2026-05-13 14:27:29Knox woke to a voice inside his head.
‘Hungry.’ He jerked upright, his heart pounding, and looked around the empty dorm room. Early morning light filtered through the window, grey and cold. The voice came again. ‘Knox... I'm hungry.’ Knox's breath stopped. He looked down at Ignis, who was still curled beside him on the bed. The creature's ember-orange eyes were open, staring directly at him. "Did you just—" Knox started. ‘The…. bond,’ Ignis said, his voice clearer now but still halting. ‘I can hear your thoughts. Your words. I learned them from your mind.’ Knox stared at the creature in shock. Ignis tilted his head. ‘I just hatched. Everything is new. But your mind is loud.’ "You can hear everything I think?" Knox asked quietly. ‘Not everything. Only when you think loud or feel strong emotions.’ Knox ran a hand through his hair and took a slow breath. The bond allowed communication. That made sense, but hearing another voice in his head was still unsettling. "How long have you been awake?" Knox asked. ‘I don't sleep the way you do, Ignis said. I felt you were sad. Alone.’ Knox's chest tightened slightly, but he pushed the feeling down. "I'm fine," Knox muttered. Ignis made a soft sound that felt like disagreement through the bond. Knox shook his head and stood. His body ached from sleeping against the wall, and his muscles felt stiff. He walked to the window and looked out at the academy grounds. "Ignis," Knox said quietly. "The system showed your attribute as Gravity. Do you know what that means?" ‘There's something inside me, Ignis said slowly. Something heavy. But it's …sleeping. I don't know how to wake it.’ Knox's mind raced. Gravity was not just weight. It was the force that pulled worlds together, bent space, controlled movement. If Ignis could manipulate gravity, even a fraction of it, the power would be terrifying. But right now, neither of them knew how to use it. Knox turned away from the window and froze. Words appeared in the air before him, glowing faintly. [Daily Keeper Trial: Foundation] Time Limit: 12 Hours Objective 1: Complete 50 push-ups Objective 2: Complete 50 sit-ups Objective 3: Complete 50 squats Objective 4: Run 2 kilometers Reward: Strength +1 Stamina +1 Dragon Points +3 Knox stared at the notification. A training quest. The rewards were real. But there was no penalty listed. Knox's jaw tightened. Every system story he had read on Earth taught him one thing: when the penalty was not shown, it meant the system was hiding something worse. Refusing was not an option. "I have to do this," Knox said to Ignis. "Stay here." ‘Be careful,’ Ignis said, worry pulsing through the bond. Knox dropped to the floor and started the push-ups. The first twenty were manageable. By thirty, his arms were shaking. At forty, his chest burned and sweat dripped onto the floor. His body was weak, and every movement felt like it was tearing his muscles apart. But thoughts of being weak and what he had to prove to everyone who shit on him pushed him further. Knox finished the push-ups and collapsed onto the floor, gasping. [Objective 1 Complete: 50 push-ups] He forced himself up and started the sit-ups. His stomach cramped after fifteen. By thirty, his core was on fire. He finished barely holding himself together. [Objective 2 Complete: 50 sit-ups] The squats came next. His legs burned with each rep, and by forty, his knees were shaking. He finished the last ten barely standing. [Objective 3 Complete: 50 squats] Knox leaned against the wall, breathing hard. His entire body screamed at him to stop. One more. The run. Knox stepped into the hallway and started running. The sound of his footsteps echoed through the empty common dorm building. Students were mostly still with their families, so the hallways were empty. He ran down the stairs, through the corridors, up and down the floors until the distance tracker in his mind hit two kilometers. His legs trembled. Nausea rose in his throat. But he kept moving until the notification appeared. [Objective 4 Complete: Run 2 kilometers] [Daily Keeper Trial: Foundation COMPLETE] [Rewards Granted] Strength +1 Stamina +1 Dragon Points +3 Knox stopped and collapsed against the wall, gasping for air. His whole body shook and sweat poured off him. But something changed. His breathing steadied faster than it should have. The burning in his muscles faded slightly. His body still ached, but when he stood, his movements felt smoother and his steps felt less heavy. The system reward was real. Knox walked back to the dorm room, exhausted but functional. He cleaned himself up quickly and got dressed. As he pulled on his academy uniform, he thought about the Dragon Vault and where Ignis had come from. "Ignis," Knox said. "You came from the Vault, right? When I bonded with you, I saw the fortress." ‘No,’ Ignis said. ‘I came from the Other Side. The place humans call the Other Side. I saw the Vault for the first time when you did.’ Knox frowned. That did not make sense. If Ignis came from the Other Side like every other summoned beast, then why did the awakening connect him to the Dragon Vault? Why did the system choose him as Keeper? He had no answers. And no time to investigate. Knox checked his reflection in the mirror and straightened his uniform. Today was the suitability test. If he failed, the academy would send him home regardless of the Dragon Vault's power. He looked at Ignis. "Ready?" ‘Ready,’ Ignis confirmed. Knox opened the door and stepped into the hallway. The academy testing ground was massive. A wide stone courtyard stretched out before Knox, surrounded by tall stone walls and observation platforms. Hundreds of candidates filled the space, most of them clustered in groups, talking nervously or making last-minute preparations. Ignis hopped onto Knox's shoulder, his small body settling around the back of Knox's neck. His weight was barely noticeable, but his warmth was comforting. Knox walked through the crowd alone. Whispers spread as Knox passed. "That's the Aston failure." "I heard he got disowned." "He spent last night in the common dorms." "Look at that grey lizard. It's even smaller than I thought." Knox ignored them and found a spot near the back of the courtyard. He leaned against the wall and waited. Across the courtyard, Noah stood among the noble candidates. His Frost Wyvern was not summoned yet, but everyone treated him like he had already passed. Instructors nodded to him respectfully. Other nobles greeted him with polite smiles. Knox looked away. A voice called out from the crowd. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the discarded noble." Knox turned. A tall candidate with slicked-back hair and an arrogant smirk stepped forward. He wore expensive academy robes with a family crest Knox did not recognize, but his eyes gleamed with malice. "I heard you got kicked out of the noble dorms," the candidate said loudly, making sure others could hear. "Sleeping in common housing now, are you? With a dull lizard and no sponsor? How pathetic." Several candidates turned to watch. Want me to bite him? Ignis asked through the bond, irritation flickering across their connection. Knox stayed calm. "Are you done?" Knox asked quietly. The candidate's smirk widened. "Done? I'm just getting started. A failed noble is an easy—" "I don't care," Knox said, cutting him off. "Move along." The candidate's face flushed red, but before he could respond, the entire courtyard went silent. The Instructor in charge had arrived.
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Chapter 80 — The Last Breath Before The Quake
The Vorul moved before the last word left him.WHUMP. It crossed the marsh in a single low rush, so fast the mud barely kicked up under it, and Knox's body dropped its own weight and threw itself sideways before his mind had caught up with any of it.[Weight Sync Activated.] [Mana: 121/200 → 116/200.]He twisted. Too slow. The claws that had been aimed at his throat missed it by a finger, then raked down across his shoulder and over his upper ribs, and his academy coat opened in four lines. The blood was running warm under the cloth before the pain even reached him.Knox stumbled back. His eyes were still catching up to where the thing had been, not where it was. It had crossed ten feet of marsh and opened him up and he'd never once seen it clearly. His breath came late and ragged, and that scared him worse than the speed had.The Vorul watched him figure it out."You are quick," it said. It sounded almost pleased. "Quicker than the little ones should be. But you cannot read my move
Chapter 79 — The Flare Above The Marsh
THWACK.Knox's knife caught nothing but air.He spun toward the sound, braced for Rellan's hammer catching the arm, the shell guard holding the line.Rellan was still standing.That was the first thing Knox saw, and for half a breath he was confused because Rellan was on his feet, upright, facing the Vorul the way he'd been a moment ago. Knox face suddenly changed.The shield guard that should have been between them hung open in two broken halves in the mud. The Gravelshell Tortoise lay sprawled beside it, legs still twitching. And Rellan was standing because the Vorul's arm was holding him up, buried to the wrist in his chest.He stood still swaying slightly."No—no, no, no—" Marcus screamed it and kept screaming it, going backward through the mud on his hands, not even trying to stand, the word breaking apart high and raw until he ran out of air, dragged in another breath, and started over.The Vorul pulled its arm free.SCHLUCK. It came out slick and dark to the elbow, a rope of
