The sun hung low over the training academy, casting long shadows across cracked pavement where two figures waited near the gates duffel bags at their feet, matching uniforms catching the breeze.
Kovan Grimm shifted his weight, chestnut hair sticking out in every direction, like it refused to behave.
"This is it," he grinned, elbowing the quieter figure beside him. "Our first step into real hunter life. Been waiting for this since I was ten."
Bren stood still, hands in pockets. The strange vibration that had haunted him since the assessment, the warped pressure in his chest—was gone. No warning surges. No phantom heat. Just… normal.
He should have felt relief. Instead, the silence inside him felt wrong. Like a room that once hummed with electricity had suddenly gone dead. Not peaceful—empty.
"Don't you feel it?" Kovan glanced sideways. "That charge in the air? Like something big's coming?"
Bren gave a noncommittal nod.
Kovan studied him, then clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. You might feel off now, but I saw what happened back there. You're rare, man. Maybe you're a plus rank—those ones who skip the ladder and rocket up."
Bren frowned. "Plus rank?"
"Yeah. People born with some edge the system can't measure. They start at any rank, but usually with a plus. You've got that vibe."
Before Bren could respond, the low growl of an engine rolled in.
A sleek matte-black Jeep turned the corner, tinted windows gleaming. It stopped in front of them. An aide in a sharp black coat stepped out and opened the rear door without a word.
The man's presence was colder than the air—a military posture, sharp eyes, unreadable expression.
Kovan didn't hesitate. "Here we go!" He slung his bag over his shoulder and slid inside.
Bren lingered, eyeing the dark interior like it might swallow him whole, then climbed in.
The ride took them away from the city's steel bones and into untamed green. The jeep rolled along narrowing roads, dense forest rising on either side—pine, ash, and moss-draped oaks.
Birdsong broke the silence here and there. Rays of sunlight flickered on the dashboard through the canopy.
Eventually, the trees opened into a clearing. Cabins dotted the landscape—dark wood and stone, steep roofs weighed with age and snow. Mana lights flickered softly along twisting paths, casting a pale, otherworldly glow.
Forest Vale Guild Headquarters.
Not a guild, it was a hunter's village lost to time.
Kovan pressed his face to the window. "No way. This place looks like a legend."
They pulled up near a main cabin with silver runes carved into its beams. Another aide stepped out to greet them and gestured toward two smaller cabins nearby.
"This way. You'll be housed here during initiation."
The aide led Kovan inside his room. The door swung open to reveal something out of a mountain resort... wooden furniture, soft linens, and a small mana stone lamp glowing blue.
Bren was next.
When the aide opened his cabin, he froze.
Where Kovan's room was rustic and cosy, this was sharp. Clean. A desk sat near the window, stacked with three worn books. Strange markings lined the walls wards, maybe. Or something older.
The air had weight. Not oppressive. Just… aware.
He stepped inside slowly, drawn to the books.
"Silas instructed these be left for you," the aide said quietly. "He believes they may offer… perspective."
Bren's fingers brushed the covers.
Angelology.
Demonology.
Field Journal: Silas Vale.
His breath caught.
The third book wasn't printed. It was handwritten—ink smudges, margin notes, sketches of glyphs and sigils. It pulsed with something private. Dangerous.
A message. A trail left for him by someone who guessed what he might become.
He turned to the aide. "Why me?"
The man shrugged. "Silas doesn't explain his decisions."
Bren nodded slowly, mind already spiralling.
Later that evening, both stepped from their cabins simultaneously, paths converging like fate.
"Got the feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," Kovan joked. "I found mana stones in my closet. What about you?"
"Books," Bren said, still absorbing everything.
Kovan blinked. "What kind of books?"
"Angelology. Demonology. Silas's journal."
Kovan whistled low. "Okay, that's not normal."
Suddenly, an aide sprinted down the path, coat flaring like wings, not even glancing at them.
Before Kovan could react, another aide intercepted them.
"You two. Silas's office. Now."
The main hall of Forest Vale felt like a cathedral in the woods, vaulted ceilings, wooden beams reinforced with mana-wrought steel, walls lined with ancient weapons sealed behind enchanted glass.
They climbed a narrow staircase to a quiet corridor. The door at the end was plain, unmarked. The aide knocked once, waited for a muffled voice, then pushed it open.
Silas stood framed by the open window, twilight pouring in, half his face in shadow.
He turned slowly.
"Sit."
They obeyed.
Bren sat stiffly; Kovan fought the urge to bounce.
Silas's eyes found Bren first. "Have the books sparked anything?"
Bren hesitated. "I haven't had time to read them yet."
"You'll make time." His tone was final, not harsh.
He looked at them both.
"You've been selected not for where you are now, but for what you might become. Forest Vale does not recruit carelessly."
Kovan leaned forward. "We won't let you down."
"No. You won't."
Silas stepped around the desk, boots silent on wood. Kovan stood awkwardly.
"The trials begin tomorrow. Physical. Magical. Mental. You'll be ranked against your peers, pushed beyond your limits."
His gaze locked on Bren.
"And some of you will be measured against yourselves."
The air thickened.
Bren felt it again...
That pulse.
Like his bones remembered something he didn't.
Like something stirred just beneath the surface.
Silas stepped closer. "You don't know who you are yet. But you will. Read the journal. Memorise the runes. When the time comes, it may be the only thing that keeps you alive."
Bren swallowed hard. "What am I?"
Silas's expression didn't change, but his voice dropped to a whisper.
"Something the world hasn't seen in a long time.
SYSTEM UPDATE:
New Objective: Prepare for initiation trials starting tomorrow. Study the provided materials carefully.
Your survival and rank depend on it.