Night lay heavy over Arclight Academy, drowning the stone courtyards in cool shades of blue. Thin clouds drifted across the moon, scattering silver light in broken pieces over the tiled roofs. Lanterns flickered like faint fireflies along the distant walkways, their glow dulled by the creeping mist.
Most students slept. The training fields stood empty, quiet at last after the day's relentless drills. Only the wind moved sifting through banners, rattling wooden spears left in the racks.
Inside the dim dorm room, Rin sat awake.
His knees were pulled close to his chest, his eyes fixed on the faint, translucent interface floating before him. The system's presence hummed softly in his mind, steady and cold like a second heartbeat.
For hours, the system had remained silent until a sudden ripple of data crawled across the display.
SYSTEM: Optimal growth path detected. Recommendation: Nocturnal hunt.
Rin blinked in confusion. "H… hunt?"
Affirmative. Objective: Gather Flux samples from live beasts. Purpose: Analyze variations in natural energy structures.
Secondary Purpose: Accelerate host progression before First Evaluation.
The words pressed against him sharply.
Evaluation. The thing every student whispered about in fear.
Rin swallowed. "Go… out?"
Yes.Now.Patrol route changes in fifty-two seconds. Opportunity window: three minutes.
Rin hesitated. Not because he was afraid he had been afraid his whole life but because he wasn't supposed to be here at all. An "unassigned" student sneaking into the forest at night would be expelled on the spot. Worse sent to the Base Class barracks.
Still…
His fingers clenched. He needed strength.
He needed answers.
He needed to survive.
The window slid open with a soft scrape. A cool breeze brushed his face, carrying the scent of moss and distant rain.
Rin glanced once toward the dorm corridor. No footsteps. No lantern glow.
He climbed out.
The ground met him silently, softened by fallen leaves. Above him, the academy's stone walls looked taller than usual looming, impenetrable. But the system pulsed again.
Minor Concealment Protocol activated. Effect: Reduces presence detection by untrained senses.
Duration: 12 minutes.
Rin's form shimmered faintly like the edges of his body blurred into the night.
He moved.
He slipped past the dormitory pillars, ducked under courtyard lanterns, and hugged the shadowed side of the stone storage hall. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, but his footsteps remained soft as petals. The patrol appeared at the far end of the walkway two students in half-armor, yawning, tapping their spears on the ground.
Rin froze behind a pillar.
Move right.Two steps.Stop.Wait four seconds.Go.
The system's voice guided him like invisible hands.
Rin darted forward, cleared the courtyard, and reached the ivy-covered back wall. With the system highlighting handholds in faint blue markers, he climbed quietly and dropped to the forest side.
The academy's glow disappeared behind him.
The forest swallowed him whole.
The Outer Academy Forest
The trees here grew tall taller than the walls branches twisting like skeletal arms into the sky. Mist slithered between the trunks, glowing faintly with Flux residue. Small motes of light drifted through the darkness; spectral insects with shimmering wings.
The system spoke again.
Scanning…Flux signatures detected.Seven lifeforms within 120 meters.Threat Levels: Low to Moderate.
Rin exhaled shakily.Monsters.Real ones.
He stepped through tall ferns, their dew soaking the hem of his academy-issued nightwear. The air smelled damp, earthy, and tinged with the metallic scent of wild Flux. IN the distance, something howled short and sharp.
The system pulsed.
One beast approaching.Prepare.
Rin crouched behind a thick root, gripping a fallen branch. His palms felt slick.
A rustle. A low growl.
Then
A Horned Fang Hare burst through the bushes.
Small but vicious, its red eyes gleaming with predatory instinct. Curved teeth protruded from its mouth. A faint ember-like glow pulsed at its chest.
The system marked its weak points in small glowing patterns.
SYSTEM: Fire-aligned beast.Flux Crystal Attribute: Red.Recommended strategy: Strike neck junction during lunge.
The hare screeched and leapt.
Rin dodged to the side. The beast slammed into a tree, dirt scattering. Rin swung his branch, missing. The hare whirled and jumped again, its eyes blazing red.
Rin stumbled backward, breath sharp then the system whispered:
Jump right. Now.
