Nobody talked for the first hour.
That was probably for the best.
Ethan didn't know what to say.
Sorry your camp got erased because the world's murder system is hunting me didn't exactly feel like a great conversation starter.
So he walked.
White trees stretched around them in every direction, their black leaves blocking out most of the moonlight. The forest floor was uneven, covered in pale roots that twisted above the dirt like bones.
Kael walked in front.
Riven moved somewhere to the left, almost silent, bow in hand.
Sena stayed near the middle with her shield strapped across her back.
Brant walked behind everyone, muttering under his breath every few minutes like the forest had personally offended him.
And Ethan stayed between them.
Not by choice.
They had placed him there.
Protected.
Watched.
Trapped.
All three, really.
His body still hurt, but not as much as it should have.
That was the problem.
The cuts along his arm had stopped bleeding. His side only ached now instead of burning. Even his shoulder, which had felt like it was being ripped apart earlier, moved almost normally.
The Health fragments were working.
The Strength fragments were working.
The Agility fragments were definitely working.
Every step felt smoother than it should've.
Every sound reached him sharper.
Riven's breathing.
Kael's boots pressing into dirt.
Sena's armor shifting softly.
Brant's nervous swallowing.
A bug crawling under bark twenty feet away.
Ethan clenched his jaw.
That last one was new.
He didn't want to hear that.
He didn't want to know that.
A system window opened.
[Attribute Integration Continuing]
Physical Adaptation: Stable
Mental Stability: Monitored
Ethan glared at it.
"Monitored by who?"
No answer.
He hated when it did that.
Riven's voice came from the left.
"You're reading again."
Ethan turned his head.
She was walking between the trees, eyes forward, bow lowered but ready.
"You can tell?"
"You stare through things."
"I'm not staring through things."
"You are."
Ethan looked ahead again.
"System says I'm adapting."
Kael slowed slightly, but didn't turn.
"That is not comforting."
"Yeah. I figured."
Brant made a noise behind them.
"Can we maybe not discuss the Devourer adapting while we're all standing within biting distance?"
Ethan looked over his shoulder.
"I don't bite people."
Brant stared at him.
"Yet."
Ethan opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
Because honestly, after tonight, he didn't feel qualified to make permanent statements about himself.
Sena glanced back at Brant.
"Quiet."
"What? We're all thinking it."
"No," Sena said. "You are saying it because fear makes you stupid."
Brant frowned.
"That feels unnecessary."
"It was very necessary."
Ethan almost smiled.
Almost.
Kael raised one hand.
Everyone stopped.
The forest went still.
Ethan froze with them, listening.
At first, he heard nothing.
Then he heard it.
Water.
Faint.
Running somewhere ahead.
Kael lowered his hand and changed direction.
"There's a stream nearby. We stop there."
Riven's eyes moved across the trees.
"Short stop."
Kael nodded.
"Short."
Brant let out a breath.
"Finally. My feet are trying to separate from my body."
Ethan looked down at his own shoes.
One was still missing.
He had been walking through monster forests, erased battlefields, and nightmare mud with one shoe on and one foot wrapped badly in torn cloth.
Somehow, that felt like the least insane part of his night.
They reached the stream a few minutes later.
Clear water ran over dark stones, cutting through the white forest in a narrow line. Small blue flowers grew along the bank, glowing faintly whenever the water touched them.
It was almost beautiful.
Which immediately made Ethan suspicious.
"Is the water going to eat me?"
Kael looked at him.
"No."
"Poison me?"
"No."
"Turn me into something?"
Kael paused.
Ethan stared.
Kael sighed.
"Not unless you drink from the still pools."
Ethan pointed at him.
"See? That's exactly why I ask."
Sena knelt near the stream and filled a leather canteen.
Brant dropped onto a rock with a dramatic groan.
Riven stayed standing, watching the trees.
Kael pulled a small wrapped bundle from his coat and tossed it to Ethan.
Ethan caught it.
"What's this?"
"Food."
Ethan unwrapped it.
Flatbread.
Dried meat.
Something green that might have been a vegetable or a threat.
His stomach growled so loudly Brant looked offended.
Ethan took a bite before he could think too hard about it.
The bread was tough.
The meat was salty.
The green thing was bitter enough to make his eye twitch.
It was the best meal he had ever eaten.
Kael watched him.
"When was the last time you ate?"
Ethan thought about the empty cans in his room.
"Technically? Before I got kidnapped by a video game."
Everyone stared.
Ethan chewed slowly.
"Right. You don't know what that means."
