They had covered a fair distance, the strange clearing of Class 1C now far behind them. The mood shifted as the forest grew denser, the canopy above swallowing much of the daylight. Shadows crept across the ground, stretching like claws with every step they took.
Lila ca to an abrupt stop, crouching low. "Hold on."
Noah's brows furrowed as he walked up beside her. "What?"
She pointed at the ground. "There."
Noah followed her gesture and saw it—dark sars of blood trailing across the leaves and dirt. Nearby, strange prints were imprinted into the soft earth. They were heavy and irregular, as though whatever had made them dragged sothing behind it.
"…That's not a human footprint," Noah muttered, uneasy.
Lila frowned. "No. And I don't think it's fresh either, but it's recent enough."
Her tone had shifted. It wasn't the usual biting sarcasm he'd co to expect; it was sharp, calculating. Her eyes darted from the trail of blood to a shadowy formation ahead. A cave.
The opening lood like a dark mouth, wide enough for a truck to roll through but shrouded in shadows so thick it was impossible to tell what lay within.
Noah swallowed hard. He didn't like this—not one bit. "So…what do you think it is? A wounded beast?"
Lila didn't answer imdiately. She stood up straight, her gaze fixed on the cave. "Maybe. Or sothing worse."
Noah blinked at her. Sothing worse?
Regardless, he couldn't voice his thoughts. If Lila wanted to check it out, there was no way he could back down now. He hated the idea of looking like a coward more than he hated the cave itself.
Lila turned to him, her expression unreadable. "I'll take point. You cover our rear. Stay sharp."
"Military command already?" Noah muttered under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing," he said quickly, drawing his twin blades with a faint tallic ring. The cold steel in his hands offered little comfort, but at least it felt familiar. He scanned the trees behind them, then the entrance of the cave ahead.
Lila led the way, stepping over roots and pushing through low-hanging branches as they approached the mouth of the cave. The air around it was noticeably cooler, carrying a faint dampness that made Noah's skin crawl.
As they entered, the cave swallowed all outside light. The walls were smooth, worn down by ti and moisture. Water dripped faintly in the distance, the sound echoing eerily in the quiet.
The blood trail continued, a stark red against the gray rock. Noah's instincts scread at him to turn back, but Lila didn't slow down.
"This could be good," she said quietly, her voice echoing slightly. "If it's a beast, then we're lucky. Easy points for the kill."
Noah stared at her like she'd lost her mind. "You call walking blind into a cave lucky?"
She shot him a look over her shoulder. "Do you have a better idea? This is the trial. You take opportunities where they co, or you lose."
Noah grumbled sothing under his breath, but he didn't argue. He just tightened his grip on his blades and followed, his footsteps careful on the uneven ground.
The further they went, the more unsettling the cave beca.
Lila stopped again and knelt, her sharp gaze sweeping the walls and the ground. "This place… It's lived in."
"What do you an?"
"Look." She gestured to the dirt and stone. "The ground's been disturbed—dragged, not naturally eroded. And there's…stuff in the corners."
Noah followed her gaze and spotted it. Piles of discarded bones—small ones, broken and old. So looked animal; others were too decayed to identify.
"Could be food," Lila muttered. "Whatever lives here, it's storing kills."
"Yeah, well, I think we're making a mistake," Noah said quickly, his nerves creeping higher. He shifted his stance, blades at the ready. "We're in its territory, Lila. You know, isolated, surrounded, and—"
Before he could finish, a soft ping echoed in the silence.
Both of them froze.
Their bracelets buzzed faintly, and when they glanced at the holographic display, a notification blinked into view.
[Kill registered. 1 Point.]
For a brief second, neither of them spoke.
Noah blinked. "Well…at least Cora and Kelvin are doing sothing."
Lila stood, brushing dust off her knees. "That's one. Let's get another."
"Or let's not," Noah muttered as he followed her deeper into the cave.
The blood trail grew fainter, though the space around them remained unnervingly normal. Smooth walls, damp air, nothing out of place—no signs of an ambush or attack. It felt too quiet, too calm.
