The muddy rise rose from the black water like a scabbed wound, its surface slick with slime and scattered with jagged chunks of fallen stone from the broken tower above. Karasu pulled himself onto it first, water streaming from his soaked robes, the cold air biting sharply against his skin after the swamp's unnatural warmth. He knelt low, black eyes scanning the fog-shrouded surroundings, hand resting near a hidden kunai.
Solid ground. Temporary. But better than treading with those things below.
Behind him, the others hauled themselves up one by one, breaths ragged, clothes heavy and dripping. The knight collapsed on his back, armor clanking loud against stone, chest heaving. The woman in the red gown crawled the last bit, sobbing quietly as she clutched at mud. The eyepatch woman rolled onto her side, coughing up black water, while Zephyr, the scarred blonde man, stood quick and steady, purple eyes sweeping the group and the ruins beyond.
No one spoke at first. The only sounds were panting breaths, dripping water, and the distant, answering roars rolling through the crimson haze.
The knight collapsed to his knees first, armor clanking loudly against stone, sword planted like a crutch. "Gods… what in all hells was that thing?"
The elegant woman in the torn red gown crawled the last few feet, sobbing quietly now, hands trembling as she clutched sodden fabric to her chest. "It… it ate them. Just like that. I felt the blood hit my face, warm…"
The wiry woman with the eyepatch hauled herself up, green eye wide and fierce, voice shaking despite the edge. "Shut up about the blood. We're alive. Barely. But what the fuck was it? Some kind of sea monster?"
The scarred blonde man rose last, water streaming from his leathers, purple eyes sharp under twisted burn marks as he wrung out his wild hair. He glanced back at the water, then at the group huddled close. "Easy, everyone. Breathe. We're on land now, such as it is. That… that was a Blight beast. Low-rank serpent type. They hunt anything that moves or makes noise."
The knight looked up, face pale under his helm. "Blight beast? You know this place?"
The scarred man nodded slowly, voice steady but low, like he was used to talking people down from edges. "Some. Name's Zephyr. I'm a Regular, born up in one of the middle branches of Lalucia. Just started my climb down here in the Mire, same as you're supposed to."
The gown woman stared at him, voice small and breaking. "Climb? What climb? Where are we?"
Zephyr crouched, picking up a broken stone to fidget with, keeping his tone calm, practical. "This is the Mire. Bottom of Ygdras, the inverted tree. Everyone who wants to ascend, to gain power through their Soul Manifestation, starts here. It's the crucible. Survival forces Awakening."
The eyepatch woman spat water, wiping her mouth. "Awakening? Sounds like cult talk. And you're saying we're stuck in this swamp hell because… why?"
Zephyr glanced at Karasu, who remained silent, watching the fog, then back to the others. "Most like me are Regulars, born in the tree, chosen or volunteering to climb the branches for strength. But you lot… You woke up confused, with no memory of selection. That makes you Irregulars. Souls dumped here from outside, processed and tossed in like hazardous waste."
The knight gripped his sword tighter. "Dumped? By who? Gods playing games?"
Zephyr shrugged, voice even. "Something like that. The Nexus, they call it. Bureaucracy beyond the Sea. Doesn't matter now. The point is, we're all in the Mire together. Blight beasts like that serpent are corrupted by leaks from the Sea of Souls. They hunger constantly, grow stronger on what they devour. Noise draws them, movement too if they're close."
The gown woman hugged her knees, whispering. "So those boys… because he screamed…"
Zephyr's scarred face tightened briefly. "Yeah. Panic kills faster than the beasts here...There are ruins everywhere, old climber camps sometimes. Weapons, food, and, if lucky. Head inward, away from the edges. That's how you survive long enough to Awaken."
The eyepatch woman laughed bitterly, short. "Awaken to what? More monsters?"
Zephyr met her eye, calm but serious. "To power. Your Soul Truth. But that's later. Right now, we rest for a minute, dry off the best we can. Fog's thick, but those roars are distant again. We've got time."
Karasu finally shifted, voice low, dry, cutting through without raising. "Time's relative here. But he's right. it buys time."
The group fell silent, breaths slowing, eyes on the pulsing vines and crimson haze.
Irregulars. Explains the confusion. And him, a Regular starting low. Useful.
This Mire tests the basics first. Noise, panic, weakness. Cull the rest.
Karasu rose slowly, scanning the broken tower remnants for shelter. The swamp waited around them, patient, vines twitching subtly in the red light.
Survival had begun.