Leo didn't understand why, but a terrifying aura of killing intent filled the air.
He had only known Luka for about a day. At most twenty-four hours. In that short time, Luka had never felt dangerous to him. Annoying, sure. Reckless sometimes. But never terrifying.
Yet right now, something felt different.
The beast felt it too.
But unlike Leo, the giant yellow bird didn't sense any killing intent from Luka at all. To the Aurex, Luka looked like nothing more than a toddler throwing a tantrum.
What scared it wasn't Luka's presence.
It was the smell of his blood.
The Aurex had fed recently, and because of that its senses were heightened far beyond normal. It could smell blood even when it hadn't spilled yet, could track the faintest scent hidden in the air.
But Luka's blood was different.
It wasn't like the blood of humans. It wasn't even like the blood of other beasts.
The Aurex knew the smell of rot well. The humans who kept it imprisoned had fed it corpses and days-old carcasses for years. Rotting beasts. Dead animals. Sometimes even bodies. They did it on purpose, never giving it fresh meat so it wouldn't regain its full strength.
Rotting flesh always made the creature uneasy, but because the meat never moved, it was easy to eat.
Luka's blood smelled the same.
Like living rot.
Like something dead that had somehow learned how to walk.
The scent made the Aurex instinctively step back, its massive talons digging into the soil.
It didn't want to fight the boy.
⸻
"Hey, we need to get out of here while it's distracted," Leo said urgently.
He shifted Joey's unconscious body higher on his shoulder, glancing between Luka and the giant beast.
"Can't you see?" Luka replied calmly as he stepped forward. "It's scared."
The closer Luka walked, the farther the Aurex retreated.
⸻
Inside the observation room, the scientists stared at the monitors in disbelief.
"Are you seeing this?" one of the female scientists said, leaning closer to the screen. "He's scaring the beast."
She quickly scribbled notes.
The entire purpose of the forest trial was to observe the students' survival instincts. The children had been given no instructions and no guidance. The staff simply watched to see what choices they would make when stranded.
And this was something none of them expected.
"Is it scared of his ability?" another scientist suggested.
"Or maybe it's exhausted," someone else said. "This is the first time it's flown around in years. Maybe it's just too tired to fight."
A tired looking woman who had been quietly watching the screens yawned before speaking.
"Maybe it is related to his ability," she said.
Everyone in the room turned toward her. Even Darius, who had been silently observing the entire time.
The woman sighed and gestured at the monitor.
"It's obvious the boy's power involves blood. He can manipulate it and harden it. We also know the Aurex species has some unknown connection to blood as well."
"What are you getting at?" a male scientist asked.
She folded her arms.
"What I'm saying is this. Who's to say the boy can't influence the blood inside other creatures? Maybe he can communicate with the beast through it. Maybe his blood itself was altered by the ability. Or maybe it naturally repels the Aurex."
She shrugged slightly.
"The boy himself isn't stronger than the beast. Not even close. But his ability might be acting as a deterrent."
Her eyes shifted back to the screen.
"If those kids have any brains, they'll use this moment to grab the unconscious one and run before the Aurex realizes how weak the boy actually is."
⸻
Back in the forest, Luka continued walking forward.
Blood dripped from the wound in his side.
Each step made the observers in the monitoring room grow more nervous. Luka looked confident, almost arrogant, as if he believed the beast was afraid of his strength.
But they knew that wasn't true.
Luka slowly raised his hand.
The blood flowing from his wound suddenly stopped dripping onto the grass. Instead, it gathered together, swirling through the air before concentrating around his fingers.
Thin streams of crimson twisted and spun like living threads.
His hand curled into a claw.
Then he swiped it through the air.
Several razor thin lines of blood shot forward.
Leo's eyes widened.
Those attacks were far faster than anything Luka had shown before. But Leo hadn't known him long enough to truly understand the limits of his power.
Maybe this was Luka's real strength.
The crimson slashes rushed toward the Aurex.
The massive beast raised its wings to defend itself. The attacks struck with sharp impacts, splattering across the feathers.
The Aurex barely reacted.
The attacks hadn't done any real damage.
Slowly, the beast lowered its wings in confusion.
Then another line of blood suddenly cut through the air.
This one was faster.
Sharper.
It sliced across the Aurex's eye.
The beast shrieked.
Luka had waited for that exact moment.
The instant its guard dropped.
Without hesitation, Luka turned around.
"Now!" he shouted.
He grabbed Joey from Leo's shoulder in one quick motion and sprinted toward the deeper woods.
Leo stood frozen for half a second in shock.
Then reality snapped back.
"Oh hell no," he muttered before immediately chasing after Luka.
There was no way he was staying behind with that monster.
The boy's silhouette disappeared into the forest.
