The rune barrier hummed behind us as we stepped into the Outer Wilds.The change was immediate and visceral. The air grew heavier, thick with untamed magic that pressed against the skin like a living thing. Towering trees twisted toward the sky like broken fingers, their bark scarred by old battles. Ruined structures from the pre-awakening era poked through overgrown foliage, half-swallowed by vines and shadow. Distant roars echoed from deeper in the zone real beasts, feral and hungry, nothing like the controlled creatures raised inside the academy walls.The mission team moved in tight formation. Twenty students, mostly third-years with a handful of promising second-years, kept their bonded beasts close. Kael Thorn limped near the front, his golden mane lion subdued and watchful. Seraphine Vale walked with lethal grace, her obsidian panther padding silently beside her. And Elara Voss stayed near the middle, her storm serpent coiled around her shoulders, faint lightning crackling alon

The blood in the ruins smelled metallic and sharp, mixing with the wild magic that hung thick in the air.The team had barely caught their breath when the next wave struck.This time the shadowstalkers came smarter coordinated, attacking from multiple directions at once. Their red eyes burned brighter in the fading light, drawn not just by the team’s energy but by something deeper: the dark pulse radiating from me.Nyxar’s voice burned with hunger inside my mind. “They come to feed. Let us show them what real hunger looks like.”A large pack broke through the left flank. Students shouted. Beasts roared. Lightning cracked from storm serpents while flames erupted from lions and lynxes. The fight turned chaotic, bodies crashing against stone and vine.I stayed at the rear, but the shadows no longer waited for permission.One shadowstalker slipped past the main line and charged straight toward Elara’s position.Her storm serpent struck with a bolt of lightning, but the creature shrugged i

Something inside him was waking up.It wasn’t just power anymore.It was hunger.I felt it the moment we crossed back through the rune barrier and stepped onto academy grounds. The Wilds had fed Nyxar well the blood, the fear, the raw life force of the shadowstalkers we had devoured. The bond had grown thicker, heavier, more intimate. Every breath I took now carried an undercurrent of something ancient and insatiable.The team dispersed in silence. No celebratory cheers. No loud recounting of victories. Only uneasy glances and hurried footsteps as students returned to their dorms. Even the instructors moved with quiet tension, their eyes flicking toward me more often than necessary.I walked alone toward the outer dorms, the crate of remaining supplies light in my arms. The shadows trailed at my heels like loyal hounds, no longer needing conscious command. They simply existed with me now an extension of my will, my mood, my hunger.Nyxar’s voice curled through my mind, low and satisfi

Rumors spread like wildfire in dry grass fast, uncontrollable, and impossible to stamp out once they took hold.By the next morning, the entire academy was burning with them.“They say he drained shadowstalkers without touching them.”“His shadows moved on their own during the mission. Like they were alive.”“His eyes are almost completely black now. Something’s inside him.”“Stay away from him. Seriously. Even the beasts are terrified.”I moved through the corridors carrying my usual crate of supplies, my expression carefully blank. The weight felt trivial. My body had grown stronger with every passing day, the bond feeding me a steady stream of raw power that made ordinary effort feel almost insulting.But the rumors were no longer whispers.They had become a living current that parted around me wherever I walked.Students gave me a wide berth. Groups fell silent the moment I appeared. Beasts pressed themselves against their tamers or refused to move at all when I passed. The usual

The noble’s interest arrived like a blade pressed against the throat.It was late afternoon when the summons came.I was finishing cleanup in the lower training halls when a senior academy official approached, his expression carefully neutral but his posture rigid with tension.“Drax,” he said, voice low. “You are requested in the Headmaster’s private reception chamber. Immediately. Do not keep them waiting.”Them.Not him.I set the mop aside and followed without question. The official walked ahead, glancing back occasionally as if expecting me to vanish or sprout horns at any moment.Nyxar’s voice curled through my mind, sharp with dark amusement. “A noble has taken interest. How predictable. The powerful always sniff around when they smell something they cannot control. Let them come. Let them look. We will decide whether they leave with answers… or with fear.”The Headmaster’s private reception chamber was located on one of the upper levels, a spacious room with floor-to-ceiling w