The cave was enormous.

The fog cleared as he reached the entrance of the cave. The ceiling arched up into dark that Holden’s senses couldn’t fully map.

The chamber was almost circular. Fallen pillars were scattered near the walls. And in the center, on a raised platform of flat rock, a flower glowed with a light that had no source.

The Ashen Lotus had five petals and each one was the color of something between snow and moonlight, and the glow it put out didn’t flicker at all.

Holden’s eyes moved to the base of the platform.

A skeleton sat leaning against the rock platform, its back turned to the Lotus. Even though it was just bones now, its hands were still gripped tightly around a thick leather book. A large serpent was coiled around the base of the platform, moving in slow loops.

It was a giant serpent. It was thicker than a man’s body and longer than the entrance to the cave. Its scales were a mix of dull white and dark energy. The light was so bright that it shone through its scales in some places.

Holden took two steps into the cave.

The Serpent’s eyes moved.

And behind him, the fog curtain moved.

"You just couldn’t stop, could you?"

The assassin’s voice came from behind him, no longer whispering. The stealth cloak had dropped. There was no point in it now.

Holden didn’t turn around.

"I’ve been following you for ten minutes, Voss, and you never looked back to see who was there. Not once! I thought you were trying to trick me into a trap. That was the only thing that made sense. But no, you are just standing here in a snake’s cave like a fool!"

"Let me explain your situation," he continued, and Holden heard the sound of knife leaving a sheath. "That thing behind you? Nine-Star. Even if you run, it’s faster. And me? I’ve got a dagger coated in Rank 2 paralysis compound, and you have got nowhere to be."

"Lord Draven sends his warmest regards. And I’m about to be fifty thousand credits richer. So thanks for the scenic walk, genius."

SHING.

The dagger left his hand.

At the exact same instant, the Serpent lunged.

WHOOSH.

Asura’s Ignition opened.

The crimson aura came up in one sharp pulse, and for a moment the whole chamber turned red.

The dagger passed through empty air where Holden’s back had been.

He moved to the left just in time. The Serpent’s jaws came past his right shoulder close enough that he felt the displaced air move his hair.

He let it pass.

Then he turned.

The assassin was still shocked that his knife had missed.

Holden stepped toward him, closed the distance in one stride, and grabbed him by the collar.

Holden turned back toward the Serpent. Its mouth was already opening for another attack, wide enough to take a person without any effort.

"You first," Holden said.

He threw the assassin towards the serpent’s mouth.

WHAM.

The assassin went in headfirst.

The Serpent’s jaws came down.

CRUNCH.

The Serpent was distracted. It was too busy trying to deal with the person stuck in its jaws. Its coils were shifting and tightening, its massive body starting to curl.

He didn’t give it time to finish.

WHOOSH.

He crossed the chamber in under a second, the Star-Forged Sword moving according to the principles of the Transcendent Iron-Cleaver. Every movement, every angle, and every ounce of strength merged into a single strike.

SHHK.

The Serpent’s head separated from its body and hit the floor.

THUD.

The coils kept moving for a moment, not knowing yet what had happened. Then the dark energy in the scales began to fade. Slowly at first, then all at once.

The System pinged, and this time it pinged twice.

DING!!!

[BOSS DEFEATED: Rank 1, 9-Star Ashen Serpent.]

[Target Defeated: Rank 1, 9-Star Assassin.]

[Combined Base KP: 500.] [2x KP Booster Applied.]

[Total KP Earned: +1,000.] [Current Kill Points: 2,610.]

Above the Serpent’s body, a Gold Chest appeared.

He claimed it without opening it.

Ding.

The Lotus flower was still glowing.

Holden approached the platform carefully. The toxic aura the flower gave off was real. He could feel it pushing against his 8-Star energy. While it would have poisoned any other student instantly, Holden was strong enough that he only felt the pressure of it.

He reached into his pack and pulled out the sealed containment box that Vespera had included in the mission briefing materials.

He reached out and wrapped his hands around the Lotus stem.

The glow became intense for a moment, pulsing once against his palm like it was testing him.

He uprooted the flower, placed it in the box and sealed it.

Click.

The white glow disappeared and the cave felt darker.

He stood there for a moment, looking at where it had been.

Then he turned to the skeleton.

Holden crouched down in front of the skeleton and gently lifted the book from where it had been gripped for what was probably decades.

The leather was thick and worn and still intact. He brushed the dust off the cover with his hand.

The title was handwritten directly into the leather with dark red ink.

Ashen Bestiary: Field Notes and Observed Weaknesses. Vol. I.

He opened it carefully to the middle.

The pages were filled with small handwriting and detailed drawings of Monster anatomy.

The author had carefully noted each creature’s weak points, and later additions had been made in the margins with a different colored ink. Some pages focused entirely on a single species, cross-referencing their movement patterns with their energy signatures.

Someone had spent years on this.

He closed it carefully and thought about Maeve with her stack of books and the expression she got when she found something genuinely interesting while reading them.

She was going to read this until the pages fell out.

He put it in his bag and looked at the cave entrance.

The fog was still there. The Safe Zone was a long run back.

He had what he came for.

He ran and opened the Gold Chest at the same time.