Night deepened around the forest as Traise continued moving quietly through the trees with Luna perched comfortably across his shoulders.
The Cloak of Infinite Night softened the darkness around him just enough that navigating beneath the canopy no longer felt nearly as dangerous as before.
Moonlight filtered faintly through the massive branches overhead while cold wind drifted through the deeper forest in slow, uneven waves.
The farther inward he traveled, the older the forest seemed to become.
Some trees were so enormous that Traise honestly couldn’t tell where the trunks ended once they disappeared into the darkness overhead.
Thick roots twisted across the ground like massive serpents while patches of pale fog occasionally drifted silently between the trees before vanishing again moments later.
Even the sounds felt different here.
The outer forest was constantly filled with movement, growls, and territorial calls from nearby creatures.
This deep within the forest, however, long stretches of silence sometimes settled over everything at once, and that quiet felt far more unnatural than the noise ever had.
Luna’s ears twitched slightly while alertness drifted faintly through the bond.
Traise slowed immediately before crouching lower against one of the larger branches overlooking the forest below.
His grip tightened slightly around the Silverhorn Bone Dagger while he carefully scanned the darkness ahead.
The improved vision granted by the cloak allowed him to see far more clearly than before, but even then, portions of the deeper forest still felt strangely obscured somehow.
Something felt wrong.
Not dangerous exactly, but unfamiliar enough that Luna’s warning made the hair along the back of his neck rise.
Then he heard it.
Voices.
Traise froze instantly.
Not growls or territorial calls, but actual voices.
Calm conversation drifted faintly through the trees somewhere ahead, spoken clearly enough that he could distinguish individual words despite the distance between them.
His heartbeat quickened while confusion crashed through his mind almost as quickly as the realization itself.
He understood them perfectly.
Traise lowered himself silently behind the massive branch while Shadows activated instinctively around his body.
Darkness wrapped around portions of his clothing and skin as he carefully concealed both himself and Luna within the surrounding shadows.
The voices grew clearer as he slowly moved closer through the branches overhead.
Then Traise saw them, and his entire body went still.
The first creature stood well over eight feet tall with the body shape of a man, though that comparison immediately stopped at the neck.
Four glowing eyes stared calmly outward from the head of an enormous deer while massive purple crystal antlers stretched upward into the darkness above.
Pale robes hung across the creature’s towering frame while radiant light drifted constantly from glowing markings spread across portions of exposed skin.
The creature almost looked divine.
Beside it knelt something even stranger.
A massive bear-like creature rested against the roots of a nearby tree, though its appearance felt deeply unnatural at first glance.
One half of its body was covered in black fur while the opposite side remained completely white, split perfectly down the center as though two entirely different creatures had somehow been forced together.
One arm was completely missing, and blood soaked the ground beneath the ruined shoulder.
Even injured, the creature radiated danger.
Traise instinctively activated Observation on the deer-headed creature.
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[Solhart]
Name: ???
(Rare)
Threat: Impossible
Observed Traits: ???
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Cold sweat instantly formed down Traise’s back.
Impossible.
Not deadly, but impossible…
His eyes immediately shifted toward the injured one.
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[Duskwalker]
Name: ???
Threat: Impossible
Observed Traits: ???
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Traise’s throat tightened slightly.
Observation barely functioned against either of them.
The system couldn’t properly identify their names, traits, abilities, or anything useful beyond their race and threat rating.
That terrified him more than their appearances did.
Then the Solhart spoke again.
“You cannot escape punishment for what you’ve done, entering a dungeon alone,” the towering creature said calmly while kneeling beside the injured Duskwalker.
“Once we return to the academy, you will answer for your actions properly.”
Traise’s eyes widened slightly at two specific words.
Academy.
Dungeon.
The Duskwalker lowered its massive head while letting out a restrained growl.
“I know.”
“You knew the rules before entering,” the Solhart said, its voice calm but carrying a weight that made even Traise feel pressured from where he hid.
“Even a Bronze -ranked dungeon is not a training field for reckless pride.”
The Duskwalker’s claws dug weakly into the soil.
“I thought I could clear the final beast myself. I should have been able to, but I never thought that the Forsaken’s reach would spread this far.”
“You thought wrong.” The Solhart’s tone did not rise, but the words landed heavily.
“Had the instructors arrived any later, the corruption would have spread past your shoulder.”
Corruption?
Traise’s pulse quickened at the unfamiliar term, but he forced himself to remain still.
He didn’t know what they were talking about, but the way the Solhart said it made the word feel far worse than poison or infection.
The Duskwalker remained silent for several seconds before finally lowering its head further.
“I didn’t mean for anyone else to get involved.”
“And yet three students were nearly dragged into the collapse because they followed you.” The Solhart sighed softly before pulling out a glowing metallic collar from beneath its robes.
Pale light pulsed across the object’s surface while faint runic markings drifted across the metal like flowing water.
“You are fortunate your actions only injured yourself and not the other students.”
The words echoed through Traise’s mind while his heartbeat quickened beneath his chest.
Students.
An academy.
The implications behind those two things alone nearly overwhelmed him.
There were intelligent societies in this world.
Real civilizations.
