At a distance from the fog enveloping the caravan, atop a tree higher than all others in the forest, stood a little girl.
Her skin was pale, her faint blond hair falling to her shoulders.
She wore a short-sleeved white dress reaching her knees, swaying gently in the breeze.
Her face was expressionless, her silver eyes reflecting indifferent coldness.
She watched the fog filling the dirt path and part of the surrounding forest.
She lifted her gaze to the sky, to the three moons illuminating the night—but in her eyes, only the blue one among them was reflected.
Raising her index and thumb to form a makeshift scope over her right eye, she murmured softly:
"So… let's see if you can stop me or not, Lunana…"
Glowing blue Kona droplets emerged from her body.
They flowed smoothly like liquid, yet didn't scatter—they clung to her like a second layer of skin, wrapping even her hair and dress.
She took a deep breath, extended her arms to her sides, palms open, mouth half-open, lips moving rapidly.
"$&% "!"|}{wvutsrqpo>?~!?-=:,"'"^]?\6-=:~"&>:0] }|zy)(%:0[~}|r>ihgfedc~`!?0=:,"^}{|wvuts=?=:>^}{|wvuts^}{|(!&%$..."
Rapid sounds poured from her mouth—not chanting, but more like cascading incantations, encrypted commands.
Kona swirled around her, forming strange glyphs—like lines of programming code—circling her hands and fingers.
She stopped speaking, then raised her hands like an orchestra conductor, and from each fingertip streamed endless chains of energy encryptions.
The symbols coiled around her and stretched outward until they reached the fog surrounding the caravan's camp.
The fog began to tremble, as though trying to contract and retreat to its original place—
But a voice pierced the silence:
"Well, well… what do we have here? I was wondering who's been meddling with my distortion of nature. Ah—it's you, little one…"
Lia stopped encrypting.
She didn't turn toward the sound—but in an instant, she was on the ground.
"What—? When? How?" Sior recoiled quickly as Lia suddenly appeared before him.
*Instant teleportation!* Sior was clearly shocked.
The blue Kona still enveloped her, and the glowing encryptions hovered around her, tethered to her body.
Sior smiled strangely:
"Encryption? Fascinating. It's rare to see any Encrypter… and I've never heard of one so young. Five? Six? Or are you one of the Zamis? And those eyes—not quite silver, but impressive…"
Finally, Lia looked at him.
He was thin and pale, his wrinkled face making him seem as if he'd just emerged from a long famine.
His wide black eyes held enough terror to unsettle anyone—but Lia showed no interest at all.
She spoke calmly, not as a question but as a statement: "You're the one who did this…"
"Yes—" He didn't finish his sentence before Lia flicked her fingers, generating encryptions that launched sharp, drill-like stones spinning through the air toward him.
In a flash, Sior released a red Kora aura—but it wasn't normal.
Blood flowed from his body and merged with the Kora, crystallizing into red, protective blocks.
But Lia didn't stop.
Fire, compressed air, and even shards of earth surged toward him in succession.
Sior controlled his bloody Kora crystals, deflecting attack after attack.
"Calm down, little one… didn't your father teach you to respect your elders?" he mocked.
Lia paused for a moment, stared into his eyes, then gently shook her head:
"No. Dad told me to eliminate bad men… and you're one of them."
Sior laughed, though his voice carried hidden irritation:
"Me? A bad man? Oh, child… forget that. What I care about—how are you using encryption like this? Impossible… your method defies logic."
She replied coldly: "I just use it. And you… aren't better. You control Kora in unnatural ways."
He gave a faint smile:
"Haha… I'm just a poor soul who inherited what I didn't choose. So I play with it as I please."
He fell silent for a moment, still smiling, revealing his teeth—his fangs especially pronounced.
He continued: "Don't you want to know how I moved the fog… even though I'm not a Kona user?"
"No." In a blink, Lia teleported behind him.
Fire, air, earth, and ice all attacked him at once—a merciless quadruple storm.
Tongues of flame twisted from the right, searing the air around him.
Sharp ice shards rained from above, shattering against tree branches into flying splinters.
From the ground, rocky stones surged upward, crashing into everything in their path, colliding with Sior's swaying body.
Thick sweat poured down his forehead, running over his wrinkled face.
Tiny blood droplets dotted his skin from superficial cuts—but he barely felt them amid the assault's pressure.
"Damn… not enough…" he muttered to himself.
His heartbeat pounded in his ears like drums. His breaths grew shorter, harder with every passing second.
His body screamed from exhaustion.
His muscles spasmed.
Each step forward felt like attempted suicide.
He tried to steady himself—but the earth shook from the stone shrapnel.
The wind slapped his face.
Fire burned his arms with every defensive move.
The ice left cold trails on his exposed skin, stinging bites that froze him.
*If I keep this up… I'll collapse.*
He tried to gather his strength, to dodge the attacks—but his thoughts were trapped under relentless pressure.
Even the blood in his veins began to lose balance; some small red crystals shattered before they could hold.
