Ethan didn’t have time to dwell on what she might be thinking. His mind had already moved ahead, piecing together something far more urgent. If being a soul wielder really was the fastest path to reaching the next layer, then hesitation and weakness would only slow them down. There was no room for dead weight, not here. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

So he healed Onyx.

The shift into Tree Form came as naturally as breathing now. His energy core had fully recovered, his reserves brimming, and his skills flowed without resistance, as if they had always belonged to him. But this time, something felt different.

Something clicked.

Energy fusion.

His healing abilities weren’t just his own anymore. As he cast them, he felt the world respond, felt the life in the surrounding plants stir and answer his call. He could draw from them, pull that vitality into his spells, and amplify their effects far beyond what they should have been.

It wasn’t resurrection. He wasn’t defying death itself. But as long as there was still a pulse, even the faintest thread of life, he could pull someone back from the edge.

The others stared at him as if he had sprouted another head.

Healers were rare. Not just rare, but vital in a way that decided who lived and who didn’t. In a place like this, that made them priceless.

This world was meant to be a trial ground, a proving place. For them, it had become something else entirely. A prison.

Their ancestors had been trapped here generations ago, and no one had ever found a way out.

Even the first layer, the place they called home, offered no safety. Beast surges swept through without warning, leaving death in their wake. Entire families had been lost to them.

Their clan’s healing lineage came from a single bloodline. Hayes’.

Her master was her grandfather, a strange old man who insisted she call him "Master" instead of "Grandpa," as if keeping emotional distance would somehow make the burden easier to carry.

Her father had died during a beast surge. He had stayed behind too long, tending to the wounded, refusing to abandon them even as the danger closed in. By the time he tried to retreat, it was already too late.

Now Hayes was still inexperienced, not yet fully grown into her role, while her grandfather stood at the edge of his life. When he was gone, she would be the only healer left.

And as Ethan had bluntly pointed out, she wasn’t good. Not yet.

The clan leader worried about that constantly. After her father’s death, he had made a strict rule: the healer’s life was worth more than anyone else’s. No matter the situation, no matter the cost, the others were to take the risk instead. If necessary, they would knock the healer unconscious and drag them to safety.

Very few people knew the truth about Hayes. Not even the clan leader. If he found out she was a woman, the stress alone might finish him off.

There was no guarantee the healing ability would pass on, even if she had children. If the bloodline ended with her, life in the first layer would only become harsher.

That was why her grandfather had hidden the truth.

But secrets had a way of slipping through the cracks. Ginger knew, and that was why the two of them were so close.

It was also why Onyx couldn’t stand either of them.

Now there were seven of them moving through the forest, with Riley having joined along the way. They had long since left the safe path behind, and Hayes found herself growing increasingly uneasy.

"We should turn back," she said quietly.

Ethan didn’t even slow down. "Too much trouble. We go straight through. Whatever’s in the way, we deal with it."

Brock and Vale immediately lit up at that.

"Now that’s what a man sounds like," Brock laughed.

Riley pumped her fist in the air, clearly delighted by the idea of chaos.

The rest exchanged uneasy glances, but no one tried to stop him. Ethan had already shown enough of what he could do. They trusted that, even if they didn’t fully understand it.

"Stay close," he said, picking a direction without hesitation.

Then he moved.

The ground exploded beneath his feet as he launched forward like a cannonball. The shockwave sent birds scattering into the sky and beasts howling in alarm.

Hayes couldn’t help the spark of excitement in her eyes as she watched him go. Brock and Vale whooped loudly and charged after him without a second thought.

Ethan relied purely on physical strength, and none of them could match his speed.

Moving through the forest like this should have been reckless, even suicidal, but every landing he made was precise, every push-off perfectly timed. It was as if the terrain itself bent to accommodate him.

Travel Form made the difference. In his stag form, the forest wasn’t an obstacle but an extension of himself. Leaping between trees, weaving past boulders, adjusting midair, it all came as naturally as breathing.

Still, he had to pause now and then, waiting for the others to catch up.

He could have gone ahead alone. He would have reached the entrance to the third layer much faster that way.

But these people had helped him. That mattered.

He would see them through, help them reach the higher layers, help them gather what they needed, whether it was rare herbs or celestial beast cubs. A strong companion beast could mean the difference between life and death in the first layer, especially for a clan as small as theirs.

About half an hour later, the forest began to thin. The dense canopy gave way to open ground scattered with jagged rocks and towering stone formations in the distance.

"What’s that red zone?" Ethan asked as he stopped at the edge, waiting for the others.

"Stone Giant," Hayes replied, her gaze fixed ahead.

"You know what’s in there?"

"The second layer’s been mapped. Our ancestors charted it."

"How strong?"

"I don’t know."

Ethan frowned. "Then what’s the point of calling it mapped?"

"The terrain is mapped," she shot back, irritation flashing in her eyes. "Not the monsters. And it’s been generations. It might not even be the same creature anymore. It could have grown stronger."