People lived somewhere beyond the forest with rules, schools, instructors, punishments, and structured lives completely separate from the constant life-or-death struggle he had endured since arriving here.
For the first time since arriving here, Traise no longer felt completely alone.
The Duskwalker allowed the collar to lock around its neck without resistance.
The moment the glowing metal snapped into place, radiant light immediately surged outward from the Solhart’s hand.
Warm golden energy spread across the injured creature’s body while glowing strands of light wrapped around the missing shoulder where its arm had once been.
Traise’s eyes widened as bone slowly began reforming beneath the light first, followed by muscle, fur, and flesh rebuilding themselves piece by piece before him.
The healing looked impossible.
It wasn’t fast regeneration or natural recovery.
It looked closer to creation, as though the Solhart was calmly restoring an entire missing limb by reminding the body what should have been there.
Then the system sounded inside his mind.
[Observation complete]
[Target ability detected: Light Affinity]
[Would you like to select this ability?]
Traise’s pulse quickened instantly.
Mimic.
Finally.
His gaze locked onto the glowing system window while thoughts raced through his mind almost as quickly as his heartbeat.
Mimic had only activated once before during his entire time in this world, and the creature responsible for that first activation had been anything but normal.
The golden Silverhorn Hare.
Even now, Traise still remembered how unnatural the creature looked compared to every other hare he encountered afterward.
At the time, he assumed it was simple luck, but now he wasn’t so sure anymore.
Both creatures capable of triggering Mimic had been abnormal existences that seemed far beyond anything else he had seen.
Minor Regeneration alone had already proven how absurdly valuable copied abilities could become over time.
If Light Affinity possessed even a fraction of the usefulness shown by the Solhart’s healing, ignoring this opportunity would be insane.
Traise slowly steadied his breathing before making his decision.
“I accept.”
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[Skill Acquired]
Light Affinity
Type: Affinity / Growth
Mastery: 0 / 1000
The user possesses a natural affinity toward controlling light and healing energy.
Current Effects:
Healing and restorative abilities become slightly more effective
Light skills consume slightly less mana
Skills and abilities related to the light element are learned more quickly
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Warmth spread through Traise’s body almost immediately afterward, though it wasn’t physical warmth exactly.
The sensation moved quietly beneath his skin while a strange feeling of clarity settled faintly across his mind.
For a brief moment, even the surrounding moonlight looked slightly brighter than before.
Traise barely had time to process the new skill before the air beside the Solhart distorted violently.
A massive crimson gate suddenly appeared between the trees.
Radiant red light flooded outward from the towering portal while strange symbols pulsed faintly across its surface.
The Solhart immediately grabbed the Duskwalker by the shoulder before guiding the injured creature toward the gate.
“You will report directly to the instructors,” the Solhart said.
“And this time, you will tell them the full truth.”
The Duskwalker gave a low, reluctant growl.
“Yes, Guardian.”
Guardian.
Traise barely had time to process the title before his attention locked onto the opening beyond the gate.
What he saw on the other side made everything else fade from his mind.
Massive stone structures stretched across the distance beyond the portal while glowing lights illuminated wide streets filled with movement.
Humanoid figures walked openly throughout what looked almost like a city, though portions of the area resembled training grounds rather than normal streets.
Some individuals sparred openly while others carried weapons, books, or robes unlike anything Traise had ever seen before.
And among them were humans.
Actual humans.
Traise’s breathing caught in his throat while disbelief crashed through his mind all at once.
The world was far larger than he imagined.
This forest wasn’t the world itself.
It was only a tiny part of it.
The Solhart stepped through the gate while leading the Duskwalker behind it.
The crimson portal immediately began to destabilize, its edges flickering violently as the opening slowly began to collapse inward.
Traise moved instinctively.
“Wait!”
He leaped downward from the branch and sprinted forward through the trees as quickly as possible, but the gate vanished moments before he reached it.
Crimson light scattered across the forest briefly before fading completely into the darkness, leaving only silence behind.
Traise slowly came to a stop.
His chest rose and fell heavily while he stared at the empty space where the portal had existed only seconds earlier.
There were people here.
Civilization existed somewhere beyond this endless forest, along with academies, dungeons, instructors, cities, and entire societies filled with powerful beings far beyond anything he had encountered so far.
And compared to them, he was still painfully weak.
The Solhart alone probably could have killed him without effort if it wanted to.
Even the injured Duskwalker had radiated enough pressure to make his instincts scream at him not to get closer.
But despite that fear, something else had appeared inside him as well.
Hope.
For the first time since arriving in this world, Traise finally knew there was something beyond the forest.
Somewhere out there existed real cities, real people, and answers to questions he still didn’t fully understand.
Someday, he wanted to see that world for himself.
But before that could happen, he needed to become far stronger than he was now.
Because if he entered a world filled with monsters like the Solhart while remaining this weak, he would be crushed like an insignificant insect before he even had the chance to understand it.
It’s a double release day!
Sorry, I’ve been unable to post for several days, so please accept these chapters in return!
The story is just beginning to pick up, so I hope you’re all excited as well!
Be sure to leave a comment if you are ready for the next chapter 🙂