Kelvin hit the forest floor hard.
For several seconds, he could not move.
His body felt as though it had been crushed beneath a mountain. Every breath sent pain through his ribs. His arms trembled. His vision blurred at the edges.
The black portal was gone.
So were the twelve cloaked figures.
So was the stranger.
Only the cold forest remained.
And his friends.
"Kelvin!"
Sofia was the first to reach him.
She dropped to her knees beside him, her hands glowing faintly with golden light.
"Don't move."
Kelvin tried to sit up.
"I can—"
"No."
Her voice cracked.
Kelvin stopped.
Lydia hurried over and placed both hands above his chest.
"Minor Heal."
Green light spread across his body.
Kelvin immediately felt warmth.
But the effect was weak.
Lydia's face tightened.
"Your injuries are too severe. My healing power isn't strong enough yet."
Kelvin looked at her.
"Then heal yourself first."
Lydia stared at him.
"What?"
"You're shaking."
Only then did she realize her hands were trembling.
Kelvin forced a smile.
"You were the one trapped in that formation. You should be resting."
Lydia's eyes became wet.
"You almost died."
Kelvin looked away.
"I didn't."
"You had eight HP!"
Michael said sharply.
Kelvin looked at him.
Michael's usual calm expression was gone.
John stood nearby, fists clenched.
Sofia's golden eyes were fixed on Kelvin.
None of them spoke.
Kelvin understood.
They had seen the System.
They had seen how close he had come to death.
And they were afraid.
Kelvin slowly pushed himself upright.
Pain exploded through his side.
He nearly fell again.
John caught his shoulder.
"Easy."
Kelvin looked at the four of them.
For the first time since awakening, he realized something.
These weren't simply the people he had grown up with.
They were his family.
And tonight, someone had tried to take them away.
Kelvin's hand tightened.
"I won't let that happen again."
Michael frowned.
"What?"
Kelvin looked toward the direction where the portal had disappeared.
"They said they'd use your souls next time."
Silence.
Sofia's expression hardened.
"Then we'll be ready."
Kelvin shook his head.
"No."
"Kelvin—"
"I was stronger than before, and they still defeated me."
He looked down at his hands.
"I couldn't even protect you without nearly dying."
John stepped forward.
"You protected us."
"Barely."
"You protected us."
John's voice was firm.
Kelvin looked at him.
John continued.
"If you hadn't come, we'd still be trapped."
Kelvin didn't answer.
Because John was right.
But that wasn't enough.
Survival wasn't enough.
Not anymore.
---
A faint sound came from the forest.
Everyone froze.
Kelvin immediately activated Soul Perception.
Nothing.
Then—
A branch snapped.
Michael's darkness gathered around his hand.
"Something's there."
John formed an ice blade.
Sofia raised her glowing palm.
Lydia moved behind them.
Kelvin struggled to stand.
"Wait."
His Soul Perception expanded.
Ten meters.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Nothing.
Forty.
Still nothing.
Then—
A tiny soul signature appeared.
Weak.
Very weak.
Moving toward them.
Kelvin narrowed his eyes.
"It's injured."
The group remained ready.
A small creature emerged from the bushes.
It was a fox-like magical beast.
Its body was covered in cuts.
One of its legs was injured.
John lowered his weapon.
"Just a beast."
Kelvin studied its soul.
There was something strange about it.
The creature's soul was flickering.
Not naturally.
It had been damaged.
Kelvin crouched.
"Come here."
The fox growled.
Kelvin didn't move.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
The beast hesitated.
Then slowly approached.
Lydia looked confused.
"How did you know it wouldn't attack?"
Kelvin didn't answer.
He wasn't sure himself.
He could feel something.
The creature's soul was afraid.
Not of them.
Of something else.
Kelvin placed his hand near its head.
The moment he touched it—
FLASH.
A vision struck him.
Black chains.
A laboratory.
White-robed figures.
The same symbol.
The Gate.
Then he saw dozens of magical beasts.
All of them were connected by black threads.
Their souls were being pulled toward a gigantic structure.
A voice echoed through the darkness.
"Soul energy extraction: 73%."
Kelvin's eyes widened.
Then the vision vanished.
He stumbled backward.
"Kelvin!"
Sofia caught him.
"What happened?"
Kelvin stared at the injured beast.
"They're experimenting on magical beasts."
Michael's expression darkened.
"Who?"
"The people behind the Gate."
A notification appeared.
[Hidden Information Detected.]
[Soul Perception has identified an external Soul Trace.]
[Trace origin: Unknown.]
[Connection detected.]
Kelvin's breathing stopped.
"What connection?"
The System remained silent.
Then another message appeared.
[Warning.]
[The Host is being observed.]
Kelvin immediately looked around.
The forest seemed empty.
But he could feel it.
Someone was watching.
Not from nearby.
From far away.
Very far away.
His Soul Perception stretched beyond its normal limit.
Fifty meters.
Sixty.
Seventy.
Eighty.
Pain stabbed through his head.
He pushed further.
Ninety.
A hundred.
His vision went black.