Brant leaned forward.
"Video game?"
Ethan swallowed.
"It's… complicated."
Kael sat on a fallen log.
"We have time."
Riven gave him a look.
"Not much."
"Enough for the version that matters."
Ethan looked at the stream.
The water moved steadily, reflecting pale moonlight through gaps in the trees.
He didn't want to explain Earth.
His room.
The monitor.
The fact that this world had been fake to him until a few hours ago.
Because if he said that out loud, how would they hear it?
That their lives had been entertainment?
That monsters they feared were enemies he used to farm?
That the system ruling their world had once been something he played for fun?
Ethan rubbed the back of his neck.
"I came from another world."
No one laughed.
No one even looked surprised enough.
That bothered him.
Kael's expression stayed guarded.
"Skyfalls usually claim the same."
Ethan looked up.
"There are others?"
Sena nodded slowly.
"Stories say there have been."
"Stories?" Ethan asked.
"Old ones," Kael said. "Most are treated like myths. People falling from other realms when the system cracks."
Ethan's pulse quickened.
"So I'm not the first?"
"No," Riven said.
Her voice was calm.
"But most Skyfalls die quickly."
Brant pointed at Ethan with a strip of dried meat.
"Or become Devourers, apparently."
Sena smacked his hand down.
"Ow."
Ethan ignored him.
"What exactly is a Devourer?"
The stream suddenly sounded louder.
Kael looked at Riven.
Riven looked at Sena.
Brant looked like he wanted to walk away.
Ethan's stomach tightened.
"That bad?"
Kael leaned forward, elbows on knees.
"Devourer is not an official class. Not anymore."
"Not anymore?"
"There were legends from the early system age," Kael said. "People with abilities that could steal growth from others. Attributes. Skills. Sometimes memories."
Ethan's grip tightened around the food.
"I don't steal memories."
"Good," Brant muttered. "Very comforting."
Kael continued.
"They grew fast. Too fast. Faster than training, blessings, or quests should allow."
Ethan looked at his hands.
Gold light flickered faintly under his skin.
"What happened to them?"
Riven answered.
"They stopped being people."
Ethan went still.
The stream kept moving.
Brant stopped chewing.
Sena looked down.
Kael's face hardened, but his voice stayed controlled.
"Some went mad. Some became monsters. Some carved through villages because they couldn't stop feeding."
Ethan swallowed.
"And some?"
Kael met his eyes.
"Some were hunted before they got that far."
The answer sat between them.
Heavy.
Obvious.
Ethan looked around at the group.
"So that's why you're all walking like I might turn around and start eating souls."
Brant raised one hand.
"I mean…"
Sena glared at him.
He lowered it.
Riven stepped closer to the stream.
"You rejected a fragment."
Ethan looked at her.
"What?"
"Back at the camp. You rejected one." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Devourers in the stories didn't do that."
Ethan let out a slow breath.
"It hurt."
"I imagine absorbing too many hurts more."
"You'd think."
Kael studied him.
"Why reject it?"
Ethan stared at the water.
Because he had heard the hunger.
Because the fragment had felt too good.
Because part of him wanted to click yes before he even decided.
Because Lyra had told him not to absorb too much, and for some reason that mattered.
"I didn't like how much I wanted it," Ethan said.
Nobody responded right away.
That was probably the most honest thing he had said since landing in this world.
Riven lowered her bow slightly.
Sena's expression softened by maybe one percent.
Brant looked uncomfortable, which Ethan chose to count as progress.
Kael nodded once.
"Then hold onto that."
Ethan looked at him.
"Onto what?"
"The part of you that hesitates."
The words hit harder than Ethan expected.
He looked back at the water.
The part that hesitates.
The part that says no.
The part that still feels sick after killing.
He wondered how long that part would last.
A system message opened.
[Mental Stability: Improved]
Ethan stared at it.
Then frowned.
"Were you listening?"
No answer.
Riven's eyes narrowed again.
"What did it say?"
Ethan hesitated.
"Mental stability improved."
Brant stood.
"Okay, I hate that it tracks that."
"Same," Ethan said.
For once, Brant looked like he agreed with him.
Sena handed Ethan a canteen.
"Drink."
Ethan took it carefully.
"Thanks."
"Not from the still pools," she reminded him.
"I gathered that."
He drank.
The water was cold enough to make his chest ache.
For a moment, everything felt almost normal.
Almost.
Then a branch snapped across the stream.
Everyone moved at once.
Kael stood, blade drawn.
Riven's bow came up.
