The tremor did not shake the forest.
It passed through it.
Through the trees.
Through the soil.
Through him.
Kael felt it first in his teeth a faint vibration like metal humming against bone. The etched symbols around the stone circle brightened slightly, their lines glowing in thin veins of muted crimson before settling back into stillness.
The translucent window in his vision flickered once more.
Primordial Fragment: Prison Layer
Stability: 3.4%
Preliminary Contract Bound.
He did not smile.
He did not celebrate.
He simply exhaled slowly and turned his attention back to the forest.
More movement now.
Not a single creature.
Multiple.
The degraded prisoners had gathered at the tree line, pacing just beyond the circular clearing. Their collars glinted faintly in the dim light. Some dragged longer lengths of chain. Some moved on all fours. Some twitched intermittently, as though parts of their nervous system had rotted away but refused to die.
Kael studied them without stepping forward.
"They're reacting to the contract," he said quietly.
"They sense authority fluctuation," the Dragon Lady replied. "Fragment stability increases. Their degradation intensifies in response."
"So they'll become more aggressive."
"Yes."
"Convenient timing."
She watched him carefully.
"Fear would be reasonable."
He flexed his fingers once.
"I didn't come in here expecting a picnic."
Her gaze sharpened.
"You chose to proceed."
"Yes."
"Why?"
He did not answer immediately.
He watched the creatures.
Counted them.
One. Two. Five. Eleven visible shapes between trunks.
"I was tired of watching from outside," he said finally.
The corner of her mouth moved faintly.
"Ambition?"
"Opportunity."
He stepped forward.
The creatures hissed collectively.
Their movements became erratic no longer random. Their eyes tracked him with focused hostility.
He did not charge.
He walked toward the tree line at an angle, deliberately avoiding a direct approach to the densest cluster.
"Do not allow them to encircle you," she said calmly.
"I noticed."
The first lunged before he reached the trees.
It came from his left, claws extended, chain dragging and tangling against roots behind it.
He pivoted, stepping into its attack instead of retreating.
Its momentum carried it forward.
He grabbed the chain rather than its body this time.
Pulled.
Hard.
The creature's own speed worked against it.
Its neck jerked violently as the collar snapped tight.
Kael used the motion to swing it sideways into a tree trunk.
Bone cracked.
The creature slumped but did not die.
It writhed.
Snapped blindly at the air.
Another shape darted in from behind.
He didn't turn fully.
He dropped low instead.
The second creature overshot, claws scraping across bark.
He kicked backward at its knee joint.
It bent wrong.
The sound was wet and sharp.
The creature collapsed, screeching.
Kael rose immediately and drove his heel into the base of its skull.
Silence.
> Level Increased.
> Level 3.
A third lunged.
This one moved differently.
Faster.
Its posture more upright.
Less degraded.
It feinted left.
Kael noticed too late.
Its claws tore across his shoulder.
Pain exploded through muscle.
He staggered back two steps.
Blood spread through his shirt quickly.
The creature pressed forward.
He raised his arm instinctively to block the next strike.
Claws raked his forearm again.
He grabbed its wrist mid-swing.
Its strength surprised him.
Stronger than the others.
It snarled inches from his face.
Its breath smelled of iron and rot.
Kael leaned forward instead of back.
Headbutted it.
The impact stunned both of them for a fraction of a second.
He used that second.
Twisted its wrist outward.
Drove his knee into its abdomen.
Then shoved it backward into the half-conscious first creature.
Both collapsed into a tangle of limbs and chain.
He didn't hesitate.
He stepped forward and stomped down hard.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The forest quieted.
For now.
His breathing was heavier.
His shoulder burned sharply.
He touched the wound.
Deep.
Not fatal.
He tore another strip from his shirt and wrapped it tightly.
"Your reaction time improved," the Dragon Lady observed.
He glanced back toward the clearing.
"You're counting?"
"I am assessing."
"Of course you are."
More movement at the tree line.
They were not retreating.
They were reorganizing.
He exhaled slowly.
"How many in total?"
"In this degradation layer?" she replied calmly. "Approximately eighty."
He stared at her.
"Eighty."
"Yes."
He turned back to the forest.
"Good."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"You do not sound discouraged."
"If there were five hundred, I'd be discouraged."
The faintest trace of amusement flickered in her gaze.
"You are either foolish or resolute."
"I'm still breathing."
The creatures began advancing together now.
Not random lunges.
A loose wave.
