Entrance exam
Dungeon center
First floor, Lower level
5th August 385 Post Global Unification
When Eren opened his eyes, he wasn't surprised to find himself alone in what appeared to be a tunnel. It seemed to be part of a larger cavern system—an underground chamber carved deep beneath the surface. Rows of lanterns lined the walls in perfect intervals, each filled with softly glowing stones that bathed the passage in muted light.
He took a slow breath—
—and froze.
The air quivered.
It shimmered, vibrating in layered hues that shifted just beyond normal sight. The breath he'd drawn tasted faintly metallic, like zinc. Eren didn't fully understand what that meant, but he was certain of one thing: the colors he was seeing weren't illusions. They were the flow of world energy saturating the atmosphere.
And it was far denser than anything outside.
Even in this narrow tunnel, anima flowed thickly, visibly, as though the Dungeon itself exhaled power. Mother Ruth had warned him—had tried to explain the difference between the outside world and a Dungeon—but he hadn't truly understood until now.
The Dungeon didn't exist within normal space.
It existed adjacent to it.
Eren pressed the second button on his wristband. A translucent projection bloomed into the air—an hourglass, its grains already falling.
Two hours.
Two hours to collect anima cores and reach the Guild Quarter at the exact moment the countdown ended.
"Tch," he muttered.
He summoned the map function next. A glowing route appeared, winding through layered passages toward the Guild Quarter—five blocks away. Underground.
And who knew how many vertical shifts stood between him and the surface?
Eren started forward, steady and alert. He needed to move efficiently—no wasted steps, no unnecessary fights.
Then—
Something burst from the shadows, lunging for his right arm.
Eren reacted instantly.
Time seemed to slow as he twisted aside, narrowly avoiding snapping jaws as they closed on empty air. He dropped into a fighting stance—left leg braced behind him, right leg forward. His right arm raised, aligned with his left leg, while his left arm mirrored the opposite angle. Balanced. Grounded.
Ready.
The creature stepped into the lantern light.
A humanoid reptilian figure clad in stained, patchwork armor.
"A kobold," Eren muttered.
He recognized it immediately from the bestiary texts. Kobolds were rare outside Dungeons—creatures poorly suited for the open world and too dim-witted to escape through rifts. Individually, they were average fighters.
But in packs?
Deadly.
Eren's senses stretched outward. No movement. No presence beyond this one.
Good.
Unlike anima crystals or anima stones—resources that could be mined—anima cores could only be harvested from slain anima beasts.
This would be his first.
Eren inhaled deeply, centering himself. He focused on the rhythm of his breathing, on the familiar sensation of power gathering within him.
Just like he'd practiced.
Anima surged into his fist, reinforcing muscle, bone, and nerve. Mother Ruth had taught him the foundations of multiple martial disciplines—but Eren had taken them further, blending and reshaping them into something that suited him.
And now, with enhanced strength and speed, he was no longer the kid who'd survived street fights by desperation alone.
The kobold snarled and raised its butcher knife.
Eren smiled.
He threw a punch—but when the creature tried to dodge, Eren shifted seamlessly into a technique he'd developed himself.
It was based on the Anima Cannon spell Onyanko had once used against him.
Eren had copied it during their fight—and with Mother Ruth's guidance, learned how to cast it properly.
A sphere of white light formed around his clenched fist, dense and humming with pressure. He released it.
A beam of condensed anima tore forward at blinding speed.
The kobold raised its knife to block—
—but the beam smashed straight through it, shattering the iron blade into fragments as the light continued onward.
The Dungeon echoed with the impact.
Eren exhaled slowly.
His first hunt had begun.
The kobold's face twisted in shock, unable to comprehend the power Eren had unleashed.
Eren smiled—not out of cruelty, but exhilaration.
Two weeks. That was all it had taken him to grasp the fundamentals of Simple Magic. He hadn't mastered it—not even close—but he had learned something far more important: control. Control over his anima flow. Control over himself.
