Rei's heartbeat felt like it was tearing through his ribs.
The forest around him breathed alive, shifting, whispering with a hundred hidden voices. Shadows curled around the twisted trees like black veins, and the cold mist clung to his skin.
And in front of him…
Those two red eyes.
Burning.
Watching.
Hunting.
The massive beast stepped out of the darkness at last. Its shape was wolf-like, but far too large almost three meters tall when it raised itself. Its fur shimmered like liquid shadow, rippling unnaturally, and its spear-like bone spikes rose and fell as it breathed. A low growl rumbled from deep inside its chest.
Rei backed away until he hit the trunk of a crooked, dead tree.
This thing… this thing is real.
His legs felt weak.
His throat felt locked.
He couldn't even scream.
The beast lowered itself, muscles coiling like drawn bows.
Rei saw it too late.
The creature leapt.
The world blurred,
and Rei dove sideways on pure instinct.
The creature crashed into the tree behind him, splintering it in a single blow. Wooden shards flew like daggers, slicing into the ground around Rei's hands.
"Oh-God"
His breath shook.
His chest heaved.
He tried to run.
But the beast was already turning.
A second pounce faster, smoother, merciless.
Rei rolled again, nearly tripping as roots snagged his foot. He barely escaped the second hit; the claws grazed the ground next to him, tearing deep trenches.
His lungs burned.
His legs trembled.
Every muscle screamed to run but there was nowhere to go.
The forest behind him twisted into a maze. No path. No exit.
The beast circled him, huffing hot smoke that burned his eyes. Its gaze was intelligent, predatory, almost amused.
Rei staggered backward, hands raised in a hopeless attempt to defend himself.
"Stay back… please"
The creature lunged again.
Rei shut his eyes,
and something inside him snapped open.
A jolt like lightning shot through his spine, then burst across his shoulders. His back arched involuntarily as heat surged beneath his skin, burning and icy at the same time.
A flicker of light flared at the nape of his neck.
The hidden mark
The crescent-shaped sigil
It ignited.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
A wave of force pulsed out from Rei's body.
Silent, invisible, but heavy like the deep ocean.
The beast crashed into him
but the moment its claws touched Rei's body, a shock rippled out, throwing the creature backward as if blasted by a violent gust of wind.
Rei dropped to his knees.
His breath came in short, strangled gasps.
"What… was… that…?"
The sigil throbbed like a beating heart, glowing faintly under the collar of his uniform. Rei touched it with trembling fingers. The skin was hot too hot like a coal pressed into his flesh.
But he felt something else too.
His senses sharpened.
His hearing expanded.
He could pick out the beast's breathing, the rustle of the trees, even the faint hum of something unnatural in the air.
It felt as if part of the forest's heartbeat pulsed inside him.
The beast rose again, shaking off the impact. Snarling. Angry.
Rei forced himself up.
He expected fear.
Instead… something else stirred.
A strange stillness.
A clarity.
The kind of calm a drowning man feels in the last seconds before sinking.
His fingers curled into fists.
I'm… not dying here.
The beast roared and charged again.
Rei moved without thinking.
He sidestepped, faster than he thought his legs could react. His hand shot forward and struck the beast's jaw as it passed.
The impact vibrated through his arm.
The creature stumbled sideways, surprised.
Rei stared at his own hand, breathless.
"I… hit it?"
He barely had time to comprehend before the beast turned sharply, eyes blazing.
It lunged again.
This time, Rei met it head-on.
He ran forward too.
Something in his muscles felt lighter, sharper, like invisible strings guiding them. He slipped beneath the creature's swipe, slid across the dirt, and rammed his shoulder into its chest with every ounce of strength he could muster.
The beast skidded back.
Rei panted, adrenaline flooding him.
The sigil glowed brighter.
He felt strength but it was wild. Untamed. Like a storm raging just below his skin.
This power… it's not normal.
The beast roared, enraged, smoke hissing from its mouth.
Rei tried to steady his breath.
But strength alone wasn't enough.
The creature charged again, faster than before.
Rei braced himself,
but his legs shook violently.
That earlier burst of energy had drained something deep inside him.
The beast reached him in seconds.
Rei tried to dodge
but stumbled.
The creature slammed him with its paw.
Rei flew several meters, hitting the ground hard enough to see black.
He coughed violently, tasting iron.
His limbs refused to move.
His vision blurred.
The sigil flickered weakly.
"No… not yet… not like this…"
The beast approached slowly, savoring the kill.
Rei dragged himself across the dirt, but his body felt heavy like stone.
He couldn't escape.
The beast towered over him.
It raised its claw,
Rei's eyes widened in helpless terror.
Is this… the end?
The claw descended,
"Enough."
The voice cut through the forest like a blade.
Firm.
Cold.
Commanding.
Both Rei and the beast froze.
A figure stepped out from the deeper shadows between the trees.
Tall.
Slim.
Wearing a dark coat that fluttered unnaturally, as if the shadows themselves clung to its fabric.
Rei couldn't see his face clearly,only his sharp silhouette and the faint glow in his eyes.
The beast snarled at the newcomer.
The figure didn't flinch.
He simply raised one hand.
The shadows behind him stretched like a moving wall, wrapping around the creature's legs like black chains.
The beast thrashed violently.
The chains tightened.
Rei stared, stunned.
"What… are those…?"
The figure spoke calmly, ignoring Rei's question.
"Shadow beasts don't usually attack marked ones so early. It seems your presence is more… disruptive than expected."
Rei blinked weakly.
"What… do you… mean…?"
The figure stepped closer.
Now Rei could vaguely see his pale face, framed by black hair and eyes that glowed faintly purple in the dark.
He wasn't a student.
He wasn't a teacher.
He didn't look human at all.
"You're not supposed to be here yet," the stranger continued. "But the seal awakened too suddenly. And too violently."
He knelt in front of Rei, studying him like a curiosity.
"You don't even understand what you are, do you?"
Rei could barely speak.
The stranger smiled slightly.
Calm.
Cold.
Knowing.
"You will. Soon."
Behind him, the shadow chains dragged the beast deeper into the darkness.
Rei weakly reached out.
"Wait… who are you…?"
The stranger stood slowly.
"You may call me"
He never finished.
A violent shudder rippled through the forest, as if the world itself was being torn.
The trees bent.
The mist recoiled.
The shadows scattered like frightened animals.
The stranger's expression finally cracked.
"…Already? Impossible."
The forest floor lit up with bright veins of white light.
A tear in space ripped open behind Rei
the same kind that brought him here
but unstable, sparking like lightning.
The wind roared, pulling everything toward it.
The stranger stepped back, cloak whipping violently.
"Not now. Not yet!"
Rei tried to cling to the ground, but the force was too strong. His fingers slipped through the dirt.
The stranger reached forward, as if debating whether to grab Rei
but hesitated.
"Your fate is still unclear," he muttered.
Rei's eyes widened as he felt himself rising into the air, pulled toward the rift.
The forest blurred.
The stranger's final words echoed in his fading vision:
"Awaken quickly… before they find you."
The rift exploded with blinding light.
Rei was swallowed whole.
Darkness consumed him once more.
---