The soil was soft. I crouched down and dug carefully until my fingers brushed against something firmer. Following the faint fragrance, I pried at it gently. Beneath the dirt was an iron door with a handle. With a slight tug, the door released a low metallic groan and opened slowly, revealing a staircase that spiraled into darkness. To prevent anyone from following me, I closed the door behind me with care, making sure the entrance was completely concealed.
Each step I took was cautious and light. The metal stairs echoed faintly under my boots. At the bottom, I found myself in what looked like an abandoned research room. Dust blanketed the tables and floor, and the air was thick with the smell of aged paper. Notes and plant specimens were stacked high on the desks, while research documents lay scattered across the ground.
I picked up a sheet of paper and examined it closely. It was filled with sketches of tropical plants, apparently research on the rainforest ecology and flora of Planet 65. Clearly this place held more than just the rare Skyward Herb. Something even rarer was hidden here. Yet my eyes met only bare walls surrounding me.
The fragrance grew stronger, as if urging me toward a specific spot. I crouched down again, sniffing carefully to judge the direction. Soon I realized it was coming from behind the wall, as though something was concealed within it. The Skyward Herb was hidden in a compartment or mechanism, not in plain sight.
The fragrance grew stronger, urging me toward a certain spot. I crouched again, sniffing carefully, and realized it was coming from behind the wall. The Skyward Herb was hidden inside some kind of compartment or mechanism, not in plain sight.
I was still working out how to open it when faint footsteps echoed from the stairway above, mixed with the clink of metal. My heart tightened. I quickly ducked into the shadow by the desk, which covered most of my silhouette.
As the steps drew closer, a glint of golden hair caught my eye. Blue eyes flickered faintly in the dim light.
The legendary 3S student from the Leadership Division had arrived.
My heart gave a sharp jolt. Hiding was now meaningless.
I stepped out of the shadows. He looked at me, calm as though he had been expecting this moment.
"I didn't think it would be you," I said, lowering my voice.
The corner of his lips curved into an unreadable smile. "The entrance was disturbed. I knew it had to be you. On this entire planet, only two people could track the Skyward Herb, and you're one of them."
I frowned, unease rippling through me. "Why? I don't even know you. Don't talk like you know me."
His gaze lingered, unshaken. "You don't have to know me. You just need to understand this, we are the same kind."
My heart seized.
The same kind? What a joke. I was only ranked A, nowhere near a rare 3S. Yet his eyes held no hint of doubt, they looked as though he were confirming something inevitable.
Could there be something about me that even I didn't know?
I forced myself to remain calm. "So, you followed the scent here too?"
"Yes. To most people, the Skyward Herb's fragrance is just a hallucination. But for us, it becomes a guide." His voice was level, almost matter-of-fact.
My nerves tightened.
For us.
The phrase felt like an invisible chain binding me to him. Why me? Why only me?
He studied me in silence before speaking again. "Every legendary mission has secrets the Education Department never mentions. Your instincts are good, but from here on, be careful."
I only half understood.
The underground air grew heavier. The fragrance thickened, pulling both of us toward the unknown. Mechanisms, forbidden plants, secrets deliberately buried by the Education Department, somehow all of it seemed tied to my identity. And that single word, same, had branded itself into my heart.
The laboratory hid a truth far deeper than a single Skyward Herb.
We stood apart, watching each other warily. His blue eyes scanned the room as he tapped the walls and floor with precise movements, searching for a mechanism. Unlike others who relied on brute force, his every gesture was measured and deliberate, like solving an equation.
"This scent isn't random," he murmured. "There must be a hidden passage or compartment."
He pressed a few raised points along the wall. With a soft click, a section of it shifted aside, revealing a hidden passage.
I couldn't help muttering, "As expected of someone from the Leadership Division. Your brain really works."
I leaned closer. At the end of the passage stood a small, dust-covered door. He pushed it open gently, and a cool draft carrying the plant's fragrance spilled out.
The sight stunned me.
Beneath the chamber stretched the roots of an immense tree, thick and coiling into the corners of the room. No sunlight reached it directly, yet through narrow cracks the roots glowed faintly red. At the center of this colossal root system grew a single plant with wine-red leaves, just one leaf clinging to the root. The fragrance was pouring from the Skyward Herb.