Lia realized this battle would waste precious time.
While her fingers wove increasingly complex encryptions, part of her mind analyzed his weaknesses.
But Sior wasn't easy.
Even cornered, his eyes followed her every move with terrifying focus.
"You know, little one," he said while blocking a barrage of ice needles,
"why don't we pause for a moment—and you tell me about your unique fighting style? Exactly how are you using encryption in combat like this?"
Lia didn't answer.
Instead, she focused on refining her encryptions.
She added a hidden layer of Kona energy—invisible—designed to slowly pierce his crystalline defenses and dismantle them.
She always carried logic, followed patterns, solved puzzles—that was her strength.
Efficiency always before emotion.
"I need blood… just enough to regain my footing…"
he whispered, his voice drowned by the hiss of wind and fire.
He had no time to think.
Before he could move, a new wave of attacks erupted.
Flames struck from the right with searing lashes, slicing the air and leaving traces on everything.
Ice crashed from above—each fragment impacting his body, sending spinal shockwaves.
Sharp stones rose from the earth, spinning through the air, colliding—each impact sending sharp pain through his arms and legs.
Even the wind, intensified by the fourfold assault, slapped him fiercely, making every step a dangerous gamble.
He had no time to take a single step forward—he was forced to curl behind his bloody crystals, shielding himself as best he could.
His thoughts were trapped under the barrage's pressure—no room to breathe, no space to plan.
Every heartbeat felt like pressure on his skull; every breath burned in his chest, mixed with heat and ice—a relentless blend of pain and strain.
*Impossible… I can't reach her…*
His breathing grew heavier, his eyes narrowing with visible frustration.
*Damn… she's a monster. I can't keep up.*
*Even when I tried to alter her encryption with my own TRAITUM, I couldn't… her encryptions are too complex and insanely fast.*
*I need to run.*
In a flash, Sior seized a blind spot, hurling a red shard toward her. Lia evaded it with instant teleportation.
Seeing Sior flee, she stopped—deciding to prioritize dispelling the fog.
She sighed, resumed waving her fingers, and continued typing lines of encryption.
As she did, she lifted her gaze to the sky.
*It won't take long… but just in case—so I'm not interrupted…*
Lia concealed all blue energy and spoken words completely, making herself appear as if she were merely waving with no clear purpose.
All encryptions and energy became entirely invisible.
Lia continued encrypting tirelessly, her silver eyes fixed on the night sky.
***
"Ahh… ahh… ahh…" My breath nearly cuts off.
Why did I follow him into the forest?
Why does it keep pulling me toward him?
Why did his presence feel so strangely alien?
I don't know.
It keeps troubling me intensely, keeps pushing me toward him for some reason…
In the end, I followed him—because my curiosity overcame me.
But I couldn't keep up.
After walking deeper into the trees, I found myself lost.
"I should've drunk water before chasing him…" I thought, parched.
For me, night makes no difference from day—in both, I see nothing.
I don't see light, but I see what's before me—that's just how it is.
My world is a net—wires that bend, revealing things as if woven.
Matter usually leaves wide black spaces, or less, or even less, depending on the material and its nature.
For a while, I thought I saw the world according to mass density—but it seems I still don't understand my own TRAITUM…
Anyway, for now, I interpret everything by density—at least until I understand my ability properly.
Thank the Creator for this TRAITUM I was born with.
Without it, I'd never see anything at all.
Anyway, I need a way out of here…
I can't make out my path, I don't know where Lad. Boris went, and for some reason, it stopped guiding me…
The scent of dampness filled the forest, and layers of moss on tree trunks drew hazy lines in my net.
I tried to spot a landmark—a broken stone, a tree with a distinctive knot—but everything repeated as if it were a single unchanging pattern.
Every time I paused at a sound, I felt something among the trees—but I kept moving, ignoring it all.
Suddenly, I heard movement; I turned—a thin shadow approached.
He stopped four meters away.
I didn't recognize him.
His smile was odd, faintly visible on his face due to density contrast, just like with anyone else.
I stepped back two paces—something inside told me this person was dangerous.
"Ahh ahh ahh! Oh, what luck—I've got you!"
He leapt toward me, face forward, mouth open—
*Is he going to bite me!?* Fear struck me.
I tried to recoil, but time failed me—then—"Zofia!"
Two arms appeared, wrapped around me, and shoved me aside—it was someone.
I didn't catch the name, but his voice was familiar—one of the caravan members.
Thank the Creator.
His voice panted, holding me in pain.
I asked to reassure him: "Are you alright, um…"
But he answered in a broken voice: "Takashi… ah ah… that's my name."
Before we could continue, the strange man began rising…
Lad. Takashi gripped my hand with a strength I hadn't expected and said sincerely, fearfully:
"We have to get away from here—now!"
I felt his fingers tremble as he dragged me through the forest.
His steps were stumbling, heavy—but he never let go of me for a moment.
We ran.
