The sound of heavy machinery echoed across the wilderness.
The ground trembled beneath the enormous vehicle as its reinforced caterpillar tracks crushed through uneven terrain.
It was not a normal transport.
The Explorer Guild's armored expedition vehicle was built for dangerous routes.
Its thick metal plating protected its passengers from sudden attacks.
Its powerful engine allowed it to cross terrain that would take explorers days to traverse on foot.
Forests.
Rocky paths.
Broken landscapes.
Places where ordinary vehicles would never survive.
Inside the vehicle, the four students sat quietly.
No one spoke much.
The excitement they once felt about becoming climbers had been replaced by something heavier.
Uncertainty.
Fear.
They had spent years training at the academy.
Learning combat.
Studying monsters.
Preparing themselves for the Tower.
They imagined their first steps as climbers would involve exploration.
Discovering unknown floors.
Facing challenges.
Proving themselves.
They never imagined their path would begin with Ceduz.
A town that had fallen before experienced explorers could stop it.
Oliver stared out the window.
"So..."
He paused.
The others looked at him.
"What?"
Oliver sighed.
"Do you ever think about how ridiculous this is?"
Thomas raised an eyebrow.
"Explain."
Oliver gestured toward the outside.
"We're still students."
His expression became serious.
"And we're being sent to fight something that destroyed an entire town."
Nobody answered.
Because they had all thought the same thing.
Mia looked down at her hands.
"We haven't even become climbers yet."
Her voice was quiet.
"We spent all this time preparing for the Tower..."
She looked away.
"And now we might never even reach it."
The vehicle became silent.
Those words were uncomfortable because they were true.
The mission was not simply dangerous.
It was something that felt impossible.
Thomas leaned back.
"Do you think they believe we can actually do this?"
The question remained unanswered.
Because none of them knew.
Oliver lowered his voice.
"Sometimes it feels like..."
He stopped.
Then continued.
"Like we're not being sent because they think we're capable."
The others looked at him.
"Like we're being sent because they need bodies."
No one immediately argued.
They were the youngest participants.
They lacked the experience of veteran explorers.
Compared to the teams assigned to Ceduz...
They were beginners.
Jack remained quiet.
He understood their fear.
Anyone would feel it.
The idea that they were being used as a shield was difficult to ignore.
But he also remembered something.
The academy did not choose people randomly.
Eva was here.
The instructors had trained them.
Someone believed they had potential.
Jack looked at the others.
"We don't know what they expect from us."
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Everyone turned toward him.
"But we know what we expect from ourselves."
The vehicle continued forward.
The forest outside grew denser.
The destination was getting closer.
Eva watched the four students quietly.
She had heard everything.
And she understood their doubts.
That was exactly why they were going to meet Aldren.
Before Ceduz.
Before the Tower.
Before they faced something that could break them.
They needed to learn what it meant to survive.
The armored vehicle finally began slowing down.
The forest ahead became too dense for it to continue.
Eva stood.
"We're here."
The four students gathered their equipment.
Ahead of them was a forest untouched by roads.
A place where even the Guild's vehicles could go no further.
Eva stepped outside.
The students followed.
She looked toward the trees.
"Your training begins now."
The four students stepped away from the armored vehicle.
The difference was immediate.
Inside the machine, they had the protection of metal walls.
Outside...
There was nothing between them and the wilderness.
Only trees.
Only silence.
Only the unknown.
Jack looked toward the forest.
The trees stood close together, their branches blocking much of the sunlight.
It was not an ordinary forest.
Even without seeing any creatures, he could feel it.
The wilderness had a presence.
Eva adjusted her equipment.
"You will enter the forest and return before dusk."
Oliver looked at her.
"That's the entire instruction?"
Eva nodded.
"Yes."
He stared.
"That sounds suspiciously simple."
Mia glanced at him.
"You say that every time."
"Because every time it turns out to be true."
Eva ignored their exchange.
"Your objective is to hunt a wild boar."
The four students listened carefully.
"Bring it back."
"Work together."
"Do not separate."
Thomas looked toward the forest.
"Is this part of our preparation for Ceduz?"
Eva nodded.
"Partly."
She looked at each of them.
"You are going against an enemy that does not fight fairly."
"An enemy that hides."
"An enemy that uses numbers."
"An enemy that turns ordinary people into threats."
Jack understood.
The Aswangs did not simply attack.
They spread.
They infiltrated.
They created uncertainty.
Eva continued.
"Strength alone will not save you."
"You need communication."
"You need trust."
"You need to know what your teammates will do before they do it."
The four nodded.
They understood.
This was not just hunting.
It was training.
Before entering the forest, Jack stopped.
"We mark our route first."
Everyone agreed.
It was the first thing they had been taught about unfamiliar environments.
Never assume you can find your way back.
They began preparing their trail.
Jack carved a small mark into the first tree.
Thomas tied a strip of cloth around a low branch.
Mia arranged several stones near the base.
Oliver added a second marker as a backup.
Oliver looked at the trail.
"Overkill?"
Jack shook his head.
"No."
"In a forest like this, one marker can fail."
"Two can be missed."
"Four gives us a better chance."
Eva watched quietly.
Good.
They were already thinking like a team.
The four students entered the forest.
The sounds of the armored vehicle slowly disappeared behind them.
The deeper they went...
The smaller the world became.
