He has good perception
Then the ground rumbled.
Not an explosion—
Movement.
Something was shifting beneath the earth, carving through soil like it belonged there.
One of the men shouted, panic sharp in his voice.
"Summons!"
All three raised their hands at once.
Light flared—bright and intense.
Three monsters appeared from thin air.
One roared immediately.
One froze, scanning the terrain.
One moved without hesitation.
I recognized it instantly.
Veylroot.
So that's how it knew.
Maybe summoned monsters can share awareness with their masters…
The thought was cut short as I glanced at the other two.
The first was sleek and fox-like—long legs, ash-toned coat that darkened at the extremities. Its movements were precise and controlled. Its eyes were calm. Intelligent.
The second was the opposite—broad, heavy, plated. A walking bulwark with uneven layers of armor grown rather than forged, thick legs braced into the ground like it was part of the earth.
I triggered Sovereign's Sight.
Lethryn — Level 18
Morvane — Level 17
Veylroot — Level 20
The Veylroot reacted instantly.
Roots plunged into the ground, spreading outward, tracking whatever was moving below.
The Morvane lowered its center of gravity, weight shifting as it prepared for impact.
The Lethryn leaped—landing lightly on a moving root just above the ground, riding it like it had practiced this before.
The rumbling stopped.
For half a second.
Then the ground exploded.
A massive creature burst from beneath the soil, earth and stone flying outward.
Long-bodied. Low to the ground.
Overlapping plates of dull, shale-colored armor.
Its head was narrow and wedge-shaped—
until its mouth opened wider than its skull should allow, rows of jagged teeth exposed.
Thin sensory whiskers twitched constantly along its jaw.
Sovereign's Sight:
Skirven — Level 22
…I'm not sure those three can handle this.
The Skirven didn't hesitate.
It lunged straight for the Morvane.
The Morvane anchored itself fully—legs locked into the earth as a sharpened aura wrapped around its body.
The Skirven bit down.
Hard.
Jaws clamped with enough force to crush stone.
The Morvane didn't move an inch.
The Skirven bit again.
And again.
Still nothing.
Then—
A root slammed into the Skirven's side.
The Veylroot struck with full force, flinging it away mid-bite.
While it was airborne, the Lethryn appeared from its blind spot.
Claws raked across the Skirven's side.
Sparks flew.
The claws scraped uselessly across dense scales—no real damage.
Before the Skirven could react, the Lethryn vanished—
—and reappeared back on a root, as if it had blinked through space.
I noticed it then.
A faint glow pulsing along the root where the Lethryn landed.
The Skirven twisted in midair and plunged straight into the ground.
The roots chased it.
The earth rumbled violently as roots burst up and shattered behind it.
But the Skirven resurfaced, weaving between land and soil, dodging just enough to close distance.
The roots slowed.
Too many snapped.
Too many broken.
The Skirven lunged toward the root the Lethryn was riding.
The Lethryn jumped—aimed for its body.
The Skirven's tail whipped around.
The strike should've hit.
Instead—
The Lethryn reappeared on the root again, untouched.
The Skirven snapped its jaws around the root.
It broke cleanly.
The Veylroot recoiled, a tremor of pain running through its body.
The Lethryn jumped free—
but now it was stranded.
The Skirven vanished underground again.
The Lethryn ran.
Fast.
Not fast enough.
The Skirven burst from the ground and bit down on its leg.
A sharp groan echoed through the clearing.
Before it could tear free—
A massive impact.
The Morvane charged like a living battering ram, smashing into the Skirven's side.
The Skirven was flung away, releasing the Lethryn.
It collapsed and dragged itself back, leg badly injured.
The Morvane couldn't stop.
It slammed into a rock formation, the impact cracking stone.
The Skirven rolled—
then rose.
Something changed.
Its eyes flared red.
Rage.
Pure, unfiltered.
It vanished underground again.
The rumbling redirected.
Straight toward the Veylroot.
Roots lashed wildly.
The Skirven erupted from beneath it and bit down hard.
Defensive roots snapped and shattered as its teeth cut deeper.
The Morvane charged again—
The Skirven released and vanished just in time.
The Morvane couldn't stop.
It smashed into the Veylroot's defenses.
They held.
Barely.
The battlefield went still.
The Skirven stood motionless.
Its eyes burned brighter.
It's losing itself.
Just like the others.
Then—
Its gaze snapped upward.
Locked onto me.
…Of course.
Without hesitation, it dove underground.
The rumble surged toward my position.
"Where did it go?" the woman screamed.
The ground beneath my tree exploded.
I jumped—barely—onto the next tree as dirt and stone erupted upward.
Dust filled the air.
I wove thread between my fingers and dropped.
The Skirven burst from the ground beneath me, jaws wide.
Midair, I twisted.
The thread snapped tight around its mouth.
I pulled.
Hard.
Its jaws slammed shut.
I kicked off its body and landed against a nearby trunk.
The Skirven crashed into the ground.
I dropped again.
My fist tightened.
And I punched.
The impact cracked like thunder.
Its scales shattered outward.
The Skirven went still.
Dead.
The humans moved closer, cautious.
Roots from the Veylroot crept forward, feeling the air.
"There's something there," one of the men said. "My Veylroot can feel it."
The dust settled.
And I was revealed.
The mimic body stood over the corpse.
Shock hit them immediately.
The cockier man stepped forward.
"You stupid monster," he spat. "You stole our exp."
Then he looked closer.
Froze.
"…Where's the monster that killed it?"
The hesitant man's voice trembled.
"It was the mimic."
"It's the one I told you about."
Silence.
I raised my arm and pointed—
away from the dungeon.
He scoffed.
"A mimic telling us what to do? Stupid."
The Veylroot's roots rose threateningly.
I moved.
Too fast for them to track.
I appeared behind the man and grabbed his shoulder.
Then flung him backward—
as gently as I could.
He hit the ground, rolled once, and went limp.
"Holden!" the woman screamed.
Fear took over.
She and the other man grabbed him and ran.
They didn't dismiss their summons.
The Lethryn limped onto the Morvane's back, injured leg dangling.
They disappeared into the forest.
I stayed where I was.
Watching them disappear into the forest.
The land ahead was darker, the corruption thicker, a cold breeze sliding past me as the withering forest fell quiet once more.