The path wound through tall, breathless trees, their trunks bleached white by years of Aether saturation. They stood like ghosts, silent witnesses to the shifting balance of the world. Zayn walked slowly, fingers brushing a leaf that shimmered with faint light, watching the way it curled away from his touch.
Behind him, Nala matched his pace, her gaze alert. The air was thick with tension, not just from the ruin they had emerged from, but from something ahead. The Aether density had shifted again. Subtle, but undeniable. It tugged at their cores, as if drawing breath in rhythm with something unseen.
"Still thinking about the Vaultspawn?" Nala asked quietly.
Zayn didn't answer right away. He glanced back at the way they came, the sky bleeding into twilight, streaked with soft reds and pale blue.
"It was our first real fight," he said at last. "But it won't be the last. We need to be faster next time. Stronger."
Nala gave a small nod. Her expression was calm, but there was something sharp behind her eyes, resolve or memory, he couldn't tell.
A low vibration rolled through the ground beneath them. Zayn paused. The trees ahead had begun to lean, subtly shifting against a breeze they couldn't feel. He opened his Nullborn Interface.
[Aether Field Anomaly Detected]
> Source: Wildbone Grove Ruins Relic Energy: Unstable.
Mutation Risk: High.
He frowned. "There's a relic nearby. Probably corrupted."
Nala turned slightly, her hand brushing over the hilt of her curved blade. "Do we check it out?"
He didn't answer immediately. The right move would have been to mark it, come back when prepared. But instinct twisted in his gut, an urge not from recklessness, but hunger. Not for violence, but for understanding.
"Yeah," he said. "We check."
---
Wildbone Grove was a scar in the land.
Trees gave way to shattered roots, pulled free from the soil like fingers clawing upward. The grass here was gray, brittle to the touch, and between the cracks, strange bones jutted out, too long for deer, too narrow for bears. Something inhuman.
The relic pulsed in the center of it all.
It was buried halfway in the earth, a jagged obelisk fractured down its middle. From its core, a dull violet light leaked upward, bending the air around it in waves. Zayn stepped closer, careful not to cross the invisible perimeter.
[Relic Signature: Wildbone Totem - Shattered State]
> Type: Ancestral Remnant
Status: Corrupted
Effect: Beast Fusion
Imprint - Unstable
Nala whispered beside him. "It fused with something."
A howl broke the air.
It didn't come from the trees.
It came from below.
Earth exploded upward as a shape launched into view... massive, wrong, and fast. Zayn barely dodged aside as claws slammed where he had stood, carving a crater in the cracked soil. Dust exploded outward.
The creature twisted to face him. It was half-wolf, half-stag, with elongated limbs and ribs visible beneath matted fur. Jagged pieces of relic crystal jutted from its spine, still pulsing with violet light. Where eyes should have been, there were only sockets glowing faint white.
[Beast Identified: Relicbound Wildbone - Class C+]
> Origin: Ancestral Core Mutation
Traits: High aggression, regenerative limbs, crystal-fused impact strikes
Zayn activated Space Warp, blinking left as the beast lunged. He landed beside Nala. She was already weaving her stance, energy flaring softly along her arms.
"Its limbs regrow. We're going to need to aim for something deeper," she said.
Zayn nodded. He drew the Pulsekind Blade.
They moved as one.
Nala darted right, flanking. Zayn charged low, blade raised. The beast struck down with one arm... Zayn parried, blade flaring on contact. Aether flared. He felt the siphon pulse.
[Energy Absorbed: 4.7%]
The beast staggered, just enough. Nala slid beneath its reach, slamming a Pulse Strike into its exposed side. Energy detonated. Fur and crystal cracked away, revealing sinew shot with black veins.
It roared and twisted with terrifying speed, swinging a tail like a whip. Nala was thrown back, rolling once, twice before catching herself.
Zayn narrowed his eyes. He focused.
[Active Skill: Aetherflow Step - Engaged]
The field shimmered. His movement blurred slightly. He launched into a feint, then blinked just before contact. Reappearing behind the creature, he sliced upward, blade carving through a joint in the hind leg.
The limb fell, twitching. Seconds later, it twitched harder... and began regrowing.
"We need to strike the core," he called.
Nala was already back on her feet. She launched herself upward, flipping once before bringing a charged kick down into the creature's skull. It stumbled, dazed.
Zayn charged the obelisk.
He didn't know why. Only that the relic pulsed with the same rhythm as the beast. They were linked.
He stabbed his blade into the fracture.
Light burst outward.
The beast screamed... a sound not made for human ears. Nala fell to one knee, clutching her head. Zayn gritted his teeth, vision shaking. The relic shook, fissures deepening.
The link was real.
[Sync Disruption Triggered]
> Beast Vulnerability: Temporary
Core Exposure: 10 seconds
"Nala! Now!"
She moved, even through the pain.
Pulse gathered around her fists as she sprinted toward the stunned creature. It turned, sluggish now, a deep violet glow leaking from its chest.
Zayn ripped the blade free and followed.
She struck first, cracking the crystal embedded near its heart.
Zayn struck second, blade piercing through the rupture.
The creature convulsed.
Then, it fell.
---
Silence.
Aether light faded from its body, and the relic shattered into dust.
Zayn dropped to one knee, panting. Sweat dripped from his brow, his arms trembling. Nala sat beside him, breathing hard but steady.
[Corruption Source Neutralized]
[Core Sync +6.1%]
[Skill Potential Unlocked: Aether Pulse Detonation - Incomplete]
[Echo Shard Acquired: Wildbone Fragment - Tier C]
> Material: Rare
Crafting Effect: Core-Linked Memory Imprint
Zayn stared at the shard in his hand. It pulsed faintly, almost like a heartbeat.
Nala leaned closer, voice soft. "That thing... it wasn't just a beast. It was bound to something ancient. Something that didn't want to be remembered."
He looked at her. "But we remember it now."
She smiled faintly.
They stayed there a while longer, watching as the wind began to move the grass again, as if the land had been holding its breath.
When they stood, there was no more hesitation.
Their steps were heavier, but not burdened.
Weighted with purpose.