He was proud of that.
Now all that remained was the ugly part.
If he wanted an anima core, the kobold had to die.
Until now, monsters had always been abstractions to him—entries in a bestiary. He knew the classifications: anima beasts were sentient, some nearly as intelligent as humans. Some could speak. Some formed societies.
So the question clawed at him.
Could he really kill a thinking, living being just to get what he wanted?
The kobold answered for him—by turning and fleeing.
Eren snapped out of his thoughts and sprinted after it, plunging into the shadows. The tunnel widened abruptly into a jagged chamber where boulders jutted from the ground like broken teeth. Bones littered the floor.
And eyes watched him.
The kobold hadn't been alone.
Shapes rose from behind the rocks—armored figures, weapons already drawn. Crossbows were leveled. The fleeing kobold grabbed one for itself.
The bolt flew.
Eren sidestepped easily and poured anima into his legs. His muscles surged, launching him forward with explosive momentum. He crossed the chamber in a blur, weaving through arrows as if they were standing still.
Too slow, he realized.
Much slower than he'd expected.
He clashed with a larger kobold wielding a broadsword. The creature swung with brutal strength, but Eren's body flowed aside, evading strike after strike. The kobold was stronger than an average human—but nowhere near Eren's natural physicality.
And enhanced by anima?
He was already superhuman.
The kobold snarled in frustration. Anima flared around it, and the broadsword glowed sickly green as power flooded the weapon. It slashed sideways.
Eren raised his left hand and blocked.
The impact barely moved him—though blood ran freely where the blade had cut his skin.
Silence fell.
Shock rippled through the kobolds' faces.
Eren shoved forward.
The sword shattered.
The warrior collapsed, howling.
Eren drew back his right fist, anima spiraling inward as he gathered everything he had. He swung—
—and stopped.
His knuckles hovered inches from the kobold's face.
Its eyes were wide.
Terrified.
That feeling hit Eren like a punch to the chest.
Fear.
Real, raw fear—the same fear he'd seen in humans.
He stepped back.
This wasn't a Maleficiant. Not an unnatural horror. This was a creature living its life in the Dungeon.
The kobold's lips curled into a grin.
Then it smashed Eren in the face.
Pain exploded as Eren was launched backward, slamming into the wall. Blood poured from his mouth.
Anima Cannon.
The kobold had used it.
The spell punched straight through Eren's natural toughness, just like the Maleficiant's attack had before. Eren groaned as he slid down the wall, understanding dawning painfully.
Anima-based techniques bypassed physical resilience.
He spat blood and forced himself upright. He wasn't as strong as he'd been that night. He could barely channel ten percent of the power he'd unleashed then. His anima reserves were low, and maintaining offense and defense simultaneously was still beyond him.
That was why the hit hurt so badly.
Still—
He grinned.
The kobolds cheered, emboldened by the sight of his blood. They rushed him in pairs, knives and bolts flying.
Eren vanished.
Purple lightning crackled around his legs as he accelerated, dancing between attacks with ease. He caught four arrows barehanded and crushed them.
But he didn't have time for this.
He glanced at the hourglass.
Too much time wasted.
If he hesitated now, he'd fail.
Eren exhaled slowly and centered himself. Controlled his breathing. Let the anima flow freely—focused, dense—into his fists and legs.
Then he moved.
He closed the distance in a heartbeat and struck the large kobold again.
This time, his fist connected.
Anima surged from shoulder to elbow to knuckles—
BOOM.
Purple light exploded outward.
The kobold's head and body separated instantly, flung apart by the sheer force of the blow. Black blood sprayed across the chamber.
The remaining kobolds screamed.
Eren flexed his fist, smiling faintly.
That punch wasn't ordinary.
By synchronizing speed, mass, and anima release, he'd recreated the explosive principle he'd once used against Onyanko—doubling the destructive output at the moment of impact.
