The heat got worse the deeper I went.
Not a steady rise — it came in bursts, pockets of air so hot they warped the edges of my vision. When I stepped through one, the shadows under my skin tightened, like they were bracing.
Echo Sense flickered again.
Yeah… even that was getting scrambled.
Great.
The Gloomforge wasn't just a floor. It was a furnace. A test.
I moved along the edge of a cracked ledge, stone crunching under my claws. The cracks glowed faintly beneath the surface — veins of molten essence pulsing like a heartbeat. Mine? The floor's? Hard to tell. Everything down here felt too alive.
A distorted howl rolled through the cavern. Not deep. Not echoing. Sharp — like something burning itself alive with every breath.
I paused.
Lowered myself.
Listened.
Nothing for a few seconds.
Then—
Another howl, closer.
And heavy footsteps scraping stone.
Multiple sets.
"Pack," I muttered to myself. Habit. Talking to no one.
I stayed low and slipped between two pillars leaning into each other like they were tired of standing. Heat coiled around the stone, shimmering, rippling. Blink tugged sideways when I tested it.
Noted.
Adjust later.
Or die.
A pair of red slits flared in the dark ahead.
Then four more.
They didn't blink.
Didn't shift.
Just hovered — floating embers in a furnace.
My claws flexed instinctively.
The first Smolderback Ravager padded into view. Wolf-shaped, but wrong. Too large. Too lean. Shadow fur clung to a skeleton of ember-lit muscle, glowing brighter around the chest like a furnace pumping air through lungs it didn't need.
Its breath came out as sparks.
It lowered its stance, hackles rising.
Two more stepped out behind it, moving in crooked arcs. Coordinated. Not like Forgelings — smarter in movement, dumber in thought. Pure hunters.
The air heated fast.
The alpha sniffed once.
Once was enough.
It lunged.
I Blinked—
—right into a heat warp.
The Blink yanked me sideways, farther than I meant, almost slamming me into a pillar. I landed off-balance, claws scraping.
"Perfect," I hissed.
The alpha's jaws snapped closed where my neck would've been.
I pushed off the pillar and dashed around it. The stone burned. Didn't matter. The pack followed, claws clicking sharply. Sparks flew with each step — their pads were molten-hot underneath.
One Ravager cut me off on the right, teeth glowing.
Another flanked left.
The alpha came straight down the middle.
Pack formation.
I chose the left one — closest opening. Blink again? No—
Heat pulled at it, dragging the shadow sideways.
I didn't trust it.
Went physical instead.
I leapt under the Ravager's bite and slashed upward across its throat. The claws carved a wide arc —
—but only ash scattered. The wound glowed bright, molten, and sealed halfway shut. Too fast. Its regeneration was heat-based.
It snarled and clipped my shoulder.
I kicked its jaw sideways, sending it stumbling.
The ground vibrated.
Alpha incoming.
I rolled as the alpha burst over its packmate, landing where I'd just been. The stone beneath it cracked from the impact — or burned. Hard to distinguish anymore.
I blinked back instinctively — the distortion caught me again, pulling me too far. I skidded across the ground, claws carving grooves.
The alpha came again. It didn't give breaks. Didn't test.
It pressed.
Its fur was glowing brighter now.
Too bright.
Overheating.
That meant—
Explosion.
I dove behind a cracked slab just as the alpha's chest flared and detonated in a burst of ember-shrapnel.
BOOM—
Stone split.
Air punched out in a wave of heat so sharp it felt like claws dragging across my ribs.
My shadows tightened, hissing under my skin.
Alright. Enough running.
I burst forward as the smoke cleared. The alpha staggered, body cooling, ember-light fading slightly. Vulnerable window. Short.
I closed distance fast, low to the ground.
Blink once—
thrown slightly right—
fine.
I compensated, launching myself onto its back.
The alpha twisted violently, trying to throw me. I dug claws into the hotter patches — it screeched, a grinding-metal kind of sound.
It bucked.
I held.
And drove my claw straight into its spine.
Crack.
Heat burst around my arm.
Shadow burned, but Hydra Regeneration kicked in enough to keep the limb intact.
The alpha's legs collapsed.
It hit the stone with a heavy thump.
The other two Ravagers howled at once and charged.
I ripped my claws out of the alpha and Blinked — forced, off-path — landing in front of the first Ravager rather than behind it.
It didn't matter.
Momentum favored me.
I slashed down along its skull, splitting it halfway. The molten core spilled out, cooling instantly on the ground in black clumps.
The last Ravager skidded to a stop, watching me instead of attacking. Smoke curled from its fur.
It backed up.
No… it circled.
Clever enough to know fear but too conditioned to run.
Fine.
I dashed first.
It leapt.
We collided mid-air.
It went for the throat — predictable — and I hooked my claws under its jaw, ripping sideways. Its head snapped back unnaturally. Bone cracked. Embers spilled like dying fireflies.
It hit the ground twitching.
The cavern stilled.
Only the distant metal-clang heartbeat of the floor remained.
I stood there a moment, breathing in short, uneven bursts more out of habit than need. The heat gnawed at me. Sweat didn't come — shadows didn't sweat — but the sensation remained tight, uncomfortable.
Then—
Essence flowed.
From the alpha especially.
[Devour Successful]
[Moderate Essence Acquired]
[New Trait: Ember Veil — temporary resistance to heat distortion]
[Predation Level: 7.2 → 7.5]
A wave of coolness spread under my skin. Not cold — just enough to dull the burn.
Better.
I stepped back from the corpses. The essence trails drifted up toward the ceiling like smoke, then vanished into nothing. The labyrinth didn't waste anything.
Movement.
Behind me.
Echo Sense caught it late — blurry, flickering.
I turned sharply.
Nothing moved.
Not in the open.
But a shape shifted behind a pillar — slender, tall, head slightly tilted.
Shadeborn.
Not the scout from before.
Different posture.
Spear held low, end touching the ground lightly.
Watching.
I took one step toward it—
—and the Shadeborn slid back into the shadow between pillars.
No sound.
No trace.
Only a faint sigil burned onto the stone where it had stood.
A warning?
Message?
No way to read it. The lines curved in patterns that felt familiar and foreign at the same time.
A distant clang echoed again.
Three hits.
Pause.
Three more.
Signals.
Patterns.
Communication.
Floor 1 animals wandered.
Floor 2 hunted.
Floor 3 thought.
I shook the ash from my claws and continued deeper, past the Ravager corpses, past the sigil, past another row of cracked sculptures half-melted into the floor.
One mural stopped me.
It showed a shadow body splitting — literally splitting — into two forms. One lean and sharp. One large and curved like a beast.
I stared at it longer than I meant to.
Nightbound Reaver.
Or something like it.
A second mural beside it showed a kneeling figure beneath a massive winged silhouette. The wings were carved delicately — too delicately for a place this brutal.
A crack through the figure's head made it impossible to see the face.
Good.
I didn't want to.
Heat shifted ahead — a deeper wave, lower tone. Not a creature. Not a pack.
Something bigger.
And between the pillars, just for a second—
A Shadeborn hunter again.
Same stillness.
Same watching.
Same retreat.
This time, it didn't disappear completely. It left the shadow-spear mark on the ground.
A path.
Or a challenge.
Couldn't tell.
Didn't matter.
I stepped forward anyway.
Floor 3 wasn't trying to scare me.
It was evaluating me.
And whatever waited deeper…
it had already made room for me.
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