The convoy had continued its trudge through the thick muddy forest, growing ever more muddy with roots starting to hinder effective footing on the ground. It had been a couple of hours since the rest from the giant tree.

Gale saw a child at the front almost trip before being pulled up by her mom. Most of the elderly had taken up sturdy sticks to use as walking sticks.

“Cap’n,” Ollie came down from the front. “We kinda need to talk.”

“What?” Gale asked.

Ollie glanced at the convoy, eyes lingering on the movements of the elderly and the children. It was clear what he wanted to say.

“People are about to break, you’re seeing that right?” Ollie said. “We’ve been pushing hard, and I get why, but… they need rest. Even just for a bit.”

Ollie was right. The convoy could drop at any moment. But what if that’s what the shadow wanted? A brief moment of respite again to make everyone more paranoid rather than focusing on their physical exhaustion. Even Rachel looked worn down from the push.

Rachel approached next, coming from the front. Her usual smile, which she kept up as an image to the mundanes, was replaced by exhaustion clear on the sweat around her temples.

“He’s right,” she said. “I hate to admit it, but even I’m feeling the strain. We can’t keep going like this.”

Gale clenched his teeth. Pushing them any further would be reckless. Even a small pebble could throw off the balance on those walking sticks they used.

“Alright,” he said finally. “We’ll take a break. But not for long. We’re still too exposed out here.”

The word spread down the convoy, and an audible sigh was heard throughout, like a ripple. People set up their places, settling down where they stood. Others leaned against the giant trees and roots, whatever they could find to get some minute rest.

They were giving exactly what the shadow wanted. Gale knew he was right.

Annett remained on high alert, her eyes darting from shadow to shadow.

“I keep seeing something move,” she muttered. “It’s quick, but it’s there.”

The shadow started to move. Even he could see and hear the murmurs around the convoy starting to point out again the shadow in the thickets and trees all around.

Gale took a deep breath. There must be something that could solve this. Life didn’t just give him impossible puzzles that had no answer. All of them came from his abilities.

Phase Touch evolved into a devastation penetration power from the forest predator. Alter evolved with needing to fight against a predator that predicted his own moves. Phase Touch again evolved to coat an edge after he got the sabre and had to kill a stronger predator. Distort evolved during the tide of beasts on the giant tree. What about Breath of the Void? It had its own level.

…

Name: Gale Hathie

Race: Dainv

Core Class: Awakened

Core Density: 8.4/12

Core Attributes: [

Max Load: 15

Efficiency: 4

Essence: 84/100

]

Skills:

[Phase Touch Lv.3][Alter Lv.2][Distort Lv.2]

Passives:

[Breath of the Void Lv.1]

…

It only made sense.

The issue with the specific skill is he didn’t even know how it worked or if it’s even possible to explain. It was as if the thing fed him information of the surroundings beyond his own senses that was not exactly the same as his own 5 senses. As if a different world breathed using him as the exit, as a window. It cast a web of tendrils around him, similar to how a spider sensed vibrations through its webs. It told the spider that something had touched it in a specific area.

The idea took root, refusing to let go. If the Breath gave him information about what it touched, what about the things it couldn’t touch? The gaps, the blank spaces the things in between that he could not get through. Could they hold the key?

Taking a deep breath, Gale focused his essence into the Breath of the Void. He pushed it outward, not just sensing what was there, but actively forcing the tendrils to look for what wasn’t. For the holes in his perception, the blind spots that shouldn’t exist.

At first, there was nothing. Just the familiar sensations of the forest around him. But then, as he concentrated harder, he began to notice… something. Not a presence, but an absence. A shadow where there should be substance.

A notification appeared in his mind:

[Your Breath of the Void increases in proficiency.]

In that instant, everything shifted. The world around him changed, sharper, more vivid.

At the edge of the tendrils of his breath was where he saw it.

A slight tremble of movement in the forced nothingness, a paradoxical shadow that shouldn’t exist.

Gale sprang into action as quickly as he saw the shadow. He lunged, feet barely touching the ground, giving chase to the non-sensical shadow. However, the shadow moved gracefully like liquid, and to his surprise, faster than him.

“Gale!” Rachel shouted. But he was already too far gone, his focus entirely on the fleeing figure.

