The fog in the deeper reaches of the Whispering Woods did not behave like ordinary mist.
It hung low to the damp earth in thick, curling tendrils, heavy with the sharp smell of petrified ozone and wet elder-wood. The ambient sunlight, already dim beneath the dense forest canopy, was completely swallowed by the shroud. Here, the cheerful chirping of forest birds and the rustle of common game had entirely ceased. The woods were dead quiet, save for the rhythmic, crunching sound of Kaelen Ashford's boots treading over layers of damp, ancient leaves.
Beside him, Nox moved like a shadow given form.
The tiny creature's black fur seemed to absorb what little light filtered through the canopy, rendering it virtually invisible in the gloaming. Its golden eyes glowed with a sharp, predatory brilliance, shifting back and forth as its delicate ears twitched at every subtle vibration in the air.
Kaelen glanced at his translucent System interface hovering silently in his field of vision.
[NAME: NOX] [SPECIES: VOID-STALKER (PRIMAL DRAGON-HUNTER LINEAGE)] [TRUE COMBAT RATING: 88] [SYSTEM DISPLAY RATING: 1 (MASKED)] [AVAILABLE EXTINCTION POINTS: 455]
Four hundred and fifty-five Extinction Points, Kaelen thought, his eyes narrowing as he reviewed his reserves. The victory over the Thorn-Scaled Raptor, along with the Void Absorption of its ancient genetic fragments, had granted him a massive influx of points. In the hands of a normal summoner, a CR 88 beast was already comparable to a Silver-Grade tier monster—something capable of slaughtering an entire squad of apprentice mercenaries.
Yet, as they ventured deeper into the forbidden inner perimeter of the woods, Kaelen felt no sense of complacency.
The low, pulse-like resonance he had felt earlier was growing stronger with every step. It wasn't just a physical sound; it was a rhythmic vibration in his mana core, beating like a heavy drum beneath the earth.
Thump... Thump... Thump...
Suddenly, Nox halted mid-stride.
Its tail stood straight up, the tiny black fur along its spine bristling. It let out a soft, low hiss, crouching close to the mud as its golden eyes fixed onto a massive, crumbling stone structure half-buried beneath sprawling roots ahead.
Kaelen dropped into a low crouch behind a moss-covered ironwood trunk, placing a hand on the worn handle of Old Bram’s hunting knife. "What is it, Nox?" he whispered.
In response, Kaelen's System interface flickered erratically. The blue light flared into a deep, intense violet, and cold, mechanical lines of text flooded his vision in rapid succession.
[WARNING: HIGH-DENSITY PRIMAL MANA FIELD DETECTED] [ANCIENT ARCHIVE RESONANCE: 89%] [SCANNING LOCALIZED GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE...] [WARNING: EXTINCT SPECIES DETECTED!]
Kaelen’s breath hitched in his throat. Extinct species detected?
He blinked, reading the prompt again. Ever since Nox had been summoned on the altar, the System had categorized Nox as the sole extinct monster in existence. But now, the Ancient Archive was flagging an active, localized match in the surrounding wilderness.
[SPECIES MATCH: ANCIENT DREAD-GORGON (HABITAT REMNANT)] [STATUS: CRITICAL ANOMALY / MUTATED GUARDIAN DETECTED] [LOCATION: PRIMAL DRAGON-BONE SANCTUARY — 120 METERS AHEAD]
"An Ancient Dread-Gorgon..." Kaelen murmured under his breath, searching his memory.
During his years of laboring in the lower stables, Kaelen had spent hundreds of late nights reading discarded, tattered beast manuals salvaged from the High Precinct’s trash heaps. He knew the classifications of modern beasts by heart. The modern Gorgon species were reptilian, stone-skinned beasts with CRs ranging from 70 to 120, often hunted by Silver-grade squads for their valuable hide and petrifying glands.
However, the prefix Ancient Dread- had never appeared in any guild manual. It belonged to an era wiped from the kingdom's history books.
Thump... Thump...
The pulse beneath the earth shuddered through Kaelen's boots.
Nox nudged Kaelen's ankle with its nose, pointing toward a gaping sinkhole concealed beneath a curtain of thick, thorned vines. The vines themselves were strange—blackened, leafless, and oozing a faint, glowing sap that smelled faintly of scorched iron.
Kaelen carefully parted the thorny curtain with the flat of his knife, revealing a steep, natural stone staircase descending into the earth. The walls of the descending tunnel were not carved by tools; they looked as though they had been melted by unfathomable heat eons ago, smooth as black glass.
As they stepped into the subterranean passageway, the damp forest air gave way to a cold, dry draft carrying the scent of petrified bone and ancient dust.
