The sun hung low in the sky, across the ragged horizon as the Fangs Clan charged forward.
Dust kicked up in their wake, a thunderous rhythm of hooves and snarls filling the silence of the surrounding hills.
Zane held on tight, his arms wrapped around the waist of the mysterious rider who hadn't uttered a single word since they set out. The wind tore past his ears, but it couldn't drown out the pounding of his heart.
They approached a ruin in the forest.
Up ahead, Kaia and her brothers raised their spear high. The warriors began to slow, coming to a stop at the edge of what looked like a ravaged outpost. Smoke coiled lazily from charred posts, and what once might have been a watchtower now lay in splinters, blackened and broken.
Blood of their warriors on guard stained the sand, still dark and wet in places.
Zane dismounted with effort, legs trembling from the ride. He surveyed the wreckage, his eyes catching symbols carved into the remains of a totem pole – jagged spirals and claw marks.
{System CORE reboot complete. Retrieving Experience data} .The announcement echoed, flat and emotionless.
"CORE?" Zane called out.
{Yes, Player One... I am now partially active.}
He glanced around at the carnage, unease crawling up his spine. "What happened here?"
{Scanning...}
A brief pause. Then:
{There was a massacre. Life clashed with death—death prevailed. No survivors detected.}
Kaia moved to one of the corpses, crouched low, and swiped her finger through the blood. She raised it to her nose, inhaling the metallic scent like a sommelier sampling fine wine.
"Scorch Vultures," she said grimly. "They were here."
The members began to scream and clash swords in anger.
Auricles arrived moments later, his blade already drawn, eyes scanning the perimeter.
Behind him came Astos, still wearing that tight-lipped scowl of distrust.
Zane tried not to flinch when Auricles walked past him. His figure as a leader was obvious.
A scout dropped to one knee before Auricles. "They didn't stay long. Took supplies. Burned the rest. Left signs of return."
Auricles scanned the arena slowly, his charcoal decorated face so focused it felt like he could detect the winds moving itself.
Zane leaned closer to Kaia, a hand drawn symbol lay before one of the ruins."Why would they bother with symbols?"
Kaia's gaze lingered on the black spiral painted in ash. "Vultures always leave a message."
Phewwwww…wwwww. A whistle cuts through the air. All heads turned towards the mountain hill up front.
From the ridge above, figures emerged. Thin silhouettes cloaked in the setting sun, their bodies adorned with cracked leather and smoldering embers embedded into their skin like living tattoos.
"Scorch Vultures," Kaia whispered. Her fingers tightened around her spear. The warriors became uneasy and angry.
Figures stepped forward. One of them, taller than the rest, lifted a charred banner.
"Fangs Clan," the figure called out in a hoarse, mocking voice, slowly advancing into light." You have trespassed on to our lands."
"Tomako," Auricles growled, his voice laced with fury.
"You disobey the laws, Auricles," Tomako—leader of the Claws—declared, his tone cold and resolute.
Zane watched the standoff with faint amusement. Physically, there was little difference between the Claws and the Fang Clan; only their coloring set them apart. The Fangs bore faint blue skin, the stronger warriors like Auricles marked with deep blue streaks across their bodies.
The Claws, by contrast, wore faint orange tones, their skin etched with red rune-like patterns that pulsed softly under the light.
As if he'd laid eyes on an abomination, Tomako drew his blade and dragged it across his palm. Blood dripped freely, soaking into the sand—directly toward Zane.
"You dare keep an unproven among your clan," he snarled.
"He shall prove his worth," Auricles replied without flinching.
"That unproven killed my Ashath," Tomako hissed. "Their strange blood stains my domain."
All eyes turned to Zane. Some looked on in awe—astonished he'd felled such a creature. Others glared, their expressions steeped in disdain.
"CORE…" Zane whispered under his breath. "What's an Ashath?"
{Translating…}
A brief pause, then:
{An Ashath is a tameable wild beast owned by various clans in this realm. Apparently, the beast all players fought during your first mission belonged to the enemy's preserved stock.}
Before the silence could settle, a sharp whistle split the air—then a spear flew like lightning, impaling a Fang warrior. Blood sprayed across his comrades before the body collapsed and dissolved into particles, scattered like ash on the wind.
Tomako and his warriors began to dance—brief, brutal movements that resembled celebration or provocation. Their laughter echoed, taunting and cruel, stoking the Fangs' fury.
Anger surged through the air like fire. Once still hands now gripped weapons. All eyes turned to Auricles, awaiting his word.
He spat into the sand.
His sword rested lightly across his palm, its curved edge glinting with purpose as he raised it once more toward Tomako.
"Blood for blood."
{System: New mission Alert :
Help the Fangs Clan gain Victory}
"What?" Zane exclaimed at his displayed HUD.
The clash happened all at once.
The Fangs moved like predators, swift and precise, while the Scorch Vultures known as the Claw Fangs descended with reckless heat, swinging blades that glowed faintly from the enchantments laced into them.
