"you're asking what I am, isn't it obvious,I'm a human just like you." Xeno turned to look at me with his blindfolded eyes
"B-but a normal human shouldn't be able to do something like that." I managed to say,my voice shaking
Xeno scoffed,"you're still a child,yes I understand but in this world it is kill or be killed, hesitate and that's the end of you, the xenophore's are not creatures you can reason with, they do not care whether you're a kid or not, they'd just devour you was their eyes settle on you."
Kael who was sitting near a rock after being injured by the xenophore laughed while clapping his hands, "Xeno's got a point here."
I sank to the ground, my legs trembling too much to hold me upright. My hands were slick with something sticky,part of the xenophore, part of the earth, I couldn't tell. My chest heaved, ragged breaths cutting through the silence. I wanted to scream, to cry, to run away,but none of it came out properly.
The world felt too heavy. Every sound,the rustle of leaves, the distant wind,pressed down on me, reminding me of what I had just witnessed. Xeno, standing there, calm and precise despite the gore that coated him, looked impossibly untouchable. How could someone so human be so… inhuman?
Kael's laughter echoed strangely in my ears, distant and hollow. "It's true, Yona," he said between coughs, wiping blood from his lips. "You saw it. You survived it. That's… something not everyone can claim."
I shook my head, tears blurring my vision. "I didn't do anything. I just… watched." My voice cracked. "I'm useless."
Xeno crouched slightly, tilting his head toward me. "You're not useless. Watching is learning. And learning is surviving." His voice was flat, almost cold,but beneath it, I thought I heard something… almost like care.
I wanted to believe him, but my stomach twisted, a pit of fear and awe roiling inside me. My mind kept replaying the blank, featureless face of the xenophore, the way it had reached into my thoughts as if it had known every fear I'd ever had. Every memory felt fragile now, like I could lose them in an instant if I blinked.
Kael hobbled closer, leaning on his staff. "You're shaking. Good. Fear keeps you alive. But don't let it rule you. Let it sharpen you instead."
I swallowed hard, trying to steady myself. The trembling didn't stop, but I clenched my fists, letting the cold bite of it anchor me. "I… I want to be strong like him," I whispered, my eyes flicking to Xeno. "I don't want to be terrified every time something moves."
Xeno's hand rested lightly on the shovel's handle. "Strength isn't built in one fight, Yona. It's built in every choice afterward. Every step you take when the world wants you to crumble. That's where real strength begins. Not in killing, but in surviving with your mind and body intact."
I nodded, though it barely felt real. My mind was still spinning, still trapped in the echoes of screams, slime, and the sheer size of the xenophore. But a spark had ignited somewhere deep inside me,the first flicker of determination beyond pure fear.
Kael gave a short laugh, one that sounded less hollow now. "She's learning faster than I expected," he muttered to himself, more than anyone else. "And mark my words… that girl will see things none of us ever imagined."
I stayed on the ground for a few more moments, letting the world stop pressing down on me. I didn't move quickly, didn't speak. Just breathed, slowly, letting my body remember it was still mine.
When I finally stood, I felt slightly steadier. Not fearless. Not brave. But less broken.
Xeno turned toward me, the blindfold hiding his eyes but not the weight of his attention. "We move soon. There is no time to linger in the aftermath. Are you ready?"
I swallowed hard, nodding, my voice small but firm. "I… think so."
Kael helped me to my feet, and for the first time, I realized that surviving didn't mean being unafraid. It meant moving forward despite it.
And somewhere in the distance, beyond the broken stones and jagged ridges, I could feel it,the world had noticed us. The xenophore threat was not over.
But neither was I.
I followed Xeno and Kael cautiously, my legs still weak from the shock. Every step was heavy, and my chest felt as if it were trying to push itself out through my ribcage. My hands shook when I brushed my fingers against the rocks or dirt, remembering the slimy residue from the xenophore. I wanted to scrub myself clean, but the thought of touching anything else made my stomach twist.
The world around us seemed… quieter. The wind had lost some of its edge, but it still carried that subtle weight, as if the earth itself had been scarred by the fight. Every shadow in the distance seemed thicker, darker, more alive. My eyes kept darting to them, expecting something else to appear,but nothing did.
"You need to sit," Xeno said quietly, stopping near a jagged stone outcropping. His voice was calm, flat, but carried an undeniable authority. I obeyed, sinking to the ground. My body ached in ways I couldn't even name. Not just muscles, but something deeper,my mind, my bones, my very sense of self.