Noah's skin prickled as they moved further. "Sothing's off. I don't like this."
"Relax," Lila whispered back. "If it's here, we'll find it first."
They reached a wider chamber where the walls curved upward like the inside of a do. Before either of them could say anything, a deep rumble shuddered through the air.
Both of them spun around, weapons raised.
Nothing.
Noah scanned the shadows, heart thumping in his chest. "Did you hear that?"
"Yes," Lila said, her voice tight. "Stay focused."
Another rumble. This ti, it was closer.
Then it ca.
A low rumble shook the ground beneath them. Dust trembled off the cave walls.
Noah and Lila spun around, blades drawn. "What was that?" Noah hissed.
Silence.
Nothing.
Noah's heart pounded. He took a tentative step backward. "Maybe we should—"
It hit them without warning.
From the darkness, sothing massive barreled forward—huge, black, and impossibly fast. Noah barely had ti to drop into a crouch as the thing charged, its sheer size blocking the mouth of the inner cave in an instant. Lila dove sideways, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the creature's bulk. It skidded to a halt with a guttural growl, its form finally illuminated.
The beast lood before them, and while it was like a bear, in no way was it a bear. Its hunched fra was broad and dense, covered in dark gray skin that looked more like rock than flesh—tough, cracked, and layered, as if the very earth had forged its hide. Jagged spikes jutted from its spine, irregular and sharp, like crude obsidian spears waiting to impale anything foolish enough to approach. Its forelimbs were monstrous, almost grotesquely muscular, ending in claws so massive they looked capable of splitting boulders with a swipe.
Its head was a distorted parody of a bear's—broad and blunt but far more sinister, with glowing red eyes that burned like twin embers set deep into its skull. Its mouth opened, revealing uneven rows of blackened teeth, stained and sharp, and as it exhaled, the air was thick with the sll of blood and sothing ancient.
It let out a deep, bone-vibrating growl that reverberated through the cave walls, shaking loose a fine layer of dust. The sound alone was enough to freeze Noah where he stood.
Noah's stomach turned. That thing had almost taken his head off.
"Okay, we kill it. No question," he rasped, lifting his blades.
A ping.
Noah froze.
Noah's heart pounded as his eyes flicked back to his bracelet. He expected another kill notification, but instead, the words that flashed on the screen made his stomach drop.
[Category 3 Beast Detected: Stoneback Behemoth]
Stoneback Behemoth.
The na alone was enough to freeze his blood. He knew it wasn't sothing they could just brush off. This wasn't so run-of-the-mill creature. This was sothing far deadlier, far more dangerous.
"What the hell is a Category 3 doing here?" Noah's voice was tight, every muscle in his body coiled in response to the mounting pressure.
Lila's expression remained unreadable as she rose with her now unsheathed weapon. The weapon as it turned out all along was a scythe that she held ominously in her grip, its curved blade catching the light with a deadly glow. "Doesn't matter, let's make a break for it. It's a category 3, way beyond our capacity,"
"Lila, we can't outrun it. Besides it's blocking the entrance." Noah said, his voice calm but firm. He glanced at the beast. "It's too fast, and we're in its territory. Running would only get us killed faster. Our best chance is to fight."
Lila's eyes narrowed at him, a conflicted look flashing across her face. She looked back at the Stoneback Behemoth, then at Noah, before shaking her head. "You're not hearing , Noah. Fighting it? That's a death sentence."
Noah stood firm, his eyes unwavering as he watched the Stoneback Behemoth inch closer, its massive body rippling with raw strength. "I'd rather fight it than die running."
Lila stared at him, her eyes flicking back to the beast, then to Noah. The beast's rumbling growl vibrated through the cave, and for a mont, Noah thought she might back down. But then, with a sudden resolve, she nodded, a grim determination in her voice.
"Alright, fine. But if we're doing this, we need to hit hard, and we need to do it fast."
Noah's gaze hardened as he stepped forward. "Then let's make it count."
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