The Red Threads left the mountain village at sunrise.
Cold wind swept across the cliffs while messenger birds circled high above East Cloud’s endless skies.
The hidden village slowly disappeared behind layers of morning fog as the squad descended the mountain paths one final time.
Nobody spoke much at first.
Maybe because leaving felt strange.
Or maybe because everybody understood something important now.
Training was over.
The real world waited below again.
Deep carried three new bags somehow.
Nobody knew where they came from.
“Didn’t you already have enough equipment?”
Deep adjusted the straps proudly.
“These are specialized bags.”
“For what?”
“Emergency specialization.”
Deepika looked physically exhausted by the sentence.
Robin walked near the back of the group quietly reading Disar’s route map while occasionally comparing it against Harun’s markings.
Dhruv walked beside her.
Veyra rested against his waist now.
Not decorative anymore.
Comfortable.
Natural.
Disar’s training had changed the way he moved entirely.
Quieter footsteps.
Lower center of balance.
Sharper awareness.
Not complete.
But different.
Ahead of them, East Cloud stretched endlessly beneath golden morning light.
Massive forests.
Stone valleys.
Hidden rivers.
Distant hanging bridges between mountain cliffs.
Beautiful.
And dangerous enough to kill careless travelers within hours.
Deep suddenly looked behind them.
“…Do you think Disar already misses us?”
“No,” Deepika answered immediately.
“Not even slightly.”
Fair.
By afternoon, the mountain roads slowly merged into old hunter pathways cutting through the eastern forests.
Unlike normal travel roads, these routes felt hidden intentionally.
Narrow trails.
Broken signs.
Old markings carved into trees.
Robin pointed toward one symbol carved into black bark.
Three curved lines crossing one circle.
“The same symbol.”
Dhruv touched the carving lightly.
“The path beneath kings?”
Robin nodded.
“Old hunter routes.”
Deep looked around nervously.
“So hidden hunter roads are just creepy forests?”
“Mostly.”
“…That’s disappointing.”
The deeper they traveled, the quieter East Cloud became.
Even messenger birds appeared less often here.
The forests felt ancient.
Wrong somehow.
Trees taller than houses blocked most sunlight overhead while giant roots twisted across the earth like sleeping serpents.
Around sunset, they finally reached the remains of an abandoned checkpoint.
Broken stone walls surrounded part of the road while old wooden watchtowers leaned sideways with age.
Deep stepped carefully through the ruins.
“Place feels dead.”
Robin studied the old markings near the walls.
“It was attacked.”
Deepika narrowed her eyes.
“You can tell?”
Robin pointed toward deep blade marks cut across the stone.
“Hunter weapons.”
Dhruv slowly looked around.
No bodies.
No supplies.
Just silence.
Then—
Movement.
Tiny.
Dhruv’s instincts sharpened instantly.
He raised one hand slightly.
Everybody stopped moving.
Deep whispered:
“…What?”
Dhruv’s eyes scanned the trees.
“There’s someone here.”
The forest went silent.
Too silent.
Then laughter echoed from above.
A man dropped casually from one of the broken towers onto the road below.
Young.
Tall.
Messy silver hair.
A long spear resting against his shoulder.
Hunter.
Another figure emerged beside the ruined walls.
Then another.
And another.
Four total.
All armed.
A cracked crown pierced by three nails.
The leader twirled the spear casually while grinning.
“Well well.”
“Looks like the mountain rumors were true.”
Deep quietly whispered:
“…Please tell me these people are friendly.”
“Nobody says ‘well well’ while being friendly,” Deepika replied.
Fair point.
The spear hunter stepped closer.
“Name’s Raze Calder.”
He tapped the insignia on his coat proudly.
“Leader of the Black Nail Squad.”
Robin’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Recognition.
Dhruv noticed immediately.
“You know them?”
Robin answered quietly:
“10,000 crown bounty.”
Deep blinked.
“WAIT.”
“People put prices on squads?”
The woman beside Raze smirked.
“New hunters.”
Interesting.
The other members slowly spread out around the checkpoint ruins:
– Mira Voss, dual-chain fighter
– Gorn Bale, massive axe user
– and Tyren, thin crossbow hunter with burn scars across one eye
Experienced.
Not legendary.
But experienced enough to feel dangerous instantly.
Raze spun the spear once before pointing toward Dhruv.
“You’ve got something people want.”
Dhruv smiled faintly.
“Starting to hear that a lot.”
Raze’s grin widened.
“Good.”
“Makes this easier.”
Deep slowly reached toward his bag.
Deepika loosened her knives.
Robin quietly closed her book.
The atmosphere shifted.
Hunter instinct.
Battle instinct.
No hesitation now.
Raze noticed Veyra at Dhruv’s side.
His smile faded slightly.
“…That sword.”
Dhruv rested one hand against the handle casually.
