2025-09-10 13:17:34
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Chapter 12: Predator in the Dark
Dust billowed through the corridor, shaken loose by the weight of the thing that had just landed. Stone cracked beneath its bulk, fragments skittering across the floor as Daniel staggered back, ribs screaming with every breath.Twin coals burned in the dark. Set in the skull of something far too big to be a feral.Daniel tightened his grip on the rust-eaten blade. His arms shook from strain, his breath shallow. He angled the weapon low, the way his instructors had taught him for beasts that charged headfirst. But no lesson had prepared him for this.The overlay flickered faintly at the edge of his vision.[System Online] [Name: Daniel] [Status: Fatigue (High), Bleeding, Strain] [Log: Hostile Presence Detected] [Command: Awaiting Input] The letters shook, unstable, as if the System itself faltered at what crouched in the dark.The predator moved.Not the frantic rush of a feral. This one stalked forward in measured steps, claws scraping along the floor like blades dragged across g
Chapter 11: Lantern In the Dark
Daniel's breath rasped in the darkness. Each inhale scratched his throat, each exhale shook with a tremor he couldn't quite steady. His ribs burned where the feral's claws had raked across them, every movement sending a ripple of pain through his side.The ruin felt oppressive with Daniel still on his own. Only the faint drip of water somewhere deep in the broken structure gave the illusion that time still moved forward. Otherwise, the world felt like it had stopped.Daniel pressed a hand to his side. His palm came away sticky with blood. His sleeve was already shredded, the cloth soaked and useless. With a hiss through clenched teeth, he tore another strip from the edge of his shirt and wrapped it tight around his torso.The coarse fabric chafed against the wound, sending a sharp sting through his side. He tied it off, then leaned back against the cracked wall, his body shivering with the aftershock.He couldn't stay here. The ruin wasn't safe, and this spot was worse. With his blood
Chapter 10: Baby Steps
A sound tore through the silence: the scrape of something in the dark.Daniel froze, every muscle taut, his blade angled low. He tracked the noise, straining to catch what it was, the Aether shifting with his intent.The overlay stirred at the edge of his vision. He hadn't called for it, yet it blinked awake, words sliding into view:[Hostile Presence: Unknown]A shadow broke loose from the rubble, moving on all fours, its eyes glowing faintly with the sick light of corruption. It was a feral.A tag glowing in red followed it as it moved. Daniel's grip tightened. His pulse raced, not just from fear but from the realization. The overlay wasn't waiting for him this time. It was already trying."Not Unknown," he muttered under his breath, forcing his will into the word. "Feral."The tag stuttered, then redrew itself with a flicker:[Entity: Feral]Daniel swallowed, heart hammering. For the first time, he saw the overlay bend to his intent in real time. It was raw, immediate, and exhilara
Chapter 9: The First Connection
After a short rest, he tested his comms again but it was still only static noise coming out.The chamber tilted for a second, then steadied. His head throbbed, and the ache wasn't just from tiredness. It was the memory of trying to fit something so vast in his mind.It isn't that Aether won't answer, he thought. It's that I can't hold its language.The images of raw distortion, the way the Aether in the zone had felt like a vast ocean — all of it had crashed into him and washed away. His mind had been a cup trying to catch a waterfall.He stared at the magazines spread beside him, the consoles, guides, damage tables and stat blocks. He'd read them before and felt the first pull. Now, with the sting of failure still sharp, the pull had taken shape.He flipped the page again, slower. The old guide's layout was efficient, almost mechanical: names, numbers, categories. "HP," "Defense," "Durability," columns of values. The old world had reduced messy possibilities into lists and brackets s
Chapter 8: Alone in the Ruins
Daniel pushed the beam aside and lurched to his feet, coughing up dust. The collapse had buried the comms signal too.The silence inside the collapsed structure was deafening compared to the cacophony outside. Daniel felt the weight of true isolation and yet, the solitude didn't slow him. It sharpened his instincts — every flicker in the dark or whisper of motion carried unknown risk.He felt the pulse of the Aether here. It was stronger, more structured, almost tangible. It moved with a rhythm he could almost trace if he concentrated hard enough.Daniel tested his leg, wincing at the bruise but finding it held. His pack had caught most of the fall. His blade was still at his side, scuffed but usable.He swept his gaze around the chamber he'd stumbled into. The ceiling sagged overhead, stone beams jutting at odd angles. Light slipped through the gaps, pale shafts filtering motes of dust that hung in the air without ever fully settling.Daniel stilled.The dust wasn't drifting. It stoo
Chapter 7: Second Ambush
The squad moved cautiously. The silence that followed the first wave of ferals was unnatural, still reeling from what had just happened.Breaths came ragged, sweat streaked with grime. For a moment, no one spoke — the bravado had been stripped away, replaced by the raw awareness that survival was only temporary.Owen leaned against a wall, one hand on his thigh, chest heaving. "Not… bad," he muttered, voice rough. "For a warm-up."Sera knelt beside him, rolling her eyes. "Warm-up? You nearly got yourself torn in half." She pressed a cloth to his wound, tying it off with practiced efficiency. "Try surviving first before bragging."Owen hissed, pulling at her restraint. "Don't pinch my leg too tight," he groaned, shifting impatiently. "I'm fine, really—""You're not fine," Sera cut him off, voice calm but firm, her eyes narrowing. "And if you keep squirming, I'll make it tighter anyway."Owen grunted, leaning back against the wall. "You know, one day, I'll get tired of your lectures.""
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