed inward instead, forming a tight triangle without thinking about it. Alex took the front, hammer raised. Connor shifted to his left, daggers low and ready. Maya stepped back half a pace, crossbow already lifted.
Her Tactical Awareness screamed—not words, not commands, but outcomes.
If they tried to kite, they would be flanked.
If they broke formation, someone would be dragged down.
If Alex went all out too early, he would be swarmed.
"Alex," she said quickly. "Don't swing wide."
"No promises," he growled.
The first monster hit them like a living battering ram.
Alex absorbed the impact, boots sliding across stone as claws raked his chest plate. He grunted, muscles locking, then slammed the hammer forward, not downward.
A shockwave burst from the impact.
It wasn't large. It wasn't elegant.
But it was enough.
The air rippled violently, throwing three monsters backward and forcing the rest to stagger. For half a second—half a second—there was space.
"Now!" Maya shouted.
Connor moved.
He didn't slash wildly. He went low, blades flashing in tight arcs, cutting tendons behind knees, slicing joints where movement mattered more than damage. One monster collapsed immediately, shrieking as its leg folded unnaturally beneath it.
Maya fired.
The bolt struck the creature's eye—not deep, not fatal. It screamed and clawed at its face, blinded but alive.
Alex crushed its skull a second later.
The body dissolved.
Smoke rushed toward them, thin and divided.
Maya felt it enter her chest like a shallow breath. No warmth. No surge. Just weight.
"One down!" Alex shouted.
They didn't celebrate.
The monsters were already back on them.
Another shockwave burst outward, weaker this time. Alex staggered, teeth clenched. His skill wasn't meant to be spammed—it took something out of him each time.
Connor caught a claw across the forearm, armor tearing. He hissed but didn't slow.
They fought ugly.
Two more monsters went down in the next minute—but it was slow, chaotic. One died to Maya's bolt through the throat. Another took all three of them working together, Alex stunning it, Connor severing both legs, Maya finishing it.
Three monsters dead.
Three puffs—split evenly.
Maya noticed the change immediately.
Not strength.
Perspective.
Her awareness widened, sharpened. She wasn't just reacting anymore—she was anticipating. Angles lined up in her mind. Timing clicked into place.
"Wait," she said suddenly, breathing hard. "Stop."
Alex barely checked his swing in time.
"What?"
"We're doing it wrong."
Connor glanced at her, sweat dripping from his chin. "Define wrong."
Maya watched the monsters advancing again—how they moved, how they pressed forward together, how none of them hung back to watch.
"They don't observe," she said. "They rush. All of them. Every time."
"So?" Alex asked.
"So if we don't kill together—" She paused, thinking fast. "If we set them up first… we choose who gets the kill."
Connor's eyes narrowed.
"You mean—"
"Blind. Stun. Immobilize," Maya said. "Then one of us finishes."
Alex barked a laugh even as another monster slammed into his hammer. "You're saying we take turns?"
"I'm saying," Maya replied sharply, "we stop wasting what we earn."
There was no time to argue.
"Alex—head strike only," she ordered. "Connor—legs. I'll take the eyes."
They moved as one.
Alex stepped forward, hammer snapping upward into a monster's skull. The impact didn't kill it—but it froze, stunned.
Connor was already there, blades slicing cleanly through both knees.
Maya fired.
The bolt punched into the creature's eye, blinding it instantly.
It screamed.
Alex stepped back.
Connor finished it.
The smoke surged—but this time, it did not split.
It flowed into Connor alone.
He froze mid-breath.
"…Did you feel that?" he asked quietly.
Maya nodded. "Again."
The monsters pressed in harder now, sensing nothing but resistance. Maya repositioned constantly, calling out angles, directing Alex's shockwaves to create space only when necessary.
Another monster fell.
This time, Alex took the kill.
The puff flowed into him alone.
He sucked in a sharp breath.
"Oh," he muttered. "That's different."
They were still under pressure. Still bleeding. Still outnumbered.
But now—
They were learning.
They rotated kills deliberately.
Maya blinded.
Connor crippled.
Alex stunned.
Then one stepped in and finished.
They didn't hesitate. They didn't argue.
They survived.
By the time the tenth monster fell, their movements were cleaner, faster. Alex's shockwave bought them seconds instead of desperation. Connor's strikes were precise to the point of cruelty. Maya's bolts never missed eyes.
The eleventh monster died to Maya's hand.
The twelfth to Alex.
The thirteenth to Connor.The thirteenth monster finally crumpled under their combined strikes. Gray smoke curled upward, drifting toward Connor. He barely had time to blink before a soft chime echoed inside his mind—a signal he had come to recognize in this strange world.
System Notification: Hacking Skill Level Up — Level 2
Connor froze mid-breath, his eyes widening. "Did you… did you see that?" he muttered, staring at his hands. The glow faded almost as quickly as it appeared, leaving him shaken. The subtle energy coursing through his arms made his movements feel lighter, more precise.
Alex glanced at him but didn't have time to respond. The fourteenth monster roared and lunged. Their combined effort brought it down, and the smoke swirled toward Alex.
System Notification: Shockwave Skill Level Up — Level 2
Alex staggered back, astonished, gripping his hammer tighter. "I… I think it just leveled up," he said, almost laughing in disbelief. The hammer felt heavier, yet more balanced, as if every strike now carried the memory of the previous ones.
Maya noticed their reactions, her Tactical Awareness flaring instinctively as she assessed the battlefield. She didn't see a notification herself—her skill required far more energy—but she could feel the change in her companions. Their strikes were sharper, their reactions faster.
And then the sound of movement drew their attention: five more monsters materialized at the far edge of the floor. They hadn't cleared the full wave, and the new creatures approached swiftly, forcing them to adapt immediately
Silence followed.
They stood there, panting, bodies shaking, surrounded by nothing but blood-stained stone.
Connor wiped his blades slowly.
"…I think," he said, "we are supposed to die."
Maya didn't answer.
The ground vibrated.