Inside the Arcanum, the mana screen flared violently, nearly shorting out from the overwhelming surge of energy radiating through the cave system. Scry hovered midair, wings twitching, eyes wide with disbelief.

  “How is the Royal Centipede General there?!” he shouted, panic rising in his voice. “He should be further north, near the mountain region! Why… why is he here?!”

  He clawed at the air helplessly, his translucent form flickering with distress. There was nothing he could do. No way to intervene. He could only watch.

  The battle unfolded before him in brutal clarity. At first, Kai and Umbra fought like a single entity, fluid, precise, relentless. Scry’s heart swelled with pride.

  But then Umbra was struck, hard. Her body slammed into the stone, her darkfire cloak flickering. Scry’s heart skipped a beat.

  And then… Kai awakened aura.

  Scry froze.

  “Impossible…” Scry whispered, his voice trembling. “He summoned aura. A real one. But how?”

  Only Master Knights could wield aura, and that was after decades of training, countless battles, and near-death breakthroughs. Kai wasn’t even a proper Knight yet. At best, he was a peak Apprentice. And yet… he had done the impossible.

  His wings fluttered erratically. He knew the general wouldn’t fall so easily. There was always something more.

  Then it came.

  The centipede’s final spell ignited the chamber, magic circles flaring to life, drawing in the life force of every dead and living centipede in the room. The general’s wounds vanished. Its armor thickened, spikes erupting from its body. It curled into a monstrous, venomous wheel of death.

  Scry’s form flickered with panic.

  “No… no, no, no!” he screamed. “That’s a forbidden spell! It’s not just regenerating; it’s devouring the souls of its kin!”

  He slammed a paw against the screen. “Kai, you can’t block that! You don’t have the strength!”

  But then he saw him, Kai, kneeling, broken, his core nearly dry. And yet… he wasn’t giving up.

  Scry held his breath as Kai reached deep into memory, into instinct, and performed a move he had never been taught, Moonlit Dance. The aura flared. A single thread of moonlight formed.

  Then, slice.

  The screen went white.

  Silence.

  Scry hovered, stunned, as the light faded and the centipede’s body collapsed in pieces.

  He didn’t speak. He couldn’t.

  He stared into the screen, breath shallow, heart pounding. He didn’t fully understand what had just happened, but somehow, against all odds, they had survived.

  And Kai… had changed everything.

  ***

  Kai awoke beside Umbra, his arms wrapped gently around her. She watched over him with quiet vigilance. Though her wounds had closed, they were still fresh; healing would take days.

  At least the poison had left her system.

  “Umbra, how do you feel?” he asked, concern etched into his voice.

  “Fine. Beat up, but alive thanks to you.” Her tone was subdued. “Had to be saved again. Feels like I always need to be saved.”

  “You know that’s not true. You fought fiercely. We survived, and we won. That’s what matters.”

  He reached out and stroked her beak softly. She shifted her head in response.

  “We’ll train harder and grow stronger. But can’t you be proud? We defeated one of the generals.”

  “Right. You did. I just helped a little.” She sighed, lowering her head. Her pride was wounded.

  Kai sprang up and hugged her neck, resting his head against hers.

  “I’ll never leave you behind, you hear me. We’ve got many battles ahead, and we’ll win them together. You’re not a burden. Without you, I’d be dead. We’re a team, a pack. Okay?”

  “Okay.” Her voice held a hint of pride, but as her head rested on his shoulder, it betrayed her true feelings. She was deeply grateful to have him as her soulbound partner, her only family. She was glad he was growing stronger. She just didn’t want to be left behind. She needed strength, and she would claim it however she could.

  “Let’s channel mana for a while. My core is empty, and my channels are a mess. I need to stabilize,” Kai muttered.

  “Same here. Let’s rest, then gather the spoils.” Her gaze drifted to the massive remains of the centipede, hunger flickering in her eyes.

  It took hours before their bodies felt remotely functional. They used beast cores collected during their journey to rapidly absorb mana.

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  Kai carved out a massive dark green core from the corpse. As soon as he touched it, his poison serpent twitched, eager to devour it.

  Later, he thought. We’re not ready to absorb that much mana yet. Be patient.

  The serpent calmed, understanding him. Still, being part of his body made the moment feel oddly surreal.

  Kai scavenged golden armor plates, venomous fangs, and sharp centipede legs shaped like scimitars. He fashioned a crude handle by wrapping some cloth around the top of one leg, turning it into a makeshift sword; his previous blade had crumbled in the last fight.

  Once their storage overflowed with meat and materials, they followed the trail, determined to find the centipede’s lair. Its presence here was unnatural; its territory lay thousands of kilometers away. Something was wrong.

  Kai purified chunks of meat as they walked, and Umbra snacked on them, absorbing mana and nutrients.

  Now, they were the apex predators of this underground realm. Other creatures cowered before them, sensing the deadly aura they radiated, an aura of general slayers.

  ***

  They followed the burrowed tunnels carved by the centipede’s rampage. The walls were jagged, the air damp and tinged with acid. Above them, the ceiling shimmered with clusters of luminous insects that skittered away as Kai and Umbra passed, casting eerie shadows across the tunnel.

  Eventually, they stepped into a vast chamber, at least twenty meters tall and just as wide. It glowed with unnatural brilliance, as if someone had flipped a switch and flooded the cavern with light.

  Kai and Umbra froze.

  Before them lay a mine of mana crystals, pure, radiant formations embedded in the walls and floor. Mana crystals, the crystallized essence of raw mana, formed deep underground in mana veins. Kai had read about them in old tomes: civilizations used them as currency, and the purer the crystal, the greater its value. But their true worth lay in their power; anyone, regardless of elemental affinity, could channel the mana within to strengthen their core exponentially.