It was crude. Imperfect.
But it was enough.
Eren didn't hesitate again.
He launched himself at the remaining kobolds, tearing through them like paper—each strike precise, merciless, final.
The Dungeon fell silent once more.
****
Five minutes later, Eren stood amid the aftermath.
The kobolds' bodies were already disintegrating, breaking down into drifting motes of light. Even their bones vanished, leaving behind only faintly glowing, greenish shards scattered across the ground.
Anima cores.
Eren picked up the one that had dropped from the largest kobold and grimaced. He could feel the anima pulsing within it—and just as he feared, its quality was mediocre. Stable, but nothing exceptional.
If he had to guess, the exam committee would value high-quality anima cores far more than sheer quantity.
Still, he didn't complain.
Eleven kobolds. Eleven cores.
That had to count for something.
He quickly gathered the remaining shards and stored them inside the StoreDeck around his wrist. Once finished, he glanced back at the spot where the kobolds had fallen.
"Sorry," Eren muttered.
This had been a do-or-die situation. His dream was too important to abandon over hesitation or misplaced mercy. With that, he turned away and returned to the tunnel.
He summoned the map again, tracing the optimal route forward. The tunnel's exit was close, and it didn't take long to reach it. Eren slowed as he approached the end of the passage.
According to the map, there was open space beyond.
But his internal senses told a different story.
Something was there.
Not just dense atmospheric anima—but something else. Something oppressive. Predatory.
An iron door blocked the way. Eren shattered it with a single blow and stepped through.
The tunnel opened into a vast cavern. Green crystals glowed across the ceiling, casting eerie light over a field of massive boulders studded with the same radiant mineral. Some of the crystals were enormous—formed by the extreme energy saturation of the Dungeon itself. They were rare. Incredibly valuable.
But they weren't what he needed.
Eren stepped forward onto one of the stone formations, his gaze drawn irresistibly ahead.
His eyes locked onto the presence he had sensed earlier.
Whatever waited in this chamber was nothing like the kobolds.
And it was already aware of him. Eren felt it the moment the beast reacted to his presence. The anima in the air recoiled. Not surged—withdrew, as though afraid to circulate freely. A low, grinding sound echoed between the boulders. Stone scraped against stone. Something vast shifted in the shadows, dislodging crystal growths that shattered like glass against the floor.
Then the eyes opened. Twin orbs of molten gold flared from between two towering boulders, pupils slit and vertical. The pressure hit Eren like a physical blow, forcing the air from his lungs. His instincts screamed danger—raw, primal, undeniable.
A Basilisk.
The creature slithered forward, its massive serpentine body coiling into view. Its scales were dark emerald, each plate etched with natural sigils formed by prolonged exposure to dense Dungeon anima. Crystalline growths jutted from its spine and crown, pulsing faintly as it breathed. Its head alone was larger than a carriage, jaws lined with curved fangs dripping a viscous, shimmering venom.
Eren's heart hammered. This wasn't a kobold. This was a true magic beast—an apex predator born of the Dungeon itself. The pressure rolling off it crushed against his senses, its presence dominating the chamber. Even standing still, the Basilisk warped the anima flow around it, bending the environment to its will.
So this is what Mother Ruth meant, Eren thought grimly.
The Basilisk hissed. The sound wasn't loud—but it vibrated straight through bone and marrow. The crystals on the cavern ceiling flickered as the creature's gaze locked onto him. Eren felt it immediately. His vision blurred. The stone beneath his feet trembled, subtle fractures spiderwebbing outward as a creeping stiffness crawled up his legs.
Petrification.
"Shit—!"
Eren dove sideways just as the Basilisk's eyes flared. The boulder he'd been standing on turned gray mid-motion, stone spreading across it like frost. He rolled, barely avoiding being caught in the gaze again.
Direct eye contact, he realized. That's the trigger.
He didn't waste time.