Some rode, some ran but the Fangs outmatch the Claws in numbers.
Zane dodged the first attacker by sheer instinct. A flaming dagger missed his chest by inches, searing a line through his sleeve.
He stumbled, rolled, then came up with the blade Kaia had given him, gripped tight.
"You are not a warrior," A Claw warrior sneered, a smile lingering on his face.
Zane didn't answer.
The fight was ugly, fast, and unpredictable. He blocked clumsily, his opponent jokingly attacking him.
Zane felt like prey. He hadn't killed someone like himself before. He could only dodge and use objects to defend himself.
Across from him, the warrior tilted his head. Just a sudden dash—a blur.
Zane barely raised his short blade in time, the clang of the clash vibrating through his bones.
{CORE: Combat interface is available. Reaction aid at 60%. Initiating predictive movement overlay.}
Zane's vision shimmered briefly as thin glowing lines suddenly traced the opponent's motion paths. He could see faint echoes of where the next strike would land.
"Finally," Zane muttered, voice hushed. "You're back."
{CORE: I never left. Just rebooted, they hit a strong connection during your capture. Unexpected but we're learning.}
Zane barely ducked a spinning kick. "Whats with this people, is this part of the simulation?"
{CORE: Unclear. Boundaries of Realm One are... anomalous. The Fangs clan are not NPCs. Not in the traditional sense. They're... learned, not scripted.}
The warrior came at him again, feinting left, then dropping low. Zane twisted awkwardly, slipped—then used the momentum to crash his shoulder into the warrior's ribs.
They both crashed on other warriors before scrambling for thruf weapons.
Zane's heart raced. These people fight like they're defending something real. They bleed. They argue. They hesitate. This isn't a mission. This is war.
He stumbled back, blade raised. The warrior stood too, rolling his neck with a grunt, then charged again—this time faster.
{CORE: Adjusting reflex acceleration. Attempt sidestep and undercut. Right—NOW.}
Zane obeyed. He twisted aside, let the sword whistle past his arm, and slammed his own blade flat against the back of the man's thigh.
The warrior dropped to one knee, stunned.
Zane didn't know what to do. Hit him the more? Kick him? He just stood there, panting.
Kaia stepped forward and darted her spear into the warrior before confused Zane could get ambushed. Her eyes glinted in the fading light.
Zane staggered back, breathing hard, staring at the body as it dropped—lifeless.
In a blur of motion, he seized Tomako's wrist mid-swing, halting the blade. With a roar, he lifted Tomako clean off the ground and hurled him into the sand like a broken weapon.
Dust exploded around the fallen leader.
Auricles stepped forward, towering over him. Their eyes locked—one filled with fury, the other with stunned defiance.
His gaze suddenly fell on Zane.
For the first time, the older brother didn't look at him like a problem. He looked at him like a potential answer.
Kaia fought with elegance, her axe singing through the air. She moved to Zane's side as another Claw member came in from behind.
"Behind you!" she shouted.
Zane ducked, barely avoiding a slash. Kaia's axe split the attacker down the center. Blood hit Zane's face.
He didn't even flinch.
"You're learning," Kaia muttered, advancing further.
Together they pushed through the melee, defending a group of younger Fangs warriors who had been cornered.
By the time the Vultures retreated, leaving behind a few of their dead and dragging the wounded, the sun had dipped below the hills.
Kaia wiped blood from her face as she turned to Zane, chest heaving.
"You didn't kill. You disabled."
Zane gave a nod, chest still rising and falling. "I've never killed."
"You killed an Ashath…" she whispered, her eyes narrowing. "Stare at death—and it will stare back."
Without hesitation, she took the blade and dashed it at Zane. His hands shot up, gripping the weapon instinctively, watching her walk off to assist the others.
A deeper voice rumbled from the crowd.
Auricles.
He stepped forward slowly. His hair was bound in heavy knots, face painted with black streaks.Built like a siege tower. His stare alone could slice, body laced in blood and heat that gave way to his build the more.
"Unproven," he said, approaching Zane, voice gravel and wind, "You fought without panic. You adapted. You saw weakness."
Zane swallowed. "I… guessed right."
A few warriors chuckled. Auricles didn't.
"You earn no stripes from a single clash. But I acknowledge your eyes. You saw what others didn't. You are not as soft as you look."
It was praise… maybe.
Kaia gave Zane a sideways glance that almost looked like pride. "He has much to learn, but he learns fast."
Zane exhaled slowly, allowing the tension to drain just slightly. But inside, his thoughts raced.
'This isn't a normal game. This world... it's rewriting its own rules. CORE just confirmed that. And Kaia, Auricles, even Astos—they're too real.'
He remembered the last message he received: "You have a new message."
{CORE: Message accessible. Do you wish to open now?}
"Yes," Zane whispered mentally.
{ Congratulations! You've unlocked a physical ability.
—ECHO STEP.
Click (View) to continue.}