They held each other’s gaze for a moment before Ethan shrugged. "Fine. Let’s find out."

He stepped forward.

Hayes let out a quiet sigh. "Are we really doing this?"

"What choice do we have?" Ginger said. "He’s the strongest one here."

Before Hayes could respond, Brock and Vale came crashing through the trees behind them, Riley perched on Brock’s shoulders as they turned the whole thing into a competition, smashing through branches and undergrowth like a pair of charging beasts.

They rushed past Hayes, Ginger, and Onyx without slowing.

"Men," Onyx muttered, shaking his head with quiet disdain.

Ginger raised an eyebrow. "That bothers you? Guess you’re not one, then."

She took off after the others.

Onyx stood there for a second, blinking in confusion, then looked at Hayes. She only shrugged.

"How did I end up losing that argument?" he muttered, before following.

Right then, a sudden crack split the air.

The ground trembled, and in the distance, the towering stone spires began to collapse. What they had taken for part of the landscape shifted, rising slowly, revealing itself piece by piece.

Those weren’t spires; they were hair.

Each strand stood dozens of feet tall, and as the massive figure continued to rise, its true scale became clear.

Ethan skidded to a stop.

The creature kept growing, its form unfolding until he went from looking straight ahead to craning his neck upward, higher and higher, until he found himself staring into a single massive eye the size of a courtyard.

"One eye..." he murmured. "Stone Giant."

It stood nearly a thousand yards tall, its body thick and uneven, flakes of stone breaking off and crashing down like falling cliffs. It had already noticed them.

To it, they were nothing more than insects.

The giant let out a roar that shook the air itself, slamming its massive fists into the ground, each impact sending tremors through the earth.

Dust and debris filled the air, forcing them to shield their eyes.

Even Onyx, who always carried himself with quiet confidence, looked unsettled.

Ginger drew her sword, though the weapon looked pitifully small in comparison, like a needle against a mountain. She wasn’t even sure it could pierce the creature’s skin.

Everyone braced themselves, tension coiling through their bodies.

Riley’s grin had vanished.

Ethan stepped forward, placing himself between the giant and the group. He stood there calmly, his clothes whipping violently in the wind, yet any debris that came too close seemed to disintegrate before reaching him, turning to dust and sliding harmlessly past.

The others steadied themselves as they watched him. He had surprised them before. Maybe he would do it again.

That thin figure standing there felt impossibly small, like something fragile standing against a tidal wave, yet it held firm.

The giant’s roar faded. Its pounding stopped. Its massive red eye locked onto them, then it lifted its foot, an enormous mass of stone and flesh rising into the air before beginning its descent.

"Move!" Hayes shouted.

But before anyone could react, a crack tore through the air.

Ethan had already launched.

The ground beneath him fractured outward like a spiderweb, and he broke the sound barrier in an instant, the echo lagging behind his movement.

A flash of silver cut across the sky. The giant’s foot halted midair. For two seconds, nothing happened, then it wobbled.

A thin line appeared across it, and the entire foot split cleanly in half, the cut so smooth it reflected the moonlight like polished glass.

High above, Ethan hovered in the air, silhouetted against the full moon. The giant’s foot wasn’t the only thing that had been cut, half its head slid free.

A moment later, the rest of its massive body followed, collapsing with a thunderous impact that shook the ground.

Ethan remained suspended in the sky, a seven-foot spear in his hand, his figure calm and unmoving.

Like a god.

"...It’s dead?" Onyx’s voice was barely above a whisper, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.

"That’s it?" Riley asked, sounding almost dazed.

"Who yelled ’move’?" Brock said as he jogged back, looking annoyed. "Move where? Nearly scared me for nothing."

Hayes didn’t respond. She simply stared upward, her mouth slightly open.

She had underestimated him.

’One strike.’

A three-star celestial beast, the Stone Giant, killed instantly.

Three stars might not sound impressive, but it marked the peak of low-tier beasts. Even the four guardians of their clan could take one down, but not like this.

Not in a single attack.

And Stone Giants were known for their absurd defense, rivaling even five-star beasts.

"How did he..." Ginger murmured, her hand tightening slightly around her sword.

She followed the path of the blade, the perfect cut, the idea of ending everything in a single strike. That was her path.

But this? This was something else entirely.

Ethan kept breaking everything she thought she understood about power.

No one was supposed to have everything. Strength and durability came together in people like Vale, while someone like Riley proved that a powerful soul often came with a fragile body.

Ethan had both.

And on top of that, he could heal, not just casually, but with a depth that usually took years of communion with nature.

People like him weren’t supposed to exist. And that strike... that wasn’t just power.

Her eyes shifted to the spear in his hand. "It has to be the weapon," she said quietly, almost to herself. "It has to be that sharp."

Because if it wasn’t, then everything she believed about the sword, about her path, would begin to fall apart.

No one could be that good.

Onyx watched her from the side, his lips parting slightly as if he wanted to say something.

In the end, he said nothing and swallowed the words instead.