Anima flooded his legs, white lightning snapping into existence as he accelerated. He sprinted across the cavern, weaving between boulders as the Basilisk lunged, its massive body smashing through stone formations with terrifying ease. Its tail whipped out.
Eren leapt—too slow. The impact caught his side and sent him flying. He crashed into a crystal-covered wall, pain detonating through his ribs as green shards shattered around him. Blood filled his mouth. Before he could recover, the Basilisk reared back and spat. A glob of venom screamed through the air, sizzling as it passed. Eren twisted desperately, the attack grazing his shoulder instead of hitting center mass.
Agony exploded. The venom burned—not just flesh, but anima itself, disrupting his flow like acid poured into a circuit. His left arm went numb instantly. Eren clenched his teeth and forced himself upright.
Too strong, his mind warned. Too fast. Too dangerous.
Running wasn't an option. The Basilisk advanced, coils tightening, eyes glowing brighter as it prepared another gaze attack. Eren steadied his breathing, lowering his stance, forcing calm through the fear.
Think.
He couldn't match it in raw power. But he didn't need to. He needed precision. Eren gathered anima—not explosively, but densely, compressing it into his right arm while deliberately keeping his eyes low. He focused on the creature's shadow instead of its body, tracking its movements without meeting its gaze.
The Basilisk struck. Eren surged forward instead of away. At the last second, he ducked under the snapping jaws, feeling petrifying energy brush past his back. He drove upward, slamming his fist into the Basilisk's lower jaw.
The impact boomed—but barely staggered it. The creature roared, tail smashing down like a falling pillar. Eren was too slow to dodge completely. The blow crushed him into the ground, stone erupting around his body. He felt something crack—maybe ribs, maybe worse. The Basilisk loomed over him, jaws opening wide, venom dripping directly toward his face.
This is it, Eren thought. It's over for me. Just when that fear began to bloom within his heart, something inside him snapped into alignment. No, I refuse to yield to this beast.
His Feelings sharpened. All the negative emotions that had begun to manifest were gone, replaced by a cold, unyielding clarity. Eren exhaled slowly and let go of restraint. His Innate ability factor manifested, his veins glowing with a blue molten light, as an azure flames manifested within his heart. Anima surged—not outward, but inward, spiraling through his body in a tight, Azure loop. His muscles screamed as he forced more power through them than he ever had possessed before. Blue sparks erupted across his skin.
The Basilisk lunged. Eren vanished. He reappeared beneath the creature's head, directly under its blind spot, and drove both feet into the ground. Then he punched. This wasn't a normal strike. Eren synchronized speed, mass, rotation, and anima release to a single instant—compressing everything into a point smaller than a heartbeat.
The impact detonated. A pillar of Blue-white force erupted upward, blasting straight through the Basilisk's skull. The creature's roar cut off instantly as its head exploded into crystal fragments, scales, and black blood that rained across the cavern. The shockwave rippled outward, shattering nearby boulders and dimming the crystals overhead.
Silence followed. Eren staggered back, breathing hard, blood dripping from his nose and mouth. His arm trembled violently, nerves screaming in protest.
But the Basilisk was dead. Eren breathed, as he undid his innate ability that had enhanced his physical and magical power, the blue flames within his heart vanishing, the lingering flames healing the wounds within his body. The Basilisk's body was still there, its body writhing as the wounds around it began to heal. Eren's heart snapped as fear bloomed again. He was out of gas, unable to do any more, when his left arm, still injured from the beast attack, moved on its own.
Eren felt a gaping pain as the skin within his palm split open, and a black vortex of energy poured out of it, the energy forming the visage of a Beast that instantly swallowed the Basilisk's body. The energy retreated into his palm as the spirit circuits within him began to flare up with itching pain.
The pain came in and out, his body gasping as he looked up to see someone observing him. Perched atop one of the massive boulders—as though she had been waiting for him all along—sat the Hunter from outside. Eren stopped short. He hadn't sensed her arrival. Not even faintly. That alone sent a chill through him.
