Atheline’s eyes narrowed slightly. Very few records existed about the true centre. Lilith had only given him an overview and warned him not to be careless. She didn’t divulge anything about a ruin being in the forest.

Atheline glanced at Caius carefully. It could only be him if Lilith hadn’t discovered it. The ruin was most definitely part of the plot. One of the many sources of his power increase.

He had to get whatever was inside then.

Caius rested his hand against the massive sword on his back.

"There is something sealed in there."

The distant roar echoed again. Cassian looked deeply uncomfortable for the first time.

"That sounds terrible," he quietly said," I think reality might be starting to set in."

"Do you wish to return," Yander asked seriously.

Casually looked at her as though she had killed his beloved.

"Gods, no, I want to see whatever is inside there."

"So about the ruins..."

He turned to Caius in an attempt to revert the topic to its place.

"Oh, yes the ruins. They are terrible. "

Yander crossed her arms.

"You entered alone?"

"No, but I had intended to confirm whether it was a real ruin before returning and informing you."

Cassian stared at him a shadow falling over his eyes as he scowled at Caius.

"You must love playing with death. "

Atheline pushed himself from the tree after seeing that Yander had finished picking whatever plants she had planned to pick.

"We should get going, delaying any longer might make this more dangerous, and with night approaching..."

He left the words hanging in the air. With the addition of Caius, there make shift team had gained an additional manpower which also increased his safety value. Points depended on who had the last kill, that was why each had killed one giant monster during the fight with the wolf group monsters.

A natural distribution that ensured everyone would get the same amount of points to match their efforts. Fighting with a team made things easier and somehow enjoyable, which was a first for Atheline. With Lilith, she was too strong and literally bulldozed through everything while he cheered for her at the side.

A small chuckle left him at the moment, when the image formed in his mind. The other three each stopped and turned to look at him.

Atheline waved them off.

"It’s okay. Let’s go."

Immediately the quiet and calm atmosphere changed. Everyone turned serious. The respite was over.

The four began travelling deeper into the forest together. Unsurprisingly, their dynamics changed immediately afterwards as they accommodated Caius.

Caius naturally positioned himself near Atheline despite being with Yander far longer. Yander besides him looked defeated.

His attention remained subtle, but obvious enough that even Cassian noticed.

"You really admire him," Cassian muttered eventually while walking slightly behind them.

Caius glanced back at him blankly.

"Obviously."

Cassian nearly stumbled. He had not expected the response he got.

"That’s direct."

Caius frowned.

"He deserves it."

Yander looked mildly amused now. She had dealt with Caius long enough to know how direct and blunt he could be, especially when it came to Atheline.

She had heard enough about him that his attention moving towards Cassian was much appreciated.

Cassian’s gaze shifted towards Atheline who had at some point walked ahead.

"... Do people usually become this loyal after you save them?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"No," Yander answered before he could," Caius is simply intense."

Caius didn’t deny it. There was no need to. To most, it might look stupid but to him, that one save had become a sort of opening for him.

The moment he had met Atheline, everything good had happened in his life.

The deeper they travelled, the more dangerous the forest became.

They fought twice before reaching the main centre.

The first was against a pair of enormous panther-like creatures capable of moving through reflections themselves. The monster had emerged from pools of water and even polished stone surfaces, striking silently from impossible angles.

Despite how impressive they were, with four elite fighters together. The battle ended quickly.

Cassian distorted the reflections using shadows. Yander cornered the beast with walls of compressed fire.

Caius split one apart with a single overwhelming sword strike.

And Atheline pierced the second creature through the skull using a wind accelerated lightening arrow before it could escape.

The second battle proved harder.

A gigantic tree monster awakened directly beneath them, its body formed from intertwined corpses and ancient roots stretching throughout the forest floor.

The monster regenerated constantly. Entire sections of the forest moved around with it making navigation difficult during the fight.

Even with how impressive it was, coordination overwhelmed it eventually. Yander’s fire burnt away any attempt at regeneration. Shadows restrained movement. Wind and lightning exposed its weak points.

And Caius finally ended the battle by cleaving through the monster’s core with enough force to split the earth beneath it.

By the time the fight had ended, the forest ahead had completely changed. There were no more trees or roots.

Only a deep hole and beyond it, an enormous black pillar rose from the ground beneath drifting fog.

The ancient runes.

They had finally reached the promised lands. It was half buried beneath the inner centre exactly as Caius had described.

.

.

.

Far away from the Spitting harrows, within the palace. Lilith sat leisurely on her seat her gaze shifting between the screen and down below at the courts.

Shouts vibrated through the whole court as people watched the rankings numbers change every few seconds.

The commentator was going crazy, shouting at the top of his lungs as he commented using just the rankings shift instead of the images since they weren’t available.

The screen reflected fragmented images from the hunting ground. Sometimes it switched and displayed burning forests, collapsed mountain sides, or regions entirely swallowed by Aether storms after the awakening of the centre.

The atmosphere had long since gotten tenser and tenser. Death had become a constant and the number of contestants had halved.

Most had quit after high-grade monsters started to leave the inner circle while others had died in various ways.

The competition had changed for both the better and the worse.

The rankings continued to change quickly and everyone watched the top ten on the rankings.

[Atheline Sunblade, 23,564 points, rank 1]

[Yander Blackburn 15,780 points, rank 2.]

[Igrad Neill, 14,504 points, rank 3]

[Caius Therlner 14,495 points, rank 4]

[Simion Vilkorian, 11,409 points, rank 5]

Lilith smiled faintly at the results. Her Golden eyes rested upon the rankings while one hand supported her cheek lazily. She appeared composed as always even with the slight pull of her lips.

Seeing Atheline dominate the rankings made her prouder than she wanted to admit. Tiny fractures spread across the armchair from constant tapping due to excitement.

The thread connecting him to her pulsed steadily within her senses. He was alive and kicking, moving further into the forest.

’Aah, what did you find?’