The forest deepened—branches like claws, leaves like static.
Kael walked in front. Ayla followed like a flickering shadow. Echo floated, occasionally flickering into a full avatar during high-threat scans.
Then they heard it.
Howls.
Distorted. Layered.
A pack was coming.
From the underbrush, monsters emerged—quadrupeds stitched from roots and bones, ribcages open, veins pulsing with static-light. Their jaws hung loose, drooling data.
[NEXUS BEAST CLASS: PACK / ROOT-WARPED]
[RECOMMENDATION: AVOID ENCIRCLEMENT]
[FLANKING BEHAVIOR: HIGH]
Kael readied the Shardblade. Ayla rolled her neck.
"Time to glitch some puppies," she said.
The battle broke.
Kael dove into them, moving like a storm of sharpened light—every strike honed, every breath synced with the pulse of the blade.
[SHARD PULSE II: UNLOCKED]
Ayla bent code midair—freezing some beasts, causing others to implode from within.
But Kael was knocked down—one monster pinned him, teeth descending.
He screamed.
Then—
Echo manifested. Fully physical. Time slowed.
She stabbed her hand into the beast's skull.
A burst of light.
The creature disintegrated.
"You can fight now?!" Kael gasped.
Echo nodded. "Stage One Unlocked. Three seconds of physical intervention. Every ten minutes."
Kael grinned, blood on his lips. "That's enough."
They finished the pack.
Kael stood in the clearing, drenched, heart pounding.
[PARTY SYNC RATE: 8% – NEW PARTY CREATED: FRACTURE CELL]