Chapter 78 — The One-Spike
Cold.That was the first thing, before the shock even caught up. A cold that came off the mist and settled into the back of Knox's throat, wrong for the marsh, wrong for the hour. He was staring at Calder's head in the mud, at the man who'd been threatening him with the board a breath ago, and the air over the whole path had changed. The insects had stopped. The water had stopped moving. Even the reeds held still, like the marsh itself had decided to stop drawing attention to itself.The fear came down on all of them at once.It wasn't the fear of a beast. Knox had felt that already today, the boar, the rats, the clean animal jolt of something wanting to eat you. This was under that. Deeper and colder and uglier, the kind that started in the body before the mind caught up, every part of him quietly certain that whatever stood in the mist was not supposed to be here and that being near it was already a mistake.Calder's body folded down into the water behind him.Orven made a small,
Chapter 77 — Still Growling
The marsh went dead quiet after the splash.Nobody wanted to be the first to move. The mist sat low over the black water, the scratched route stone glowed weak behind them, and the rats lay open in the mud where they’d been cut, cores already gone.Then Ignis growled.It came up out of his chest low and locked, smoke slipping between his teeth, his claws spreading wide and pushing furrows into the mud.Knox felt the bond pull tight, and he knew the sound was wrong before he could say why. He’d heard Ignis angry. He’d heard him smug and hungry and insulted and territorial. He had never once heard him sound like this.“We should stop,” Knox said, breaking the silence. “Reassess the route.”Calder sniffed. “We’re barely past the outer line. Stronger beasts don’t wander this close to the forward camp, and whatever’s splashing around out there is well inside Grade-C tolerance.” He let it sit. “The point of a field assessment is to meet beasts, Morales. Not to flinch every time the water m
Chapter 76 — First Blood in Greyfen
The camp noise died behind them one step at a time.By the third route stone Knox couldn't hear the dock chains anymore, just wet leaves dripping, insects, something calling far off in the trees, and the slow suck of boots pulling out of marsh mud. The Eastern Marsh Line ran along a string of dull blue route stones half-sunk in the ground, and the mist sat thick enough that each one looked farther off than the last until you were almost on top of it.Calder walked at the back."Let's be clear before we're in it," he said. "This isn't an escort which means that I am not here to pull you out of trouble.”He paused. “I watch, I write things down, and if something's actually about to kill one of you, I'll step in then and not before. Otherwise you handle it." He started placing them without slowing down. "Marcus takes front. Rellan, you're middle. Kessa, you've got supply and the core log. Orven, eyes on the markers. Morales—" a beat, "—rear-left."Knox's jaw set. He pulled his pack up
Chapter 75 — Eastern Marsh Line
The howl rolled out of the treeline and kept rolling, low and long, and the mist over the camp shivered with it. The ward crystals on the corner poles buzzed, a thin rising hum, then went quiet again.The students stopped unloading. Heads came up all down the line, eyes wide, and even Knox felt something cold walk up the back of his neck before he could tell it not to.Calder laughed, short and dry. "That's Greyfen saying good morning. You'll hear worse before dark. Keep moving."Bram drifted in at Knox's shoulder. "Marsh Stalker. That's what made that. Big one, by the throat on it." He said it casually.Knox gave him a flat look."What? You think I just talk?" Bram looked genuinely wounded. "My brother's a senior. He sat me down and grilled me on every ugly thing in this zone before I left. I'm the only provisional here who actually knows what's trying to eat him." He sniffed. "You're welcome, in advance."Knox blinked. Somewhere under the noise of the last week he'd never once stopp
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