2026-03-25 03:50:42The forest grew darker as time passed.
The faint light filtering through the trees had turned dim and gray, as if the entire Secret Realm itself was slowly suffocating under an unseen force.
Kira’s group moved cautiously through the undergrowth.
Every sound made them tense.
Every shadow looked like an enemy.
Behind them, the memory of the fog creature still lingered like a nightmare.
One of the boys in Kira’s team—tall, sharp-faced, with a constant scowl—glanced at Alaric with obvious dissatisfaction.
His name was Marcus.
And his eyes were filled with something more than fear.
Jealousy.
He watched the way Kira occasionally looked toward Alaric.
That small shift in her attitude…
It irritated him.
Finally, Marcus scoffed.
“So let me get this straight,” he said mockingly. “We’re supposed to trust this guy now?”
His gaze swept over Alaric with open disdain.
“The same loser who got kicked out of his own family?”
One of the girls hesitated.
“Well… he did save us…”
Marcus snapped back immediately.
“By luck.”
He pointed at Elena.
“That thing just happened to be useful for once.”
His voice turned harsh.
“Don’t act like he’s some kind of hero. He’s still dirt.”
Alaric didn’t respond.
Marcus stepped closer, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
“And what was that speech earlier?” he sneered. “Stay calm, survive four hours… you really think this is under control?”
His eyes narrowed.
“You’re just pretending to be confident because you don’t have anything to lose.”
Kira frowned slightly.
“That’s enough, Marcus.”
Marcus clenched his jaw.
“Why are you defending him?”
Kira didn’t answer.
But that silence only made Marcus more irritated.
Before he could continue—
A sudden hiss echoed through the trees.
The air shifted.
Dark fog began forming again.
“Not again!” one of the girls cried.
From all directions, multiple fog creatures surged toward them.
This time—
There were more.
Far more.
“Get ready!” Kira shouted.
Her Chimera roared, unleashing flames into the incoming fog.
But unlike normal beasts—
The fog didn’t react the same way.
Even when struck, it simply reformed.
Alaric’s eyes narrowed.
“These things…”
Elena stepped forward calmly.
“Master.”
“Destroy them.”
Elena swung her hammer.
BOOM!
One cluster of fog exploded.
But—
No system notification appeared.
No points.
Alaric immediately noticed.
“…They don’t give points.”
Marcus cursed loudly.
“What kind of garbage enemies are these?!”
The group fought desperately.
Fog creatures kept emerging, attacking endlessly.
Minutes felt like hours.
Eventually—
The fog retreated again.
Everyone stood there, exhausted.
Breathing heavily.
“What the hell is going on…” someone whispered.
Time passed slowly after that.
The forest only grew darker.
The air heavier.
Then—
Alaric looked up at the sky.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“…Four hours.”
Kira froze.
“What?”
Alaric spoke calmly.
“It’s been four hours.”
Silence fell.
Everyone instinctively looked toward the distant sky where the exit portal should have appeared.
Nothing.
No light.
No gate.
Just darkness.
The realization hit instantly.
“It didn’t open…” one girl whispered.
Panic spread like wildfire.
“No… no, that’s not possible…”
“The exam should be over!”
“Why are we still here?!”
Marcus’s face twisted.
“I knew it!” he shouted. “This is all messed up!”
He turned toward Alaric angrily.
“Where’s your ‘stay calm’ plan now, huh?!”
His voice grew louder.
“You said the portal would open!”
Alaric remained calm.
Before he could respond—
Elena suddenly spoke.
Her voice was quiet, but clear.
“I can feel it.”
Everyone turned toward her.
Marcus frowned.
“Feel what?”
Elena’s eyes looked into the distance.
“A source.”
She spoke slowly.
“Something behind these fog creatures.”
Alaric’s gaze sharpened.
“What kind of source?”
Elena shook her head slightly.
“I don’t know… but it’s controlling them.”
The group exchanged confused looks.
One of them scoffed.
“That’s ridiculous.”
Marcus laughed mockingly.
“Of course it is.”
