The air of the Tigerwood Forest felt thin and brittle compared to the viscous thermal density of the subterranean hub. Kale Ardentis stood on the very patch of moss where the ground had unzipped just hours earlier, yet there was no trace of the calamity.
The grass was vibrant and untouched; the ancient roots showed no signs of the structural collapse that had swallowed him and his beast into the Buried Reaches.
It was as if the world had performed a surgical correction, deleting the evidence of his descent into the shadow of a dying monarchy.
Kale looked down at his hands, which were no longer charred bone but pristine flesh reinforced by the essence of an Ancient rank core. He could feel the biological discord within his frame settling into a new and terrifying equilibrium.
His fire affinity had reached 89%, a number that would have made the elementalists of the capital choke on their own mana.
Beside him, Neo sat with an air of practised arrogance, its three heads weaving through the humid air as if searching for a worthy prey to test its Peak Alpha rank strength.
Despite the successful evolution, Kale’s analytical mind was far from at peace. His thoughts returned to the timing of the fall, grinding through the variables with his usual stoicism.
The ground had opened precisely when he and Neo reached a plateau in their terrestrial training.
It had occurred at the exact moment he required a catalyst to survive the doomsday clock of his flickering life force. In his estimation, the probability that such a geographical anomaly was a natural occurrence was less than 1%.
Some outside intervention was definitely involved. Kale narrowed his eyes, his green pupils contracting into sharp slits as he looked at the soul sigil on his forehead reflected in a pool of rainwater.
His first suspicion landed on the system, that mechanical parasite that resided within his neural pathways.
It had guided him through over a million simulations to create Neo, and it had consistently provided him with paths toward ascension, even if those paths were paved with the threat of biological cessation.
Perhaps the system had calculated the necessity of the Flame Salamander’s core and manipulated the local terrain to force him into the tomb. Yet, there was another possibility.
He considered Overlord Rivaldo, the muscular man who watched over the Tigerwood Forest from the eclipsing height of the central tree. Rivaldo had seen Neo’s potential and commented that the creature was both divine and profane.
A tamer of that magnitude could influence the very roots of the forest to test a promising disciple of his friend, the Association Leader.
Then there were the mighty forces like the World Will itself. Kale still remembered the first time before his soul regression when the Red Dragon had descended upon Dagan village.
He remembered the screams and the smell of melting organs as the Tyrant-rank beast incinerated his family.
But more importantly, he remembered how the sky had gathered green lightning to strike the winged lizard down. The World Will had punished the dragon because powerful beings of that calibre were not supposed to interfere with the human world in such a direct and destructive manner.
If the World Will could punish a dragon for overstepping its boundaries, could it also provide an opportunity for a human who carried the Dragon Bane title? Perhaps the world required a balance to the overwhelming influence of the Dragon Church, and he was the chosen anomaly to provide it.
Kale stood in silence for a long time, the weight of these cosmic variables pressing against his mind. Eventually, he shook his head and erased those thoughts from his active consciousness. Speculation without data was a waste of mental power, a trap for researchers who lost sight of the objective.
[NOTIFICATION: TEMPORAL DISCREPANCY DETECTED]
[TOTAL TIME ELAPSED SINCE DISAPPEARANCE: 4 HOURS, 12 MINUTES]
[OBSERVATION: TIME FLOWS DIFFERENTLY WITHIN SECTOR 7 OF THE BURIED REACHES]
The blue text flickered across his vision, delivering a jolt of surprise that almost broke his stoic mask. Only a few hours had passed on the surface, despite the days he felt he had spent rowing through clear magma and fighting for his life in the gut of a leviathan.
This time dilation explained why the Greenroot Guild had not yet launched a full-scale search for him. To the Master rank guards patrolling the walkways, he had merely been training in the lower trenches for a single afternoon.
Kale checked his status one last time, noting that his rank had stabilised at Greater Master Tamer.
He had an empty beast slot that needed to be filled to unlock his further progression, but his primary concern was Neo. The Nemesis Hydra was now a Peak Alpha rank beast, possessing a half flame core and a fire affinity of 91%.
Its Flame Devour ability had evolved, and it had gained the Flame Form trait, which remained untested in a real combat scenario.
