The forest stretched out before him, endless and suffocating in its stillness. Kael moved cautiously, each step measured, as he navigated the thick underbrush. His crude dagger, fashioned from the spiked tail of the demonic leopard, was clutched tightly in his hand. It wasn't much of a weapon, but it was all he had.
The pale sunlight filtering through the canopy did little to alleviate the weight of unease that pressed down on him. Every rustle of leaves, every snap of a twig, set his nerves on edge. This place was alive in the worst possible way—teeming with creatures he had no desire to encounter.
His eyes were fixed ahead, focused on the direction where he had seen the distant shimmer of water. The lake. It was his only real goal, the promise of something as simple as water keeping him moving forward through the suffocating gloom. Just get to the lake, get some water, and find somewhere to hole up, he thought. Just survive.
He forced his thoughts away from the creeping dread that whispered in the back of his mind, the growing realization that he was alone in this trial with no idea how long it would last. He'd slept through what seemed like one night, but time felt skewed here. Who knew how long days and nights really were in this place?
Kael shook his head, pushing the thoughts aside. It wouldn't help to dwell on the unknown.
As he ventured deeper into the forest, the mist seemed to thicken, swirling around him in lazy tendrils. The trees grew taller and more twisted, their branches intertwining overhead like skeletal fingers. His instincts screamed at him that this place was wrong, unnatural—but what part of this trial wasn't?
Then, without warning, Kael froze.
There, just beyond the next ridge, something moved. He crouched low, peering through the dense underbrush, trying to make out the shapes in the mist. His heart pounded in his chest as his eyes adjusted to the scene before him.
A pack of creatures moved through the trees, their forms hunched and predatory. They resembled wolves, but larger, more monstrous—each of them covered in matted fur, their eyes glowing a sickly green in the half-light. They prowled through the undergrowth with eerie precision, their movements coordinated as they stalked something ahead of them.
Kael's breath hitched in his throat. He counted six, maybe seven of them, all circling around a clearing. But it wasn't the beasts themselves that caught his attention—it was what they were hunting.
In the center of the clearing, surrounded by the pack, were two majestic creatures unlike anything Kael had ever seen. Deer, or at least something akin to them, but larger, more ethereal. Their silvery coats shimmered in the faint light, and their horns—great, crystalline antlers—glowed faintly, casting a soft radiance around them. Their eyes, as clear as polished glass, reflected the light like mirrors.
Kael's heart skipped a beat. He wasn't sure if he was terrified or awestruck. These creatures didn't belong in the same world as the demonic horrors he had encountered so far—they looked more like something out of a dream, something pure and untouched by the darkness.
But the wolves—no, the beasts—had other ideas.
The largest of the pack growled low, its eyes narrowing as it advanced on the deer, its jaws dripping with saliva. The deer stood tall, their heads held high, but there was a tension in their posture. They were cornered, outnumbered, and despite their majestic appearance, they couldn't fend off the entire pack on their own.
Kael crouched lower, his breath shallow as he watched the scene unfold. He didn't dare move, didn't dare make a sound. If the pack noticed him, he'd be dead in seconds. But at the same time, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the impending fight.
The largest of the beasts let out a guttural snarl and lunged, its claws tearing through the earth as it charged at the closest deer. The deer reacted with lightning speed, its crystalline antlers gleaming as it lowered its head and met the beast's attack head-on. The two collided in a flurry of fur and hooves, the impact sending shockwaves through the clearing.
The second deer moved in tandem with the first, its antlers glowing with an ethereal light as it darted toward one of the smaller beasts. But the pack was relentless. They closed in from all sides, their growls filling the air as they lunged at the majestic creatures.
Kael's heart pounded in his chest as he watched the battle unfold. It was brutal and mesmerizing all at once, the sheer power of the deer clashing with the raw savagery of the beasts. But he knew how this would end. The pack had numbers on their side, and the deer were already beginning to tire.
He had to move—now.
Kael turned slowly, his movements deliberate as he began to edge away from the ridge. The last thing he wanted was to get caught in the middle of this fight. The beasts were distracted, focused on their prey, and if he could just slip away quietly, he might be able to put some distance between himself and the pack.
But as Kael took another cautious step back, he heard something—a soft rustling behind him. He froze, his blood turning to ice.
Before he could react, a low growl sounded from the underbrush, and out of the shadows, a beast emerged.
Kael's breath caught in his throat. It was one of the pack—slightly smaller than the others, but no less dangerous. Its green eyes locked onto him, its lips pulling back in a snarl as it crouched low, preparing to lunge.
"Shit."
Kael's mind raced, his body frozen with fear. The beast stalked closer, its glowing eyes locked onto his every movement. He had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. He tightened his grip on the crude dagger, knowing it wouldn't be enough to fend off the creature.
The beast lunged, its jaws open wide.
Without thinking, Kael raised the spiked dagger, bracing for impact. The creature slammed into him with the force of a boulder, knocking the wind out of him as they crashed to the ground. Kael's vision blurred as the weight of the beast bore down on him, its claws raking across his arm in a searing flash of pain.
For a moment, Kael thought it was over. The beast had him pinned, its teeth inches from his throat.
But then—nothing.
Kael blinked, disoriented. The beast hadn't moved. It let out a choked, gurgling sound, its green eyes wide with shock. Slowly, Kael realized why.
The spike. The dagger had pierced the beast's chest, right through its heart.
The creature let out one final gasp, then collapsed on top of him, its body going limp.
Kael lay there, stunned, his chest heaving as he tried to process what had just happened. The beast was dead. He had killed it. Somehow, against all odds, he had survived.
He shoved the creature's body off of him, wincing as pain shot through his injured arm. Blood trickled down his forearm where the beast's claws had raked across his skin, but the wound wasn't as bad as it could have been. He had been lucky. Incredibly lucky.
Before Kael could even begin to process his next move, a voice rang out, deep and resonant, filling the air around him.
[Congratulations, Challenger Kael]
Kael's breath caught in his throat. The voice wasn't coming from any one place—it was everywhere at once, like the very forest itself was speaking to him.
And then, as if responding to his confusion, the voice spoke again.
[You have earned a boon through battle]
Kael blinked, his heart pounding in his chest as the words echoed in his mind. A boon? What the hell did that mean? He looked down at the dead beast beside him, the reality of the situation slowly sinking in.
He had survived. He had killed one of the monsters that had been hunting him, and in return, the Tower had… rewarded him?
Kael sat back, his mind racing. He didn't know what kind of boon he had been given, but one thing was clear—this trial was more than just survival. It was about something deeper, something tied to the Tower itself.
Still clutching the bloody dagger, Kael pushed himself to his feet, wincing as his injured arm throbbed. He couldn't stay here. The pack was still out there, and he had no intention of being around when they realized one of their own was missing.
Grimacing, Kael turned and continued through the forest, his heart still racing, the Tower's words echoing in his ears.
[You have earned a boon through battle]
Kael glanced down at the corpse again, a wry grin creeping onto his face.
"Well, I'll be damned," he muttered under his breath. "Look at me, some kind of accidental badass. I'm not dead yet, huh?"