The gates groaned shut behind us, and just like that, the castle was gone.
Not in the literal sense—it still loomed behind us, stone towers catching the morning light—but something about crossing that threshold felt final.
The road sloped gently as we moved out, gravel crunching underfoot, the group settling into a loose column behind Sir Bren Halwick.
No one really talked at first.
Serena and Carter started bickering eventually, something about whose long-range magic would be more useful in a forest.
Claire kept an eye on both of them, occasionally offering dry commentary that went mostly ignored.
Ryan walked in quiet sync just behind, scanning the surroundings like a healer preparing for a fight. Ronan, as always, moved a few steps behind the rest. Silent. Present. Watching.
I didn't say much either.
Not out of nerves. It just didn't feel like the right time to fill the space with noise.
Instead, I paid attention.
The wind had a rhythm to it today. It brushed past us in slow, deliberate breaths, weaving through the trees in a way that felt almost… personal. Like it was watching too.
More than once, I found myself turning my head before hearing a twig snap or a bird burst out of the underbrush. Not fast enough to seem strange, just in time for it to feel right.
The ground was the same. Solid beneath my boots, but not uniform.
I could sense where the slope dipped slightly before I stepped, where the roots beneath the dirt thickened. It was subtle, like listening to a whisper with your whole body.
It wasn't something I'd trained. It just... was.
We walked in that rhythm for a while, gear creaking, branches shifting, the distant call of birds marking the time better than any bell.
I fell into the pattern without thinking, breathing to the pulse of the wind, placing my steps to the quiet pulse I felt through the soles of my feet.
I liked it out here.
Claire looked back at one point. "Still with us?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Just listening."
She smiled faintly and turned back around. "Smart."
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Ronan glance in my direction. He didn't say anything. Just gave a slight nod, barely there, but deliberate.
Somehow, that small gesture anchored me more than anything else.
The morning passed like that. A quiet rhythm. One foot in front of the other. Trees gave way to thicker underbrush.
It all felt strangely peaceful.
At that moment a harsh wind almost prickly blew in from our right
'Somethins there'
It started with a howl.
Sharp. Guttural. Too close.
I didn't even see the creature at first, just the blur of motion and the snap of branches as something barreled toward us through the underbrush.
Then came the second howl, and three figures burst from the trees.
Low-slung bodies, somewhere between a wolf and a bear, with jutting limbs that bent at unnatural angles. Their mottled fur clung to lean muscle, patchy and coarse, like it had been half-burned off.
Glowing eyes,too many of them, shifted in erratic patterns across their broad heads, and their jaws split open with a hiss that wasn't quite a growl. Not natural. Not wild. Something twisted.
"Contact!" Sir Bren's voice cut through the trees like a blade.
The line shattered. Carter cursed and spun, lightning already crackling along his fingers. Serena was slower, reaching for the chant to call her fire, but the creatures were fast.
The first one lunged at Claire.
She barely got her barrier up in time. The shield shimmered silver-blue as claws scraped across it. The impact threw her back two steps, and I saw her teeth clench as she absorbed the brunt of the hit.
I moved. I didn't think—I just moved.
My feet hit the dirt in time with the pulse in the earth, pivoting me around the next rushing shape. A growl behind me. Ronans blade flashed once, clean and sharp, and something shrieked before crashing into the undergrowth.
Ryan pulled Serena back as another creature lunged.
"Left side—more incoming!" Claire called, voice tight.
Carter stepped up, fingers snapping with built-up charge. "Clear a lane!"
A bolt of lightning arced forward, blinding-white against the forest gloom. One of the creatures spasmed and dropped, twitching.
Serena followed it up, fire catching along the underbrush with a sharp woosh that scattered the rest.
My breath caught.
The smell of ozone, burned fur, and hot earth flooded my nose.
I ducked beneath a lunging shape and swept my leg low, just like Sir Brook drilled us, connect, pivot, rise.
My palm slammed into the creature's side, not strong enough to drop it, but enough to throw it off balance.
Carter finished it with a spear of raw thunder.
The tempo changed.
We weren't flailing now.
Claire barked orders. "Ronan, right flank. Serena, burn wide. Drey, you're on reaction!"
"Yes, ma'am," I muttered, slipping into position.
The wind told me when the last one was coming. A shift in pressure, a rustle in the leaves that didn't match the rest.
I turned a second early and ducked low, catching its weight against my shoulder and wrapping my arms around it.
Ronan was already there.
His blade slipped through the thing's throat in one fluid movement, silent and surgical. It collapsed between us, twitching once before going still.
Silence.
