Zeke and his new crew weren't running anymore, there was no fantic screaming or the sounds of fighting, no escaping from monsters.
They walked slowly instead, his breaths steady, the soil soft beneath his boots. The morning mist still clung to the forest floor, thin beams of light cutting through the canopy above. For the first time in what felt like days, he had a chance to actually see its beauty.
It was breathtaking.
The trees here reached the sky a clear sign that they were ancient, their bark engraved with delicate moss-like etchings. Little balls of light floated lazily through the the trees, moving around branches at different speeds as if they were playing. They shimmered in hues of soft green and blue, glowing gently like candle flames swaying with an invisible breeze. Zeke paused, his eyes wide, as one of them floated by his shoulder.
"What are those..." Darius whispered.
Mira's voice was soft with wonder. "I've read about these in my family's library."
The group paused, all of them reaching slowly toward one of the floating lights. "They're low-level elemental spirits. Not intelligent, though not quite like the beasts we've been seeing either-something in between. They respond to mana and if you make a contract with one, even emotion."
Zeke reached out as one of the orbs hovered near him. It twitched, then spun in a delighted loop, making a sound like a child's giggle carried on the wind. A pure, innocent laugh, untouched by the evils of this world. When was the last time he laughed like this? Also, Why was he asking himself these weird questions? At this point Zeke felt like he was going crazy, but he still had things to do and people to find so he shoved it all down.
The contrast was startling. Just moments ago, they'd been running from monsters, fighting for breath, flirting with the line between life and death.
Now? They were standing in a clearing full of floating spirits, their soft glow painting streaks of color across the leaves, casting a breathtaking rainbow coloured show on the canopy.
"They seem kind of... happy?" Darius murmured, "Are these things strong?"
Zeke looked over to see the big shield-bearer trying to hold one, a sight he found quite funny.
"Hmm, not these babies." Mira nodded. "Some of them can grow stronger. If they absorb enough mana, they can breakthrough to higher levels, they develop different levels of intelligence and powers. But... most of this batch won't survive. Maybe ten out of every thousand would evolve , the rest turn back into mana and restart the cycle."
Zeke stared at the small spirit now swirling above his hand. A soft melancholy gripped him.
"I'll bring my siblings here one day," he said, more to himself than anyone else. "When I'm strong enough..." He then exhaled, straightening his back. "Alright. We should keep moving."
No one argued. The group nodded, following him once more into the shifting, green-shadowed depths of the forest.
The next two days blurred together like a fever dream.
They saw things that none of them would forget, moss-covered ruins with crumbling pillars, strange beasts that fled at the sight of humans, rivers of translucent water that shimmered with residual mana. The wild lands were like a world unto themselves and with every step, their understanding of that world grew broader.
Along the way, more people joined them.
One.
Two.
Sometimes five or six. Most were exhausted, bloodied, and barely holding together. Seeing Zeke's group, organized, healthy, led with clear intent-made them attach themselves, like moths to a flame.
They didn't realize it at first.
But eventually, the amount of people that they found group numbered forty.
Most of the names of the new people Zeke forgot. Out of all of them, only a few were noteworthy strength wise, Liana, a quiet girl with sharp eyes who could pin a rabbit through the eye from two hundred meters away. And there was Bronn, a hulking boy with swollen knuckles and a crooked grin, who fought with his fists, a layer of mana lining his knuckles. Those two stood out, both strong and reliable.
...
Above, high in the sky behind a veil of clouds and illusions, the professors watched.
Floating discs spun slowly in place, projecting images below.
"Is this... cheating?"
"Don't ask me," one scoffed. "It's never happened before."
"He's not breaking the rules," another pointed out. "They joined him of their own free will."
"Still," a fourth muttered, stroking his chin. "A kid building a faction in the middle of a trial... maybe there arent enough monsters disrupting the peace, should we send in more?."
A deeper voice, calm and firm, silenced the murmurs.
"Let it be."
The others turned back to the screen and stopped, the Headmaster had spoken.
...
Back in the forest, the group interacted with eachother becoming more familiar, but still stayed close to Zeke.
Each time they encountered a Hollow, Zeke would charge in like a madman, his blade dancing. His recklessness earned groans from Darius and awe from others but no one could deny the results. He was fast, precise, and growing sharper with every fight.
In battle, he cracked jokes like, "You call that scary? You haven't seen my little sister in a bad mood!"
It made the other students laugh, distracting them from the deadly trials they were facing constantly. And somewhere along the way, though no one said it out loud, Zeke had become their leader.
On the third day, things started to get a little more intresting.
A whistling noise ripped through the air, unnatural and furious.
Zeke's eyes snapped up. A massive tree, torn from its roots, spun toward them like a projectile.
"MINE!" he roared, stepping forward as he drew his blade. His breath slowed. His stance tightened. Everything he had learned over the past two days focused into one perfect moment.
He swung his sword upward.
Silence.
Then Crack the tree splintered cleanly in mid-air, fragments tumbling harmlessly to the ground.
The group behind him stared in shock, usually he just jumped at the monsters like, well a monster, they haven't seen such precise swordsmanship from him..
Martin, one of the new boys let out a low whistle. " That's cool as hell."
"No shit, I've been planning on doing something cool like this the day I picked up the sword." Ofcourse Zeke didn't say that outloud though, he just sheathed his blade in a fluid movement and looked in the direction the tree came from. "Let's go. That came from somewhere close. There must be others fighting."
They moved fast, the big group of students moved as a single unit.
Any hesitation was gone. Seeing Zeke at the front, running, not at full speed but just enough so that they could keep up, they pushed harder than ever.
A clearing opened ahead, the sound of clashing steel and howling beasts echoing out.
Zeke's eyes narrowed as he recognised one of the figures fighting.
Rian.
He was alive, fighting alongside Kaito and a handful of others- nine in total, all in terrible shape, holding a defensive position against a group of weirdly shaped Hollows. Rian's hands moved in a wild and sharp manner, wind bursts, knocking beasts back trying to give the others a chance to make a critical hit.
Zeke breathed a sigh of relief, happy to finally meet up with the others.
But then his gaze fell on Kaito.
His face was pale, shoulders trembling as he clutched his arm and blood- there was so much blood.
His right hand was gone.
A Hollow rushed towards Kaito, jaws wide under the gaze of Zeke and his group running up.
In an act of desperation, he shouted.
"Hey, you crazy bastards, why are you letting yourselves be killed?!"
Rian's head snapped toward the voice. Hope flared in his expression.
The monster who was rushing towards Kaito spun around to face the voice.
Kaito's eyes widened.
bzzzzzz! Zeke's sword let out a hum as it was unsheathed, and he let out a wild roar.
"ATTACK!!!!"