HP: 8/100
MANA: 2/100
He stopped immediately.
Sofia grabbed his arm.
"Don't!"
Kelvin breathed heavily.
"I felt someone."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Then the injured fox suddenly collapsed.
Lydia rushed toward it.
But Kelvin raised a hand.
"Wait."
He could feel its soul fading.
The beast wasn't dying from its physical wound.
Something had been attached to its soul.
A tiny black mark.
The same symbol.
Kelvin's eyes narrowed.
"It's a tracker."
Michael stepped backward.
"Meaning?"
"They can find us through it."
Everyone became silent.
Kelvin looked toward the injured creature.
Then at his friends.
"They didn't just attack us."
He remembered the cloaked stranger's words.
Your friends will be the next test.
Kelvin's stomach tightened.
"They wanted to see what I would do."
John's expression changed.
"They were testing you?"
"Yes."
"And they knew you'd come."
Kelvin nodded.
"They were watching us before we entered the forest."
Sofia's fists clenched.
"So what do we do?"
Kelvin looked at the black mark on the fox's soul.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he reached toward it.
The System appeared.
[Soul Mark detected.]
[Foreign Soul Signature.]
[Removal possible.]
[Warning: Incorrect removal may destroy the host soul.]
Kelvin swallowed.
His remaining Mana was almost gone.
But if he left the mark—
They would find them again.
He closed his eyes.
"I'll remove it."
Lydia grabbed his wrist.
"Kelvin, you're exhausted."
"If I don't, they'll keep tracking us."
"Then we take it back to the Academy."
Kelvin shook his head.
"What if the Academy is already being watched?"
Nobody answered.
Because they all remembered Headmaster Adrian's warning.
The Soul was forbidden.
And someone had already infiltrated the city.
Kelvin placed two fingers above the fox's head.
His Soul Perception entered the creature.
The world disappeared.
He found the black mark.
It was attached to the creature's soul like a parasite.
Kelvin carefully wrapped his Soul Thread around it.
The moment he pulled—
Pain exploded through his head.
HP: 7/100
Kelvin gritted his teeth.
He pulled again.
HP: 6/100
The mark resisted.
It wasn't simply a tracker.
It was connected to something else.
Something enormous.
Kelvin felt a presence on the other end.
Ancient.
Cold.
Hungry.
His Soul Thread began to tremble.
Then a voice came through the connection.
"Found you."
Kelvin froze.
The voice wasn't the stranger's.
It was deeper.
Older.
And impossibly calm.
"Child of the Soul."
Kelvin's blood ran cold.
The presence pulled on the Soul Thread.
Kelvin nearly lost consciousness.
"No!"
He tightened his grip.
His Soul Power surged.
The black mark cracked.
The voice became louder.
"You cannot hide from the Gate."
Kelvin screamed and pulled with everything he had.
CRACK!
The mark shattered.
The connection disappeared.
Kelvin collapsed.
Lydia caught him before his head struck the ground.
The fox breathed again.
The black symbol was gone.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then the System appeared.
[Foreign Soul Mark successfully removed.]
[Host has gained experience.]
[50 EP obtained.]
[Soul Perception proficiency increased.]
[New skill condition detected.]
Kelvin's eyes opened slightly.
A new notification appeared.
[Skill evolution condition partially fulfilled.]
Soul Perception → Soul Sight
Requirements: Unknown
Kelvin stared at the message.
Soul Sight.
The name alone made his heart beat faster.
But there was no time to celebrate.
A distant roar shook the forest.
Then another.
Then another.
The trees trembled.
John stood.
"That's not one beast."
Michael looked toward the darkness.
"How many?"
Kelvin activated Soul Perception.
His expression changed.
"Dozens."
Sofia raised her hand.
"Coming toward us?"
Kelvin shook his head.
"No."
He looked toward the distant city.
"They're heading toward Valoria."
The four friends exchanged looks.
A second later, the city alarm began ringing.
WOOOOOOOOOO!
Red lights appeared beyond the trees.
Then another notification appeared.
[WARNING.]
[Large-scale magical beast movement detected.]
[Estimated beasts: 70+]
[Highest detected rank: D.]
Kelvin's heart sank.
A D Rank beast was already dangerous to a Level 2 F Rank awakened.
Seventy of them—
That was a disaster.
Sofia looked at Kelvin.
"What do we do?"
Kelvin stared toward Valoria.
His body was broken.
His Mana was nearly empty.
His friends were exhausted.
And somewhere in the darkness, something far more powerful was watching them.
He clenched his fist.
"We go back."
John nodded.
"But we can't fight like this."
Kelvin looked at him.
"We don't have to win."
Michael frowned.
"Then what?"
Kelvin looked toward the city.
"We survive."
The four friends began running.
Behind them, deep within the forest, something opened its eyes.
A massive soul.
Far stronger than the beasts approaching Valoria.
A voice whispered through the trees.
"The first bond has formed."
A pause.
Then—
"Now let us see how many bonds the Soul can protect."
The darkness smiled.
And the Beast Tide began.