  It was a treasure trove. A miracle.

  Kai and Umbra stared, overwhelmed. Gathering all the crystals would take months, and Kai’s bracelet was already nearing its limit.

  “What should we do?” Umbra asked, her eyes gleaming with hunger. She could evolve rapidly with such resources.

  “We’ll take what we can fit in the bracelet,” Kai said, already calculating. “Then we investigate the general’s lair. Maybe there’s more to this. After that, we can train here for a while. No way we’re leaving all this behind. Maybe Scry has a better storage artifact, and we can come back later.”

  “Okay,” Umbra agreed, already slicing crystals from the walls with careful precision. Her claws glinted in the light. Kai joined her, using his makeshift scimitar, which was sharper than it had any right to be.

  An hour passed. Their hearts ached at the thought of leaving so much behind.

  They ventured deeper into the lair.

  Rare luminous plants grew in clusters, pulsing with life force. Kai plucked ripe fruits and handed them to Umbra, who devoured them gratefully. The rest he stored in a newly conjured bag.

  Bones littered the chamber, remnants of the centipede’s meals. The lair itself was surprisingly ordinary, almost disappointing.

  Then Kai’s eyes caught something.

  At the back of the room, an altar was carved directly into the wall, its surface etched with glowing glyphs, ancient and magical. The structure, made of dark stone, pulsed faintly with arcane energy. Suspended above its center floated a book. A grimoire. A magical tome containing spells, incantations, and the intricate structures that shaped them.

  But something was wrong.

  The air around the book was thick, almost suffocating. The mana twisted unnaturally, heavy and warped. It felt... wrong.

  Kai stepped closer, drawn by an invisible force. Something deep within the book called to him, whispering in a language older than time, urging him to touch it, to open it.

  Then, like a snap, he was pulled back. The trance shattered.

  “Kai, be careful,” Umbra warned as she pulled on his shirt, her voice sharp. “We don’t know what’s hidden inside that grimoire. I sense a darkness... deeper than anything I’ve ever felt.” Her gaze was fixed, serious.

  Kai hesitated, then spoke, his voice low. “I think it’s fine. Something inside me says it’s good. Familiar, even. Trust me.”

  He reached out and laid his hand on the book.

  The grimoire responded instantly. It buzzed with energy, its covers unfolding like wings as it hovered in the air. Kai’s eyes widened, and the whites turned pitch black, like the void of night.

  Umbra stepped closer, tense and ready to intervene.

  ***

  Kai found himself in a room of pure white, an overwhelming contrast to the dark, twisted energy of the grimoire. The space was empty, silent, and endless. Only a single page floated in the air, suspended by unseen forces.

  As Kai approached, the page shimmered and began to shift. Its form twisted, folding, and unfolding until it transformed into a woman.

  Her skin was pale as moonlight, her hair a flowing cascade of darkness, like the void itself. It drifted around her as if underwater. Her eyes were deep, ancient, and unreadable, black wells that seemed to hold forgotten truths. She wore a dress the color of blood, rich and dark, flowing like smoke around her feet.

  Kai stopped; breath caught in his throat.

  She was the most beautiful being he had ever seen, perfect, divine. She hovered in the air with serene grace, untouched by gravity or time. There was something godly about her presence, something that made the world feel distant and small.

  “I am Tenebria, the guide of your trials and keeper of forbidden knowledge. Welcome to my world, Kai.”

  Kai’s heart pounded. “How do you know my name? Why does your voice sound so familiar?”

  “I was the one who brought you here, on that fateful morning,” she said, her tone calm and unwavering.

  Kai dropped to his knees, his thoughts spiraling. “Why me?” he cried.

  “It was always going to be you, Kai. Since the beginning of time, it was destined. You are the last.”

  Her voice trembled slightly, a hint of emotion slipping through her otherwise icy demeanor.

  “I cannot reveal too much yet. You are still so weak. But even so, you survived... and found me. All that in just a few months. I must applaud your accomplishments.”

  She gazed into him, scanning his soul. A faint smile touched her lips, cold, but real.

  Kai remained kneeling, speechless, his mind blank. He couldn’t understand why she chose him.

  “When you reach the level of an Archon or a Seraph, I will be able to tell you more. For now, trust that I mean no harm. Quite the opposite, I want you to succeed. To survive. To grow stronger. To break the chains of your fate.”

  A flicker of rage flashed in her eyes before she composed herself.

  “Your strength is barely enough to open the first page, but that will suffice. I will give you a test appropriate for your level. Depending on how many points you score, you may choose a reward. The higher your score, the greater the reward. If you do well enough, I might even include something for your feline companion outside.”

  Her tone darkened.

  “But if you fail... you won’t be allowed to try again for a hundred years. These are the rules.”

  Kai stood, shaken by the weight of her words.

  “You want me to take your tests, to listen to you, but you’ve told me nothing. Do you have any idea how much I’ve suffered since you dragged me into this place?”

  “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “But those are the rules. I couldn’t interfere with your survival... I just couldn’t.”

  Her gaze dropped to the floor, heavy with guilt.

  Kai realized he wouldn’t get any answers from her. If he had always been meant to arrive here, then he would uncover the truth himself.

  The rules of this world were simple:

  If you are strong, you can have anything. If you are weak, you are nothing.

  His resolve hardened.

  This was his chance, a way to grow stronger, to protect Umbra, and maybe, to finally understand everything.

  A faint, defiant smirk crossed his face. “I’ve always been good at tests.”

  He stepped forward. “Fine. Let me try this test of yours.”

  “Naturally.” Tenebria smiled.