Sena stepped forward with her shield.
Brant grabbed his spear.
Ethan reached for the dagger.
A figure emerged from the trees.
Not a monster.
A person.
An old man in a torn cloak, hunched and shaking, one hand pressed against a bleeding wound on his stomach. His face was pale. His beard was tangled with leaves.
"Please," the man rasped. "Help."
Ethan's blood went cold.
The Pale Mimic's stolen voice echoed in his memory.
Help me.
Riven's arrow stayed trained on the man's chest.
Kael didn't lower his blade.
"Stop there."
The old man stumbled and fell to one knee near the stream.
"Raiders… attacked us on the south road… please…"
Brant looked uneasy.
"He's hurt."
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
"So was the thing that tried to wear a child's voice."
The old man looked up at Ethan.
His eyes were wet with panic.
"I don't know what that means, boy."
A system window appeared.
[Human Detected]
Status: Injured
Threat Level: Low]
Ethan did not relax.
"System says he's human."
Kael glanced at him.
"You trust it?"
Ethan looked at the old man.
Then at the forest.
"Not really."
Sena moved slowly toward the man, shield raised.
"Name?"
"Darric," the old man said. "Merchant convoy… five wagons… we were headed for Veyrhold."
Kael's face tightened.
"Where?"
Darric pointed a shaking hand downstream.
"South bend. Near the old shrine."
Riven looked at Kael.
"That's close."
Brant groaned.
"No. No, no, no. We just escaped a system executioner. We are not walking into a raider ambush."
Darric reached toward them.
"My daughter is still there."
That silenced everyone.
Ethan closed his eyes for half a second.
Of course.
Of course there was a daughter.
Of course the road to safety had to include another impossible choice.
Kael looked toward the trees downstream.
"Numbers?"
Darric shook his head.
"I don't know. Six. Maybe eight. They had red scarves. One had a chain blade."
Riven's expression darkened.
"Red Jackals."
Brant went pale.
"Nope. Absolutely not. Jackals don't leave survivors unless they want bait."
Ethan looked at Darric.
The old man shook harder.
"I swear on the Crowned Saints, I escaped. Please. She's only sixteen."
Sena lowered her shield slightly.
Kael's jaw tightened.
Riven's bow did not move.
Ethan looked between them.
"Who are the Red Jackals?"
"Bandits," Kael said.
"That's the simple answer," Brant snapped. "The real answer is they skin people for coin and sell anyone pretty enough to survive."
Ethan's stomach turned.
Darric lowered his head, sobbing quietly.
The forest felt colder.
Kael looked at the group.
"We can't ignore this."
Brant stared at him.
"Yes, we can. Watch. I'm ignoring it right now."
Sena's voice was quiet.
"If there's a girl alive, we cannot walk away."
Riven looked toward Ethan.
"Your call too."
Ethan blinked.
"My call?"
"You're the reason we're moving through the forest instead of the main road," she said. "And you're the one with the Administrator mark."
Kael nodded.
"If we fight, we risk noise. If we avoid it, we may leave someone to die."
Brant threw his hands up.
"Why are we asking the glowing death magnet for moral guidance?"
Ethan stared downstream.
His body was tired.
His mind was stretched thin.
The smart move was obvious.
Keep moving.
Reach Veyrhold.
Get answers.
Survive.
That was the quest.
But a girl might be tied up somewhere, waiting for help that would never come.
Ethan thought of the little girl in the village doorway.
Confused.
Scared.
Watching the sky attack her home because of him.
He thought of Lyra's brother running into the forest and never coming back.
He thought of the system calling saving people optional.
His hands curled into fists.
"I hate this world," he muttered.
Kael watched him.
Ethan looked up.
"We check."
Brant made a strangled sound.
"Fantastic. Hero complex. Great. Love dying for strangers."
Ethan looked at him.
"You don't have to come."
Brant glared.
"That makes it worse because now I look bad if I don't."
Riven almost smiled.
Almost.
Kael turned to Darric.
"You stay here with Sena."
Sena frowned.
"I can fight."
"You can also protect him and keep our exit open."
She didn't like it, but she nodded.
Kael looked at Ethan and Riven.
"We scout first. No charging in."
Riven's eyes flicked to Ethan.
"You hear that?"
Ethan raised his hands.
"I am deeply offended by how necessary that was."
Kael stepped close to Ethan.
"One more thing."
"What?"
"If there are fragments, choose carefully."
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"Yeah."
"I mean it."
"So do I."
They moved downstream.
