The whistling sound of a rapidly approaching object never reached his ears—
but it tore through his forehead anyway.
Alex's head jerked violently upward.
He froze in that position for a few seconds before collapsing back down.
A shrill ringing flooded his ears, drowning out every other sound. Only the buzzing remained… and the faint, unstable thud of a heartbeat on the verge of collapse.
His vision bled crimson.
Blood-soaked strands of hair slipped down over his eyes as sweat and red droplets slid from his jaw, splattering against the polished tiled floor. It felt as though his body itself was urging him to rest—to stop—that he had already done enough.
---
Alex jolted awake, breath sharp, a single tear slipping down his cheek before he could stop it.
"This again…"
He muttered softly, staring up at the cavern ceiling. His chest felt tight, his expression weighed down by an emotion he could never fully name.
Grief.
Pain.
Betrayal.
Raw. Heavy. Familiar.
"When did I even fall asleep?" he murmured, lifting a hand to wipe his face with the back of his glove.
Nearby, a young woman leaned against the cave wall, calm and unhurried. She couldn't have been more than twenty. Scarlet hair cascaded over her shoulders as she carefully polished a radiant red scepter with a strip of cloth, the gem at its head pulsing faintly with heat.
She glanced at him, one brow lifting.
"Same dream again?" she asked. "Did you remember anything this time?"
Alex stared into nothing for a moment before answering.
"…Yeah. Same dream." His voice was rough. "But there's nothing clear. No faces. No events. Just the grief."
The pain lingered in his chest like a bruise that refused to fade.
Ellie studied him for a few seconds before straightening.
"Alright," she said calmly. "Get ready. Connor should be back any minute."
The three of them were part of a school expedition sanctioned by the city's ruling council, operating under the authority of House Emberclaw. Their objective was simple—locate and destroy all the evil cores within the Dead Forest.
Alex pushed himself to his feet, brushing dust from his clothes. One of his gloves had slipped off during his restless sleep. He bent to retrieve it, sliding it back on with practiced ease.
"Where did Connor go?" he asked, his voice still hoarse.
"He's scouting outside," Ellie replied. "He said we're close to the core. He also sensed people ahead." She gave him a quick once-over. "You've rested enough. And your injury from the last fight has healed."
Alex nodded.
The gloves settled comfortably around his hands—relics, bestowed upon him months ago when he had awakened. Each breakthrough granted certain seeds their own relic, enhancing the wielder's specialty.
Though he was still only a rank-two awakened, Alex had already pushed his integration to its absolute limit—his control refined far beyond what most awakened ever achieved.
Transcendent Awakened.
Harmonization and Transcendence weren't advancements. They were excess—proof that one had surpassed the natural ceiling of their current rank: Initialization.
Ellie, by contrast, had advanced just two days ago. She was now a rank-three bloomer, her seed newly bloomed and volatile. The scepter in her hands was her relic—designed for casting. Powerful, yes, but far from stable.
Her mastery had only just begun.
A figure entered the cave.
Alex gave a brief nod as he adjusted his gloves.
Connor was slender, almost delicate in build—too pretty for a boy, yet not unusual among integrators. The deeper one integrated with the world, the more refined their body became.
Connor was awakened as well, assigned as Ellie's scout. Unlike Alex, he had only refined his awakening to the harmonized stage. Signs of strain already showed whenever he pushed beyond it. At the awakened rank, harmony was his bottleneck—true growth demanded advancement.
He reported quickly, one hand idly stroking the head of a hawk-like creature perched on his shoulder—his awakened artifact.
"We should move," Connor said. "The monsters here are stronger since we're close to the source. Still within our level, though."
Ellie and Alex nodded.
They exited the cave together.
The hawk rose into the air, circling twenty meters above, sharp eyes scanning the forest below.
"A dormant-seed monster approaching from the left," Connor said calmly. "Two more from the front. The front pair are faster."
None of them had integrated yet—pure instinct. No refinement.
Ellie had already sealed their previous position with a skill.
Blazing Barrier.
It masked their scent. Strong enough monsters could smell human blood from hundreds of meters away.
When the two faster monsters closed within fifteen meters, Ellie raised her scepter.
Her voice rang clear and steady.
"Oh source of the sun—heed my will and disintegrate mine enemies."
The air ignited.
"Flaming Tornado!"
A column of spinning fire erupted forward, devouring the two monsters whole. Screams pierced the air for less than a second before vanishing into silence.
The creatures were reduced to ash—then nothing.
Power poured out of Ellie. Raw. Excessive. Unstable.
But against dormant seeds, it was absolute.
Heavy footsteps thundered from the left.
Alex moved without hesitation.
"Enhance!"
Mana surged.
His speed leapt beyond human limits as he sprinted forward, movement smooth and efficient—no wasted energy, no excess strain. An awakened seed driven into transcendence.
The orange fabric of his gloves thickened, morphing into metal gauntlets that extended up his forearms and shoulders.
The monster stood two meters tall, wrapped in crude leader armor, a rusted iron helmet fused to its skull.
It raised its fists to strike.
Alex slipped between its legs with feline agility.
He twisted.
Struck.
The punch tore clean through its chest. Wind screamed around his arm as bone and armor shattered.
The creature collapsed, dissolving back into the world that had spawned it. No corpse remained. No trace.
Only the absolute apex—Eternal Integrators and Undying monsters—could persist. All others returned to nothingness.
"That was clean," Connor commented, clapping as Alex approached.
"They're only dormant seeds," Alex replied. "It's expected."
The gauntlets receded, metal flowing back into fabric. Four short knuckle spikes and elbow protrusions vanished as if they had never existed.
His gloves were both offense and defense—light, flexible, deceptively durable.
"How far are we from the core?" Ellie asked.
"Not far," Connor replied. "The people I sensed earlier are getting closer. Mana's thinning—we should destroy it before anyone else arrives."
Alex nodded. "Agreed."
"And with you around," Alex added, "the monsters won't risk a surprise assault. I'd go alone otherwise, but I don't know the guardian's strength."
Ellie's expression hardened.
"Full speed," she said. "Connor, mark avoidable monsters. No unnecessary fights."
"Right."
They sprinted forward under Connor's guidance.
"We're close!" Connor called out. "Aero spotted monster archers ahead… and the guardian."
He swallowed.
"It's sitting on a crude stone throne. Roughly one hundred and fifty meters out."
His artifact's extended perception strained far beyond its normal range.
Ellie stopped.
"I'll bombard it from here," she said quietly. "Connor—pinpoint its position."
Connor pressed two fingers to his temple, breathing carefully. Sharing vision beyond twenty meters demanded full concentration.
"…Eight long steps to your right," he said at last. "You'll be facing it directly."
Ellie followed his instructions.
She closed her eyes.
The wind shifted.
Violence crept into the air as her scarlet hair and orange robes whipped wildly. Her irises glowed red as mana surged through her blooming seed.
The scepter burned.
She raised it—
And began to chant.