The Aurex remained where it stood, blood slowly dripping from its eyes. The thick red liquid slid down its face before finally clearing its vision enough for it to see again. By the time its sight returned, the two boys were already gone.
Confusion filled the beast.
What just happened?
But even stronger than confusion was something else. Something the Aurex didn't understand.
Fear.
Why had it been afraid?
That boy had been weak. Frail. Barely worth hunting.
So why… had its instincts screamed at it to stay back?
The thought only made the beast angrier.
Rage bubbled inside the Aurex as its wings twitched violently. It felt like it had been made a fool of. Like prey had mocked it. Worse, it had missed one of its meals.
And this forest…
This forest was supposed to be an all-you-can-eat buffet.
A deafening, gut-wrenching shriek exploded through the trees.
⸻
Leo and Luka ran as fast as they could through the forest, branches snapping under their feet.
Behind them, the monstrous cry echoed again.
Both boys felt their stomachs drop.
The beast was pissed.
"So what's the plan?" Luka asked between breaths as he glanced at Leo.
Leo shot him an irritated look while still running.
"Now you want a plan? My original plan was to run while the beast was distracted, but you had to attack it."
"I had to!" Luka argued. "I couldn't just let it do that to my friend without getting at least one hit—"
Before he could finish, both boys were suddenly yanked sideways into the bushes.
Branches snapped around them as they crashed to the ground.
Leo whipped his head around, ready to swing.
"Harkel?" he said in shock.
Across from him, Luka stared wide-eyed.
"Riven!"
Both of their friends crouched beside them with fingers pressed firmly over their mouths.
They both gestured toward the forest.
Stay quiet.
The distant sound of massive wings beating the air echoed above the trees.
"We need to stay silent," Harkel whispered carefully. "That beast tracked down way too many students already. It's obvious it has some kind of tracking ability."
Leo and Luka immediately stiffened.
Harkel continued quietly.
"I sent an Ironshade about nine hundred yards away from our location. If it causes a big enough distraction, it should buy us time to hide and figure out what to do next."
⸻
High above the trees, the Aurex sniffed the air.
It searched again for the spoiled scent of blood.
⸻
Inside the monitor room, the observers sat on the edge of their seats.
Multiple screens displayed the chaos unfolding in the forest.
"He can smell your blood!" one of the scientists suddenly shouted at the screen. "Your blood!"
"Oh shut up already," a lazy-looking woman muttered from her chair. "They can't hear you."
The man stopped yelling, looking slightly embarrassed.
He crossed his arms and huffed.
"Then why aren't any of the teleporters stepping in?" he complained. "Are they just going to watch those kids die?"
The woman didn't even bother looking away from the screen.
"They just lost one of their own trying to save one of those brats," she said flatly. "Do you really think they're going to risk another life for them?"
The man hesitated.
"…Okay, fine. That's fair," he admitted reluctantly. "But then why not just call this whole thing off? Grab the rest of the students still inside. At least save the ones from powerful families and clans."
The woman slowly turned her head and looked at him.
"So basically you want them to rescue everyone who isn't a wallborn?"
The man immediately stepped back when she said it out loud.
"That's not what I—"
"And besides," she cut him off, "it's not really up to them. Or us."
Her eyes shifted toward the front of the room.
"It's up to—"
"No."
The word cut through the room like a blade.
Darius spoke without even turning around.
"I will not call it off."
The entire room fell silent.
"If you want me to," Darius continued calmly, "give me five good reasons why I should."
There were far more than five reasons running through the observers' minds.
But no one spoke.
Everyone in the room understood something very clearly.
Those five reasons would never matter.
Because the moment someone tried to argue with him, Darius would simply silence them.
So the room stayed quiet as they continued watching the screen.
⸻
Back in the forest, the Aurex sniffed the air again.
Its head turned slowly from side to side.
Then it stopped.
The spoiled blood scent was still there.
But now… something else mixed with it.
Something sweet.
Addictive.
The Aurex's pupils narrowed.
It wanted to chase the blood scent. It wanted to hunt Luka down and tear him apart.
But the new smell…
The sweet fragrance was irresistible.
With a powerful flap of its wings, the Aurex launched into the sky and soared toward the scent.
⸻
The moment the beast disappeared into the sky, the boys didn't hesitate.
They ran in the opposite direction.
"It won't be gone long," Harkel said while guiding them through the forest. "We need to stay hidden before it comes back looking for another bite."
Riven scratched the back of his head in frustration.
"Mannn…"
Luka glanced at him.
"What's up with you?"
"Nothing," Riven replied quickly.
But his eyes flicked toward the glowing screen hovering beside him.
A quiet system prompt pulsed in the air.
[System Quest: Kill the Aurex Beast]
Reward: ???
Riven let out a quiet sigh.
"…Nothing at all."