CHAPTER 22 — The Road Out

  The forest swallowed Aiden quickly.

  The moment he stepped past the tree line, the world shifted. The city’s distant sirens faded behind him, replaced by the low hum of insects, the rustle of leaves, and the faint crackle of Force energy drifting through the Wild Zone like static in the air.

  He moved quietly, adjusting his weight with Gravity until his footsteps barely disturbed the underbrush. Sunlight filtered through the canopy in thin beams, illuminating drifting dust motes like tiny sparks.

  Aiden tightened his grip on the rebar and kept walking.

  The Wild Zone wasn’t a place people entered casually. It was unregulated land—no patrols, no scanners, no guild presence. Just nature… and whatever the Rifts had twisted inside it.

  Perfect for disappearing.

  Perfect for grinding.

  Perfect for growing.

  He paused beside a fallen log, scanning the forest. The air felt different here—thicker, heavier, charged with the faint residue of Forceborn activity. He closed his eyes and listened.

  Wind.

  Birds.

  Leaves shifting.

  Something else—

  A faint scrape of claws against bark.

  Aiden’s eyes snapped open.

  He didn’t see anything, but he felt it. A subtle pressure at the edge of his awareness, like a whisper brushing against his senses. His heart quickened.

  *There.*

  He shifted lighter and stepped silently around the log. A Primal Forceborn crouched behind a cluster of bushes, its stone?like skin blending with the forest floor. It hadn’t noticed him yet.

  Aiden exhaled slowly.

  He moved.

  One step.

  Two.

  Three.

  The creature twitched.

  Aiden struck first.

  He slammed the rebar down with a Gravity?boosted blow, cracking the creature’s skull. It screeched once before collapsing. A faint Core rose from its body, glowing softly.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  Aiden absorbed it.

  Warmth surged through him.

  [STRENGTH FORCE — Level Up]

  [Strength — 6 → 7]

  His muscles tightened, his stance steadied.

  He kept moving.

  Minutes later, another Primal burst from the underbrush. Aiden dodged left—lighter—then countered with a sharp Pressure burst that staggered the creature. He finished it with a downward strike.

  A Core rose.

  [AGILITY FORCE — Level Up]

  [Agility — 4 → 5]

  His limbs felt quicker, lighter, more responsive.

  He continued deeper into the forest.

  A third Primal ambushed him near a stream, lunging from behind a tree. Aiden dropped his weight—anchored—absorbing the hit before slamming the rebar into its chest.

  The creature collapsed.

  A Core rose.

  [ENDURANCE FORCE — Level Up]

  [Endurance — 5 → 6]

  Aiden exhaled. His stamina deepened, breath steadying.

  He crossed a ravine using a Gravity?assisted leap, landing on a moss?covered boulder. Another Primal crawled out from beneath it, snarling.

  Aiden reacted instantly.

  One strike.

  One kill.

  One Core.

  [VITALITY FORCE — Level Up]

  [Vitality — 5 → 6]

  Warmth spread through his chest. His heartbeat steadied. His body felt tougher, more resilient.

  But something else shifted too.

  A subtle clarity. A sharpening.

  A notification flickered at the edge of his vision.

  [PERCEPTION FORCE — Level Up]

  [Perception — 0 → 1]

  Aiden blinked.

  The forest sharpened around him. Colors brightened. Sounds separated. The faint hum of Forceborn energy became clearer, like static resolving into a signal.

  He crouched, touching the ground lightly. Vibrations traveled through the soil—small, scattered, moving in patterns he could now interpret.

  Two Forceborn ahead.

  One circling behind.

  Another perched above.

  Aiden stood slowly.

  “Alright,” he murmured. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

  He moved deeper into the forest.

  Hours passed.

  The sun climbed high overhead, then began its slow descent. The forest grew darker, quieter, more dangerous. Aiden’s new Perception hummed faintly with every step, guiding him around threats before they appeared.

  He stopped at the edge of a clearing.

  Something felt wrong.

  Not dangerous—just… off.

  He crouched, scanning the area. The ground was disturbed. Branches broken. Soil overturned. Tracks—large ones—leading deeper into the forest.

  Aiden frowned.

  Not Forceborn.

  Not human.

  Something else.

  He followed the tracks cautiously, adjusting his weight to move silently. The forest grew colder as he walked, the air thick with tension.

  Then he heard it.

  Voices.

  Human voices.

  Aiden froze behind a tree.

  A Hunter Guild patrol stood in the clearing ahead—four operatives in light armor, scanners humming softly. Their visors flickered with distorted readings.

  One of them smacked his scanner.

  “Still glitching. Ever since the Titan event, these things won’t stabilize.”

  Another sighed.

  “Just sweep the area. Command wants every Wild Zone checked for anomalies.”

  Aiden’s pulse quickened.

  He stepped back slowly, keeping to the shadows.

  He couldn’t be seen.

  Not now.

  Not here.

  He waited until the patrol moved deeper into the forest, then slipped away in the opposite direction, using Gravity to lighten his steps and Perception to track their movements from afar.

  When he was finally alone again, he exhaled.

  “That was close.”

  The sun dipped lower, casting long shadows across the forest floor.

  Aiden tightened his grip on the rebar and continued walking.

  He wasn’t safe yet.

  But he was stronger.

  And tomorrow, he’d be stronger still.