The rattling of the doorknob pulled Bash out of sleep.

  His eyes snapped open to darkness so complete it felt smothering. There was no gentle ambient glow,

  no soft imitation of starlight rising and falling like he had grown used to in the upper Ark. The small

  guild room was pitch black, heavy and silent.

  Bash stood immediately.

  The door opened, spilling a thin strip of hallway light across the floor. A silhouette stepped through.

  “You awake?” Myr asked quietly.

  “Yeah,” Bash answered.

  Myr reached for the switch beside the door and flicked it. A single overhead light buzzed to life. It was

  harsh, cold, clinical, and did nothing to soften the cramped space.

  Bash blinked. “Is it always this dark at night?”

  Myr nodded. “Pretty much. We do not get the luxuries of fake stars rising and falling down here.”

  Bash shook his head. “The difference is… dramatic.”

  “You get used to it,” Myr said with a small shrug. “The team will be arriving soon. Before they come,

  can you explain more about what you said last night? The part about beasts evolving in portals that

  have not been maintained.”

  Bash sat back down. “I saw it firsthand. Multiple times. If a portal is left without consistent travel, the

  beasts inside continue fighting each other. They absorb more essence. They grow much stronger. In a

  maintained portal the weak stay weak because they die early, and the strong grow slowly since there is

  not as much essence available. But in an abandoned world everything escalates.”

  Myr frowned, thinking it through. “So it works like our own core evolutions. Absorbing lower tier

  beasts has less impact the stronger we become. But absorbing higher tiers jumps our cores

  significantly.”

  SC whispered inside Bash’s mind.

  “This is information you should not fully know yet. But based on how the gravity ring reacted and the

  pulse strengths you feel, both you and I already know your core has evolved. Keep your answers

  vague.”

  Bash nodded internally.

  He looked up at Myr. “From my understanding, yes. But I have never personally experienced it.”

  Myr snapped his fingers. “Right. I forgot. You have not unlocked.”

  Before Bash could reply, footsteps approached outside. The door opened and the team trickled in, one

  by one. Cerny, Mirran, Nixon, Bryn. Garret came last, as if making an entrance.

  The small room became crowded instantly.

  Myr handed out ration bars from a storage crate. He tossed one to Bash.

  “Here.”

  Bash caught it and nodded. “Thanks. I will pay you back.”

  “Not worried,” Myr said.

  Everyone moved to the small open area near the table. Myr set his staff aside and lifted his watch to

  bring up the mission briefing.

  “All right. We are entering a Grey portal. The task is to clear a two kilometer radius around the portal.

  There have been multiple attacks right upon entry. The council wants the area secured.”

  The team nodded.

  Myr continued. “We go in this order. Garret first. Bryn and Nixon follow immediately. I go next. Two

  seconds later the ranged go. Bash enters last. Expect immediate contact. We do not know what is

  inside.”

  Bash scanned their faces. Most looked confident. Only Bryn looked slightly tense.

  Myr added, “One last thing. Bash warned that portals left unattended can result in beast evolution.

  Forty cycles is a long time. We are taking extra caution.”

  Garret rolled his eyes heavily, making sure the entire room saw it.

  Myr did not ignore it. “Caution never hurts.”

  He clapped once. “Let us head out.”

  The team moved into the hallway. Bash followed in the back since he had no idea where they were

  going. They traveled through narrow corridors, down a slanted ramp, and across a junction where

  broken signs hung at odd angles.

  Eventually they reached an internal transport pad. Myr activated it, and they were warped to the Grey

  QTP concourse.

  The Grey district portal bay was nothing like those in the upper Ark. The floors were scratched. The

  walls were patched metal instead of polished plates. Only two attendants staffed the desk, and both

  looked exhausted.

  Myr approached.

  “Myrmidon Guard. Checking in team for Grey portal three.”

  The attendant scanned their IDs. “Approved. Good luck.”

  Before stepping through the entry gate, Garret turned to Bash.

  “Stay out of the way. Just watch. No one wants to be hit by a stray bullet from someone who does not

  understand the flow of the team.”

  Bash smirked. “No problem. You tell me when I can join.”

  Garret stared at him a moment, scoffed, then pushed through the active gate.

  One by one the team vanished through the swirling silver light.

  Bash went last.

  He stepped through, and the world hit him like a shockwave.

  The Grey realm materialized around him. Heavy air. Dim sky. A metallic scent of wet stone and

  something animalistic.

  And right in front of him…

  A massive bear-like creature stood waiting.

  Six meters tall. Razor fangs. Muscles like carved stone. Hide shimmering with hardened durability

  essence. Its breath came out in hot, steaming bursts that fogged the air.

  Garret had landed only a heartbeat earlier, and the beast had already slammed into him with

  tremendous force, nearly lifting him off the ground.

  Garret did his job well. He spun, braced, and drew the beast away from the portal.

  The rest of the team dropped in.

