The two-headed direwolf collapsed with a final, guttural howl, dissolving into black mist. Ethan staggered back, chest heaving, sweat burning his eyes. Shadowfang stood tall beside him, jaws dripping crimson, golden fire still dancing along its fur.
> [Essence Acquired: 12]
The notification flickered before his eyes, but Ethan barely registered it. His body ached, his mind screamed, yet the bond thrummed with exhilaration. Shadowfang wanted more.
A slow clap echoed across the blood-stained arena.
"Well, well… not bad for a nobody."
Ethan turned. The brute from earlier—the one with the horned gorilla—was grinning, his teeth streaked red. His gorilla companion slammed its fists into the ground, shaking the stone floor. Around him, three other candidates lingered, all of them still alive, their companions looming like predators.
It wasn't hard to see what had happened. While others bled against the monsters, he and his group had hung back, waiting for the weak to die first.
Ethan's jaw tightened. Scavengers.
The brute stepped forward, eyes gleaming with arrogance.
"You've got guts, kid. I like that. Join me, and maybe you'll survive past the first night."
Before Ethan could answer, Lyra cut in sharply.
"Or maybe you'll just use him as bait, like the others you let die."
The brute's grin widened, not even bothering to deny it.
"Survival is simple. Use what you can. Discard what you can't. That's the only law that matters here."
Shadowfang growled, golden eyes narrowing. The gorilla answered with a thunderous roar, fists pounding like war drums.
The tension snapped taut, the kind that begged for blood.
Ethan felt his heartbeat racing, but something inside him settled—cold, clear, unyielding. He had died once before. He wasn't going to cower again.
He took a single step forward, Shadowfang moving in perfect rhythm with him.
"You want me to join you?" Ethan's voice was calm, almost quiet. "Then earn it. Show me why your bond is worth following."
The brute's grin faltered, surprise flickering across his face. Then it twisted into something darker.
"Careful, boy. Challenge me, and you won't see the sunrise."
Lyra's serpent hissed, coiling tighter around her arm. "If you want him, you'll have to go through me first."
The arena trembled with the sound of monsters still lurking in the shadows, but for the candidates, the real battle had already shifted. Allies and enemies were no longer decided by chance. Bonds were being tested, sharpened, broken.
And Ethan knew—this was only the beginning.
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