Zander moved through the outer streets of Nexus Arcadia beneath the orange hue of a settling day. The city pulsed with the rhythm of trade and innovation — air trams gliding silently above, drones carrying parcels, vendors calling out from stalls lined with tools and gear. The smell of engine oil mingled with roasted grains from nearby food kiosks. He carried a small list on his wristband — a checklist of supplies for the days to come.
After weeks of planning, he and Aethros had finally chosen a place to live and train outside the city's regulated perimeter — close to the volcanic plains, where natural energy fields were strong and unpredictable. It was dangerous, yes, but it was perfect for them. There, away from the static hum of civilization, they could grow stronger without interruption.
He made his way into a sleek supply depot where metallic shelves shimmered with equipment tagged in floating holograms. A smiling attendant greeted him through a translucent counter.
"Looking for wilderness-grade gear?" she asked, scanning his worn jacket and the faint dust on his boots.
"Something that'll hold up against the elements," he said. "And light enough for travel."
She nodded and gestured toward the back aisles. "You'll want the AuroraLine kits. Compact, self-inflating, and temperature adaptive. You can survive in volcanic zones, cryogenic fields, or deep forest humidity."
Zander tested one of the high-tech tents. The capsule unfolded automatically, forming a sleek metallic dome no taller than his chest. Its surface shimmered like liquid glass, and a built-in AI voice announced: "Environmental sync initializing. Temperature control active."
He smiled faintly. "That'll do."
He added a thermal pot, a foldable cook unit, an inflatable mattress with an energy layer for back support, and a compact light drone. Each item vanished into his inventory module as the vendor packed the digital receipt.
By the time he stepped out, the sun had sunk below the rim of the city's upper platforms, and the streetlights flickered to life. Zander felt a quiet satisfaction. These weren't just tools — they were symbols of self-sufficiency. He was building a life outside the city, a step closer to mastering both survival and strategy.
Back at the small outpost that he and Aethros called home — a cave reinforced with tech panels and old stone — the air felt unusually silent. He placed the capsule gear down by the entrance and looked around. The cave was empty.
He frowned. Aethros was usually near the entrance when he returned, waiting, tail flicking with restless energy.
"Aethros?" he called, setting his bag down. His voice echoed softly.
There was no response.
He exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "Probably hunting," he murmured to himself. The plains offered plenty of prey — reptilian beasts, gliders, or mineral-fed creatures that roamed near magma vents. Aethros often vanished for hours at a time when his instincts took over.
Zander shrugged it off and moved to the open space near the back of the cave. He activated a small training field — a circle of light marking the ground. The moment it flickered to life, the air pressure shifted, and he began to move through his stances — quiet, focused, rhythmic. His breathing synced with his body, his energy flowing through his senses.
Each strike released a faint ripple in the air, bending dust motes around his hands. He could feel his senses aligning — sight, hearing, and something deeper, like an awareness of space itself. He was learning to feel motion before it happened.
Time slipped by unnoticed.
When he finally stopped, the cave was darker, the night deep outside. He glanced toward the entrance. Still no Aethros.
A slight unease settled in his chest. He picked up a piece of stone and whistled — a sharp, rising tone. It was a call they had established weeks ago — a sound Aethros could detect across kilometers, distinct from ambient noise.
The echo faded. Silence.
Zander waited. A minute. Two. Five. Nothing.
Now the unease sharpened. He tapped his wrist module, summoning one of the small scout drones — a sphere no larger than his palm, gifted by Sensei before they had left the temple. The drone hummed to life, its lens blinking blue.
"Search for Aethros," Zander commanded softly. "Scan the surrounding five-kilometer radius. Priority pattern: heat and movement signatures."
The drone acknowledged with a pulse of light and zipped out through the cave's opening. Zander followed its path until it vanished into the shadows.
He sat down, waited. Ten minutes passed. His foot tapped against the floor.
Then — nothing. No signal return.
He felt a pulse of worry now. "What's going on out there?"
He stood, walking toward the exit. The air outside was cold, tinged with sulfur from the distant volcanic plains. His instincts stirred — that same subtle pressure behind his eyes when danger lurked nearby. He closed them briefly and reached out with his senses.
He felt the hum of the city far away — millions of energy threads overlapping in the distance. But out here, the field was thinner, quieter. Through it, he sensed vibrations — distant tremors, echoes of movement. A flicker of something powerful.
Suddenly, his wrist module blinked. The drone's signal had reconnected.
A live feed appeared — grainy but clear enough to reveal the scene: Aethros locked in combat with several large, tusked creatures. Massive, shaggy forms — Daedons, mutated from old Earth species but now adapted to the volcanic environment. Their hides glowed faintly from absorbed geothermal energy, and steam rose as they clashed with Aethros.
Zander's pulse quickened.
"Idiot," he muttered, though the concern in his tone betrayed the word.
