The jungle hit us like a living wall.

  Humidity pressed down with crushing weight as we finally reached the base of an absolutely criminal number of stairs. We emerged onto a wide, sunlit terrace where marble met twisting vines, and the sight ahead stopped me dead.

  An entire ecosystem stretched endlessly before us. Trees taller than skyscrapers wove branches into a canopy so thick it filtered sunlight into shifting, alien patterns. Plants of every shade of green—and some distinctly purple ones that looked radioactive—reached skyward with leaves that curled in ways that screamed ‘not from Earth’.

  The only saving grace was a white stone pathway carved through the forest like someone had taken a god-sized sword to the vegetation, slicing a clean line toward the distant blue sky.

  I shivered as we approached some tattooed Gaians on the terrace, feeling them register within Bravery's awareness. During our descent, I'd figured out that visualizing an edge contained the aura within my immediate vicinity—maybe ten meters. Any closer and I became uncomfortably aware of them, could point to each one with my eyes closed.

  They wore simple linens like mine, but with dark brown vests covered in medals and insignia that probably meant something important to people who weren't completely lost.

  "Oh, Lady Cassandra!" A red-haired woman approached—shorter than me by a head, but radiating the kind of confidence that suggested height was irrelevant.

  "Natalie? What's going on?" Concern crept into Cass's voice.

  "Hi Felix," Natalie said with that particular emphasis reserved for serious crushes.

  "Natalie," Felix replied, either completely oblivious or masterfully ignoring the obvious.

  "We're observing nearby mana beasts. Real drama in the beast realm today, so stick to the path if you're heading to the Tower." She gestured toward the white stone cutting through the jungle.

  "That fucking panther again," a dark-haired man drawled. "Been stirring shit since he arrived... Who's the new guy?"

  All eyes turned to me, and I felt them looking—like being watched but amplified to physical pressure. I shuddered.

  "Unbidden," Cassie said simply. "Long story, but we found him in the dead spirit realm by Rainhaven. Had to use a beacon to get home."

  "Nice to meet you!" Natalie held out her hand expectantly.

  "Ben Crawford," I said with more confidence than I felt. For someone half Cass's size, her grip was like a vise.

  "Natalie Summers. Unbidden usually show up at the Central Lands Tower, not ours. What a treat!" Her enthusiasm was infectious. "We're heading to the portal rooms if you want to join?"

  Felix and I both looked back at the small mountain of stairs, then toward the wide, flat pathway.

  "I'll die if I have to climb those again," Felix said.

  "Maybe if you weren't dragging your feet on binding your Seal, you could keep up," Cassie shot back.

  Felix's face fell. "At least I have a candidate," he muttered.

  Cassie shrugged. "Sorry," Felix added quickly.

  "Just be cautious," Natalie said, attention shifting back to him. "Beast Lords keep the peace, but that doesn't mean a pissed-off mana beast won't toe the line."

  "Thanks, Nat," Cassie grinned.

  "Sure thing. Bye Felix." Natalie started sprinting up the stairs with the others flanking her.

  They ran those steps like they weren't even there.

  "She wants you so bad," Cassie laughed sharply.

  I couldn't resist. "Hi Felix," I breathed in imitation, touching his shoulder.

  Cassie roared with laughter.

  "Seriously? The new guy? Fuck you both," Felix muttered.

  "Nat's a Seeker—she'd chew him up and spit out the bones," Cassie said, eyeing the jungle below.

  "Unbidden I get, but Seeker?" I asked as we descended toward the treeline.

  "Unbidden means you're from another world," Felix explained. "Uninvited guest."

  "Seekers are Runebinders who've bound soul-Seals," Cassie added. "They’ve taken the first step to real power. What we're training for."

  We finally hit solid ground and entered the treeline.

  I stopped and stared.

  Something tugged at the back of my mind—a quiet sense that multiple things were paying attention to me. The coiled spring wound tighter, paranoia flooding my system like ice water.

  Something was here. Something dangerous.

  The air shimmered and bent, revealing an enormous creature emerging from perfect camouflage. It moved like a bird at first, strutting toward Cassie with casual confidence.