  Myr immediately fired a healing burst at Garret, waves of soft light sinking into his back and arms.

  Cerny and Mirran took formation beside Bash, firing at a steady rhythm. Cerny’s wind affinity

  amplified her arrow speed. Mirran’s fire rounds ignited the beast’s fur with glowing streaks.

  Bash did not fire. Not yet. He examined the fight.

  Their gear was almost entirely Tier one. Nothing impressive. Nothing like Vanra’s team or even his

  team while a Novarch.

  But their teamwork was solid.

  Garret was a wall, shield raised high. The beast hammered at him again and again, but he absorbed

  each impact, shifting weight as needed. Bryn danced around the beast’s legs with mineral-enhanced

  strikes. Nixon used lightning bursts through his axes to disrupt the beast’s balance.

  Myr stood behind them, staff glowing, constantly channeling healing energy into Garret.

  Bash analyzed the enemy.

  SC spoke first. “Registered as T1C Durability. But its strength is higher than that.”

  Bash nodded silently. “Feels like T1G.”

  “Yes,” SC replied. “One clean shot from your sidearm would kill it. But waiting is wise.”

  Ten minutes passed.

  Ten minutes of relentless attacks. Ten minutes of Garret holding firm, Nixon carving deep cuts, Bryn

  using her mineral affinity to counter the beast’s own hardened hide. Ten minutes of strained healing

  from Myr.

  Finally the creature crashed sideways and fell.

  Its hide shrank into a trinket the moment Garret severed one of its claws.

  Garret held it up. “T1G Durability. I felt that one.”

  Bash said nothing. Myr looked at him. Bash only gave a single confirming nod.

  Myr understood.

  Everyone took a moment to recover, drinking from their hydration packs.

  In the distance, a Stag stood at the edge of the woods.

  Tall. Elegant. But with glowing mineral veins across its body. It watched them without fear.

  SC whispered, “T1G. Usually accompanied by multiple females at T1C.”

  Myr pointed. “Next target. It is within the two kilometer radius.”

  The team moved as a unit. Garret led, shield raised. Nixon and Bryn flanked. Cerny and Mirran

  followed at mid-range.

  Bash hung near the back, observing.

  Garret talked while walking. “That first beast was probably the entire reason this bounty was posted.

  Teams came in blind, got ambushed, complained enough, and now they finally want it handled.”

  Bash did not respond. SC muttered privately.

  “I am amazed no one in this group has died yet.”

  Bash replied internally, “Garret is going to get someone killed eventually. His ego is too big.”

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  “I agree,” SC said. “Arrogance grows when nothing knocks it down.”

  They approached the Stag with slow, deliberate steps.

  Up close it was even larger than it seemed from afar, its shoulders easily reaching Bash’s chest height.

  Antlers fanned outward like mineral-forged crowns, each tine coated with thin layers of stone that

  pulsed with faint brown light. Its hooves dug shallow trenches into the dirt with every step. The

  creature watched them with unblinking, alert intelligence.

  It let out a single low grunt.

  Then it charged.

  The ground shook under the sudden force of its sprint. Garret reacted instantly, planting his feet and

  raising his shield. The collision sounded like a boulder slamming into a steel plate. Garret slid back a

  meter, boots carving twin trails through the soil, but he held firm. He twisted his shield and redirected

  the Stag’s momentum, throwing the beast sideways with a grunt.

  The Stag stumbled, skidding across loose gravel, but it recovered with frightening speed. Its antlers

  slammed into the dirt, dragging briefly before it flipped itself upright again. It bellowed, its mineral

  veins flaring brighter.

  Bryn and Nixon shot forward the moment it regained balance.

  Bryn’s dual swords whirled, mineral trails sparking at each swing as she tried to carve through the

  creature’s rocky hide. Nixon struck at its flank with lightning arcs along his axes, his attacks cracking

  the hardened plates but not breaking them fully.

  Then Myr’s voice cut through the air.

  “Herd incoming!”

  The warning came a half second before the trees erupted.

  The forest behind the Stag split as more than twenty deer-like beasts charged toward them. Smaller

  than the Stag but still massive by normal standards, each was covered in plates and ridges of layered

  earth. Their hooves thundered in irregular rhythm, shaking the ground in waves.

  Dirt shields rose in front of them in rapid succession, shields forming and reforging in bursts like

  blooming flowers made of stone. Tall spires of rock punched out of the ground in staggered patterns,

  turning the clearing into a chaotic maze.

  Cerny reacted first. She ran sideways, climbing up a partially formed pillar and leaping off it to get a

  higher angle. She fired arrow after arrow, each shot accompanied by a gust of wind. The first three

  arrows hit dirt shields and snapped. Her fourth struck the gap between two shifting shields and sank

  into a bovine’s shoulder, sending it stumbling.

