Kael took a step inside the deep cave.

  After walking a few steps, he stopped.

  “…Aeris,” Kael said.

  She turned toward his voice.

  “There are three bear cubs,” Kael continued.

  “So the bear that attacked us earlier… it was probably protecting them.”

  Aeris was silent for a moment.

  “I can sense them,” she said.

  “They’re weak. Their life force is fading.”

  “From the looks of it,” Kael said,

  “they haven’t eaten in a while.”

  “…Yes,” Aeris added quietly.

  “It’s gradual. Not sudden.”

  Kael clenched his fist.

  “It might be because they were hungry for a long time,” he said.

  “But if that’s the case… why didn’t the bear feed them the beast she killed?”

  Aeris thought for a moment.

  “It’s because the flesh isn’t edible,” she said.

  “Animals have sharper senses than us. They can tell what can be eaten and what can’t.”

  Kael exhaled slowly.

  “We don’t have much time,” he said.

  “Kany and Zeph are probably waiting for our signal even now.

  But if we leave them like this… they’ll die before we come back.”

  Silence filled the cave.

  “…So what do you want to do?” Aeris asked.

  Kael hesitated.

  Then—

  “We should feed them,” he said.

  “The flesh of the mother bear.”

  “No,” Aeris replied immediately.

  “That’s cruel.”

  “I know,” Kael said.

  “But we don’t have another option.”

  Aeris’s hand tightened around the hilt of her sword.

  “If you try to do this,” she said, her voice trembling,

  “I swear I’ll stop you.”

  Kael raised his voice despite himself.

  “Then tell me—do we have another choice?!”

  Aeris didn’t answer.

  Her grip loosened.

  Tears welled in her eyes.

  “…Do whatever you want,” she said quietly.

  She turned and walked out of the cave.

  Kael cut away a portion of flesh from the bear and returned deeper inside.

  He knelt beside the cubs and began feeding them.

  “I promise,” he muttered softly,

  “I’ll come back for you guys.”

  “Reduce gravity,” Kael muttered, placing his palm against the massive rock blocking the cave’s exit.

  The mana spread through the stone, its weight dulling as if the earth itself had loosened its grip.

  Kael and Aeris braced themselves and pushed together.

  The rock groaned.

  Then—slowly—it shifted.

  Cold air rushed in as a narrow opening formed, carrying with it the scent of damp soil and forest leaves.

  Once they stepped outside, Kael turned back immediately.

  He guided the stone into place again, sealing the entrance carefully—leaving just enough space for air to pass through.

  It wasn’t perfect.

  But it would keep the cubs safe.

  “Let’s go,” Kael said quietly.

  They moved through the forest until they reached the spot where they had separated from the others.

  Kael gathered fallen branches and dry wood, arranging them with care. He ignited the pile gently, keeping the flames low and controlled—enough to be seen, not enough to spread.

  Thin smoke curled upward, slipping between the trees and rising into the sky.

  “Kany. Zeph,” Kael said through thought communication.

  “Can you see the smoke?”

  “Yes,” both replied almost at once.

  “Good,” Kael said.

  “When you reach this spot, make sure the fire is completely put out.”

  “Right!” Zeph answered without hesitation.

  Kael let the connection fade.

  He turned to Aeris.

  “Let’s go.”

  Aeris gave a small nod.

  Together, they moved deeper into the forest—leaving the smoke behind as a silent signal, and the cave sealed in quiet darkness.

  They returned to the spot where they had retreated earlier.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  The air felt wrong.

  Too heavy.

  Too loud with movement.

  “…They’re still here,” Kael muttered.

  Shapes shifted between the trees.

  Monsters.

  More than before.

  No time to think.

  Swoosh—!

  Kael moved first.

  Mana bullets smashing into the nearest beast and hurling it back into the trees.

  Crack! Crack!

  Aeris stepped in immediately. Her sword moved in clean, precise arcs—no wasted motion. Each swing landed inside her domain.

  A monster lunged.

  It never reached her.

  Its head fell to the ground before its body realized it was dead.

  They kept moving.

  Back to back.

  Strike.

  Turn.

  Advance.

  But then—

  More shapes emerged.

  One became three.

  Three became six.

  The forest seemed to breathe them out.

  “…Their numbers are increasing,” Aeris said.

  Kael felt it too.

  Mana pressure rising.

  Too fast.

  Another beast leapt—

  BOOM.

  A streak of blue lightning tore across the clearing.

  The monster exploded midair.

  “Hahaha! Man, you guys really know how to start a party without us!”

  A blur crashed into the ground.

  Thunder cracked.

  Zeph stood there, grinning wide, electricity dancing wildly around his body.

  “Sorry if we’re late!” he laughed. “Traffic was awful!”

  Before Kael could reply—

  FWOOOSH—!