  It was massive—too big to be just a bird. Feathered body gleamed in filtered sunlight, colors vivid and metallic. Long razor talons clicked against stone. Eyes blazed with dangerous intelligence.

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  This wasn’t a harmless pet.

  Cassie reached out, scratching its neck like it was a kitten. "Good girl," she murmured as it leaned into her touch.

  Every muscle in my body went rigid. My heart skipped.

  "Is that a fucking raptor?"

  Felix and Cassie exchanged surprised glances. "Close enough," Felix chuckled.

  "She's one of the spirited mana beasts in the Lobby," Cassie explained. "Might become a Beast Lord someday. Says she was sent to escort us through their territory."

  The spring relaxed slightly—which surprised me almost as much as what I felt when the creature entered my perception range.

  Speed. Guile. Danger. But deeper—an insatiable hunger for the hunt, and the willpower to deny it. And now, faint curiosity.

  The raptor looked directly at me, cocking its head. It made sounds suspiciously like laughter.

  "She says you feel weird," Cassie translated as we started walking, the raptor trotting beside us.

  "Yeah, I picked up on that when she hit my aura. You can understand her?"

  "I'm learning to. Most Beast Lords just talk though."

  I gaped. "Talking animals?"

  "Big talking animals," Felix confirmed. "Don't worry, not everyone grew up around Class-D Mana Beasts. Weirds me out too."

  "Class-D is a Beast Lord, Felix. Stop using monster terms—it makes you sound like an asshole."

  The raptor seemed to agree.

  I blinked at the creature, completely lost. It was a fucking dinosaur, and I could understand it.

  "Can I pet you?" I asked.

  The raptor nearly tripped. Recovered gracefully, but the stumble was obvious.

  "Sorry. It's just... you're a raptor. A dinosaur. I've always wanted to see one."

  Cassie and Felix stared. "You've never seen one? How do you know what they are?"

  "Fossils. Ancient bones that turn to rock. Raptors were gone before my people existed."

  Understanding dawned in the creature's intelligent eyes. It trotted over to walk beside me, close enough that intent was unmistakable.

  I reached out, running my hand along smooth feathers. Through my new sense, I felt its happiness—that I'd wanted to touch it, saw it as more than just danger.

  The pathway branched multiple times, slicing into jungle depths I couldn't fathom. After minutes of relative silence, I spoke up.

  "Natalie mentioned another tower gets more people like me. I'm guessing those aren't humans?"

  Felix shrugged. "Maybe? But Mom says most Unbidden leave. Maybe they go home."

  "That's possible? I can go home?" Hope surged through my chest like liquid fire.

  "Maybe not here, but the central tower probably can," Felix explained. "I've only seen it once, but Nana says they have gateways there."

  He noticed my confusion. "Think of portals like rushing rivers. You can swim across, but you'll end up downstream. Turn around and swim back—you're even further downstream. Swimming against the current is difficult."

  Cassie groaned. "No one understands your abstract shit."

  Felix shot her a familiar look. "Gateways are bridges across the river. Make sense?"

  I thought about it, the raptor's feathers smooth under my palm.

  "So portals are one-way, gateways are doors between worlds?"

  Felix's eyebrows rose. "Yeah, exactly. They might find your world and send you home... but gateways aren't cheap."

  "Nothing in the Central Lands is cheap," Cassie laughed. "Why my grandfather bought La-Roc. Cheaper than tithing to the Emperor, avoiding politics and power struggles."

  I sighed. "Fuck."

  Cassie grinned mischievously. "Felix's family is loaded though. They can spot you."

  "I live in a boarding house," Felix protested.

  "Because your mom wanted you to learn honest work."

  They chuckled, and I glimpsed their deep friendship.

  The raptor barked twice as the jungle began thinning. A river threaded along the path with gentle murmurs.

  Then the raptor vanished. The only feeling I caught was . Immediately, the spring coiled tight—we'd just lost protection.

  Through the trees, oversized yellow otters played in the river's current. A much larger otter rose from the water, golden fur brilliant in filtered sunlight. It looked toward me, cocked its head in assessment, then put a finger to its lips.

