Marcus hit the ground hard. Rocks and debris polished Grey's view. Moments later he shot up from the dust and landed near Natasha and Darrin... Blades made from blood, formed from Darrin's aura. They manifested from thin air, gathering like a variety of summons- Different shapes and size, he grabbed one with intent. Natasha's sky blue eyes shifted, then returned diamond red, like something moving or perhaps breathing. Heat steamed from her tightened pupils, at that moment lightning flashed through her gaze. Where as Marcus released more ekrin from his body making the ground shock, he summoned a sword and relieved the axe, the aura that came with it felt tensed and violent, purple glow spread across his body, while a red aura burned along his sword, giving him an intense appearance.
Green aura exploded from Darrin's body as fierce winds swirled around him. Red-violet energy surged from Natasha, crackling with power. The three of them looked ready to overwhelm their opponent at any moment. 'How will you react?' Grey wondered, glancing toward the man. Before the true battle could begin, Milo's voice shattered his chain of thought.
Grey blinked and shifted his gaze towards him. His vision returned to normal, making him flinch like someone who had just been caught doing something he shouldn't have. Milo, however, paid him no attention. The instructor swept his gaze across the cadets sprawled on the pale ground.
"Get up! All of you!"
The exhausted teenagers sat up immediately without a word. Despite their obedience, every one of them would have traded anything for another minute of rest on the rough ivory floor. Milo quickly assigned their tasks. The Middle group was ordered to continue sword training.
When they had first arrived in the Ivory waste, Noah had crafted wooden swords, from the branches of trees and gold. Every member of the middle group received one. The mages had no need for blades, while Darrin, Marcus, and Natasha relied on their own methods of combat.
Milo glanced toward the distance where violent gusts shook the trees, and thunderous impacts echoed through the forest. After watching for a moment, he nodded.
"Start swinging."
The cadets obeyed, they raised their wooding swords and dropped it relentlessly. Grey picked up his white hood, that had now become a combo of gray and blood, he was using it as a blanket. He sighed. "Ha. Hang on old friend. You are not a rag yet." Then tied it around his waist and swung his sword repeatedly, striking the broad trunk of a white tree. He controlled his strength carefully, hitting it hard enough to train but not enough to split it apart. His eyes briefly met Oliver's and Collin's.
The two boys looked particularly miserable. Grey nearly laughed.
Their expressions darkened when they glanced toward the distant training grounds where Darrin and the others were practicing. The gap between them felt impossible to cross. 'No point crying over it,' Grey thought. 'All you can do is make it your goals.'
A faint grin appeared on his face.
Collin noticed. "We can't let that clown outdo us." Oliver snorted.
"You're right." The two immediately attacked their trees with renewed determination.
Farther away, Milo separated the mages from the rest.
Soon flashes of fire, blades of wind, and streams of water filled the forest. The middle group found themselves trapped between two worlds. On one side was the fury of elemental combat.
On the other was the raw force of elite warriors. The pressure alone was enough to make their hearts race.
A while later, everyone gathered for food. Noah and Milo roasted leftover monster meat over a fire, using a strange golden pot.
After the meal, Milo washed the fire with their last source of water... Noah selected a small group consisting of Grey, Marcus, and two other cadets. He handed each of them a golden jar. Provided that they would at least have water, while traveling through the Ivory waste... because the damage they had done to this spot would soon invite unwanted guest.
Over the past three days, water had become one of their greatest concerns. They had searched nine different locations and discovered only four water sources.
Today's destination was the fourth and the one closest to camp, they had already left the other three in a far distance, going back there would mean they have to compete with their new owners, and that would be an irrational ploy.
The four cadets traveled through the ivory forest in tense silence. Towering white trees stretched endlessly in every direction, their pale trunks rising like the pillars of some forgotten cathedral, not a single leaf rustled, even the songs of bird were inexistent, although you could probably see bird-like things, in the endless crimson when thunder sang. The forest was trapped in an unnatural stillness that seemed to suffocate sound itself.
A wide stream wound through the ghostly wilderness, its crystal surface reflecting the crimson sky above with eerie perfection. It looked less like water and more like a river of liquid glass cutting through the pale world.
The journey took nearly an hour. When they finally arrived, none of them spared a glance for the scenery. Their throats were dry, their bodies exhausted, and survival came before wonder, but not for Marcus, he observed relentlessly, Grey stared at him, as he admired the stream. 'Look at this stamina monster, his not even sweating.'
