They walked.
Silence stretched unnaturally long.
Sol sniffed.
"Ehh… what's that smell?" she asked, nose wrinkling.
Thin.
But beneath it, the stench of blood screamed through the air.
"Probably dead beasts," Ren said grimly.
His face went pale.
He stopped.
Feet froze.
Without realizing it, the group no longer led themselves—Ren had taken control.
"Wh–what?" Gio asked hesitantly.
"Don't miss anything," Ren said.
He didn't wait for questions.
With a flick of his fingers, fire gathered.
The flame compressed, sharpened—
forming an arrow.
It flew.
Light cut through the darkness.
Blood.
Bones.
Splintered. Crushed.
The arrow kept going.
Then—
The light weakened.
A drop of sweat fell.
Splash.
Ahead—
Red light burned in the dark.
Black veins crawled outward from its eyes, branching like cracks in stone.
On the ground, a single feather dragged across rock.
Its spine curved—
disturbingly close to a smile.
The fire vanished.
They trembled.
Sol made a sound.
Not a scream.
Just air—forced out, sharp and desperate.
Hands clamped over her mouth instantly.
The moment locked in place.
Eyes wide.
Breaths shallow.
Then—
"Run," Ren whispered.
The world broke.
Elsewhere—
"Should I have taken the left path?" Arin wondered.
The four serpents slithered behind him.
Tongues flicked.
A cold shiver ran down Arin's spine.
His mouth puffed as if something foul was crawling back up.
"F**k—did I get food poisoning?" he cried.
Status.
[No you f****g worm. Seriously. An idiot would be smarter than you at least.]
[You ate too much. Move your ass before you rot.]
Name: Arin
Species: Primordial Serpent Seed (???)
Cultivation: Qi Refinement — 2nd Stage
Status: Same as always — Extremely Pathetic
Survival Chance: M… Snake. Don't ask me.
Qi Capacity: Above Local Average
(Have you seen the beasts around here? Yes. Still disappointing.)
[Stats]
Strength: 52 — (How? I don't understand. Still weak.)
Agility: 69 — (You slither faster now. Yay.)
Endurance: 49 — (A durable disappointment.)
HP: 105 / 109
Cultivation Speed: 150 — (Above average. Still slow.)
Evolution Potential: Unstable — Unanchored
(You wouldn't survive seeing the real number.)
Bloodline: Dormant (Primordial Trace Detected)
[Skills]
Do you know how embarrassing it is to list basic abilities?
Why was I even writing "Slithering"?
Fear Sense (Lv.7): Instinct to detect overwhelming threats and flee.
Instinctual Dominance (Lv.1):
A passive pressure rooted in hierarchy. Lesser creatures will subconsciously recognize you as superior.]
Arin closed his eyes.
A few slow breaths.
When he opened them, something had settled.
Not calm.
Control.
He turned back.
The serpents were watching him.
All of them.
…Except one.
Kael.
His head was tilted, tongue flicking—not toward Arin, but toward the path behind them.
Arin slithered back a little.
Past Kael.
And stared.
The abyss.
It wasn't empty.
Arin's heart thudded once.
Then again.
A slow, familiar smile crept across his mouth.
—
"Huff… huff…"
"I don't think it's following us," Ren said.
"W–we're leaving now, right?" Sol asked, voice thin.
"We move. Now," Ren replied.
They turned.
Negi shoved past. "Hey—what even was that?!"
Sol flinched at the sound of his voice.
Leia tried to reclaim her breath while sitting on diverging piller splitting into two ways.
"I don't know," Ren snapped. "Now move."
They ran.
Time blurred.
Leia stumbled.
"Sto—stop…"
Her hands dropped to her knees as she bent forward, gasping. She couldn't stand anymore.
Sweat dripped onto the stone.
Ren glanced at the others.
They all looked the same.
Exhausted. Pale.
"…Alright," Ren said. "The exit isn't far. We stop here—but only for a moment."
A collective sigh escaped them.
They sat.
The water flask passed from hand to hand.
When it reached Gio, he lifted it eagerly.
He drank.
Or—at least, he tried to.
Nothing.
Not a single drop remained.
His throat tightened.
Just then—
"Hey," Negi said sharply. "What are those holes?"
Everyone stiffened.
Their eyes snapped to the wall.
Near ground level, several holes of different sizes dotted the wall—uneven, hollowed out, wrong.
Silence pressed in.
"Probably just big bugs," Leia muttered between breaths. "Don't waste your energy."
Sol didn't respond.
She was still shivering.
Ren noticed.
"Everyone," he said sharply. "Form a circle."
"Huh?" Gio asked.
"It won't come this close to the exit," Ren said, already moving. "Still—circle."
They obeyed.
The formation gave Sol something to cling to.
"Rest while you can," Ren continued. "Once we're out, we fight again—in the forest."
The circle closed.
Negi swallowed.
"So… can I ask something?"
Arin tilted his head slightly.
"Go on."
Negi hesitated, then words spilled out faster than he could stop them.
"Aren't you scared?"
His grip tightened around his spear.
"I mean—cultivation. One wrong step and it's over. There's barely anyone who knows what they're doing. The Great One only discovered it fifty years ago, and even now most people think it's devil worship."
His voice shook.
"Last year I was disowned just for cultivating. They said I was inviting disaster—"
His words tangled, dragging pieces of a past he clearly didn't want to relive.
Then another voice cut in.
Ren.
"I am scared."
He smiled faintly—not comfortingly, but honestly.
"You're right. It's only the fiftieth year. Most of us grew up in the forties, where even mentioning qi could get you beaten."
He looked around the circle.
"But things are changing. Groups like ours are forming. People are whispering instead of screaming. Fear doesn't vanish—it just gets quieter."
He scoffed softly.
"There will always be people who call this a mistake."
His gaze sharpened.
"Just remember this—once you step onto this path, you're not alone."
Then—
SPLASH.
Something warm struck Ren's face.
Wet.
Thick.
His breath hitched.
—SKRRCH—
A tearing sound ripped through the dark.
Leia's body jolted.
Her mouth opened—
No sound came out.
Blood bubbled instead.
Gurgle.
Her hands clawed at her throat, fingers slipping in red.
Her eyes found Ren's.
Wide.
Panicked.
Pleading.
—SHLK—
The cut finished.
Bone cracked.
THUD.
Her head hit stone and rolled.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
The screaming tore loose.