The chase was unlike anything Gale had experienced before. It was surreal as the shadow merged and floated, blending and mixing in with the natural darkness of the forest.

It was fast.

Faster than anything he’s chased so far. Gale kept dashing and dashing, using the trunks of trees to launch himself closer. He found himself pushing himself to the limit, both muscles and lungs burning at the output he was putting them through. All he could do was keep the shadow in his sight, not even getting any strikes in.

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Gale cut through shortcuts, this time predicting the path of the shadow. After what felt like an eternity, he managed to close the gap. He reached out, his fingers grazing against the shadow’s cloak.

The figure turned to meet his reach.

Up and down inverted. A dizziness spell hit him, almost making him trip just from staring at the entity directly. The shadow shifted, wavered, and turned into fleeting smoke as it passed through the trunk of a tree onto the other side. Its movements too fluid as if it was literally just a silhouette of a shadow.

The thing struck before he could even react. Quick and sudden, its movements were unpredictable and hidden by the shadows blocking his line of sight. Now it was in front of him, now it had vanished, and the next thing he knew, it was at his side.

Gale defended as best he could, but he was already off balance from the sudden strike. His body felt like it was caught between the physical and something else that he didn’t exactly know.

He swung at the shadow, trying to fight back against its strikes, but his sabre only went through empty air. Each strike was met with just a touch of the shadow’s cloak, always just out of reach from the tip of his sabre.

This had to be a scout from Blue Haven, but with abilities unlike anything he’d encountered before. The way it could hide its presence, even from his Breath of the Void, was terrifying. No wonder the convoy had been so on edge. Maybe something similar happened when the group encountered Annett, an unknown variable that could overpower any normal human.

Fuck. He didn’t know enough. Not even the books he read could give him an insight in how this whole mystical world worked.

Gale struck again. Missed just by a hair’s length. The shadow threw two daggers at him. He dodged with a backflip. A foot slammed him down to the floor, but not before he could counter with his own blade to the neck of the shadow.

The deadly dance of shadow against predator continued, and clearly the predator was outmatched as a dagger whistled, slicing a thin line of red on his cheek.

He felt his stamina depleting. All of his strength was wasted on the chase. His muscles and lungs burned, and he tried to fight off the dizzy spell to concentrate on the fight.

“Gale!” Rachel shouted, running through the forest to the scene. The scout’s head snapped toward the sound.

Chance!

Gale lunged forward. Bone sabre swung upwards. His blade passed through what felt like liquid as the shadow melted into the shadows, leaving him only striking at wood.

He spun around, eyes searching desperately for any sign of the shadowy figure. But it was already gone. The surrounding environment also held no visible signs of conflict. It was as if he imagined the whole fight. The only evidence was his ragged breathing and the cuts and bruises all over his body.

The adrenaline began to fade. Approaching footsteps and the rustle of leaves became louder as his hearing came back to him. Rachel burst into the clearing with Ollie and Annett close by, all of them ready for a fight.

“What happened?” Rachel’s gaze swept the area. “We saw you chasing something.”

“I chased the shadow. Didn’t get him,” Gale said as he chased his breath.

Gale leaned against a giant protruding root, his chest heaving heavily as he tried to catch his breath.

“It was… weird,” Gale wiped a sweat from his brow. “The shadow disappeared and appeared. It felt like… like a shadow? It was fluid and not there at the same time. I don’t know….”

“What do you mean, not there?” Rachel asked.

Gale shook his head. “It’s hard to explain. It was definitely a shadow…. He was there, then he vanishes then I see him somewhere else. I just kept whiffing at air.”

Ollie whistled low. “Sounds like one hell of a fighter. Any idea what kind of abilities we’re dealing with here?”

Gale turned to the group, his eyes searching theirs, hoping that one of them had any idea.

“I… I might know something,” Annet said hesitantly. All eyes turned to her, and she shifted uncomfortably.

“Back in the United Knights, there were rumours about a special type of school of magic called Shadow Arts.”

Gale leaned forward.

Annett took a deep breath.

“It’s not something that’s widely known. Uh… the Shadow Arts are part of my faction’s arsenal. They’re really secretive about it. Only a select few are ever chosen to learn them.”

“What exactly can Shadow Arts do?” Rachel asked.