Immediately he knelt down besides the two boys, one wearing glasses, making his black pupils large, luminous and framed by spectacles. He had dark hair, his skin was a bit ruff and dull but still fragile, the other had pitch black hair but his was more kept, curly on some end, making it appear glossy, he had pupils, like golden sunset, his skin was white, much as the forest... they stayed there.
Grey gave a faint smile, as a form of, hello! How's your day? Unpleasant? I know. the two friends Reciprocated his smile, revealing that it had truly been a bad day, and they had yet to suffer, knowing the regular cycle of camp. They began filling their jars.
Strangely, countless white particles drifted above the water's surface. They resembled dust illuminated by sunlight, except there was no sun. The particles floated lazily through the air, gathering in small swarms before dispersing again. The sight was unsettling. Yet nobody hesitated.
Compared to dying of thirst, strange floating dust seemed like a minor concern.
Soon enough, their jars were full. Not wanting to linger and risk attracting monsters, the cadets rose to leave.
Then—
Something moved. Grey froze.
A figure emerged from the opposite side of the forest.
Slowly. Silently. The white trees parted around it as though making way for its presence. Each step was filled with confidence or shall I say, intelligence. Almost human. That was not the way a monster carried itself around humans.
Chill crawled down Grey's spine. The creature approached the stream without making the slightest sound. The twigs around remained still. No rustling grass. Nothing. It simply advanced. Then it stopped.
The creature stared at them, maintaining eye contact. Not to be alarming. But just to show them that, yes. I am here. You are here. This is not a dream you're really staring into the eyes of a monster.
Grey caught his breath.
Its eyes were pitch black, darker than the shadows between the trees. Yet within those black voids burned crimson pupils that glowed like embers buried beneath ash. No one blinked during the silent gaze war.
White Ragged fur Matted its entire body. The kind of fur that looked as though it had survived countless battles and centuries of neglect.
Its frame was unnaturally thin and tall. Long limbs hung at its sides, ending in clawed fingers that nearly touched its knees. Though lean, there was a disturbing strength hidden beneath its skeletal appearance.
It looked like a goblin.
And yet...
Every instinct Grey possessed screamed otherwise. His skin prickled. The creature's presence felt wrong.
Not just dangerous, but
Wily Predatory.
As though they weren't looking at a monster.
As though they were standing before something that had spent centuries hunting monsters. "This thing..." Grey thought gripping his weapon tighter.
'It looks like a goblin... but I don't think that's the case here.' The creature's crimson pupils narrowed. For a brief moment, Grey had the horrifying sensation that it wasn't observing them. It was judging them.
'Perhaps...' he swallowed.
'Perhaps it's what an old goblin becomes after surviving for far too long.'
The thought alone made his blood run cold.
Because if that was true...
Then they had just encountered a monster that had lived long enough to evolve beyond its own kind.
And such creatures were never weak.
Sweat moved towards his sword. Marcus stepped forward. Although the stream separated them, the distance could be crossed in seconds. The creature lowered its head and drank with his hands. Only then did Grey recognize it. 'A Tenth-Class monster.' The goblin raised its head. "You bunch are probably having Errant thoughts." The voice seemed forced and Pushed. It spoke again just to make sure he was clear.
"So you're the ones making all that noise."
The voice did not belong to the goblin, it was deeper, Older. Something else was speaking through it, something that had seized control of the creature's body. The two boys who had sat down completely in fear, met Grey's and Marcus's hight as they gasped, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
Marcus frowned. "Are you a monster, or something else."
The goblin laughed. "Oh? Curious, are we? This is merely a husk. A puppet. Trust me... what's looking through these eyes is far worse." Grey felt a chill. "Are you perhaps a Tenth-Class monster?" The question escaped before he could stop himself. The memory of the Monsters he had faced flashed through his mind. The goblin burst into laughter.
"A Tenth-Class?" Its crimson eyes gleamed. "You must be referring to this miserable Fifth-Class body."
The creature's grin widened.
"If you're asking about the one sitting behind these eyes..."
Its smile became terrifying.
"You should aim much higher."
Marcus' expression hardened.
"A Terror."
"Correct."
The goblin's grin stretched unnaturally wide.
Then—
It launched itself across the stream with frightening speed.