I held my breath and stepped back slightly, afraid to disturb it. He reached out but didn't touch. His gaze was calm, calculating. "We have to fire the signal now, to alert the others."
He tapped the floor lightly, studying the roots, then said in a low voice, "This lab isn't simple. The scent draws mutated beasts. If we pick it recklessly, the risk will be immense."
I stared at the wine-red leaf. "There's only one Skyward Herb. How do we share it?"
He turned his head, his expression cool. "Half each."
My chest tightened, but I nodded. "Fine."
"I'll go fire the signal. You stay here."
I nodded again.
But before long, a disturbance shattered the silence. The fragrance swelled a hundredfold. A deep roar shook the forest outside. The ground trembled as leaves rained down. A tide of mutated beasts surged toward us at terrifying speed.
The signal had only just been fired. Support had not yet arrived. We were the bait.
Before rescue could come, the beasts crashed in. If we did nothing, the laboratory and its secrets would be destroyed. Gritting my teeth, I reached out and plucked the single wine-red leaf, the Skyward Herb.
The instant it detached, the chamber erupted. The leaf flared with dazzling light, and the fragrance exploded outward like invisible fire.
A thunderous crash shook the jungle. Countless crimson eyes lit up in the darkness. Roars merged into a sky-splitting bellow. The rainforest had become a hunting ground, and we were the prey.
"Go!" the golden-haired boy barked. I clutched the Skyward Herb and ran.
The research room was torn apart. The beast tide thickened, fangs and claws slashing from every direction. Just as I fought to keep them back, a strange force surged into my mind.
He had linked his mental power to mine.
It felt cold and sharp, like a stranger breaking into my consciousness with undeniable force.
"Work with me." His voice echoed inside my head.
I clenched my jaw. I hated this intrusion. But surrounded by beasts, I had no choice. Our minds synchronized, forcing our movements into perfect rhythm.
My mecha's wings carved open a gap in the horde. Arm blades flashed as my dagger struck weak points, guided by his mental force. We fought as one, unwilling but unstoppable.
Then a massive beast lunged, pinning him down, its fangs aimed at his neck. Something deep inside me ignited. Power surged like fire through my chest.
"Get away!"
A shockwave burst outward, twisting the air like rippling water. The beast was hurled into the distance, smashing through giant trees with a deafening crash.
Breathless and trembling, I met his gaze through the haze of blood. For once, his blue eyes flickered with surprise, and something else I couldn't name.
…
The mecha support units finally arrived, pushing back the beasts. The rescue team took the Skyward Herb from my hands and sealing it away for safekeeping.
The cabin lights flickered before my eyes as the support team guided us onto the return ship. The medical staff checked me over while rapidly typing into their terminals. "Mental energy overflow at the scene, source identified—"
I tried to open my eyes, but the world wavered, and the surrounding noise felt muffled, as if filtered through water.
Before anyone could finish, Ryan's calm voice cut through: "It's me."
Flat, yet sharp and undeniable. The medical staff paused, then nodded, recording "Ryan Morgan" as the source of the mental energy overflow.
He gave me a fleeting glance, so slight, yet carrying a warning, as if telling me not to speak.
Through my blurred vision, I could only watch him stand in front of me, taking everything onto himself.
And then… I completely blacked out.
…
When I regained consciousness, I was lying in the ship's medical bay. Outside the viewport, Planet 65 was fading into the distance.
He sat nearby, golden hair gleaming faintly in the cabin light. When he saw me stir, he smiled.
"My name is Ryan," he said, voice steady and low.
I stared at him.
For a moment, his gaze lingered, and in it I saw something unfamiliar. Not calm. Not control. But weight.
In the rainforest battle, he should have been the one in control. Yet at the final moment, he had relied on me. And for the first time, Ryan realized he owed someone, a debt he could not ignore.
He said nothing more, but his eyes carried more weight than words.
For the first time in his life, someone unaccustomed to "owing" felt a subtle, unfamiliar unease.
"What's your name?"
"Aurora."