Only the crackle of burning leaves and the soft panting of our team remained.
I looked around.
Claire's barrier was dimmer now, flickering at the edges. Carter was leaning against a tree, hand on his thigh, sparks still twitching between his knuckles. Serena stood beside him, fire fading from her fingers. Ryan moved between us, quietly checking injuries.
Ronan just cleaned his blade and sheathed it.
No celebration. No cheer. Just the strange quiet that comes after violence.
I exhaled. The pulse of the earth slowed. The wind returned to its rhythm.
We were fine.
Sir Bren strode past the scorched clearing, kicking at one of the bodies.
"Forest hounds," he said, voice even. "Pack hunters. Weak, but smart. You handled that well."
Carter let out a low whistle. "That was well?"
Sir Bren didn't answer. He just pointed ahead.
"Keep moving. This is only the edge."
We moved fast after that.
Not recklessly, but with purpose.
The next few encounters were still rough , but each fight came a little easier.
We stopped flinching when spells went off nearby, started moving around each other instead of through.
It wasn't perfect. Claire's barrier cracked more than once.
Carter took a claw across the arm he wouldn't stop pretending didn't hurt. Serena's temper flared once when a fireball scorched too close to Ryan. But we held.
We learned.
And by the time we reached the far edge of our assigned zone, the rhythm that had started in silence that morning had turned into something like coordination.
The last fight hit harder than we expected, a larger beast with armor-like scales that shrugged off most spells, but we brought it down.
As it crashed into the earth with a final, gurgling screech, something shifted inside me.
A pulse of heat. A weight lifting.
[Level Up: 0 → 2]
[+4 Stat Points. ]
We moved fast after that.
Not recklessly, but with purpose.
The next few encounters were rough around the edges, but each fight came a little easier. Timing got tighter. Reactions sharper.
We stopped flinching when spells went off nearby, started moving around each other instead of through.
It wasn't perfect. Claire's barrier cracked more than once.
Carter took a claw across the arm he wouldn't stop pretending didn't hurt. Serena's temper flared once when a fireball scorched too close to Ryan. But we held.
We learned.
And by the time we reached the far edge of our assigned zone, the rhythm that had started in silence that morning had turned into something like coordination.
The last fight hit harder than we expected, a larger beast with armor-like scales that shrugged off most spells, but we brought it down.
As it crashed into the earth with a final, gurgling screech, something shifted inside me.
A pulse of heat. A weight lifting.
[Level Up: 0 → 2]
[+4 Stat Points. ]
The text flashed quick and clean across my vision, and for a second I just stood there, breath catching in my throat.
"Drey?" Claire asked, wiping blood from her cheek.
"Yeah," I said. "Just… good hit."
She gave me a small nod, then turned to gather the others.
The clearing smelled of ash and sap. Sunlight broke through the canopy in uneven patches, and for the first time since we'd left the castle, the air felt still.
Our sector was clear.
Sir Bren checked the map with a curt nod. "Time to move. Point Argis is two clicks north."
We didn't cheer. We just gathered our gear and walked on.
Boots crunching softly over underbrush and roots, but my mind wasn't on the trail.
I blinked twice and whispered,
'Status.'
[Name: Drey Edwards]
[Description: Touching the hidden threads of the world.]
[Level: 2]★
[Health: 280]★
[Mana: 240]★
[Stats:]
Vigor: 13
Mind: 21
Endurance: 15
Strength: 20
Agility: 17
Dexterity: 14
Intelligence: 10
Stat Points Available: 4★
[Class: 6 Spiritual Root Cultivator]
[Elemental Affinities: Wind (Minor), Earth (Minor)]
[Attunement: Dormant – Awaiting Development]
I let the screen hang there, floating faintly in my vision as I walked.
Four points.
I could spread them, round things out. But that didn't feel right.
The last fight had taught me something. When I moved in sync with the terrain, angled my steps just right, I felt faster than I should've. Lighter. Like the wind was helping me land where I needed to be.
And when I braced against that second lunge, it hadn't been raw strength that kept me standing—it was balance and the earth keeping me grounded. Awareness. My feet knew what the ground was going to do before it shifted.
I dropped two points into Agility. One into Dexterity. One into Mind.
Nothing flashy. Just better control, and a little more clarity.
Stats:]
Vigor: 13
Mind: 22★
Endurance: 15
Strength: 20
Agility: 19★
Dexterity: 15★
Intelligence: 10
Stat Points Available: 0★
The notification faded as I closed the screen. No rush of power. No glow. Just a little steadier than I'd been a few minutes ago.
I liked that.