When I got back home after the whole "awakening ceremony" disaster, the first thing I did was throw open the door and shout, "I'm home!"
No one answered.
Of course, no one ever did.
The silence that followed wasn't new. It was just… heavy, the kind that wrapped around your chest and pressed down until breathing felt like an afterthought.
I kicked off my boots and stepped inside the narrow apartment. The lights flickered weakly. Dust had settled over the picture frames on the shelf — my parents smiling, my little sister sticking her tongue out at the camera. The image was slightly cracked down the middle.
They died eleven years ago, during one of the monster raids in Yueyin, the city people used to call Silver Moon before it was wiped off the map. I was seven. A rescue unit found me hiding under the debris, holding my sister's broken pendant.
I never liked silence after that.
"Guess it's just us again," I muttered. Pebble, sitting on the table, gave a low hum in response — almost like a sigh.
I blinked. "Are you… comforting me? Or digesting?"
No reply. Just another faint vibration. Maybe it really was alive. Maybe I was just lonely enough to imagine it.
I dropped onto my bed, staring at the ceiling fan that refused to spin. "Tomorrow'll be better," I said out loud, though I didn't believe it. "It can't get worse, right?"
Spoiler: it could.
The next morning, the academy training grounds looked like a military base pretending to be a playground. Concrete squares, rusted barriers, glowing runic lines etched into the ground, and an instructor who looked like she'd eaten nails for breakfast.
"Initiates!" she barked.
That was Instructor Lin — silver hair pulled back tight, one scar running across her cheek like a lightning bolt. The kind of person who could glare at a dragon and make it apologize.
She paced before us, boots thudding against the ground, eyes sharp enough to cut glass.
"Yesterday was your awakening. Today, we find out whether you survive the year. The Trial Dungeon will test your synchronization with your beasts. You'll enter, recover a Resonance Core, and exit alive. Those who fail—" She smiled faintly, the kind that wasn't nice. "—get to try again next semester. Assuming you're still breathing."
A student at the back raised his hand. "Instructor, what's the safety rate?"
"Depends on how stupid you are."
That shut him up.
I elbowed Chen Bo, who stood beside me looking way too confident. His massive serpent — the Tintaboa — slithered lazily behind him, scales glinting in the sun. The air shimmered faintly around it, and people kept a respectful distance.
"I still can't believe you pulled a seven-star beast," I whispered.
Chen grinned. "I still can't believe you pulled… that."
He nodded toward Pebble, who sat in my palm like a very smug paperweight.
"She's special," I said defensively.
"It's a rock, Han."
"She hums."
"It's vibrating."
"Out of affection."
Chen rolled his eyes. "Whatever helps you sleep."
Instructor Lin clapped her hands, the sound like thunder. "Teams of four. Choose wisely. You live and die as a unit. Fail to cooperate, and the dungeon will devour you."
That last part didn't sound like a metaphor.
Chen Bo and I exchanged a nod — automatic. We'd been partners in idiocy since year one.Two more joined our group: Jin Tao, a wiry kid with glasses too big for his face, and Li Mei, who looked calm enough to be terrifying.
Jin adjusted his lenses and puffed out his chest. "Wind Lynx, three-star. Agile, precise, and stylish."
A swirl of mist formed beside him, solidifying into a sleek lynx made of wind. It sneezed out a miniature tornado and vanished again.
Li Mei smiled faintly. "Crimson Aegis Hawk, two-star. Support type."
A glowing metallic bird materialized on her shoulder, its eyes like embers.
Instructor Lin walked past, giving brief nods — until her gaze landed on me.
"Han Yue," she said flatly. "Still carrying the rock?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"It hasn't moved?"
"Depends how you define 'move.'"
"It hasn't attacked?"
"Not yet."
She sighed. "Try not to die. It'd ruin the paperwork."
"Understood," I said brightly.