Kael led.
Riven followed through the trees on the left.
Ethan stayed low near the water, dagger in hand.
The farther they went, the more signs appeared.
Broken wheel tracks in the mud.
A snapped arrow.
Blood on a rock.
A torn piece of red cloth hanging from a branch.
Ethan touched it.
The fabric was rough.
Fresh blood stained one edge.
His system opened.
[Trace Detected]
Hostile Group Nearby
Estimated Count: 7-10
Ethan whispered, "System says seven to ten."
Kael looked back.
"It can track that?"
"Apparently."
Riven's voice came from the trees.
"Useful."
Brant wasn't here to make a comment.
Ethan kind of missed it.
That annoyed him.
They reached the south bend.
The stream curved around a moss-covered stone shrine half-swallowed by roots. Old statues stood around it, faces worn smooth by time.
Beyond the shrine, the merchant convoy sat destroyed.
Five wagons.
Just like Darric said.
Two burned.
One overturned.
Crates broken open.
Bodies on the road.
Ethan's throat tightened.
The game had never smelled like this.
Smoke.
Blood.
Burnt wood.
Fear.
Voices came from near the largest wagon.
Laughing.
Kael crouched behind a fallen log.
Ethan dropped beside him.
Riven appeared silently on the other side, arrow already nocked.
Seven bandits stood around the camp.
Red scarves.
Dirty armor.
Curved knives.
One huge man sat on a crate, chain blade wrapped around his arm like a metal snake.
Near the wagon wheel, a girl knelt with her hands tied.
Alive.
Ethan exhaled slowly.
"There."
Kael nodded.
"We need quiet."
Ethan watched the bandits.
Levels appeared above them one by one.
[Red Jackal Raider - Level 4]
[Red Jackal Raider - Level 5]
[Red Jackal Scout - Level 3]
Then his eyes landed on the huge man.
[Red Jackal Butcher - Level 8]
Ethan's stomach tightened.
"Big guy is level eight."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"You can see levels?"
"Yeah."
"Useful," Riven repeated.
The Butcher grabbed the girl by the hair and forced her to look up.
Ethan's grip tightened around the dagger.
Kael put a hand on his shoulder.
"Quiet."
Ethan's breathing slowed.
He knew Kael was right.
He knew rushing in was stupid.
He knew this wasn't a game.
But the Butcher laughed.
And something inside Ethan went cold.
Not hunger.
Not the fragments.
Him.
The bandit leaned closer to the girl.
"You're lucky," the Butcher said. "Veyrhold pays well for soft hands."
The girl spat in his face.
The camp went silent.
Then the Butcher smiled.
Ethan moved.
Kael grabbed for him, but Ethan was already gone.
"Damn it," Kael hissed.
Ethan crossed the road fast.
Too fast for a normal person.
The nearest bandit turned just as Ethan reached him.
"What—"
Ethan slammed the pommel of Lyra's dagger into his throat.
The man dropped, choking.
Riven's arrow took the scout in the leg before he could shout.
Kael cursed again, then charged because the plan was already dead.
So much for scouting.
A system message flashed.
[Combat State Activated]
Hostile Targets: 7
Recommended Strategy: Eliminate Low-Level Targets First]
Ethan ducked under a wild knife swing and drove his shoulder into a level four raider. Strength carried the hit harder than expected. The man crashed into a wagon wheel and dropped his weapon.
Ethan kicked the knife away.
Another bandit came from the side.
Ethan's Danger Sense sparked.
He turned before the attack landed.
The blade cut air.
Ethan slashed across the man's forearm, then kicked his knee sideways.
The bandit screamed and fell.
Riven fired again.
A raider dropped with an arrow through his shoulder.
Kael moved like a storm.
His curved blade flashed orange in the firelight, cutting weapons, straps, and limbs with brutal precision.
He wasn't just a traveler.
None of them were.
The Butcher stood slowly.
His chain blade unwrapped from his arm and hit the dirt with a heavy metallic scrape.
His eyes locked onto Ethan.
"Well," he said. "What are you supposed to be?"
Ethan glanced at the tied girl.
She stared back, terrified.
The system opened.
[Red Jackal Butcher - Level 8]
Trait: Bloodfed Chain
Warning: Weapon Range Variable]
Ethan swallowed.
"Kael?"
Kael blocked two raiders at once.
"Busy."
Riven shot one bandit in the hand, making him drop his axe.
"Don't get hit by the chain."
Ethan stared at the huge serrated chain dragging across the ground.
"Yeah, I was leaning that way."