He pointed at Elena.
“We’re really going to listen to a trash-tier pet now?”
Another teammate nodded.
“Yeah, this is getting stupid.”
Marcus crossed his arms.
“What’s next? The bug leads us to safety?”
His voice dripped with sarcasm.
“Why don’t we just follow it straight into a grave?”
Elena didn’t react.
Her expression remained cold and indifferent.
Alaric, however, spoke calmly.
“If there’s a source, then destroying it might end this.”
Marcus let out a harsh laugh.
“‘Might’?”
He shook his head.
“You’re insane.”
Alaric looked at the group.
“If anyone’s afraid,” he said simply, “I’ll go alone.”
Silence followed.
That calm certainty…
It struck something in Kira.
She stepped forward immediately.
“I’ll go with you.”
Marcus’s eyes widened.
“Kira, are you serious?!”
She didn’t even look at him.
“If there’s a chance to fix this,” she said firmly, “we can’t ignore it.”
Marcus clenched his fists.
“You’re trusting him over your own team?”
Another voice spoke up.
“…I’ll go too.”
It was Tristan.
The quietest member of the group.
He stepped forward nervously.
“If we don’t do something… we might all die anyway.”
Marcus stared at them like they were crazy.
Then he let out a cold laugh.
“Fine.”
He took a step back.
“Go ahead.”
His voice was filled with mockery.
“Walk straight into your deaths.”
The remaining girl hesitated, then quickly moved to Marcus’s side.
“I’m not going either.”
She looked at Alaric with disdain.
“I’m not following a loser and his freak pet.”
Marcus smirked.
“Smart choice.”
He glanced at Alaric one last time.
“Don’t bother coming back.”
Alaric didn’t respond.
Without another word, he turned and began walking deeper into the forest.
Elena followed silently.
Kira and Tristan quickly caught up.
The deeper they went—
The heavier the air became.
The trees grew twisted.
The ground darker.
After a while, Kira suddenly slowed down.
Her expression changed.
“…Wait.”
Alaric stopped.
“What is it?”
Kira looked around carefully.
Her voice lowered.
“This area…”
She swallowed slightly.
“…We’re near the Forbidden Zone.”
Tristan’s face turned pale.
“The place they warned us about?”
Kira nodded.
“Before the exam started…”
Her voice tightened.
“The examiners said this region contains much stronger beasts.”
She looked ahead into the darkness.
“Possibly even a Level 10 King-class monster.”
Silence fell.
The weight of her words pressed down on all of them.
Tristan hesitated.
“If we go further…”
“…we might not survive.”
Alaric looked forward calmly.
Then he spoke quietly.
“If we don’t stop the source…”
He didn’t finish the sentence.
He didn’t need to.
Kira understood.
If they failed—
They might never leave this realm.
She took a deep breath.
“…Then we keep going.”
Alaric nodded.
And the three of them stepped deeper into the darkness.
Outside the Secret Realm—
Chaos had completely erupted.
Examiners shouted over each other.
Communication arrays flickered uselessly.
The Imperial examiner slammed his fist against the table.
“This is a disaster!”
The Holy Mountain examiner’s face was grim.
“This is no longer an exam…”
The chief examiner stared at the sealed portal.
“…It’s a crisis.”
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 29: Intent to Kill
"Don't be too surprised, you don’t have time for that in a combat,” Josh said, putting aside his karambit knife as he stretched his hand towards her. “Go again, but with different information this time around. I might believe in balance, but that isn’t what I practice at all. Like I said earlier, sometimes all these decisions depend on the nature of the beast you are in contract with,” he said to all of them, going into another trance. Kira went back to her earlier stance, but this time she didn’t repeat the same mistake of charging in straight on, she was cautious. She closed the gap between herself and Josh so easily. She lunged in for an attack, but Josh easily moved away, dodging the attack with so much ease, but it was a feint, the part that he had moved into was a part of Kira's plan. Seeing that she had successfully manipulated her enemy into moving into the trap she had set for him, she wasted no time in changing her grip on the dagger and then swiping it to slash him. Bu
Chapter 28: Blink and You Miss.