He didn't waste another second. He grabbed his swords, clipped them to his back, and rushed to the bike resting near the rocks — a hover-cycle built from salvaged tech. It roared to life with a deep, humming note, its underside glowing blue.
Zander swung onto it, kicked off, and shot across the plain. The landscape blurred beneath him — ridges of black volcanic stone, streams of orange light seeping from cracks. The air shimmered with heat.
The drone guided him, its signal pinging coordinates directly into his display.
He approached the volcanic zone within minutes. Steam hissed up from fissures, and molten veins traced glowing lines across the terrain. Ahead, he saw flashes — bursts of light and sound.
He accelerated, the hover-cycle gliding over molten rock until he saw Aethros.
The beast stood in the midst of chaos — his black-scaled body marked with glowing streaks of gold from the energy he absorbed. Three Daedons circled him, their tusks clashing against his hardened skin. One lunged, and Aethros slammed it aside with his tail, but another rammed him from the side, knocking him backward.
"Aethros!" Zander yelled, jumping off the bike before it fully stopped.
He landed on one knee, blades already drawn, the metallic hum of his weapons slicing through the noise. Without hesitation, he sprinted forward.
One of the Daedons turned toward him, roaring, steam pouring from its nostrils. Zander pivoted low, sliding beneath its swipe, and drove one blade into the joint of its foreleg. It stumbled, and before it could recover, he twisted the blade upward, cutting through its neck. The creature fell with a thundering crash.
Aethros, now regaining his balance, roared — the sound rippling through the molten air. He lunged at another Daedon, biting into its shoulder and tossing it aside like a rag doll. The third turned to flee, but Zander leaped high, propelled by his augmented boots, and struck it mid-turn — both swords cutting across its back.
The beast fell, sliding into the ash.
Silence followed, broken only by the hiss of cooling magma.
Zander lowered his blades, breathing hard, the heat pressing against his skin. He turned toward Aethros. The creature's chest heaved with each breath, his golden eyes burning.
Zander walked closer, but Aethros suddenly stepped back. His scales bristled, his body tensing.
"Aethros," Zander said calmly, wiping his blade on the ash. "You're hurt."
Aethros growled low — not in pain, but something else. His gaze fixed on Zander with an intensity that felt different this time — not gratitude, not even acknowledgment. It was fury.
Zander froze, realizing.
He had interfered. He had helped.
For Aethros — descendant of a royal beast line, born to command, born to conquer — that was humiliation. His pride had been cut deeper than any wound.
The air thickened. Aethros's wings flared slightly, molten light reflecting off the edges.
Zander's senses flared, instinctively reading the tension in the creature's energy. There was confusion under the anger — hurt pride, yes, but also a cry for recognition.
"Aethros…" he began softly, stepping closer. "I wasn't trying to—"
A deep rumble rolled through Aethros's chest. His pupils narrowed. Then he roared.
The sound shattered the night — a raw, primal thunder that echoed across the volcanic plain. Steam exploded from fissures as if the land itself trembled in response.
Zander stood motionless. The roar hit him like a wall of force, dust swirling around his boots. He didn't raise his blades. He didn't step back. He understood what this was — not an attack, but defiance. Aethros declaring his dominance, demanding to be seen as an equal — not a pet, not a partner in need of saving, but an alpha of his own.
When the echo finally died, the silence that followed was deafening.
Aethros's breathing slowed, his golden eyes still burning, his claws digging into the ash.
Zander met his gaze, calm but resolute. "You're strong," he said quietly, his voice steady. "And you will become stronger. But so will I."
For a moment, the beast didn't move. Then, with a snarl, Aethros turned away, beating his wings once to scatter dust, and stalked off into the steam.
Zander stood there, ash clinging to his jacket, the molten glow painting his face in shades of orange and red. He didn't chase after him. He simply watched until the creature's silhouette vanished into the haze.
Only then did he exhale.
He sheathed his blades, the faint sound echoing softly in the empty plain. His mind replayed the moment — the roar, the look in Aethros's eyes. It wasn't hatred. It was something older. A battle of wills, a demand for balance.
He looked up at the sky. Beyond the haze of heat and cloud, faint stars shimmered — fragments of the same cosmos he dreamed of exploring.
"One day," he whispered. "We'll both reach the stars. But not like this."
The wind carried the words away, lost in the crackling earth.
He turned back toward his hover-bike, the hum of its core lighting up again. As he mounted it, his gaze drifted to the horizon — the direction Aethros had gone.
He smiled faintly. "We'll figure it out," he said under his breath. "We always do."
The bike lifted from the ground, engines glowing against the darkness, and Zander rode off into the steaming wilderness — a lone figure framed by fire and shadow.
Above, the volcanic clouds shifted, revealing a brief glimpse of the stars — as if the universe itself watched silently, waiting for the day when both Zander and Aethros would truly be ready to rise together.