The Butcher swung.
The chain snapped forward like it was alive.
Danger Sense screamed.
Ethan threw himself left.
The blade tore through the wagon behind him, ripping wood apart.
The Butcher pulled back, and the chain carved through the ground as it returned.
Ethan barely jumped over it.
Too wide.
Too fast.
Too much range.
The Butcher grinned.
"Quick little rat."
Ethan backed up.
His foot hit a loose sword lying near a dead merchant.
He glanced down.
Rusty.
Short.
Better than nothing.
He kicked it up into his hand.
The system flickered.
[Secondary Weapon Acquired]
Dual Weapon Handling: Inefficient
"Great."
The Butcher swung again.
This time, Ethan stepped forward instead of back.
The chain passed behind him, missing by inches.
He closed the distance fast.
The Butcher's eyes widened slightly.
Ethan slashed with the short sword.
The blade cut across the Butcher's side, but barely made it through his armor.
The man laughed and punched Ethan in the chest.
Ethan flew backward and crashed into the dirt.
For a second, he couldn't breathe.
[Health Reduced]
Rib Stress Detected]
Ethan coughed hard.
The Butcher raised the chain.
"Stay down."
The chain came down like a falling tree.
Ethan rolled.
The blade slammed into the road where his head had been.
Stones exploded.
Ethan scrambled up and threw the short sword.
The Butcher tilted his head.
The sword spun past him uselessly.
He laughed.
Then Riven's arrow struck the sword midair.
The impact changed its angle.
The blade spun back and sliced across the Butcher's cheek.
The smile vanished.
Ethan stared.
Riven lowered her bow slightly.
"You're welcome."
The Butcher touched the blood on his face.
His expression went blank.
Then furious.
He turned toward Riven.
Bad.
Very bad.
The chain snapped toward her.
Ethan moved.
Danger Sense burned through him.
He sprinted, grabbed the chain with both hands before it fully extended, and planted his feet.
The serrated edges tore into his palms.
Pain exploded.
But Strength held.
For half a second, the chain stopped.
Riven rolled clear.
Kael saw the opening.
He kicked one raider away and hurled his curved blade.
It spun through the air and buried itself in the Butcher's shoulder.
The Butcher roared.
Ethan yanked the chain.
The Butcher stumbled forward.
Riven fired.
Arrow to the knee.
The Butcher dropped to one leg.
Ethan released the chain, grabbed Lyra's dagger, and ran in.
The Butcher swung his free fist.
Ethan ducked under it.
His palms bled.
His ribs screamed.
His vision blurred at the edges.
But the weak point was right there.
The gap under the jaw.
Same as the Thornback.
Ethan drove the dagger upward.
The blade sank in.
The Butcher's eyes went wide.
Ethan leaned close.
"Should've stayed down."
He ripped the dagger free.
The Butcher collapsed.
The chain went still.
Silence fell over the road.
One by one, the remaining bandits looked at their leader.
Then at Ethan.
Then they ran.
Riven raised her bow.
Kael lifted a hand.
"Let them go."
Ethan stood over the Butcher, breathing hard.
His hands shook.
Blood dripped from his palms.
The Butcher's body began to dissolve.
Golden particles rose from it.
A fragment formed.
Larger than any Ethan had seen so far.
It glowed deep red at the center.
[Attribute Fragment Detected]
Type: Strength
Quality: Lesser
Absorb?
▸ YES
NO
Ethan stared.
The whisper returned immediately.
Louder than before.
Take it.
He clenched his fists.
Blood ran between his fingers.
The fragment pulsed.
His chest answered.
Take it.
Kael stepped closer.
"Ethan."
Riven lowered her bow.
The tied girl sobbed quietly near the wagon.
Ethan could still feel the Butcher's punch in his ribs.
Could still see the Administrator's red rings.
Could still hear the system's objective.
Survive yourself.
His hand lifted slightly.
The fragment hovered closer.
Kael's voice hardened.
"Ethan."
The fragment promised strength.
Real strength.
Enough to not get thrown around.
Enough to protect people.
Enough to survive.
Maybe enough to fight back.
His fingers twitched toward YES.
Then he looked at the girl.
She was staring at him.
Not like a hero.
Not like a monster.
Like she didn't know which one he was about to become.
Ethan swallowed.
His hand shook.
Then he selected NO.
The fragment cracked.
Red-gold light burst outward.
Pain slammed into Ethan's chest.
He dropped to one knee, gasping.