She sat casually, one leg crossed over the other, her posture relaxed in stark contrast to the devastation around them. Her crimson eyes were fixed entirely on Eren, unblinking, assessing. He hadn't known Hunters would be involved in the exam. The instructor hadn't mentioned it at all. Was this an oversight? Or intentional?
"You don't look so good," She said.
Eren's jaw tightened. He didn't know how to respond.
"It's funny," she continued.
"What is?" Eren asked. She wasn't smiling. There was no humor in her voice.
"The power you wield," the Hunter said. "The way your anima moves. It feels… familiar."
She paused.
"And yet, it doesn't."
A subtle pressure pressed against Eren's chest—not hostile, but probing. Measuring. Her senses were scanning him. He hesitated, not sure how to respond to her gestures.
Does she know…?
"Tell me," she said lightly, her eyes never leaving his face, "do you happen to know an Alastor Kinsway?"
Eren's breath caught.
"What?"
****
Reyna Greyron still couldn't believe the assignment her inattentive captain had dumped on her. She had no desire to be here—inside a Dungeon Center of all places—reduced to observing a civilian while her Master remained missing. It felt like a waste of her time. Worse, it felt wrong. From the upper gallery, Reyna looked down at the lower floor where the exam candidates gathered around the massive silver crystal—the rift anchor that would soon open the Dungeon gate.
Her gaze found Eren Walker.
The boy she had collided with outside. She wasn't entirely certain whether approaching him earlier had been her captain's idea of "observation," but Reyna had never been the type to sit idle and wait for answers. Eren Walker was the last confirmed individual to have made contact with Master Alastor. If she wanted to find her Master, she needed to act. Standing beside Eren was another boy—white-haired, dark-skinned, with striking red eyes. Reyna had noticed him briefly outside, but hadn't paid him much mind then.
Then, he looked up. Their eyes met. For a single, unsettling moment, Reyna felt as though lightning had struck her spine. The sensation was sharp and disorienting—time seemed to stall, space subtly warping, as if something unseen tugged at her awareness and pulled her toward him. It was wrong. Then the boy next to Eren spoke to him, breaking the connection.
The feeling vanished. Reyna forced her expression to remain neutral, burying the unease deep beneath her Hunter discipline. Whatever that had been, she couldn't afford to dwell on it—not now. When the announcer declared the start of the exam, Reyna knew she had reached the end of her patience. As the crystal activated and light engulfed the candidates, she made her decision. Reyna stepped forward and leapt into the radiance, letting the rift pull her along. The transition was instant. She emerged inside the Dungeon, landing atop one of several massive boulders embedded with glowing anima crystals. The air here was thick—saturated, volatile.
She took stock immediately. A nest of kobolds lay between her and Eren Walker. Reyna narrowed her eyes—and then relaxed.
There was no need to interfere. She could already sense him moving through the tunnels, his anima signature unmistakable now that she knew what to look for. He was coming this way. So Reyna remained where she was, seated calmly atop the stone, watching from afar. Observing. Waiting. After all, the most revealing truths emerged when people believed they were alone.
It had been weeks since Master Alastor departed to investigate who had broken into the Azural King's Palace. Her captain—the Sword King Alexander Kinsway—had been the one to inform Reyna of her Master's mission. He had even shown her the final message Master Alastor sent before going silent.
Something strange had surfaced in the nation of Haumea. From what little her Master had managed to convey, it involved an Irregularity. When no further information arrived, Alexander had given Reyna her orders: travel to Haumea and rendezvous with Master Alastor. She never found him. Instead, her trail had led her to an orphanage.
That alone made no sense. If this truly involved an Irregularity, what did it have to do with the Azural King, one of the palace's missing grimoires, and why could Reyna sense lingering traces of her Master's spiritual signature so close to the Atwell Orphanage? Those questions had haunted her since her arrival. Worse still was the unease she refused to give voice to—the memory of the park not far from the orphanage. The land there carried a scar. Faint, but unmistakable.
