Alex and Rina finally came to a stop after half an hour of running.
"Let's take a breath," Alex said, breathing heavily.
"Why were we running?" Rina asked, still catching her breath.
"Let's talk about it later. Let's climb the tree and rest."
Without waiting for a reply, Alex began climbing a massive tree that towered high above the jungle floor.
Rina used her wind element to assist her ascent, soon arriving at a large branch where Alex was already tying a vine-like rope around it.
"Take this and secure yourself," Alex said, tossing her a rope made from thick, flexible plant fibers.
He bound himself to a thick branch and leaned back against the trunk, closing his eyes, letting exhaustion take over.
Rina silently followed his lead, mimicking the way he tied herself to a nearby branch. The air was cool this high up, carrying a gentle whisper through the leaves. Though she tried to close her eyes, the discomfort of this strange, wild life gnawed at her. After some time, she asked softly, "Are you asleep?"
"Yes, I'm sleeping. So quiet down," Alex murmured without opening his eyes.
Rina bit her lip and didn't say anything more. After about half an hour, sleep finally took her, hanging in place with the vine as her only support.
Alex woke suddenly as the faintest glimmer of light rose in the eastern sky, slicing through the dense canopy. He blinked at the soft glow.
*In this dimension, there's one sun and two moons… According to the instructor, this is as normal as a dimension can be compared to our world,* Alex thought.
He turned to check on Rina—still sleeping, mouth slightly open, drooling, her body swaying slightly in the breeze with only the rope keeping her in place.
Alex sighed. "This idiot…"
He climbed over to her, placed his hand over her mouth, and gently shook her awake. Predictably, as soon as her eyes opened, she tried to scream—muffled by his hand.
"Should I remove this now or will you scream again?" Alex asked calmly.
Rina shook her head quickly, cheeks turning red. He slowly removed his hand and wiped the drool off his clothes with a look of faint disgust.
Rina, now as red as a tomato, looked away, her thoughts racing. *Why does this boy keep embarrassing me at every turn?*
She took a deep breath to calm herself, untied the rope, and climbed down to where Alex was already standing.
"Let's move. We'll eat once we get a little farther from here," Alex said.
Fifteen minutes later, they sat beside a massive fallen tree. On one side was thick undergrowth, and on the other, a clearing that let in shafts of golden morning light.
Alex pulled out two wrapped steaks from his spatial ring, handing one to Rina.
"Finish it quickly. We can't afford to attract monsters. This place... I don't think it's a C-rank dimension. It's at least B-rank or maybe even A-rank," he said.
He looked serious.
"I fought monsters that looked like a cross between cats and tigers. They were below E-rank, yet they could become invisible—and they still managed to injure me. That's not normal."
Rina's eyes widened. "How can that be? The academy instructors wouldn't—couldn't—do this. Maybe you're wrong," she murmured, half to herself.
Alex didn't argue. He just finished his meal, drank some water, and remained alert.
Rina ate quickly too, her mind racing.
They kept moving west all day without stopping. As night began to fall, Alex said, "We'll stop here for tonight."
But just as they began to settle in, Alex froze. He felt it again—*that* sensation. Danger.
He scanned the area—nothing in sight—but his body tensed instinctively. *Invisible… again?* he thought grimly.
Rina caught his expression and readied her earth element, prepared to strike.
Suddenly, from above the jungle, a monstrous creature swooped down. It looked like a giant ray made of shimmering glass and light, its wings distorting the very air. Its form was translucent, like it was carved from space itself. Reality bent and twisted around it. At its core, an orb of condensed spatial energy pulsed violently—glowing brighter as it prepared to strike.
The creature moved without sound, weaving between the towering trees. Its razor-edged fins tore the air, leaving trails of spatial rifts behind.
Then—BOOM.
A bending slash of warped reality tore toward them.
Alex and Rina tried to counterattack, but their magic was swallowed into the void, vanishing into nothingness.
The slash neared.
Without thinking, Alex threw Rina aside, taking the full brunt of the attack on his arm. Agonizing pain surged through him—it felt like his flesh was being chewed by thousands of invisible teeth. He screamed.
"RUN!" he shouted, even as blood streamed from his mangled arm.
Rina, stunned, obeyed. She bolted.
Alex followed moments later, clutching his ruined limb.
The chase lasted hours. The creature eventually slowed, but Alex and Rina kept running until they collapsed from exhaustion. Blood dripped from what remained of Alex's arm—flesh shredded, bone twisted and exposed like broken branches.
They spotted a small hollow at the base of a massive tree—just big enough for two.
Alex pointed to it, and the two of them slid inside.
Darkness engulfed them. They couldn't see their own hands. The cramped space reeked of earth and rot, damp and silent.
Using his dark elemental perception, Alex scanned the area. "No danger here," he whispered through trembling lips. "Relax... for now."
Rina exhaled, trying to steady her breathing, but Alex's condition was far from stable.
He summoned what little wood elemental power he had and began healing his arm. The pain returned with full force—those phantom teeth gnawed again as his power tried to separate bone and flesh that had fused together in a pulp.
He bit down on the shaft of a broken spear to muffle his screams.
For half an hour, Rina sat silently, listening to his suppressed cries.
She was terrified. Truly terrified. A monster they couldn't see. An attack they couldn't resist. Her first real brush with death.
She had already crushed the emergency token the instructors gave her… but nothing had happened.
When Alex finally exhausted his elemental power, all he managed was to stop the bleeding. The limb still looked like ground meat clinging to fractured bone.
"Let's wait. I'll recover my power first," he said with a shallow breath.
Then he turned to Rina. "Are you okay?"
There was a pause. Then a whisper, choked by tears.
"Yes… I'm fine. How about you?"
Alex smiled weakly, trying to be cheerful but failing. "I'll be okay. Don't worry. Don't cry… crying won't fix anything. We'll stay here for now. I have food. Once I'm healed, we'll move."
Rina asked, "Did you break your token?"
"No," Alex replied, his voice suddenly resolute. "I didn't. I won't risk losing my chance to get into the academy."
"You're risking your life for that?" Rina whispered in disbelief.
"Yes," Alex said firmly. "It's the only way I have to grow stronger."
Rina's voice cracked. "I already broke mine… and nothing happened."
Alex closed his eyes, then sighed. "I suspected as much when I saw those invisible monsters. But now… after that creature, I'm almost certain. We're in a B-rank dimension."
After a pause, he added, "Maybe even A-rank."
"…Yes. You're right," Rina murmured.
"Try to sleep," Alex said. "Take the pelt from my spatial ring. I can't reach it with one hand."
He reached out and gently touched her hand with his remaining one.