“From what I heard,” Annett continued, “they’re primarily used for assassination and scouting. The practitioners can blend with shadows, move almost invisibly, and strike from unexpected angles. Very hard to kill too. It sounds a lot like what Gale described.”

“Hold up a second,” Ollie said. “If this shadow ninja is part of your faction, why aren’t they on our side? Shouldn’t they be helping us instead of stalking us through the forest?”

Of course they didn’t know. They didn’t eavesdrop around in Blue Haven.

“Because they probably have been here for longer than any of us,” Gale said. “I saw and heard 3 of them talking. Three of them called Marcus, Drew, and you guys already know Elliot. If they’ve been here for longer, they could be all in on it to stay in this world.”

Rachel covered her mouth with a hand. “They used them to maintain control over the village. To eliminate any threats or dissent.”

“Exactly,” Gale said. “And now they’re targeting us.”

“Is there any way to counter it?” Ollie asked. “I’d rather not spend the rest of this journey jumping at my own shadow when it’s already dark enough.”

Annett bit her lip, “there was one thing I remember hearing. It’s said that any strong light source can weaken their abilities. It disrupts their connection to the shadows. It makes it harder for them to move and hide.”

“Rachel,” Gale turned to her, “could you create a sustained light source?”

Rachel held up her palm, creating a small but bright fire on it. “I think so, yes. But making it bigger and maintaining it for long periods is draining.”

“We’ll have to be strategic about it,” Gale said. “Use it when we need to rest or when we suspect the shadow is near.”

“And one more thing…” Annett pursed her lips. “Rumour has it that the minimum requirement for it is being an Attuned.”

“Oh fuck no!” Ollie shouted. “We’re all dead if he comes at us seriously. Fuck!”

Gale tilted his head at Ollie’s outburst. What’s the big deal? “What?”

Ollie sighed. “I just… I can’t wrap my head around it, man. You sure you never been part of Aur before, and you’re so damn strong? It doesn’t make sense.”

Gale glanced at Rachel, but not turning his head. He saw her seemingly also not understand, the same face of Ollie questioningly looking at him.

Ollie let out one small bitter laugh, “you don’t get it. There’s a hierarchy, or at least we thought we did.”

“What?” Gale said again.

“Alright, look. In Aur, we have Qi, Ether, Mana, whatever you wanna call it, it’s the same shit. And depending on the density of that, people are classified as Awakened, Attuned, Resonant, Harmonic, Mystic, and then lastly, Arcane,” Ollie said. “Right now, the highest level any human has reached is Transcendent, but that guy died. The strongest people alive right now are Arcane. We call that group the Arcanes. Creative name, but for people in Aur, it fits the bill.”

Gale nodded slowly. “And where do we fit into this hierarchy?”

“That’s the thing. Rachel, Annett, and I? We’re all just Awakened. Heck, I literally just graduated my trainee status a month before all of this happened! But you…” Ollie trailed off.

“What about me?” Gale asked.

“You’re different,” Ollie said. “The way you fight, the things you can do… it’s not normal for an Awakened. Hell, it’s not normal for anyone I’ve ever seen. None of the things you do are at any school of practice that I know of.”

Rachel stepped forward. “Ollie’s right, Gale. The abilities you’ve displayed… they’re beyond what any of us can do. But now, we’re facing an Attuned.”

“An Attuned practitioner can kill about five Awakened on their own in a fair fight,” Annett said. “Their mana quality is vastly different from ours. They can use their skills with more ease and do things that might seem even impossible in our eyes.”

5 on 1 in a fair fight. Right now, there are four of them. There was still a chance, although slight. Giving up was never his forte. Not even against that first forest beast he fought, and definitely not against any bully.

“And it’s not just humans we need to worry about,” Ollie continued. “There’s a hierarchy for monsters too. It goes from Awakened, Tainted, Defiled, Corrupted, Pestilent, and Blighted. Everything starts from beingawakened.”

“That thing we fought at the giant tree? That was a Tainted.” Ollie’s eyes narrowed. “We were lucky. The terrain gave us an advantage. In an open field, that thing would have ripped us all to shreds.”

“That shadow that kept following us could’ve killed all of us if he wanted to,” Rachel said softly. “We’re out of our depth here.”

Annett fidgeted with her hands. “The minimum requirements for shadow arts is Attuned, so… we’re dealing against the impossible.”

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