Ari and Tracey explore the forest to trace a strange magic, while Dawn and Gray investigate an abandoned lab.
Inside, memories flood Gray—revealing a past mission where he and Ren fought a berserk, enhanced boy with devastating lightning powers.
The boy, experimented on by his own father, was powerful but broken—his body regenerating rapidly as he lost control.
In the end, Gray and Ren subdued him, not out of hate, but to end his suffering—marking a tragedy that still haunts Gray today.
The cold air inside the lab hadn't changed.
It still carried the same sharp scent—old chemicals, rusted metal, stale dust, and something else underneath it all… something forgotten.
Dawn moved slowly, her boots crunching across broken glass and crumbling tiles. She picked up old vials, pried open jammed drawers, and scanned every half-burned or ink-smeared page she could find.
Most of it was unreadable—ruined by time or fire.
Dawn (exhaling): "So much of this is useless. I don't even know what we're looking for…"
Gray (calm but focused): "Anything tied to the researcher. Logs. Notes. Experiment data. Anything he didn't destroy."
He walked carefully across the lab, his fingers tracing along dusty desks and rusted instruments like he was walking through a memory.
Then something caught his eye—a fallen cabinet, half-buried beneath a collapsed shelf.
Gray knelt, pushed aside some broken wood and bent metal—and there it was.
A small, black leather book. Locked by a rusted clasp.
Gray (quietly): "Found something."
With a twist of his wrist, the clasp broke.
He opened the cover.
Inside was a brittle diary, and on the first page—etched in sharp, deliberate ink—was a name that made his pulse tighten:
Dr. Halveris.
Gray's fingers curled slightly around the cover.
Dawn stepped beside him as he flipped through the pages.
At first, the entries were clinical—purely scientific. Test logs. Magic readings. Subject notes.
But the handwriting gradually deteriorated—growing more frantic. More obsessed.
________________________________________
[Pages From the Diary]
"Subject-07 shows promise. Enhanced muscle density and magic amplification. However, mental stability continues to decline. Observation: power exceeds mental containment."
"The boy's regeneration is… divine. No wound holds. Hypothesis: if bodily preservation is managed, even death may be reversible under sustained energy input. Application: revival of fallen soldiers."
"What is the difference between life and death, if both can serve the cause?"
"An army that does not stop. Beings—alive or once-dead—it makes no difference. They will obey. They will serve."
________________________________________
Dawn (reading aloud, horrified): "He… he was trying to build an army. Not just humans. Revived ones. Corpses."
Gray (bitterly): "He didn't just test on his son… He saw him as the prototype. The first of a legion."
He clenched the diary tighter in his hand.
Gray: "That boy… was never supposed to be the last. Only the beginning."
He turned to the final pages.
There—among shaky lines and ink blotches—was a hastily scrawled entry, half-torn and barely legible.
________________________________________
"They're coming. I must seal the lower chamber. The upper lab is expendable—a shell. What matters is below. Only I know the access point."
________________________________________
Dawn (stunned): "Wait… Lower chamber? There's a lab beneath this one?"
Gray's expression darkened. He scanned the room quickly, eyes narrowing at the far corner near some rusted machinery.
He moved with sudden certainty—dragging old crates and heavy metal frames aside. Behind them, barely visible under a dusty table, was a rusted metal panel embedded into the floor.
He grabbed the table, dragged it aside with brute force—and revealed it.
A sealed hatch.
Gray (coldly): "This is it. The chamber he mentioned."
He looked at Dawn, eyes unreadable.
________________________________________
[Meanwhile – Forest Center]
Ari and Tracey stood near the heart of the forest.
The trees here were older, darker. The canopy was so thick it choked out the sun. A strange pressure filled the air—thick, unspoken.
They had already checked the middle area. The trees there were scarred—some scorched, others split down the middle, bark peeled unnaturally. Traces of corrupted magic lingered in the atmosphere—like ghosts of something powerful that had passed through.
But there were no footprints. No trails. No clear signs.
Tracey (scowling): "Still nothing. Could've just been a leftover trace. A ghost signal."
Ari (closing her eyes, reaching out with light magic): "No… it's not residual. It's faint, but alive. Something's still here… just buried."
They continued toward the far edge—where the forest grew wild and unwelcoming.
Thicker roots. Tangled underbrush. Even the temperature dropped.
Then—Tracey stopped mid-step.
Tracey (low): "Ari… I feel something."
Ari's eyes narrowed. Her fingertips buzzed with Light magic.
Ari (tense): "Yeah. But it's strange… It's not coming from ahead or above—it's… around us."
The magic was warped. Not cloaked. Not blocked.
Just… disoriented. As if buried beneath layers of earth and decay—scattered like echoes underground.
Tracey (confused): "Can't pinpoint it. It's like it's… hiding."
Ari (kneeling): "No. It's not hiding. It's buried."
She pressed her palm against the mossy floor. Instantly, a pulse of light magic rippled out.
Her eyes widened. Beneath the soil—there was movement. Faint. Like a heartbeat.
Ari (whispering): "It's here. Below us."
Tracey dropped beside her. They dug quickly—Ari using her blade to cut through vines, Tracey using beast-enhanced strength to claw through soil.
Soon, they hit something solid.
Stone.
But not natural rock—this was crafted.
Cracked and carved with faint runes, half-covered in mud and time.
Tracey: "This… This is man-made."
Ari pressed both hands against the stone. Light flowed into it.
The runes pulsed.
Click.
The stone split open.
Dirt fell inward, revealing a narrow tunnel. Cold air rushed out—reeking of rust, old blood, and metal.
Tracey (peering down): "A tunnel. Heading west…?"
Ari (sharp): "Toward the village."
They exchanged a look.
Tracey (tense): "Why bury a tunnel out here… and have it lead back?"
Ari: "Because whoever built this didn't want it found. They used the forest as a shield."
She stood, eyes still on the entrance.
Ari (softly): "The magic we sensed… It's leaking from below. But the source—it's deeper."
The tunnel yawned open.
Cold. Silent. Waiting.
Tracey (half-smirking): "Want me to go first? You know—beast instincts and all."
Ari (resolute): "No. We go together."
She summoned a small orb of light, letting it float above her palm as they descended.
________________________________________
[Inside the Tunnel]
They moved carefully through the cramped stone corridor, the walls pressing close on either side.
Tracey (quietly): "It's weird. I can sense magic clearly. Someone is here. But… why would they be hiding here?"
Ari (grimly): "It's not just one. I can feel over a hundred presences. The one you're sensing—that's just the strongest. But there are many more."
Tracey (eyes narrowing): "Then this place… is still active."
They reached the end of the tunnel—a large, reinforced door, sealed tight.
Both of them paused.
Tracey (wide-eyed): "A door? After everything else… Who built this? And for what?"
Ari (drawing her blade, tense): "Only one way to find out."
She pushed it open, blade ready.
The heavy door groaned.
Beyond it—a massive underground lobby stretched out, branching into several corridors and rooms. Lights flickered weakly. Dust clung to every surface. But this place… felt alive.
They walked slowly, boots echoing faintly on the stone.
Then—footsteps.
Ari and Tracey froze.
Someone was coming.
They quickly slipped into a nearby room, hiding behind shelves and broken containers.
Footsteps grew louder.
Ari stood by the door, pressing her ear against the wood. Tracey scanned the room behind them—
And froze.
His breath caught.
Tracey (barely whispering): "A-Ari…"
Ari (urgently): "Stay quiet. We've been found—"
Tracey (pulling her): "No—look! Behind you!"
Ari turned.
Her eyes widened.
She, too, fell into stunned silence.