Nox took the lead, its Silent Tread ability rendering its movements completely noiseless. Kaelen followed closely behind, keeping his breathing slow and shallow.
After descending thirty yards into the earth, the tunnel widened into a colossal underground cavern.
Kaelen froze, his eyes widening in awe.
The cavern was vast, its ceiling vaulted like the nave of a cathedral. Hanging from the dark roof were massive, glowing crystal stalactites that cast an ethereal, deep blue light across the subterranean landscape. But it was not the crystals that caught Kaelen's breath.
It was the center of the cavern.
Embedded directly into the cavern floor was the towering, petrified ribcage of an ancient creature—a skeleton so immense that a three-story building could comfortably fit inside its chest cavity. The bones were black as obsidian, covered in intricate, glowing silver runes that pulsated in sync with the subterranean heartbeat.
A dragon skeleton, Kaelen realized, his heart pounding against his ribs. No... it's too thick to be a standard Drake. It's an Ancient Primal Dragon.
And scattered around the base of the colossal dragon ribs were hundreds of shattered, calcified skulls of smaller creatures—skulls with elongated, razor-sharp fangs and sleek, lupine structures.
[ANCIENT BESTIARY ANALYSIS:] [LOCATION IDENTIFIED: BATTLEGROUND OF THE PRIMAL HUNT] [DESCRIPTION: A HISTORIC NESTING SITE WHERE PRIMAL DRAGON-HUNTERS ONCE BROUGHT DOWN ADULT DRAKES DURING THE FIRST AGE.]
Kaelen felt a shiver run down his spine. This was not just a cave; it was an ancient battleground, a testament to the era when Nox's ancestors ruled the food chain.
Suddenly, Nox let out a sharp, guttural growl.
From behind the towering dragon skull at the far end of the cavern, a massive shadow slowly rose.
The ground trembled as four heavy, clawed limbs slammed onto the stone floor. The creature that stepped into the ethereal blue light was monstrous—a fifteen-foot-long reptilian leviathan with scales like jagged slate and six burning crimson eyes arranged in a crown across its broad, armored head.
From its neck hung a mane of thick, calcified tendrils that writhed like serpents, and its long, whip-like tail ended in a heavy, spiked mace of solid stone.
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The System window instantly flared above the monster's head:
[TARGET IDENTIFIED: MUTATED DREAD-GORGON GUARDIAN] [CURRENT STATE: CORRUPTED BY DECAYING PRIMAL MANA] [SYSTEM COMBAT RATING: 185] [THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME]
Combat Rating 185!
Kaelen felt a cold sweat break across his forehead. A CR 185 beast was well into the Gold-Grade threshold. Even Valerius Vance's Crimson Flame Drake, which had stunned the entire plaza with a CR of 380, would find a wild CR 185 beast a formidable opponent due to its feral killing instincts and armored hide.
The Dread-Gorgon hissed, its six crimson eyes locking onto Kaelen and Nox. The calcified tendrils around its neck flared outward, releasing a cloud of grey, petrifying dust that hissed as it touched the stone floor, turning the moss instantly to brittle rock.
ROAAAAAR!
The cavern shook with the force of the monster's roar.
"CR 185..." Kaelen whispered, his eyes narrowing as his mind worked at terrifying speed. "Nox is CR 88 right now. A direct clash of raw strength will get us crushed."
He immediately opened his System panel, navigating to the Ancient Bestiary interface.
[AVAILABLE EXTINCTION POINTS: 455] [PURCHASABLE ANCESTRAL UPGRADES:]
[BLOODLINE REPAIR STAGE 0.2] — COST: 250 EP (Increases Bloodline Purity by 5%. Unlocks Skill: Primal Aura I & Void-Step I)
[PHYSICAL REINFORCEMENT II] — COST: 150 EP (Increases physical resilience and claw hardness by 40%)
"System! Execute Bloodline Repair Stage 0.2 and Physical Reinforcement II immediately!" Kaelen commanded in his mind.
[CONFIRMED!] [DEDUCTING 400 EXTINCTION POINTS...] [REMAINING EP: 55] [INITIATING ANCESTRAL BLOODLINE REPAIR...]
A blinding surge of dark, iridescent mana erupted from Kaelen's hand, connecting to Nox through their soul bond. The tiny black creature let out a low, majestic cry as black fire enveloped its body.
Inside the dark flames, Nox's body expanded slightly—its muscles growing denser, its fur shimmering like liquid night, and its claws extending into four-inch blades of translucent void-glass. Beneath its golden eyes, faint, glowing silver markings emerged along its cheekbones.
[UPGRADE COMPLETE!] [NOX HAS UNLOCKED SKILL: VOID-STEP I] [NOX HAS UNLOCKED SKILL: PRIMAL AURA I] [NOX TRUE COMBAT RATING: 88 ---> 142!]