Kael leaned on his staff nearby, his chest rising and falling unevenly. "Your first battle is always the hardest," he muttered, almost to himself. "Not because of the enemy, but because of what it shows you about yourself."
"What does it show?" I asked quietly, barely even realizing I was speaking.
"That you are alive," Kael replied. "That you survived watching something that could have ended you in a single moment. That, child, is strength you cannot measure yet. And it terrifies you because it is true."
I swallowed, trying to force my chest to stop shaking. My hands were still sticky, and I flexed them slowly, watching the faint residue on my body . Even now, I could feel the echo of the xenophore's presence, like a pulse beneath the surface of the earth, as if it hadn't completely gone.
"You feel it, don't you?" Xeno said, crouching near me. "The residue in the air, the weight. You're still sensing it. That's good. That's the first step."
I frowned. "Step? I feel… broken."
"No," Xeno said quietly, his tone unusually soft. "You feel alive. You survived. That is more than most can claim. Broken people don't last long in this world. Survivors do. And survivors notice everything."
I wanted to argue, to scream, to tell him that surviving didn't feel like surviving at all. That it felt like I had crawled through hell and only barely made it out alive. But the words stuck in my throat. My mind kept replaying the blank face of the xenophore, the way it had reached into me, into my very thoughts.
Kael's eyes met mine. "Fear is not a weakness. It is a teacher."
I tilted my head, staring at him. "A teacher?"
"Yes," he said, his voice low, raspy. "Fear keeps you alive. It forces your body and mind to respond. But it also teaches you to control it. To shape it. You are standing here because you learned, even without knowing it. You felt the danger and survived. You are learning to survive the world itself."
I took a deep breath, trying to hold it steady. My stomach twisted, but I forced myself to focus on his words. "So… I'm not useless?"
"You are far from useless," Xeno said. "You're learning. That's all anyone can do."
I closed my eyes, trying to push the images from my mind, the screams, the slime, the way the xenophore had towered over us like the embodiment of some nightmare. It wasn't gone. It wouldn't truly be gone for a long time. But maybe, just maybe, I could learn to face it again.
Kael coughed, leaning back against the stone. "You'll need time," he muttered. "Not just to recover, but to understand. That thing,Xenophore,wasn't normal. It wasn't like the others you've seen. It is tied to forces older than us. Forces that you are only beginning to feel."
I opened my eyes slowly, turning to him. "Older than us? Forces? What do you mean?"
He sighed, the lines on his face deepening. "There are things in this world that remember before humans ever existed. They are reflections, born from actions, from sins, from choices made again and again. Xenophores are just the beginning. What you fought today… that was far older, far more powerful than you can yet understand."
My stomach clenched. I had thought I knew the danger, had thought I understood Xeno's skill, Kael's knowledge. But now… everything felt like a shadow stretching beyond me, a weight pressing against my ribs, my mind, my heart.
Xeno stood slowly, adjusting his grip on the shovel. "You're trembling," he said, almost a statement, not a question.
"I… I can't stop," I admitted. "I feel… wrong. Weak. Helpless."
"Good," he replied. "That feeling is the first lesson. Recognize your weakness. Understand it. Then move forward. That is how you survive. That is how you grow stronger."
I blinked, trying to focus on him, on Kael, on anything tangible in the world. The air still hummed faintly, carrying traces of what had passed here, traces of the xenophore. My hands clenched at my knees.
"Tomorrow," Xeno continued, his voice even but edged with command, "we train. Not in fighting alone. In awareness. In seeing what others do not. You will not only strengthen your body, Yona. You will sharpen your mind. You will learn to notice patterns, to feel the shifts in the world that signal danger before it arrives."
I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. "I… I want to learn. I want to be ready next time."
Kael's eyes flicked toward me, a faint glimmer of approval.
I exhaled, letting the tension slowly drain from my shoulders. Not completely. Not entirely. But enough that I could feel the faintest trace of control returning.
Every stone, every crack, every gust of wind seemed alive with the memory of the fight, of the xenophore, of what had been and what could come again.
I rose to my feet, my legs still shaky but holding. My hands were still trembling, but I flexed them, feeling the pulse of my own life beneath the fear.
Xeno adjusted his shovel again, his stance calm, poised. "Move," he commanded simply. "The world won't wait for hesitation."
And somehow, amidst the fear, the trauma, the horror, a flicker of determination rose in me.
I would survive.
I would learn.
And next time… I wouldn't just watch.