Kael stepped backward deliberately, guiding the engagement back toward the clearing's edge.
"Do not allow yourself to be driven into the inner circle," she said.
"I won't."
He angled his stance so that only three could approach simultaneously.
The first leaped.
He sidestepped.
Used its momentum to shove it into the second.
The third slipped past.
Claws tore across his ribs.
He gritted his teeth but did not retreat further.
He grabbed the attacker's collar again noticing now that the metal was not merely decorative.
Symbols etched faintly into it pulsed once when touched.
He twisted.
The creature screamed.
The collar glowed briefly.
He felt resistance through the metal like pushing against current.
"Those collars," he muttered.
"They are suppression seals," she said evenly.
"Can they be used?"
"Yes."
He ducked as another claw passed over his head.
"How?"
"Apply authority."
He almost laughed.
"I have 3% stability."
"Then survive long enough to increase it."
Another creature lunged low.
He jumped backward.
His heel caught on uneven soil.
He nearly fell.
A claw sliced across his thigh instead.
He staggered but stayed upright.
Blood soaked into the earth beneath him.
The creatures pressed closer.
He exhaled slowly.
Then deliberately grabbed the collar of the nearest attacker with both hands.
He focused.
Not on strength.
On the sensation from earlier.
The faint hum when the contract initiated.
The vibration in his bones.
The subtle pressure in the air.
He pulled.
Not physically.
Mentally.
The collar flared faintly.
The creature froze mid-swipe.
Its body locked.
Kael blinked.
"…Authority application," the Dragon Lady said softly.
He tightened his grip.
The collar glowed brighter.
The creature convulsed violently.
Then collapsed lifeless at his feet.
The others hesitated.
Just for a second.
He didn't waste it.
He stepped forward aggressively for the first time.
Grabbing one collar after another.
Not fully suppressing.
Just disrupting.
Creating openings.
Kicking.
Elbowing.
Shoving bodies into each other.
His movements grew more precise.
Less reactive.
More deliberate.
Blood streaked down his arm.
His breathing grew ragged.
But the wave thinned.
Gradually.
One by one.
The forest floor became littered with gray forms.
Finally
Silence.
Not complete.
But reduced.
Only distant shuffling deeper in the trees.
Kael stood in the clearing's edge, chest rising and falling heavily.
His vision flickered faintly.
> Level Increased.
> Level 6.
He swallowed once.
The pain from his shoulder and thigh pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat.
"Stability?" he asked without turning.
"6.8%," she replied calmly.
He laughed softly despite himself.
"Six percent for all that."
"You cleared the outer cluster," she said. "Deeper degradation layers remain."
He wiped blood from his cheek with the back of his hand.
"Of course they do."
He walked slowly back toward the stone circle.
Each step heavier than the last.
As he crossed the boundary, the pressure eased slightly.
Not fully.
But noticeably.
He sat on the edge of the carved stone and leaned back, closing his eyes briefly.
The air inside the circle felt warmer.
More controlled.
"You adapted quickly," she said after a moment.
He opened one eye.
"You're surprised."
"I am evaluating."
"Same difference."
Her gaze softened by a fraction.
"You grasped collar interaction without instruction."
"I guessed."
"You did not guess."
He shrugged weakly.
"I don't like being clawed repeatedly."
She regarded him quietly.
Blood continued to drip slowly onto the stone from his thigh.
"You will require rest," she said finally.
He nodded once.
"How long until they regroup?"
"Several hours."
He leaned his head back against the stone.
"Good."
Silence stretched between them.
Not hostile.
Not comfortable.
Simply present.
After a while, he spoke again.
"If I die in here, what happens to you?"
Her golden eyes did not waver.
"The fragment collapses. I return to suspension."
"And Earth?"
"The anchor destabilizes. A dungeon break occurs."
He looked at her.
"You didn't mention that earlier."
"You did not ask."
He let out a short breath.
"That's convenient."
"For you," she replied smoothly.
He shook his head faintly.
"You're terrible at reassurance."
"I was not designed to reassure."
He chuckled despite the pain.
"That much is obvious."
Her gaze lingered on him a second longer than before.
"Rest," she said quietly.
"You will need clarity for the inner layer."
He closed his eyes fully this time.
The forest beyond the circle remained still.
But far deeper within the fragment
Something larger moved.
Chains strained.
And faint cracks spread along one of the eight restraints connected to the central pillar.
Unnoticed.
For now.