The world exploded into life.
Shadow tumbled onto soft earth, landing hard on his back. Grass flattened beneath him. The sky above was a brilliant tapestry of color—deep azure streaked with golden clouds. The sun blazed in a directionless sky, neither east nor west.
He sat up quickly, gasping. The air was crisp and filled with the scent of flowering herbs and pine. Every breath buzzed with mana, so dense it made his skin prickle.
Birds screeched in the distance, their calls foreign and piercing. Insects chirped in rhythmic patterns. Wind rustled the towering canopy above, where trees rose like green monoliths—some easily hundreds of feet tall, their branches thick as arms and clustered with vines.
He touched the soil beneath him. Warm. Moist. Full of life.
'This place is… alive.'
He had one year to survive inside it and somehow grow strong enough to leave.
He stood slowly, scanning his surroundings.
The forest floor was uneven, dotted with giant roots and overgrown brush. Strange mushrooms pulsed faintly in shaded corners, and thorny vines curled like serpents around tree trunks.
Shadow exhaled sharply. The thrill of awe warred with the tight knot of anxiety in his gut.
"I need a vantage point."
He found a thick-barked tree with spiraling grooves and began climbing. It wasn't easy—twice he nearly slipped—but soon he reached the upper boughs.
The view stole his breath.
Beyond the forest spread a patchwork of ecosystems. Rolling hills gave way to shimmering lakes. Jagged mountains loomed far to the north, their peaks capped in snow. To the west, fiery plains smoked with volcanic heat. Eastward, glowing blue marshlands pulsed with eerie bioluminescence. South, a desolate stretch of gray sands and cracked earth shimmered like a forgotten graveyard.
Every direction teemed with danger.
Shadow's stomach tightened slightly as he stared across the sprawling wilderness.
'Where do I even begin?'
His stomach growled.
"Food," he muttered. "Water and shelter first, and explore later."
He climbed down, more cautious this time. Once on the ground, he oriented himself toward the sound of rushing water.
Shadow moved with care through the underbrush, trying to stay quiet as his feet brushed past thick moss and tangled roots. The forest felt different now that he had a goal. Less wondrous. More watchful.
Something unseen stalked these woods.
The sound of running water grew louder until he finally emerged at the edge of a clear stream. It cut a silver path through the undergrowth, bubbling over smooth stones and reflecting dappled light from the canopy above.
Shadow knelt and cupped water into his mouth. Cool, sweet, crisp. It soothed the heat in his chest and washed away lingering fear.
After a moment of stillness, he stood and began moving upstream. He needed a steady source of water nearby for whatever shelter he chose to build.
An hour passed.
Briars scraped against Shadow's legs while sweat clung to his shirt beneath the humid forest heat. The farther he traveled, the louder the wilderness became. Branches cracked somewhere in the distance. Heavy thuds echoed through the trees while strange hoots drifted high between the canopy above him.
Once, he spotted a massive paw print pressed deep into the mud beside the stream, far too large to belong to any ordinary beast.
Another time, the forest suddenly went silent.
Completely silent.
Shadow slowed immediately, fingers tightening around the dagger at his hip while his eyes scanned the dense foliage around him.
A bird shrieked overhead as leaves shifted violently nearby.
Then a roar tore through the forest like a collapsing mountain, shaking the trees hard enough to send birds scattering into the sky while the sheer force of it nearly buckled Shadow's knees.
From behind a dense wall of vines, something charged.
Shadow didn't wait to see it. He turned and bolted through the undergrowth as adrenaline surged violently through his body.
Branches whipped against his face while roots clawed at his boots with every desperate stride. Behind him, the roar came again, closer now, followed by the violent crash of trees and splintering brush.
He risked a glance backward and immediately regretted it.
A massive beast burst through the forest behind him like a living avalanche. Nearly ten feet tall, its body was built from dense muscle and dark fur layered over bark-like patches of hardened skin along its shoulders and arms. Dim orange eyes burned beneath a heavy brow while its massive forelimbs tore through shrubs and young trees with terrifying ease as it charged on all fours.
An Inferior Wood Ape.
Neto had shown him sketches of them once inside an old bestiary during training. Beast classifications followed the same hierarchy cultivators used—Inferior, Elite, Supreme, Divine, and God—with each rank divided further into Low, Mid, and High grades as the creature evolved over time.