The dungeon gate was at the city's edge — a swirling vortex of violet light hovering above cracked asphalt, surrounded by barriers and humming generators. People still said it was one of the first fractures from the Refraction, never fully sealed.
It looked alive — pulsing faintly, whispering under its breath.
We stood in a line as Instructor Lin gestured toward it. "Inside is your trial zone. No more than two hours. Retrieve the core, return alive. Your academy ranking depends on this."
Jin raised a trembling hand. "And if we, uh, encounter… hostility?"
"Neutralize it."
"What if it's stronger than us?"
"Run faster."
Chen whispered, "I love how inspiring she is."
I muttered, "I think I just peed motivation."
"First team, go!" Lin barked.
The students vanished into the portal one group at a time, their silhouettes swallowed by the violet light.
When our turn came, Pebble buzzed in my hand — faint, almost nervous.
"Don't worry," I whispered. "We'll be fine. Probably."
We stepped forward together.
The world bent.
Colors smeared, air thickened, gravity forgot what direction was supposed to be. Then, suddenly, we were standing in a forest — if you could call it that.
Massive trees with translucent bark glowed softly, their roots twisting like veins of light. Bioluminescent spores drifted through the air, painting everything in shades of blue and green. The ground pulsed faintly beneath our boots, warm like living skin.
Jin adjusted his scanner. "Readings indicate stable mana flux. Environment semi-organic, residual Refraction energy detected."
I blinked. "Translation?"
He grinned. "It's pretty."
"See? That I understand."
Chen's serpent coiled protectively around us, its scales reflecting the light like liquid steel. "Let's stick to formation," he said. "Li Mei, watch the rear."
Li Mei nodded, her hawk taking flight, wings trailing sparks.
We advanced through the glowing underbrush. The deeper we went, the quieter it got — like the forest was holding its breath.
Pebble kept humming in my pocket, and I had the strange feeling something was watching us.
"Anyone else feel—" I started.
"Wait," Li Mei whispered. She pointed ahead. "Look."
In the middle of a clearing, sitting perfectly still, was a rabbit.
White fur, twitching nose, fluffy tail.
"Oh my stars," Li Mei breathed. "It's adorable!"
She lowered her weapon immediately and crept forward.
"Wait—" I said. "Don't."
"Relax," she said. "It's harmless."
Right. Because in a cursed post-Refraction dungeon full of mutated death-beasts, the tiny cute one was obviously safe.
I looked at the imaginary camera. "Readers, we've reached that point in every adventure story where someone decides to pet the unknown creature. Please note: this is how horror movies start."
Chen groaned. "Why do you always talk like someone's watching?"
"Because if I die, I want witnesses."
Li Mei crouched near the rabbit. "Aww, look at you—"
The rabbit twitched its ear. Then it stood up.
On two legs.
Its tiny paws clutched something metallic.
My brain froze. "That… that's not a carrot."
The rabbit cocked its head. The object gleamed.
An AK-47.
"DOWN!" I shouted.
The rabbit squeezed the trigger.
The clearing exploded with gunfire, glowing leaves shredding as bullets tore through the air. Chen's serpent reared up, forming a shield of shimmering scales. Jin dove behind a root. Li Mei screamed as her hawk deflected a shot mid-air.
I ducked, clutching Pebble. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
"Category Two Invader!" Jin shouted. "Adaptive mimic! RUN!"
The rabbit reloaded. It reloaded.
"Since when do rabbits reload?!"
Chen's serpent lunged forward, tail slamming down like a thunderbolt. The bunny dodged. It was fast.
Pebble buzzed violently in my hand — so hard it hurt.
"Hey, what's your plan?!" I yelled at it. "You're the magical creature here!"
No answer.
The ground beneath us glowed suddenly — lines of light spreading outward like veins, converging at my feet. Pebble lifted off my palm, floating, humming louder and louder until the sound was a solid wall of vibration.
The bullets slowed midair. The trees bent inward.
Chen shouted something I couldn't hear.
Pebble cracked.
And then everything went white.