The crater wasn’t very big—just a few meters wide and shallow—but what sat in the middle made Talon freeze. A girl. Unconscious. Around her, blood-red crystals jutted out of the earth like frozen flames.He slid down into the pit and crouched by one, reaching out before he could even think. The shard was cold to the touch, yet inside it, red energy writhed like a caged beast. When the moonlight brushed against it, the glow flared, the same glitter that had caught his eye from the hill.“Weird…” Talon muttered, turning the crystal in his hand. He had no idea what it was made of, but it practically screamed valuable. His gaze flicked to his room-sized System space—finally upgraded and ready after hours of waiting. A grin tugged at his lips. With a sweep of his hand, his mental energy wrapped the scattered crystals, and one by one, they blinked into his storage.Satisfied, he almost forgot there was still someone lying in the crater. Almost.When he finally turned back, his breath caught.

Talon steadied Veyra and guided her through the dim camp until they reached the isolated shed where the expedition’s gains were stored. Two guild members sat nearby, posted on rocks like sentries.The shed itself was a featureless cube; no doors, no windows, sealed tight. Talon’s lips twitched. 'Damn Jefor.' Only an Earth Mage could open something like that. Talon might have been strong, but all his strength was in the mind. Physical barriers were still walls to him.Keeping them both veiled under his psychic cloak, he explained quietly, “One of them’s an Earth Mage. I can’t control him. At best, I can nudge a thought, but I can’t make him act on it.” His voice held no frustration, only blunt facts. He was still just an Advanced Awakened; his capabilities had limits.“Let me handle it,” Veyra said. Her steps faltered at first, but she forced herself forward until she stood in plain sight of the guards.The two men blinked, startled by the sudden appearance of a girl where there had be

The pub was lively, with a bard singing in the corner, and customers seemed content. He glanced around with satisfaction until his gaze landed on a figure in adventurer gear, sleeping by the bar - her hand still gripping her half-finished beer.Castor knocked on the counter, “Hey, Caroline…”, she didn’t budge. Castor tapped her a few times, but she only muttered in her sleep without moving. “It’s like waking the dead,” Castor muttered in annoyance.Bang!The door to the inn was kicked open — an unnecessary action, given the door was not locked – and two young nobles entered, from their clothing and accessories, it was clear that these were wealthy scions. A group of bodyguards swarmed in and began to chase out the customers.The nobles were in their late teens; the female was an average beauty, but she carried herself with an air of importance that made her charismatic. Her companion, a young man with a thin sword on his waist, had an air of arrogance around him; however, he was more a

The road back to Bluefeather Duchy smelled of dust and coal smoke. The Blue Devils moved as a long ribbon—pack animals, carts loaded with trophies, and the guild’s banner flicking in the wind. Magnus rode near the front, face folded into a frown that didn’t match the ease of his stride. Behind him, the elites clustered in a loose circle, their voices low. Magnus had asked for a private discussion while they rode.Orthur, older and quieter than most, tapped the brittle surface of the goblin leader’s frozen body where it lay wrapped and secured on a cart. Even in its shriveled state, the corpse had an odd sheen, like dried leather polished with frost."Someone drained him clean," Orthur said. "Not natural. I’ve fought monsters before that leave a body hollowed by rot. This is different. This is blood taken with skill."

The ground of Ar’dazkraal cracked and smoked under Edward’s boots. He had walked battlefields before, but this land itself felt like one, as if it had never known peace. Volcanic ash hung heavy in the air, mixing with the sulfurous stench of molten rock flowing through distant rifts. Every step he took reminded him that this was not a place humans—or even most vampires—would dare to tread. It was the natural domain of demons. Edward recognized the work of demon terraforming by just glancing around.At the edge of a blackened plateau, soldiers waited. Almost no different from humans, if not for their colored skin and racial traits, the demons parted as Edward advanced. Their yellow eyes followed him with a mix of suspicion and hunger, but none dared interfere.At the far end of the plate