Josh stood outside the classroom where the first years had gone into. He seemed to be staring and speaking to someone who was there but not visible to the naked eyes. He whipped his head to stare at the door for a few seconds before it opened, a little surprised as he saw all three first-years stepping out of the classroom with only one beast with them. Elena. The remaining two had kept their beast compressed. “That was extremely fast. You prodigies just make things look so easy, I wouldn’t blame those that hate you all, because you are the perfect embodiment and reminder of what or who they could have been, who they should be, and who society appreciates and recognizes.” The trio, or rather, the four of them turned to face him. Alaric scoffed at that statement, keeping his reply to himself. “Prodigy, huh?” Tristan asked with a chuckle. “If there are any prodigies, it is these two beside me, although I figured it out that day, but not as fast as these two.” “How did you know a
Chapter 27: Silvery Connection.
“I am pretty sure that all of you can feel it. That subtle mental connection between you and your beast, now, you will gently tug on that connection, and through that connection, you will pass your intent to your beast through that connection.” Professor Finn said, walking away from the podium and heading closer to the students. “Now. That is your own part of the compression, which is like half of it. The remaining half has to do with your beast. They have been engineered, and it is also stated in your contract that their goal is to protect you. Compressing them means that they will have no means of protecting you while they are in that state,” he explained, but he wasn’t done. “You have to find a way of communicating with your beast and making them trust you enough to actually give in to your intent and then let themselves be compressed. You should also know that some of these beasts will take time to be convinced. There is also the part of forcing them to do your will, but that wi
Chapter 26: Compression.
Alaric took one quick glance at the window that didn't lead to the sunlight. Nothing, just dim moss that lights up the room dimly. According to Andressa, there are a lot of rooms meant for them on the upper floors, but this is what they get for being first years.The second years have luminescent moss lighting up their room through the windows, and then the third years have prism-scattered sunlight coming in through the window. For the final years, they are the ones who get to actually get to enjoy direct sunlight, along with the headmaster, professors, and librarians. Those are one way to advance to higher rooms, but that isn't the only way.She said if the students become top performers, arguably on the same level as students in a particular year, then there are chances of them advancing to higher rooms. He adjusted the cloak he was putting on, it stopped at the back of his knee. Stepping out of the room, he moved to join the rest of the first years waiting outside, which were
Chapter 25: The Archives.
Alaric lay on his bed in the dormitory that he had been introduced to as his room. It had a bed that was placed close to the wall, and there was a window built into the mountain. The room didn’t have much in it, just a table and a chair in the corner, obviously for reading. To another corner, there was a wardrobe, the front doors were glass, made to be mirrors. Today was their first day, so nothing much had happened. Andressa had told them to just settle in after showing them a partial tour. That tour included the single training ground that they owned. Thirty years ago, the size of the training ground was beyond standard, given the equipment they had, but right now it is outdated. The tour had also included the archives. Alaric noticed something earlier during the day when they had arrived. He seemed to be the only one with barely sufficient knowledge concerning the academies and generally everything relating to beasts and history like that. With that thought in mind, he pushe
Chapter 24: Prodigies.
The moment Alaric stepped through the gates, he was met by a sight he didn't expect and that nearly drew out a surprised expression from him, but he kept his expression neutral.He had been expecting ruins, a half-damaged academy, but instead, it looked… perfectly fine. “It looks antique,” Kira noted, surprised in her tone. “Yeah,” Tristan muttered under his breath in response. Andrew walked past them, leaving them all to themselves. Josh was a couple of steps ahead of them and it seemed like since he had achieved his goal of being them in, he had no reason to stay among the first-years any more. Looking around, at the huge compound that stretched out, Alaric noticed a couple students busy with one thing or the other. There weren't many; you can probably count them on one hand. “Who the fuck are they? You seemed to know about them,” Andrew demanded the moment he caught up to Josh. The latter spared him a glance. “They are the best students of this year's examination.” Andrew q
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