“What about it?”
Raze’s eyes sharpened.
“I’ve seen sketches of it before.”
Robin’s expression changed immediately.
Dangerous information.
Tyren suddenly raised his crossbow.
“Enough talking.”
The bolt fired instantly.
Fast.
Dhruv moved faster.
CLANG.
Veyra knocked the bolt sideways midair.
Everyone froze slightly.
Even Dhruv.
Because that movement happened naturally.
Instinct sharpened by training.
Raze noticed too.
His grin returned slowly.
“…Interesting.”
Then he attacked.
The spear crashed forward like lightning.
Dhruv stepped sideways immediately.
Better footing this time.
Better balance.
The spear scraped sparks across stone where he stood moments earlier.
Fast.
But readable.
Disar’s training echoed through Dhruv’s mind.
Movement first.
Power second.
Raze swung again.
Dhruv blocked with Veyra.
CLANG.
The impact traveled through his arms sharply.
Strong.
Very strong.
Meanwhile Mira’s chains exploded outward toward Robin and Deepika.
Robin reacted instantly.
Pages burst from her book into the air while Deepika rushed low beneath the chains.
CLINK.
One knife sliced directly toward Mira’s shoulder.
Mira twisted barely in time.
“FAST girl.”
Deepika answered by throwing another knife immediately.
Across the ruins, Deep slammed a metal device onto the ground.
“EVERYBODY DUCK.”
Nobody trusted that sentence.
BOOOOM.
A shockwave blasted through the checkpoint walls while smoke exploded across the battlefield.
Gorn roared angrily somewhere inside the smoke cloud. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
The spear hunter lunged through the smoke directly toward Dhruv.
Too fast.
Dhruv barely blocked in time.
CLANG.
The force shoved him backward across broken stone.
Raze smiled dangerously now.
“You trained recently.”
Dhruv steadied his breathing.
“Yeah.”
“Still inexperienced.”
Probably true.
Raze spun the spear again and attacked harder this time.
Three rapid strikes.
Dhruv blocked the first.
Dodged the second.
The third cut lightly across his shoulder.
Pain burned sharply.
Raze pressed forward immediately.
Experienced hunters never gave space.
Dhruv remembered Disar’s words instantly.
If somebody enters your range that easily… you’re already dead.
So instead of retreating—
Dhruv stepped forward.
Raze’s eyes widened slightly.
Unexpected.
Veyra moved sharply upward beneath the spear’s shaft.
CLANG.
The movement knocked the weapon slightly off-line.
Then Dhruv punched directly into Raze’s ribs.
Not elegant.
But effective.
Raze stumbled backward laughing.
“THERE it is.”
Blood dripped lightly from Dhruv’s shoulder.
His heartbeat pounded loudly now.
Not fear.
Excitement.
Real hunter combat.
No training.
No wooden blades.
No mercy.
Meanwhile Robin floated shattered stone pieces through the air around Mira while pages restrained Tyren’s crossbow repeatedly.
Deepika moved through the battlefield like a shadow.
Precise.
Controlled.
Deadly.
And Deep… somehow attached explosives to Gorn’s axe without the man noticing.
“Why is it ticking?”
Deep grinned proudly from atop the ruins.
“Excellent question.”
BOOM.
The axe exploded.
Not lethally.
But hard enough to send Gorn crashing through a broken wall.
Deep raised both arms triumphantly.
“SCIENCE STRIKES AGAIN.”
Then Raze suddenly slammed the blunt end of his spear into Dhruv’s stomach.
Dhruv coughed violently and stumbled backward.
Raze pointed the spear toward his throat.
“You’re talented.”
His grin faded slightly.
“But talent alone gets hunters buried.”
Then—
Dhruv disappeared.
No smoke nearby now.
The invisibility returned instantly.
Raze’s eyes sharpened.
Too late.
Dhruv reappeared behind him.
Veyra pressed lightly against Raze’s neck.
Silence.
The ruined checkpoint became still.
Mira froze.
Tyren lowered his crossbow slowly.
Even Gorn stopped moving beneath rubble.
Raze stood there quietly.
Then laughed.
Actually laughed.
“…Alright.”
He slowly raised both hands.
“You win.”
Deep immediately pointed dramatically.
“WE HAVE A HIGH-BOUNTY VICTORY.”
Deepika exhaled softly while lowering her knives.
Robin’s floating pages slowly settled around the ruins.
The forest wind returned quietly through broken stone walls.
Raze glanced sideways toward Dhruv.
“Not bad, red thread.”
Dhruv blinked once.
“You noticed that?”
Raze smirked.
“Everybody’s starting to notice.”
The words settled strangely.
Because for the first time… the Red Threads no longer felt like beginners wandering blindly through East Cloud.
People were starting to recognize them.
And in the hunter world… recognition was both power and danger.
END OF CHAPTER 22