"Mythic is the lowest rank." He muttered.
"Yet it's very deadly."
Kael stared at his screen. Blue light glowed across his face:
[Speed Biogenes: N/A]
[Strength Biogenes: N/A]
[Defense Biogenes: N/A]
[Intel Biogenes: N/A]
Four lines of nothing.
"This is gonna be tough," he said.
Boom!
A fist hit his chest. Kael stumbled back, almost fell, and caught himself on a root. Zale stood there, his hand still out, his eyes burning with disgust.
"Damn you. Don't you know we're running late? "
He paused glaring at him,turned and walked away. Kael shook his head, rubbed his chest, and followed.
The world twisted. The portal swallowed them whole. For a second, there was nothing—no ground, no air, just spinning darkness. Then, it spat them out. Giant trees rose on every side: black bark, thorns like swords, roots slithering across the earth like buried snakes. The sky burned purple and blue. No sun. No stars. Just fire.
Hunters spilled out of the portal—dozens of them. The magic scattered most of them instantly, tearing them away and dropping them somewhere else in the foreign land. Seven landed with Kael. Calvin was there, his reddish-pink hair catching the weird light. He walked at the front, laughing and chatting like nothing bad could happen. Kael hung back, letting the squad go ahead.
The forest floor was soft under his bare feet—damp, warm in some places, cold in others. Fallen leaves crunched; wet leaves, thick with decay.
"Damn. Being a hunter is cool," a broad-shouldered man puffed his chest. "People as brave as me are always lucky. We always end up powerful."
Calvin laughed, mocking. "Ha. Too confident."
Zale's head snapped toward Calvin. "At least he's better than a loser like you."
Calvin's head dropped, silent. Doman rode a giant red bull behind them—bronze hooves, low epic rank, the beast's eyes glowing orange.
"He's right, though," Doman's voice rolled slow. "Confidence is useless. It's about soul synchronization and luck."
Kael halted. His senses screamed. He felt a vibration—low, deep, in his feet, in his bones. Underground. Something was moving. He stepped back. One pace. Two.
"I don't care what you say," the broad-shouldered man kept talking. "I'm going to become the strongest hun—"
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Boom!
The ground exploded. Wind slammed into the hunters. Kael's coat whipped against his body. The man was gone.
A mouth the size of a car had erupted from beneath him. Teeth like railroad spikes. Flesh like wet stone. The worm chewed once. The scream lasted half a second. Then just crunching. Calvin's back hit a tree; he slid down, gasping.
"Holy shit! Rock worm!" Doman screamed.
Three experienced hunters boosted. Soul weapons appeared. A glowing black axe in Doman's hand. He dove. He swung.
Crack!
The blade bounced off. Not a scratch.
The worm's body flexed. Spikes erupted from its hide—each one as long as Kael's arm. One hunter got too close, was impaled, and shaken off like water. Calvin screamed behind a tree, curled into a ball, hiding.
Kael watched. No one was looking at him. He turned and moved back—slow at first, then faster. His bare feet made no sound. Behind him, the worm kept feeding.
Minutes passed. Kael found a quiet place: a small clearing where moss glowed faintly blue on the ground and spores drifted through the air like dust. He summoned his dragon.
The air cracked. Heat bloomed. The dragon appeared beside him—white scales, iron beak, dead eyes. Its head was taller than him. He climbed on; the scales were cold under his fingers, smooth in some places, sharp in others.
The dragon shot up—fifty meters. The ground fell away. Trees shrank. Flying mounts had limits; rank decided height. High Mythic Tier could only go so high. But this was enough. High enough to watch. Low enough to wait. The wind moved drunk up here—cold and unsteady.
Arrrggh! The dragon screamed as it flapped its wings and landed.
Kael jumped down. The dragon flickered and dissolved—desummoned. The sky was darker now. The purple flames had dimmed to bruised violet. Blue-green auroras pulsed slower, like a dying heartbeat. Kael stood still and listened. Tiny insects creaked in the undergrowth—not chirping, but creaking like miniature doors opening and closing.
He took a walk through the darkness, humming. He wasn't sure why; the tune didn't have a name. He was thinking about the worm, about the man ground to paste, about Calvin hiding behind a tree.
"Pride is useless here," he muttered. His breath fogged in the cold air.
His nose twitched. He smelled something: sweet, thick, like raw egg and warm meat. He turned around. Looked up.
A giant nest sat in the fork of two massive trees, woven from branches, sinew, and what looked like hair. Eggs rested inside—each one the size of a basketball. Their shells were pale and veined, like cracked marble. The eggs pulsed; soft light traveled across their surfaces with every beat.
Kael looked around. No parent. No guardian.
Summon!
The dragon manifested beneath his feet, rose up, and carried him to the nest. Up close, the eggs were warm. Kael could feel the heat radiating from them. He grabbed a thin stick from the nest's rim and punched a hole into the first egg. Thick amber liquid leaked out—pouring, not dripping.
Kael put his mouth to the hole and sucked. Warm. Almost hot. It tasted like iron and honey. His tongue tingled. His eyes watered. He drank. His eyes flickered black.
[White Owl - Mythic Rank Beast Killed.]
[2 Speed Biogenes Gained.]
[3 Intel Biogenes Gained.]
The screen bloomed in front of his face. Green letters against the darkness. Kael stared at it. Amber liquid dripped from his chin.
"Seems the type of beast killed determines the type of biogens."
His veins lit up. Faint silver light traced paths beneath his skin—from his stomach to his chest, from his chest to his arms—pulsing with his heartbeat. His body surged with energy. Not pleasant. Not painful. Just hungry. Kael smiled.
He punched the second egg. Drank.
[4 Speed Biogenes Gained.]
The third egg. Drank.
[4 Intel Biogenes Gained.]
His screen flickered. The letters wobbled, then corrected themselves. He kept drinking. The fourth egg cracked. Liquid splashed across his face. He licked it from his lips. Drank until his throat ached. Until his stomach felt full for the first time in days.
[3 Speed Biogenes Gained.]
[2 Intel Biogenes Gained.]
[Defense Biogenes: 1]
His veins pulsed brighter. The hunger quieted. Sated. For now. Kael sighed. The sound came out shaky. He controlled his mount and landed. His bare feet touched soil. The moss was cold. Or maybe his feet were warm. He couldn't tell anymore.
He looked around. A white body was moving through the trees. Coming close. Tall. Human-shaped. But wrong. The way it moved—gliding, not walking. Its skin was pale. Too pale. The color of milk. The color of bone.
Shit.
Kael ducked behind a tree. Silent. Breath held. He was cautious. The wind blew, watching.