"We need a target, buddy," Kale said, his voice cold and focused. "I need to know exactly how much of a monster you have become before we return to the prying eyes of the guild."
Neo let out a resonant growl from all three maws, its six golden eyes flashing with a predatory greed that mirrored Kale’s own scientific hunger.
The beast took to the air, its shimmering green scales now carrying a faint, pulsing orange glow that indicated the refined essence of the salamander was fully integrated into its source code.
Kale moved with fluid, predatory grace, his boots making no sound on the forest floor as he utilised his enhanced energy senses to map the surrounding terrain.
He bypassed the nests of Feral-rank Sabres and Alpha-rank Husk Bears, seeking something that could actually withstand the output of a Peak Alpha hydra.
Eventually, his senses picked up a high-intensity mana signature near a dense thicket of Ironwood trees. It was a Peak Ravager-rank creature, a species known as a Thorn Husk Elder.
The beast was nearly six meters tall, its body a massive conglomeration of jagged wood and mana-conducting bark that acted as natural armour.
The Elder was surrounded by dozens of Lesser Alpha-rank bears, acting as a monarch of this specific sector. This was the perfect crucible. Kale did not command Neo to hide or use its chameleon form.
He wanted a head on display of biological supremacy. He stepped into the clearing, the Dragon Bane title flaring to life as his cold aura washed over the lesser beasts, forcing them to skitter back in instinctive terror.
"Neo, maximum output," Kale ordered, his voice echoing through the clearing like a death knell.
The hydra didn’t just roar; it erupted. Neo activated its Flame Form, its entire body transforming into a shimmering spectre of incandescent orange energy.
The heat radiating from the creature was so intense that the surrounding grass turned to ash in a heartbeat. Neo dived from the sky like a falling star, its three heads snapping forward to unleash torrents of refined fire breath that were hotter than anything a normal Alpha beast could produce.
The Thorn Husk Elder roared, swinging a massive limb made of petrified wood, but Neo’s speed was nonsensical. The hydra pivoted mid-air, its wings creating a propulsive blast that sent it spinning around the Elder’s defence.
One head bit into the petrified wood, and the Flame Devour ability triggered instantly.
The mana-conducting bark, which was supposed to protect the beast, was instead sucked into Neo’s scales, converted into raw beast force that fueled an even more violent assault.
Kale watched from the edge of the clearing, his arms crossed over his chest. He noted the structural grounding of Neo’s flight and the terrifying efficiency of the elemental output.
A Peak Ravager-rank beast, which would normally require a squad of Master rank tamers to suppress, was being dismantled by a single Peak Alpha hydra in less than three minutes.
The Elder attempted to use a psychic roar to disrupt Neo’s focus, but the hydra’s mental bastion trait held firm, reflecting the mental assault onto the attacker.
With a final, thunderous strike, Neo’s central head pierced the Elder’s chest cavity, devouring the Ravager-rank core before the creature could even collapse.
The remaining Alpha-rank bears fled into the deeper trenches, their primitive minds shattered by the display of unmatched arrogance. Neo landed on the carcass of the monarch, its three heads rubbing against each other in a show of pure, unadulterated joy.
[THE NEMESIS HYDRA HAS CONSUMED A PEAK RAVAGER RANK CORE]
[FIRE AFFINITY PROGRESS: 91% TO 92%]
[PHYSICAL STABILITY INCREASED BY 5%]
Kale nodded in approval as he walked toward his beast. The results were satisfactory. They were no longer just survivors of a regression; they were the architects of a new hierarchy.
He recalled Neo into his shadows, feeling the hydra’s dense, coiled power resting against his soul.
The journey back toward the central hub of the Greenroot Guild was a quiet affair. Kale moved through the shadows with the practised ease of a phantom, his green hair tucked beneath a low hood to hide his altered features.
As he reached the outer perimeter of the gargantuan tree, he saw the guild guards patrolling the root walkways with their tamed beasts.
They looked tired, their eyes scanning the foliage for the next surge of the tide, entirely unaware that a monarch had just walked past them.
He entered the trunk through a secondary irrigation duct, avoiding the main checkpoints where Igor or Master Henry might be stationed, sneaking in carefully.
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