"I suppose that's why this zone is safe for students," Ren added. "The iron ring has nothing to attract more powerful beasts."
The impacts continued overhead, growing more erratic with each passing moment. The Shadow Stalkers, creatures that normally dominated the night in this zone with absolute authority, were acting as if something had fundamentally altered the natural order of the first ring.
Their behavior spoke of primal fear, an emotion these predators rarely experienced.
The assistant seemed eager to protest that they were taking a student seriously, but another pattern of impacts interrupted him, this one more urgent than the last. The rhythmic pounding against the tent's protective fabric carried an unmistakable message of panic.
The impacts persisted above the tent, the Shadow Stalkers' erratic behavior becoming increasingly evident. Each new pattern of strikes revealed more about their unnatural state of agitation.