The easiest way to identify a beast's bloodline rank was through the faint sheen of mana surrounding its body. Inferior beasts carried traces of red mana, Elite beasts yellow, Supreme beasts purple, Divine beasts green, and God-ranked beasts black.
But unlike humans, beasts also possessed bloodline traits capable of making them far deadlier than their realms suggested.
The faint reddish sheen wrapped around the Wood Ape's massive frame made one thing painfully clear:
Even a Low Inferior beast was already strong enough to slaughter ordinary mortals with ease.
He dove beneath a fallen log as the ape crashed through the brush behind him, ripping apart shrubs and saplings with a furious howl.
Shadow stumbled back to his feet and kept running. His lungs burned while sweat stung his eyes with every desperate stride. Moments later, the dense forest suddenly gave way beneath him as he burst onto a stretch of rocky terrain where jagged stone and cracked earth replaced the greenery almost instantly.
The air turned hotter and painfully dry.
Behind him, the ape didn't slow down.
Its massive frame barreled across the uneven terrain with terrifying force, each impact shaking loose pebbles beneath Shadow's boots as it rapidly closed the distance between them.
Shadow leapt down the slope ahead, half-sliding through loose rock before catching himself hard against the cliffside. Sharp stone tore into his arm, but he barely noticed before movement ahead immediately caught his attention.
Something large slithered across the rocks near the canyon wall.
Shadow's momentum nearly stopped.
A massive wyrm-like lizard emerged from behind a stone outcrop, easily twenty feet long with dark scales that blended almost perfectly against the canyon rock. Its black eyes locked directly onto him while its tongue flicked slowly through the air and its body coiled with predatory patience.
"You've got to be kidding me," Shadow muttered under his breath.
The ape thundered closer behind him.
The lizard tensed ahead.
Then Shadow spotted a narrow crevice carved into the cliffside barely wide enough for his body.
He sprinted for it instantly.
The lizard struck.
Its jaws snapped shut inches behind him as Shadow threw himself into the opening hard enough for rough stone to scrape violently across his arms and shoulders while darkness swallowed him whole.
Behind him, the lizard hissed in frustration as its body slammed against the narrow entrance, unable to force its way inside. Outside, the ape roared again, furious and confused as both predators lost sight of their prey.
Shadow pressed deeper into the cave while his heartbeat hammered violently against his ribs. His entire body trembled from exhaustion and adrenaline while cuts and bruises burned across his skin. His shirt hung torn nearly to the shoulder.
Somewhere during the chase, he had lost his dagger.
But he was alive.
Barely.
And the Trial World had only just begun.
Shadow collapsed onto the cold stone floor, gasping as his heartbeat hammered violently in his ears. His throat burned and his lungs screamed for air, but he still forced himself to steady his breathing.
Panic clouded judgment.
And judgment meant survival.
The cave was completely dark, its narrow entrance barely wider than his shoulders. Damp stone pressed against his back while the earthy smell of moss, minerals, and wet rock filled the confined space around him. Somewhere deeper inside, water dripped steadily through the darkness.
He stayed motionless for several long minutes, listening while the furious roars outside gradually faded deeper into the canyon until silence finally returned.
Only then did Shadow finally force himself back to his feet.
Pain flared through Shadow's body immediately. Blood still trickled down his arm where jagged stone had sliced through the skin during his escape, and his legs trembled from exhaustion as he tore a strip from his ruined sleeve and wrapped the wound tightly.
When he summoned mana, the circulation felt unstable almost immediately. His core churned unevenly from exhaustion and adrenaline, forcing him to focus carefully just to maintain a faint glow around his palm.
Using the weak light, Shadow slowly surveyed the cave around him. The tunnel stretched deeper than expected, narrowing and curving through jagged stone shaped smooth in places by ancient water erosion while veins of crystal shimmered faintly throughout the walls like scattered stars beneath the earth.
He moved cautiously through the darkness until the tunnel eventually opened into a small chamber with a shallow pool of clear water resting at its center.
Relief tightened briefly in his chest as Shadow dropped beside the pool and drank deeply before splashing cold water across his face to wash away sweat, dirt, and blood.
For the first time since entering the Trial World, Shadow finally had a moment to think.