The grey twilight of Xylos-4 slowly faded into absolute black.
Under the canopy, the darkness was oppressive. There was no moonlight to guide them. The jungle simply swallowed everything. The only illumination inside their root-cage hollow was the faint, steady blue glow of the Kinetic Protection rune resting near the entrance.
Jin sat cross-legged on the dry leaves. He did not sleep.
He operated on a strict, rotating guard schedule. Luna had taken the first watch while he and Ren rested. Now, Luna was curled into a tight ball near the back wall, fast asleep with her hands wrapped around her chain. Ren was sprawled out next to her, drooling on a piece of moss.
Jin stared out through the gaps in the massive wooden roots.
The jungle at night was entirely different from the day. The daytime heat broke, replaced by a damp, biting chill that seeped through his leather armor. The sounds changed, too. The distant roars of the heavy predators stopped. They were replaced by the highly unnerving, constant clicking and chittering of massive insects moving through the dark.
Every rustle of a leaf sounded like an ambush. Every snap of a twig felt like a sniper shot.
Jin engaged his Foundation Level 10 Aether. He did not push it outward to scan the environment; that would alert predators to his location. Instead, he pulled the energy inward, heightening his own biological senses. His hearing sharpened. His night vision adjusted, picking up faint thermal heat signatures moving in the dense brush outside.
Most of the signatures were small. Rodents and large beetles. Nothing heavy enough to break through the slate rune.
He checked the time on his mechanical pocket watch. It was past midnight. The first day of the hunt was officially over.
They had ten points. They had secured a safe base. They had acquired a Beast Tamer asset, even if the asset currently lacked physical strength. The logistics were sound. But Jin knew the math would change tomorrow.
The easy targets near the landing zone would be cleared out or driven away by the noise of a hundred and fifty students. To rack up serious points, they would have to push deeper into the jungle. Deeper meant heavier predators. Deeper meant fighting Level 8 and Level 9 beasts that possessed the intelligence to set traps.
A sudden, sharp movement caught his eye.
A thick thermal signature slid silently across the rocky slope outside their hollow. It was not walking. It was slithering.
Jin leaned forward slightly, resting his hand on the hilt of his falchion.
He watched the glowing red shape move over the cold rocks. It was massive. Easily twenty feet long and as thick as a barrel. It moved with terrifying stealth. A serpent.
It did not head toward their hollow. It glided past the entrance, completely ignoring the faint hum of the blue protection rune. It was hunting something else.
Jin watched it disappear into the black tree line. He did not wake Luna. He did not draw his sword. There was no tactical advantage in engaging a massive, unknown threat in the dark when it was not directly attacking them. Survival was about choosing the right battles, not all of them.
He let out a slow, quiet breath.
Two hours later, he woke Luna. He tapped her shoulder. She woke instantly, completely silent, her grey eyes sharp and focused. Jin nodded to the entrance, signaling her shift. She took her place near the roots, and Jin finally lay down on the dry leaves, letting his exhausted body shut down for a few hours.
Morning on Xylos-4 did not arrive with a bright sunrise. It arrived with a slow, creeping grey light and a torrential downpour.
The rain hammered against the massive canopy above. It sounded like a million tiny drums beating simultaneously. Small waterfalls began to pour off the giant leaves, creating muddy rivers down the rocky slope outside their hollow.
Jin woke up. He felt the damp chill in his bones.
He sat up and stretched his stiff muscles. He looked around. Luna was sitting near the entrance, watching the rain. Ren was already awake, nervously chewing on a hardtack biscuit.
"We wait out the heavy rain," Jin announced, tossing a dry ration block to Luna. "Moving through a mudslide is inefficient. We eat. We plan the route."
Ren swallowed hard, almost choking on his biscuit. He looked at Jin.
"Where are we going?" Ren asked. He pulled his knees up to his chest. "Shouldn't we just stay here? It's safe. We can hide for the rest of the week."
"Hiding generates zero returns," Jin replied flatly. He took a bite of his own tasteless ration block. "You have your catalyst, but you have no points. I have ten points, but that is merely the baseline. We need a higher score to guarantee better resources next semester. We are going deeper into the jungle."
Ren's face went pale. "Deeper? But... but the instructors said there are apex predators out there. Level 8s and 9s. I am only Level 4. I will die."