[Attribute Fragment Rejected]
[Attribution Response: Resistance Detected]
[Mental Stability Improved]
[Growth Efficiency Reduced Slightly]
Ethan laughed weakly through the pain.
"Yeah. Whatever."
Kael crouched beside him.
"You chose well."
Ethan looked at the cracked dirt beneath him.
"Didn't feel like it."
"That is usually how choosing well feels."
Riven moved to the girl and cut the ropes around her wrists.
"You're safe."
The girl hugged herself, shaking.
"My father?"
Kael's expression changed.
"He's alive. Upstream."
The girl broke down crying.
Ethan stayed on one knee.
His palms burned.
His ribs hurt.
His body wanted the fragment back.
That was the worst part.
Not the pain.
Not the fight.
The regret.
Some part of him was angry that he had said no.
Some part of him wanted to dig through the fading particles and take what was left.
He pressed his bloody hands into the dirt.
"No," he whispered.
The hunger quieted.
Not gone.
But quieter.
A new system message appeared.
[Hidden Parameter Increased]
Willpower +1
Ethan froze.
Kael noticed.
"What?"
Ethan stared at the words.
For once, they didn't feel like a threat.
"They gave me a stat for saying no."
Riven looked over.
"What stat?"
Ethan slowly stood.
"Willpower."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"I have never heard of that attribute."
"Of course you haven't," Brant said from behind them.
Everyone turned.
Brant stood at the edge of the road with Sena and Darric behind him. His spear was pointed at one of the wounded raiders lying unconscious in the dirt.
"You people leave me alone for ten minutes and somehow fight an entire bandit camp."
Sena looked at the bodies.
Then at Ethan.
Then at the freed girl.
Her expression softened.
"You saved her."
Ethan looked away.
"We saved her."
Brant eyed the destroyed wagons, dead bandits, blood everywhere, and Ethan's glowing veins.
"Sure. Team effort. Extremely normal team."
Darric stumbled past him and ran to the girl.
She cried out and threw herself into his arms.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Ethan watched them.
Father and daughter.
Alive.
Holding each other like the world had almost stolen something it had no right to take.
His chest tightened.
The system opened again.
[Optional Event Completed]
Merchant Survivor Rescued
Reward Pending]
Ethan frowned.
"Reward pending?"
The ground trembled.
Not from the forest.
Not from the Administrator.
From beneath the old shrine.
The worn stone statues around it began to glow.
Blue first.
Then gold.
Merek had called the system old.
Kael had said Skyfalls happened when the system cracked.
But this glow felt older than the system windows.
Older than the monsters.
The shrine doors, half-buried under roots, opened on their own.
A staircase waited inside.
Leading down.
Riven slowly raised her bow.
Kael drew his spare knife.
Sena lifted her shield.
Brant stared.
"Nope."
Ethan looked at the open doorway.
A system message appeared.
[Hidden Route Discovered]
Location: Saint's Rest Passage
Destination: Unknown
Administrator Tracking Interference: High
Ethan's pulse quickened.
"Guys…"
Kael looked at him.
"It says tracking interference is high."
Riven's eyes sharpened.
"Meaning the Administrator may have trouble following us."
Brant pointed at the dark stairway.
"It is an underground shrine that opened after a glowing death boy rejected murder power. Does nobody else see the problem?"
Ethan looked into the darkness.
Cold air drifted up from below.
But for the first time since the red mark burned into him, the pressure in his chest eased.
A path.
Not safe.
Not easy.
But hidden.
He gripped Lyra's dagger and stepped toward the stairs.
Kael caught his arm.
"Wait."
Ethan looked back.
Kael's expression was serious.
"You do not go first."
Ethan blinked.
"Why?"
"Because every trap in there is probably older than my bloodline, and you have already proven your first instinct is to sprint directly into danger."
Ethan paused.
"That's fair."
Riven moved ahead of them, bow raised.
"I'll scout."
Sena followed with her shield.
Kael stepped after her.
Brant sighed like a man betrayed by fate itself.
"I hate all of you."
Ethan almost smiled.
Then he looked back one more time.
Darric held his daughter beside the ruined wagon.
The girl met Ethan's eyes.
She gave him a small nod.
Not fear.
Not worship.
Just thanks.
Ethan nodded back.
Then he stepped into the shrine.
The system window followed him into the dark.
[Main Quest Updated]
Reach Veyrhold Through Saint's Rest Passage
Warning: Buried Systems Detected
Hidden Objective Active: Survive Yourself
Ethan descended the stairs.
And behind him, the stone doors slowly closed.