A Maleficant had manifested. The spirit's imprint had fused with the terrain itself, something that only happened when an event of immense magnitude occurred. And woven deeply through that malignant residue was her Master's spiritual power. Entangled. She had requested records from the local Hunter Division in Pele City—any response logs, any emergency deployments.
There were none. No reports. No mobilization. That night, according to official records, had been quiet. Too quiet. Reyna had sensed no deception from the officers. Yet the park had clearly been cleaned—erased with care and precision. So if the Hunters hadn't intervened… who had? And what had happened to Master Alastor?
A sudden crash pulled her from her thoughts as the iron door to the cavern shattered.
Eren Walker stepped into the open space. At the same moment, another presence surfaced. Reyna's eyes narrowed. It was a vile, bestial aura—dense, ancient, and utterly lethal. Far beyond what an Initiate-realm mage should be able to face.
Perfect. This would tell her what she needed to know. Reyna had done her research on Eren Walker. He was from the Atwell Orphanage. His school records painted a contradictory picture: a mundane boy with no awakened magic, yet possessing abnormal strength and speed. Constantly fighting. Skipping classes. And yet, he had placed tenth upon graduation. Sharper than he looked. What puzzled her most was his ambition. He had been determined to become a Hunter without spiritual power. Impossible. And yet now—
Reyna could sense anima flowing within him. Weak. Strangely weak. Far below what she would expect if he were truly an Irregular. She had met two Irregulars in her life. She would never forget them. They were monsters—existences that bent laws and rivaled gods. Eren Walker didn't feel like that. Not yet. She knew awakened mages with far greater output than what he displayed. And yet… Her gaze sharpened as she observed him fight.
During the battle with the Basilisk, subtle changes unfolded—changes Eren himself seemed unaware of. The moment he entered the Dungeon's high-density environment, his spirit core had begun to expand, slowly but unmistakably. His spirit circuits reinforced themselves in real time.
He was passively siphoning World Energy. That alone was abnormal. He stood now on the far side of the cavern, atop a rise of shattered stone, ambient energy gathering around him in visible currents. His durability was astonishing. Any average mage would have been crushed by the pressure of this space without protective spells. He had fought a kobold pack under these conditions. And then a Basilisk.
Alone.
Then Reyna's breath caught. A black vortex bloomed from Eren's palm, devouring the Basilisk's corpse entirely—matter, anima, and residual essence swallowed whole. Her eyes narrowed.
"…Interesting," she murmured.
Maybe it was too early to call him an Irregular. But Reyna Greyron was no longer content with observation alone. She would find out for herself.
"You don't look so good," She said. The boy looked confused at her presence; the fluctuations of his magic power were dipping, going high and low. Eren's jaw tightened. He didn't know how to respond.
"It's funny," she continued.
"What is?" Eren asked. She wasn't smiling. There was no humor in her voice.
"The power you wield," the Hunter said. "The way your anima moves. It feels… familiar."
She paused.
"And yet, it doesn't."
A subtle pressure pressed against the boy's chest—not hostile, but probing. Measuring. She was using her Internal senses to scan his entire body, gaining all the information she needed to know.
"Do you know Alastor Kinsway?" Reyna asked as she rose from her seat atop the boulder. She reached into a small pouch and drew out several coins, idly flipping them into the air as she waited for his answer. Eren's pulse spiked.
"Alastor… you know Alastor—"
His danger sense screamed.
Too late.
The hill beneath him collapsed.
Something struck it from above with crushing force, shattering stone as the ground gave way. Eren fell with the debris, tumbling violently before slamming into the cavern floor. Dust and broken rock exploded outward.
Pain flared through his body.
Bones cracked—but already he felt them knitting back together.