  Mirran fired continuously. Fire-enhanced rounds streaked through the air, exploding against mineral

  barriers in bursts of orange light. When she finally pierced one shield, her bullet ignited a beast’s fur

  and knocked it down. But two more replaced it immediately, pushing forward aggressively.

  Bash held his ground near the rear and focused on the battlefield.

  Garret engaged three bovines at once as they pressed in beside the Stag. He shifted his shield from one

  angle to another, absorbing heavy hits that cracked the metal. He retaliated with short, controlled

  strikes from his sword, but the beast’s mineral armor held firm.

  Bryn spun between two incoming bovines, using their momentum to launch herself into the air. She

  landed behind the Stag and slashed deep into its hind leg, mineral energy coating her blades. Her strike

  shattered a layer of hardened hide, exposing softer tissue beneath. The Stag roared and retaliated with a

  stone pillar erupting beneath her feet. Bryn barely leapt aside in time.

  Nixon was a storm unto himself. Lightning wrapped around his axes, crackling fiercely. He hewed

  through a dirt shield with sheer force, the lightning disrupting the mineral structure before tearing into

  the bovine’s neck. But each time he struck, another pillar or shield surged up to deflect or weaken his

  blow.

  The melee fighters became encircled within seconds.

  Six bovines pressed inward from all sides, their mineral-enhanced bodies slamming against each other

  to trap the trio. Dirt walls rose around them, turning the fight into a tight, enclosed pit where the

  bovines had the advantage.

  Myr was forced to channel every ounce of healing he had to keep Garret’s health stable sending waves

  of restoration through the battleground. Every burst helped, but the melee fighters were absorbing hit

  after hit.

  Garret roared as the Stag sent a jagged spike of rock erupting at his feet. He blocked the blow, but the

  impact sent vibrations up his arm strong enough to make his shoulder buckle. He slammed his shield

  forward in retaliation and crushed the spike, then rammed the Stag sideways again.

  “Push left!” Nixon shouted through clenched teeth.

  Bryn and Garret adjusted instantly. They forced their way toward the weaker side of the encirclement.

  Nixon created an opening with a lightning burst that blew apart a half-formed dirt shield.

  Cerny used the gap immediately. She fired three arrows in rapid succession, each riding a razor sharp

  wind current. The first struck a bovine in the eye. The second hit just under its jaw. The third pierced its

  shoulder joint, staggering it.

  Mirran took advantage of the stagger. She fired a shot that ignited the arrow shafts embedded in the

  beast. The flames spread rapidly, overwhelming the mineral defenses and dropping it.

  One down.

  But nineteen continued their assault.

  Another dirt shield erupted, blocking their view and cutting the melee fighters off again. Bash noticed

  Bryn’s footwork begin to slip. Nixon’s arms were slowing from exertion. Garret’s shield arm trembled

  from absorbing too many impacts.

  SC spoke.

  “They are going to be pushed to their limits. Myr’s healing output cannot sustain this much damage for

  much longer.”

  Bash’s hand drifted toward his sidearm before SC added:

  “Not yet. The team will make it through.”

  He retracted his hand.

  The battle continued.

  The next bovine fell when Nixon buried his lightning charged axe into its skull, the mineral plates

  fracturing like brittle glass under the electric surge. Bryn dove beneath another beast and slashed its

  hamstring, sending it collapsing into the dirt. Garret smashed through another dirt shield and blinded a

  beast with a direct shield bash.

  Cerny and Mirran whittled down the herd from afar. Once the melee fighters had cleared a little more

  space, the ranged now had open shots.

  Five minutes passed.

  Then seven.

  Then ten.

  Finally the last of the smaller deer beasts hit the ground.

  Only the Stag remained.

  It was panting now, circles of pulverized dirt at its hooves, mineral armor cracked in several places. It

  attempted one last, desperate defense.

  It raised its head and summoned three stone pillars in front of itself, raising a triangular barrier.

  Bryn shattered the central pillar with a mineral infused sword burst.

  Nixon leapt over the falling debris and struck the Stag across the muzzle with both axes, sending

  lightning crackling across its head.

  Garret followed with a final shield smash that caved in the Stag’s skull.

  The beast collapsed with a deep, resonant thud.

  Silence fell.

  Bryn wiped sweat from her forehead. Dirt streaked her cheeks. “Those were all T1G. And the Stag was

  T1A.”

  She looked to Myr.

  Myr looked to Bash.

  Bash nodded again.

  This time Garret noticed immediately.

  His eyes narrowed as he stepped forward.

  He turned with a glare. “What? You think you are proving something? Because we had two tough

  battles in a row, now you think you were right?”

  Bash lowered his voice. “Why are you pretending the fact that every beast has been one category

  higher than documented is just coincidence?”

  Garret stepped closer. “We do not need dead weight on this team. We made it through that just fine. We

  do not need you. We can do this on our own.”

  He turned and stomped toward the next target.

  The rest of the team exchanged glances.

  Bash stood silently beside them.