"You are luggage," Jin reminded him. "Luggage does not fight. Luggage carries supplies and acts as a distraction when required."
Ren did not look comforted by that description. He rubbed the bump on his head where he had hit the rock the day before.
"My alligator is still sleeping," Ren mumbled, touching his forehead. "I can feel it absorbing my Aether to stabilize its growth. But it won't hatch for days. I am completely useless right now."
"You are not useless," Jin said. He swallowed his dry food and took a drink of water. "You are bait."
Ren's eyes widened in sheer panic. "Bait?!"
"It is a highly effective tactical maneuver," Jin explained calmly, as if discussing accounting ledgers. "You will walk ten paces ahead of us. You are weak, loud, and smell like fear. Predators will naturally target you. When they lunge for the easy meal, Luna and I will strike them from the blind spots. It is a perfect trap."
Ren stared at him in horror. He looked at Luna for support. Luna simply nodded in agreement with Jin's logic.
"I am going to get eaten," Ren whispered, burying his face in his hands.
"You will not get eaten," Jin corrected him. "We cannot collect points if the beast eats the bait. We will kill it before it reaches you. Probably."
The rain began to slow down outside, turning from a heavy downpour into a steady, annoying drizzle. The grey light in the jungle grew slightly brighter.
"The weather is clearing," Jin said. He stood up and brushed the dry leaves off his dark leather pants. He checked the straps on his armor. "Pack your gear. The hunt resumes."
They left the safety of the root hollow. Jin deactivated the Kinetic Protection rune and tucked the slate stone back into his spatial pouch to conserve its limited power.
They climbed down the slippery, wet rocks and re-entered the thick, muddy jungle.
The rain had washed away the tracks from the previous day, but it had also washed away the scent of the dead alligator. The air smelled fresh, clean, and dangerous.
"Walk," Jin ordered, pointing a finger at Ren. "Ten paces ahead."
Ren let out a miserable sigh. He gripped his cheap, dull iron dagger tightly in his right hand. He stepped forward, his boots sinking into the fresh mud. He walked exactly ten paces ahead, looking around wildly at every dark shadow and dripping leaf.
Jin and Luna followed him closely. They moved silently, stepping precisely where Ren stepped to minimize their own noise.
They walked for an hour. The jungle grew denser. The massive ferns were replaced by thick, thorny vines that hung from the canopy like barbed wire.
Suddenly, Ren stopped.
He stood completely still, staring at a massive, rotting tree trunk blocking their path. He slowly raised his left hand and pointed a trembling finger at the wood.
Jin narrowed his eyes. He analyzed the target.
It was not a beast. It was a massive, dark red flower growing out of the rotting wood. The flower was the size of a wagon wheel. Its thick, fleshy petals pulsed slightly, as if they were breathing.
But that was not what made Ren stop.
Lying in the mud, directly beneath the massive flower, was a body.
It was a student from Section B. He was wearing the standard academy uniform. He was lying flat on his back, staring up at the dark canopy with wide, unblinking eyes. He was completely dead.
There was no blood. There were no claw marks on his armor. His body was entirely intact.
Jin raised a hand, signaling Luna to halt.
"Do not move closer," Jin commanded quietly.
Ren froze, terrified to take another step. "What killed him?" he whispered frantically. "There's no monster."
Jin looked at the massive red flower. He looked at the dead boy. He analyzed the variables. The boy had his sword drawn, but he had not swung it. He simply fell over and died.
"Environmental hazard," Jin stated. He pointed his falchion at the flower. "It is a Corpse Lotus. It does not bite. It releases an invisible, highly toxic neurotoxin into the air around it. The boy walked into the invisible cloud. His lungs paralyzed, and his heart stopped in seconds."
Ren backed away quickly, his boots sliding in the mud. He covered his mouth and nose with his hands.
"How do we pass it?" Luna asked, her grey eyes locked on the deadly plant.
"We don't," Jin replied. He turned around. "We are not equipped for chemical warfare. The return on investment is zero. We go around."
He calculated a wide detour. They moved away from the silent, deadly trap, leaving the dead boy behind in the mud.
The jungle was not just filled with teeth and claws. It was filled with poison, traps, and hidden hazards. The physical exam was brutal, and the casualty count had already begun.