The Wilds grew louder the farther south they traveled.

  Not with sound—

  With pressure.

  Kaelen felt it first. A tightening in the air. Ni currents flowing against each other, disturbed and layered, like too many footprints crossing the same ground.

  “Slow,” Roric murmured, raising a fist.

  They halted atop a rocky ridge overlooking a shallow valley threaded with broken trees and old trade paths.

  Snow clung to the shadows, while churned earth told a story no caravan ledger ever would.

  Kaelen crouched, eyes scanning.

  Too many tracks. Too fresh.

  “They’re early,” he said quietly.

  Vex smiled beneath his mask.

  “Good. That means they’re nervous.”

  The journey to this point hadn’t been idle.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Over the last two days, Kaelen had fought three Ni beasts unlike any he’d faced before.

  A Shardhide Boar.

  A Mistbound Lynx.

  A Gravehorn Elk.

  Each fight sharpened him.

  Each kill refined something inside him.

  Now the valley ahead reeked of intent.

  Vex knelt beside Kaelen.

  “I want eyes inside their perimeter. Quiet. Fast.”

  Kaelen nodded.

  “You.”

  “This,” Vex said quietly, “is where your assassination training begins.”

  They vanished into the trees.

  They moved like rumors.

  Kaelen mirrored Vex’s steps instinctively—shadow folding around his frame, breath slowing, heartbeat dampened by blood control.

  They bypassed sentries without touching them.

  The bandits were organized.

  Too organized.

  Thirty of them, spread in overlapping kill zones. Elevated scouts. Traps beneath false trails.

  And in the center—

  A bonfire.

  A command post.

  Kaelen felt it then.

  A presence.

  Mutant Ni.

  Fire.

  They retreated as silently as they came.

  Roric listened, then laughed.

  “They were trying to ambush us.”

  He clapped Kaelen on the shoulder.

  “Well then.”

  Roric’s eyes gleamed.

  “Today, you use everything.”

  Lightning. Blood. Shadow.

  Katana. Whip. Daggers. Spear.

  “All thirty,” Roric continued. “No interference.”

  Vex stepped back into the trees.

  “We’ll watch.”

  They disappeared.

  Kaelen stood alone at the edge of the valley.

  The system answered.

  [SYSTEM NOTICE]

  Objective Issued

  Kill all bandits: 0 / 30

  Rewards: Unknown

  Kaelen smiled beneath the mask.

  “Alright,” he whispered.

  And stepped forward.