  A massive arc of flame tore through the monsters from the side.

  Burning bodies collapsed, screams twisting into smoke as the fire carved a path across the clearing.

  Kany stepped through the flames, a blazing blade of condensed fire extending from his hand. Heat rippled around him as his eyes swept the battlefield.

  “…You couldn’t even clear this much on your own?” he scoffed.

  “Tch. Pathetic.”

  “Kany,” Zeph said cheerfully,

  “are you sure that wasn’t just showing off? Look behind you.”

  Kany frowned.

  Then he smelled it.

  The tree behind him was burning.

  “…Ah—”

  The flames climbed fast.

  “Shit—!” Kany rushed toward it, swinging his fire blade wildly, trying to cut the flames away.

  The result—

  The fire spread even more.

  “…No—wait—why is it getting worse?!”

  Kany panicked.

  “Hahahaha!” Zeph burst out laughing.

  “Oh man—this is gold!”

  Before it could spread further—

  A sudden stream of water crashed down onto the burning tree.

  HISSS—!

  Steam exploded upward as the flames vanished completely.

  Silence.

  Kany froze.

  “…Thank you,” he muttered stiffly. “Kael.”

  Kael lowered his hand.

  “Let’s continue,” he said calmly.

  Kany turned back toward the monsters.

  He swung once.

  The fire blade stretched outward, cleaving two beasts cleanly in half.

  “Hey, hey,” Zeph said, already vanishing in a crack of lightning.

  “They were holding out just fine!”

  CRACK—!

  Zeph reappeared behind a monster, his fist coated in compressed mana and crackling electricity.

  He punched forward.

  The electrical blast shot out nearly three meters, tearing straight through the beast and detonating behind it.

  Zeph laughed mid-air.

  “This never gets old!”

  Kany charged ahead.

  No dodging.

  No retreat.

  His fire blade roared as he carved a burning path through the monsters, heat warping the air with every step.

  “Don’t get in my way,” he snapped.

  “I’m ending this.”

  Kael steadied himself.

  The pressure shifted.

  What had felt overwhelming moments ago—

  …was now under control.

  He allowed himself a breath.

  “Good timing,” Kael said.

  Zeph flashed him a wide grin.

  “Of course! Heroes always show up late!”

  Kany didn’t look back.

  “Less talking,” he said coldly.

  “More killing.”

  The forest trembled as the four of them advanced together.

  And this time—

  The monsters were the ones being hunted.

  After the battle, they paused only long enough to catch their breath.

  Then they moved again—deeper into the forest.

  The air changed first.

  A sharp stench crept in, thick and sour, clawing at their throats. It wasn’t the smell of blood fresh from battle.

  It was worse.

  Rotting meat.

  Old. Heavy. Unnatural.

  “…Do you smell that?” Zeph muttered, his grin gone.

  They advanced slowly, every step cautious.

  Then—

  They froze.

  No one spoke.

  No one breathed.

  Before them lay a wide pit hidden beneath tangled roots and broken earth.

  It was filled with bodies.

  Human bodies.

  Stacked. Twisted. Broken.

  Some were missing limbs. Others had their rib cages torn open, bones protruding outward as if something had clawed through them while they were still alive.

  Fingers were bent at impossible angles. Faces locked in expressions that hadn’t found peace.

  Not death.

  Fear.

  Pain.

  Suffering that had lasted too long.

  This wasn’t a massacre.

  It was torture.

  Kany stiffened, his breathing shallow.

  “…This isn’t the work of beasts,” he said quietly.

  Kael’s fists clenched.

  “It’s beyond cruelty,” he said, his voice low and tight.

  “Who could do something like this…?”

  Aeris tilted her head slightly, as if listening to something beneath the silence.

  She took a slow step forward, stopping well short of the pit.

  “The mana traces are deliberate,” she continued.

  “Controlled. Repeated in the same way across multiple bodies.”

  Her jaw tightened.

  “Beasts don’t do that.”

  Zeph swallowed.

  “So… this wasn’t random,” he muttered.

  “No,” Aeris replied.

  “This was intentional.”

  Kany’s voice was low.

  “Either someone with a deep grudge,” he said,

  “or someone who enjoys it.”

  A chill passed through the group.

  Kael turned away.

  “We need to report this to Sir Kaji,” he said firmly.

  Everyone nodded.

  As they made their way back toward the main pathway, the forest felt different—watchful, silent, oppressive.

  When they reached the road, Kael stopped.

  He drove a long wooden stake into the ground beside the path, marking the location carefully.

  “So we can find it again,” he said.

  No one replied.

  Behind them, the jungle swallowed the pit once more.

  But the smell lingered.

  And the feeling—

  That something far more dangerous than beasts was nearby—

  Refused to fade.