Leaves cracked under our feet, and a sound pursued us from behind—
breathing, not human. I turned—saw it—closing in, flying with wings?
There was no time to look back, so I faced forward again.
I could hear Lad. Takashi's heartbeat—louder than his footsteps.
But we kept going, running between trees, our breaths ragged, the wet ground nearly slipping us with every step.
The forest surrounded us—and something followed behind: flapping, breathing.
"We can't keep running like this!" Lad. Takashi shouted, his voice choked with exhaustion. "It'll catch us!"
I felt his palm sweat, but his grip stayed firm.
My net showed a section of the forest denser with trees—I sensed it was our best escape route.
"The trees!" I whispered as my feet nearly tripped.
"The trees over there are denser!" I pointed in a certain direction.
Interwoven trunks began appearing in my special vision, tangled like a natural barrier.
"It might slow it down…" I murmured, but the sound of wings grew louder now.
Still, it might be our only chance.
"Alright! Trust me! I'll protect you! Ah ah!" Lad. Takashi said firmly as he pulled me.
He yanked me through the tangled trunks, climbing over knotted roots and ducking under low branches.
Every step was a battle against the forest itself—but in that moment, fighting the forest was better than facing that creature head-on.
Amid it all, I asked without thinking:
"Lad. Takashi… why were you in the forest at this hour?"
He stammered, nearly stopping: "I… I just—"
I turned my face toward him despite our hurried steps and said casually:
"Were you following me?"
He panicked—I felt the heat of his face even in the dark. He rushed to reply:
"No… not like that… I was… worried about you. I saw you enter the forest and feared you'd get lost… so I followed!"
I didn't respond.
Survival was all that mattered—I decided to ignore it for now.
***
When Zofia and Takashi fled running, Sior lifted his body after stumbling.
He rose slowly from the damp grass, his back bending for a moment before straightening like a beast preparing itself.
His unsettling smile remained stretched across his face, tinged with an unquenchable hunger.
His breathing was heavy—exhaustion from his earlier battle with Lia.
His need for blood pounded in his skull like a rhythm his body knew better than anything else.
Before him, Zofia and Takashi had left confused footprints, their voices echoing among the trees.
*They haven't gone far. Close prey… two of them.*
*What luck… a blind girl and a fearful boy—no trace of energy training in either.*
*What easier feast than this? Right on time. Maybe they have TRAITUMs? I doubt it.*
He thought as he licked his teeth from inside.
He lifted his head slightly—his nose catching the scent of sweat, fear, life trembling in the dark.
He knew he had to choose.
*Strike one and quench my thirst, or chase them both until they collapse from breathlessness?*
His hunger whispered that two were better than one.
He took a deep breath…
Nanoscopic Kora crystals surged through his blood, racing toward his heart.
One heartbeat… flowed inward.
He raised his trembling, hungry hand to his eyes.
Transparent lenses covered his vision.
He removed them.
The world unveiled itself—and the red moon Lunara poured its glare directly into his eyes.
His heart shuddered violently.
Kora spread, rushing through every blood vessel, then deeper—into every cell.
It entered the nucleus… slipped between DNA grooves like precise blades, binding to specific sites, reshaping genes.
With every second, the molecular structure changed.
Dormant, buried genes awakened… and screamed to life.
Sior trembled. He thought…
*Yes! Ah—my Cebuan blood, flowing… ah ah!*
His tremors turned into violent convulsions.
As if his body were being shattered and reforged from within.
Each heartbeat pumped the strange, the new—his body didn't know what was happening, but Kora persisted.
His muscles contracted and expanded, rewritten in terrifying silence.
His skin cracked in fine lines, then repaired itself with a harder, darker layer.
His sleeves and clothes tore—but he paid them no mind.
His nails thrust outward—sharp, honed, long claws.
His hood rose, revealing hair no longer sky-colored.
His ears stretched backward, catching air vibrations no human had ever heard.
Then pain—pressure on his ribcage, his chest curving inward.
And behind his shoulders… something erupted.
Bony arms sprouted, thin dark membranes stretched between them—semi-transparent.
Leathery wings tore their way out…
His breath grew deeper… wider…
His lungs doubled as if newly born.
His eyes glowed red with Kora, pupils shrinking to dark holes capturing every detail in the dark.
Sior was no longer human.
He had become a Cebuan-bat—minor genes within him forced awake under Kora's dominance.
His tattered gray wings slowly rose, flapping sharply as if announcing his hunt.
The moment Sior's transformation completed, he let out a low, inhuman growl.
It wasn't just a new body—it was pure instinct.
His veined, gray wings lifted and struck the air powerfully, scattering leaves and branches around him.
His flared nose now easily caught their scent—a mix of fear-sweat and earth.
His first steps as a fully transformed creature were hesitant, but quickly became fluid and feral.
He saw the world in a new way—using sound—every body now clear to him.
To him, their bodies glowed in the forest darkness like candles in a black night.
*I'm coming, my prey.*
He thought it—then surged forward with deadly lightness, chasing them.