At first, everything seemed normal.
They moved carefully.
They watched their surroundings.
They stayed close.
Then they found tracks.
Large hoof marks pressed into the soil.
Thomas crouched down.
"Wild boar?"
Jack examined them.
"No."
The tracks were too strange.
Too large.
The spacing was wrong.
Mia looked around.
"So what made them?"
Jack stood.
"I don't know."
The forest was full of creatures that did not follow the rules of the world they knew.
A strange track did not automatically mean danger.
But it did mean caution.
They continued forward.
Eventually, they found their target.
A massive wild boar stood between the trees.
Its body was covered in thick fur.
Its tusks were larger than normal.
Its eyes reflected the students standing before it.
Oliver raised his weapon.
"That one looks angry."
Thomas prepared himself.
"Most things with tusks are."
The boar charged.
The four immediately reacted.
They did not attack separately.
They moved together.
Thomas blocked its path.
Mia redirected its movement.
Oliver waited for an opening.
Jack watched its movements.
The creature was powerful.
But it was predictable.
And that was the difference.
"Now!"
Jack called out.
The team moved.
Together.
The battle ended quickly.
The boar collapsed.
The students stood there breathing heavily.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Oliver smiled.
"We actually worked together."
Thomas looked at him.
"Of course we did."
Oliver pointed at him.
"That sounded almost encouraging."
"It wasn't."
Even Jack smiled slightly.
For a brief moment...
They forgot about Ceduz.
They forgot about the impossible mission waiting for them.
They were just four students training together.
Then the sun began to lower.
Eva's instruction returned to their minds.
Return before dusk.
They gathered their equipment.
And began following their markers back.
At first...
Everything went perfectly.
The first marker.
The second.
The third.
They were heading home.
Until Jack stopped.
He looked at the tree in front of them.
A mark.
Their mark.
But something was wrong.
Jack stared at the mark carved into the tree.
The others noticed his expression.
"What is it?" Mia asked.
Jack did not answer immediately.
He looked behind them.
Then ahead.
Then back at the tree.
"We passed this already."
Oliver looked confused.
"No, we didn't."
Jack walked closer to the tree.
His fingers traced the mark they had made earlier.
"The same cut."
"The same branch."
"The same shape."
Thomas looked around.
The forest looked identical in every direction.
Tall trees.
Dense bushes.
A narrow path covered by fallen leaves.
Nothing stood out.
Nothing seemed unusual.
Except the fact that they had somehow returned to the same place.
Mia frowned.
"Maybe we took a wrong turn?"
Jack shook his head.
"No."
He pointed toward their marker.
"We followed the route correctly."
The four became quiet.
Their preparation had not failed.
Their memory had not failed.
Their markings were still there.
So why were they not moving forward?
They decided to retrace their steps.
Slowly.
Carefully.
They checked every marker.
Every turn.
Every path.
Nothing was missing.
Nothing had changed.
Yet every route eventually brought them back.
Oliver looked around.
"This forest is starting to annoy me."
Thomas glanced at him.
"Starting?"
Oliver ignored him.
"I'm serious."
He looked at their trail.
"We did everything right."
Jack remained focused.
Something about the situation bothered him.
The problem was not that they were lost.
Getting lost happened.
The problem was that they were lost despite doing everything correctly.
Then the wind changed.
A strange smell drifted through the trees.
Jack stopped.
Everyone noticed.
"What is that?"
Mia covered her nose.
"It smells like..."
She hesitated.
"Burning."
The scent grew stronger.
Not smoke.
Not wood.
Something else.
A harsh smell.
Like burning hair.
Thomas looked around.
"There is no fire."
Jack nodded.
"I know."
That was what bothered him.
The smell existed.
But there was no source.
Then they heard it.
A sound from somewhere in the forest.
A quiet laugh.
A childish giggle.
Everyone turned.
Nothing.
Only trees.
The sound came again.
This time from another direction.
Closer.
Oliver lowered his voice.
"Did anyone else hear that?"
Everyone nodded.
The four students immediately changed their formation.
No one wandered.
No one chased the sound.
They moved closer together.
Jack looked around.
Whatever was happening...
They could not treat this like a normal navigation problem anymore.
Something about the forest was wrong.
"We stay together," Thomas said.
Everyone agreed.
They continued moving.
But the forest seemed determined to make them doubt themselves.
A sound behind them.
A movement between the trees.
A shadow that disappeared the moment they looked.
They never saw anything.
And that was the worst part.
Hours did not pass.
But it felt like they had been walking much longer than they should have.
The path behind them no longer felt familiar.
Their markers appeared more often.
Sometimes on trees they did not remember marking.
Sometimes leading toward places they had never entered.
Mia stopped.
"Wait."
The others turned.
She pointed ahead.
Another marker.
Their marker.
Oliver looked exhausted.
"Again?"
Jack looked at the tree.
Their own sign stared back at them.
A trail they created.
A path they trusted.
A path that had somehow brought them nowhere.
Then...
The forest became completely silent.
No wind.
No insects.
No movement.
Jack slowly looked up.
Something was approaching.
Not walking.
Running.
A sound echoed between the trees.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The students tightened their formation.
They did not know what was coming.
But they knew one thing.
They could not afford another mistake.
The trees shook.
A large shape moved between them.
And then...
A massive horse emerged from the darkness.