He obeyed.
The hare missed by inches.
Rin swung the branch down with all his strength. A solid crack. The beast went still.
Panting heavily, he stared at the body. It was small. Fragile. Yet frighteningly fast.
The system's words appeared gently.
Extract core.Hold it for analysis.
Rin kneeled and retrieved the glowing red crystal from the creature's chest. It radiated warmth like a small heartbeat of fire.
Analyzing…
Lines of data filled the air.
Red Flux Crystal (Fire Attribute)• Unstable heat energy• Generates combustion sparks• Useful in forging and explosive talisman creation• Can strengthen fire-based techniques
Rin stared at it in awe.This tiny crystal held power. Living power.
SYSTEM: Many beasts contain similar cores.But each varies in attribute.Host must collect multiple samples.
Rin nodded slowly.
He moved deeper into the woods.
Flux Variations
The next beast he found was a Scaleback Lizard small, skittering, its scales shimmering faint blue. The system guided Rin's movements, and after a tense struggle, he obtained a blue crystal.
Cool to the touch. Smooth. It felt like water in solid form.
Blue — Water Attribute• Enhances healing• Moisture control• Minor regeneration effects
The third creature was a Green-Tusk Boar, its eyes glowing a soft jade.Rin barely dodged its charge and struck its snout repeatedly until it fell.
From its chest, he pulled a green crystal.
Luminous. Pulsing with life.
Green — Wood/Nature Attribute• Poison affinity• Vitality enhancement• Accelerated recovery for plants and organic matter
Next came a Burrowshrew, carrying a faint earthy yellow glow.Its core was solid and heavy.
Yellow — Earth/Metal Attribute• Defense enhancement• Hardening properties• Ground stability manipulation
Then a rare encounter. A thin, pale creature glided between trees like drifting smoke. A Wind Wisp Lynx. Fast. Silent. Deadly.
Rin only survived because the system highlighted its movement trajectory milliseconds before it attacked.
He retrieved a shimmering silver crystal from its fading body.
Silver — Air/Wind Attribute• Speed enhancement• Sound manipulation• Razor-like wind generation
Rin stood in the center of the clearing, his hands full of glowing crystals.Red. Blue. Green. Yellow. Silver.
A soft rainbow of elemental energy flickered around him.
His eyes widened in awe.
"…so many kinds."
The system dimmed its glow slightly.
More exist.But not for beginners.Not for tonight.
The interface shifted to silhouettes dark shapes with faint outlines.
Unknown Flux Types
Obsidian Black — Gravity Flux Violet — Space Flux Crystal White — Pure Flux Core Prismatic — Hybrid or unstable Flux
Rin stared, breath caught.
"S-special…"
Yes.Extremely rare.Extremely dangerous.Not to be approached by host.
Rin gulped.
He was about to turn back when the air suddenly trembled.
Something Watches
A low bass hum rolled through the forest ground, vibrating up Rin's legs. The mist trembled, gathering unnaturally in one direction. The system flickered like static had interfered with it.
Rin froze.
A shape moved beyond the trees.
Not beast. Not human. Not anything he had seen.
The system's voice came out sharp, urgent:
Unknown Flux signature detected.Classification: Unregistered.Do not engage.Retreat immediately.
But the form drifted closer.
It was like a silhouette made of shifting smoke its body fluid, its eyes hollow, its steps leaving ripples of distortion in the air. When it inhaled, the nearby grass bent inwards, pulled as if gravity itself warped around it.
Rin's heart seized.
"…w-what is… that?"
The system didn't answer.
It couldn't.
Because the thing looked straight at him.
And for a heartbeat just one Rin felt something peer inside him, past his skin, past his bones, past even the system's protection.
A whisper slid through the air.
Not words. More like a sensation
Recognition.
Then the system roared in his mind:
RUN.
Rin obeyed instantly.
Branches whipped against him, dirt flew beneath his feet, and his lungs burned but he didn't stop.
He didn't dare.
Behind him, the forest trembled as the unregistered entity took a single step forward.The air rippled outward like a wave.
It wasn't chasing.
It was observing.
Watching.
Waiting.
Like it had found something interesting at last.