The transformation took less than two seconds, but the shift in atmosphere was absolute.
The Mutated Dread-Gorgon, which had been charging forward with pulverizing momentum, suddenly skidded to a halt, its six crimson eyes dilating in primal terror.
The tiny creature standing before it no longer emitted the weak aura of a common housecat.
A heavy, suffocating pressure spread through the cavern—the Primal Aura of an ancient predator that had fed on the blood of dragons for millennia. The Dread-Gorgon's feral instincts screamed at it to flee, but the corruption in its mind drove it into a frantic rage.
GROAAAR!
The Gorgon whipped its spiked tail forward, shattering a pillar of stone as the stone mace whistled through the air directly toward Kaelen!
"Nox! Void-Step!" Kaelen shouted.
SWOOSH!
Nox vanished.
There was no motion blur, no rustle of air—it simply ceased to exist in one location and reappeared instantaneously five yards above the Gorgon's head, stepping out of a ripple of pure shadow.
VOID-CLAW!
Nox swung its paw downward. Four razor-thin beams of violet void-light slashed through the air, carving directly through the Gorgon's stone-plated scales like a hot blade through lard.
SLASH!
Black, foul-smelling blood sprayed across the cavern floor as the Gorgon shrieked in agony. Two of its six eyes were instantly blinded, and a deep, gushing wound spanned across its snout.
"Don't give it room to use its petrifying breath!" Kaelen called out, drawing Bram's iron knife and circling around the left flank to draw the monster's attention. "Keep on its blind side!"
The Gorgon thrashing wildly, opening its massive jaws to exhale a concentrated jet of grey, petrifying dust directly toward Nox.
Nox flickered again—Void-Step!
It reappeared directly beneath the Gorgon's soft, unarmored underbelly. With lightning speed, Nox unleashed a flurry of claws, tearing open the monster's throat and severing its main mana arteries in a single, devastating combo.
CRUNCH!
The towering Dread-Gorgon collapsed onto its knees, its heavy body crashing into the dusty stone floor with a deafening thud. Blood pooled around its massive frame as its six eyes slowly lost their crimson luster.
[TARGET DEFEATED!] [MUTATED DREAD-GORGON GUARDIAN HAS BEEN SLAIN!] [EXPERIENCE GAINED!] [EXTINCTION POINTS ACQUIRED: +220 EP]
Kaelen exhaled a long, shaky breath, lowering his knife as his chest heaved. He looked at the fallen giant, then at Nox, who landed gracefully atop the monster's snout, licking a drop of black blood from its dark claws.
"We did it," Kaelen breathed, a grin breaking across his face. "We actually took down a CR 185 boss."
Before Kaelen could step forward, Nox raised its head and let out a soft meow toward the petrified dragon skeleton at the center of the cavern.
Nox trotted over to the base of the dragon skull, pressing its tiny front paw flat against a hollow socket in the bone.
[PRIMAL ABSORPTION INITIATED...] [EXTRACTING ANCIENT GENETIC DENSITY...]
A brilliant pillar of deep violet light erupted from the dragon skeleton, flowing directly into Nox's small frame. The entire underground cavern shuddered as ancient runes carved into the rock walls began to glow with blinding radiance.
The System interface in front of Kaelen went wild, flashing text so bright it illuminated the dark cavern like daylight:
[ABSORPTION SUCCESSFUL!] [EXTINCTION POINTS ACQUIRED: +500 EP!] [ANCIENT ARCHIVE DATA UNLOCKED!] [SPECIES 003 IDENTIFIED: PRIMAL DREAD-GORGON] [NEW RECORD REGISTERED IN ANCIENT BESTIARY!]
And then, a cold, majestic System prompt echoed directly inside Kaelen's mind—a message that made his blood run hot with anticipation.
[WARNING: PRIMAL HABITAT RESTORATION THRESHOLD REACHED (1/10)] [EXTINCT BEAST TAMER RESONANCE INCREASING...] [ANCIENT ARCHIVE UNLOCKING NEXT PHASE...] [SPECIAL SYSTEM NOTICE: ANCESTRAL DRAGON-HUNTER AURA HAS AWAKENED!]
Nox turned back to Kaelen. Its fur was now laced with faint, glowing silver patterns, and its golden eyes burned with the undeniable authority of a apex predator that had conquered the ancient world.
[NOX TRUE COMBAT RATING: 142 ---> 210!]
Kaelen looked at the notification, then at his small, magnificent companion.
They were no longer just surviving in the woods. They had uncovered the first piece of an erased world.
"Let the kingdom keep calling us failed summoners," Kaelen said, his voice echoing through the ancient dragon-tomb. "Soon, they won't even have the right to speak our names."