Alex had travelled another hour, encountering a single transcendent awakened guardian and other lower ranked stray monsters, which he dealt with after brief but taxing fights. Even so, an unease lingered."
His beastly senses whispered that he was being watched.
He steadied his breathing and took a cautious stance, muscles coiled as if ready to act at any second.
Something moved, he felt it before it happened. Yet what surprised him was thatwhat Beastmind premonition relayed was unstable, his vision briefly locking onto the source of the disturbance.
Alex had chosen the forest path, deliberately ignoring the monster‑infested road.
From beneath the shadows of a thin tree emerged a girl carrying an ominous presence. She was dressed in the manner typical of this era; simple, practical, and unremarkable at first glance.
Her eyes were deep and dark, her long black hair reaching her waist, gathered neatly into a single bun.
"I wouldn't proceed if I were you," the figure said, her voice charmingly cold.
"Why?" Alex asked warily.
The reason was obvious to him. The voice in his head had already warned him to beware of darkness related integrators.
And the stranger before him was clearly releasing a faint aura of the Darkness Domain; for reasons he couldn't yet grasp.
Yet the power she wielded was unmistakably shadow, drawn from the Moon's source. They shared the same source!.
"The rank‑three evil core you're avoiding isn't the only one around here." She paused, watching Alex's reaction you're lucky I was here to stop you. There's only one monster guarding the rank four evil core... an initial fallen one. It's highly sensitive. My companion and I unknowingly wandered too close. He was killed instantly. I escaped using the skill you just saw."
Alex gulped as a familiar sense of fear crept in... one he had only felt once before.
"A student?" he asked after a moment.
Despite being on edge, he knew when cooperation was the wiser choice.
"Yeah. I'm Nyxara." She extended her hand in a professional gesture.
Alex approached the slender, outstretched hand slowly, watching for any sudden movement. When nothing happened, he finally shook it.
"I'm..." He almost said his real name, then stopped.
"Frederick."
The name felt strangely familiar. So familiar that he hadn't even questioned using it.
He remained shaking her hand, lost in thought, trying to recall where that familiarity came from—but to no avail.
Nyxara frowned and forcefully pulled her hand back.
Alex scratched his head in embarrassment and apologized for the awkward handshake, blaming it on being lost in thought.
"I made camp somewhere ahead," Nyxara said. "I sensed human presence and came to check."
They moved out together, Nyxara taking the lead.
After ten minutes, they stopped in front of a raised black leader tent.
"You can set yours up somewhere around here," Nyxara said as she entered her camp and pulled the cover down.
"Your mana is half spent. I suggest you rest and recover quickly. The faster you recover, the earlier we move."
Her voice came from inside before falling completely silent.
Alex could barely tell anyone was in there at all.
No wonder I couldn't sense her… She's good at stealth. He frowned inwardly. I can mask my presence too, but mastering it to this level will take training.
As he set up his own camp, his thoughts drifted back to Nyxara's fallen companion.
We were told rank‑five cores wouldn't appear yet; the mana density isn't at its peak during this era. But rank‑five initial fallen guardians can still exist if they're birthed by a rank‑four core... But certainly was never guaranteed in any integration era.
His jaw tightened.
Can I escape such a creature at my current rank… especially with my initial stage?
Alex paused, another thought surfacing.
He was still bothered by his reflection. By the name he'd chosen without hesitation.
Maybe Nyxara experienced the same thing… an appearance swap.
"Hey… can I ask you something kind of random?" he said quietly. "Have you noticed anything… off about yourself since all this started?"
Silence followed... thick and suffocating.
Then Nyxara's voice emerged from within the tent.
"Aside from fear," she said flatly, "nothing."
_So it's really as I had suspected._ he thought, trying to mask his panic.
---
In a grand, majestic building sat a lone figure.
The structure was imposing in size but modest in design. Smooth stone walls fit together with precision, built for endurance rather than admiration. Dark pillars lined the hall; straight and unadorned, bearing no statues or gilded marks, only faint traces left by time and use.
Dim light filtered through tall, narrow openings, illuminating the chamber just enough while deepening the shadows at its edges. Nothing glittered. Nothing decayed.
At the far end stood a throne raised by a few simple steps, carved from the same stone as the hall itself. Solid. Practical.
Malvoryx, the First Ruin, occupied it without ceremony. He was adorned in simple, dark full‑body armor.
Within the visor burned two bulbs of darkness, intensifying as he spoke.
He blended naturally into the hall, as though the structure had been built around him rather than for him. His presence did not overwhelm the space... it completed it.
"Something isn't right…" His voice was deep, unrestrained, and dangerous. "It's as if some powerful organization or the overlords of other cities has placed a secret bounty on me. Weak bloom hunters keep barging into my palace, trying to hunt me as though their lives depend on it."