He forced himself upright, breath ragged.
What the hell just happened?
He hadn't seen the attack. His instincts had warned him, but his body hadn't been fast enough to respond.
Eren looked up.
Reyna stood above him on the fractured ridge, calm as ever, coins still spinning lazily between her fingers. Blue electrical currents crawled across the metal, humming with restrained violence.
She wasn't even trying to hide it.
"Deadly Skill—Loretz Cannon," she whispered. The coins vanished. A thunderous crack split the cavern as they reappeared mid-flight, tearing through the air faster than sound. Eren forced anima into his legs and dove aside just in time— The impact detonated behind him, blasting him into a rock wall. His back screamed in protest as he slid down, gasping.
Railgun-level acceleration…
His thoughts spiraled. Why was a Hunter here? Why was she attacking him? She spoke Alastor's name as if she knew him. Was this about the power he'd taken? The moment Alastor vanished? Or—
No. This wasn't a lesson. This was an interrogation by force. If any of those coins hit him directly, he was dead. The air itself buzzed with magnetized anima. Reyna had turned the entire battlefield into a killing zone. Eren scrambled to his feet and ran. Reyna didn't pursue on the ground. She stepped into the air. The sky rippled beneath her feet as if it were solid.
Sky-walking.
Ash had once called it a basic technique for advanced mages. Eren couldn't even attempt it yet. Reyna stopped midair and raised her hand. The magnetic field intensified. Eren felt it immediately—his body tugged, dragged, his movement suddenly wrong. The debris he'd touched. The rocks. The dust. All of it had been infused with her anima. He'd been magnetized.
"Anima Control Skill—Divine Catch," Reyna said calmly.
The force hit him like a god's hand. Eren was ripped off the ground and dragged through the air, helpless. Reyna caught him by the back of the neck and slammed him into the earth. The impact created a crater. Eren lay at its center, vision swimming, bones shattered—
And already healing. Reyna looked down at him, mildly impressed.
"I'll give you this," she said. "You're tougher than you look. Your innate ability—physical enhancement. Strength, speed, durability."
She crouched slightly.
"But you haven't mastered it. You haven't mastered anything."
Eren growled and forced himself up.
The ring on his finger flared. Anima surged outward and solidified, forming a reinforced gauntlet around his right forearm and fist—layered plates of condensed energy and alloyed light locking into place with a low hum.
"So what?" Eren snapped. "That disqualifies me from being a Hunter?"
Reyna's gaze flicked to the gauntlet.
"…A manifestation-type spirit weapon," she murmured. "Interesting."
Eren didn't give her time to think.
"Just die."
Blue flames erupted around the gauntlet as he launched forward, twisting his body into a full-force strike. He swung—
Reyna's eyes widened slightly.
"Incredible…"
The magnetic field snapped. Eren's sudden anima release disrupted her control, scattering the charged particles anchoring her technique. His fist tore through the space where her pull had held him moments before. For an instant, Reyna understood.
The forbidden ritual. The Maleficant residue. Her Master's signature entwined with the boy's existence. Only a Kinsway would attempt something so reckless. Only an Irregular would survive it.
"For an Irregular," Reyna said as a translucent blue barrier bloomed around her, halting Eren's flaming punch inches from her face, "your output is… disappointing."
Lightning gathered around her fingers. She vanished. Eren didn't see her move. Something slammed into his throat. He coughed blood as the world lurched. When his vision refocused, Reyna was already there—close enough that he could feel the heat of her anima. Her left hand rested on his shoulder. Her right hand was buried in his chest.
Pain bloomed—deep, invasive, unreal. Her fingers had pierced straight through muscle and bone. Eren's thoughts slowed.
Too fast…
Speed had always been his pride. His fighting style. His advantage. She had shattered it effortlessly. This was the difference. This was what true power looked like. And now— He was dying in a Dungeon, crushed beneath a gulf he hadn't known existed.