  .

  "Tell me about monsters," I said, trying to distract from anxiety and the weird otter situation. "Mana beasts are animals—what are monsters?"

  I wasn't the only one feeling the raptor's absence. Cassie rested a hand on her sword. Felix scanned the treeline warily.

  "Also mana beasts," Felix said. "Or they were. Animals that start hunting for sport, consume too much mana and corrupt themselves with more power than their bodies can handle. Excess mana crystallizes, twisting them irreversibly into monsters."

  "Then we hunt them and take their mana pearls for our own advancement. Keeps the balance," Cassie added.

  "The Monster Hunters?"

  "Anyone can hunt monsters, but the Hunters made it a profession," Felix explained. “It doesn’t help that monsters crave mana, and people are full of it.”

  The foreboding in my mind reached a crescendo.

  I glanced at Cass. "Does anyone else feel that? I've been on high alert since the raptor left..."

  Cassie stopped, eyes narrowing as she scanned the treeline and ground. "Shit... now that you mention it."

  Felix frowned, confused, then his expression darkened. "Oh."

  The underbrush rustled. Something large shifted in the shadows—hard to focus on, like it existed and didn't simultaneously. I blinked, trying to get a clear look, but my vision kept slipping. One second beside a tree, the next behind us.

  Felix raised his hand, lightning crackling between fingers as his bracer sparked. Runes spun around his wrist.

  The spring inside me exploded open. I'd already stepped back, body moving on pure instinct. Heart pounding, I realized—I was dodging before I could think.

  A black panther the size of a motorcycle erupted from the trees toward me.

  I landed hard on my ass as the ground around the panther detonated. For a moment I thought Felix had cast something, but then I saw it—the golden otter from earlier, fur shimmering, standing triumphantly over the panther as the river erupted from its momentum.

  I blinked. A three-meter otter just moved fast enough to cause cavitation in water?

  "Easy now," the otter said in thick, melodic Creole. "That's your third warning, Cher. Now we get to talk to Gary." It grabbed the panther by the scruff, lifting effortlessly as the massive cat whined pitifully. "Terribly sorry, mes amis. He's been stalking ever since you arrived. Had to wait for him to make a move."

  I sat slack-jawed, heart still thundering. The otter just talked. And apologized.

  "Uh, thanks?" I managed as the panther got a pitiful look while being carried into the jungle. As the otter left, I noticed two tails swishing behind it.

  "That," Felix started with wide-eyed wonder, "was a Class-D Lutrin!"

  "Beast Lord," Cassie corrected. "Lagniappe, one of the oldest Lutrins in the Lobby. What's with the sudden reflexes, Ben? Aura thing?"

  "That was incredible. I moved before I knew it was there," I said, still processing. "That wasn't a monster?"

  Cassie shook her head. "You'll know monsters—their eyes glow red. That was probably the panther Natalie warned about."

  "But that Beast Lord... there are monsters that big? That fast?"

  "Bigger," Felix confirmed, helping me up. "Anything bigger than Class-E is rare, but it goes up to Class-A."

  "A is for Apocalypse," Cassie recited like a school lesson.

  I processed this ridiculous news.

  "That's why people leave your world?"

  "Chas says our world sucks. He's been to plenty," Cassie shrugged.

  "Triple fuck," I muttered.

  As we walked, the air grew noticeably wet as mist rolled through the trees, coating everything stationary in droplets. I heard the telltale roar of the massive waterfall.

  Through canopy breaks, I caught glimpses of rushing water and the colossal white tower. We were much closer than expected.

  "Who's Gary?" I asked suddenly.

  "Tower spirit that runs things. You'll meet him soon," Felix explained as we emerged onto another marble terrace.

  I looked up—way up—at the colossal alabaster tower stretching into the sky like a white spear thrust through clouds. We had somehow moved in a short period.

  My gaze drifted to the mountain the tower sat on—and the absolutely insane amount of stairs snaking up its side.

  "Oh, c’mon. Not more stairs!" I cried, falling to my knees in theatrical despair.