Kene did not feel any excitement. A part of him had assumed he would—finally letting loose, finally testing this new body against monsters—but instead his thoughts drifted to other matters. His territory, for one. Not having to spend every waking hour training or constantly fighting had freed up far more mental space than he’d expected.

  The constant struggle against corruption had weighed on him for most of his life. It had been a pressure so familiar that he hadn’t even noticed it—because it was all he had ever known. Only now, in its absence, did he truly feel how heavy it had been.

  Yet the knowledge of what was still to come brought its own burden. A looming inevitability, a force that urged him forward, demanding that he surpass his former self. He focused on the crunch of footsteps beneath him, using the rhythm to ground his thoughts. As they moved through the clearing, he subtly extended his senses—his hearing sharpened, his sense of smell deepened—his head turning as his eyes swept the surroundings.

  Experience or not, Kene took every battle seriously. Complacency was a luxury he could not afford.

  A sudden rustle broke the quiet.

  Siran tensed instantly, his grip tightening around his spear.

  “One is approaching, Young Ester,” Siran said quietly. “I’ll engage it head-on. Watch carefully, and try to mimic my movements.”

  Kene nodded, his gaze shifting forward as he steadied himself. Moments later, a Direboar emerged from the shrubs. It was nearly two meters long, its thick hide bristling with coarse hair, horns jutting from its skull alongside long, jagged tusks.

  Kene’s eyes narrowed as he studied it. The beast looked wrong. Its eyes were bloodshot, its movements erratic and frenzied. When it locked onto Siran, it let out a shrill, screeching cry. A heartbeat later, it charged, its bulk moving with surprising speed.

  Just as Siran had said, the creature’s movements were crude and predictable—nothing but a headlong assault. Siran responded with the grace of a seasoned combatant, sidestepping the charge at the last moment while positioning his back toward a tree stump. The Direboar slammed into the stump with a thunderous impact, shaking the ground and sending the beast flipping onto its back.

  The force of the collision snapped one of its tusks clean off.

  Siran did not give it a moment to recover. He stepped in and drove his spear into its eye socket. The Direboar thrashed violently, pushing through the damage as though it felt no pain at all—but Siran was already moving again, maintaining optimal distance, exploiting the spear’s reach with practiced precision.

  Kene thought.

  Another strike pierced its remaining eye. A sharp twist of the shaft followed, and that was enough. The creature went limp, its massive body collapsing into stillness.

  Efficient. Clean.

  Kene felt a quiet sense of pride. His territory was protected by capable people—more than capable.

  Siran approached him and said, “We’ll leave the corpse here for now and retrieve it later. The horns are valuable and will be harvested.”

  Kene studied the fallen beast before replying. “I have no need for the body itself, but I would like to use the beast’s core for alchemical equipment.”

  He had intended to begin harvesting beast cores, especially within the dungeon, but the ongoing crises in his territory had delayed those plans.

  One interesting detail he’d learned about this era was that mages had yet to develop a method for separating a beast’s will from its core when harvested in the wild. Because of that, such cores were considered dangerous to consume. Dungeon-born beasts, on the other hand, naturally produced purified cores. As a result, dungeon crawling was the only widely accepted way to obtain usable cores.

  Kene made a mental note to leak the purification method at a later time. For now, he would take full advantage of the ignorance. He had already had Mikkel purchase Tier 3 cores in bulk for absurdly low prices.

  “As you wish,” Siran replied smoothly.

  “The next beast will be yours to handle alone,” Siran continued. “I’ll monitor you from behind and step in only if necessary. That said, Knight Merva made it very clear that I’m not to baby you, so the situation will have to be dire before I intervene.”

  “I understand,” Kene said calmly. “Knight Merva explained the stakes to me personally. This is a test I’m willing to undergo.”

  Siran nodded, some of the tension in his posture easing.

  ‘ Kene wondered.

  With that settled, the two moved deeper into the woods.

  It took an additional 5 minutes of traversal when they spotted another one, the same beast, a frenzied direboar, but this time Siran remained behind Kene, his spear out and ready to pounce if the situation called for it.

  Kene cycled mana in slow steady loops around his channels, making sure to match it with his heart beat.

  Instantly he felt his senses heighten and his body felt sturdier, and the world just narrowed to being him and the boar.

  They both moved, the boar, predictably charged head on in a straight line, hooves stomping the ground in a familiar rhythm.

  Kene moved forwards in deliberate controlled steps, locking eyes on the beast. Making sure to cycle mana in tandem with the beat of his heart.

  When it reached his spear range, he swiftly side stepped, while poising his spear for a thrust, that's when he locked eyes on it, the ear of the boar, He had a moment to strike before its own momentum carried it away, but he planned for this. Positioning himself carefully to pull off this sequence.

  Activating the extension enchantment, the spear lengthened till the bladed section pierced directly into its brain. The speed of the expansion causing an audible squelch noise to be made, the spear head stopped when it came out of the other side of its head, pictured cleanly through.

  Kene deactivated the enchantment before the momentum pulled the spear away from his hand, and the beast strode a few extra steps before collapsing unceremoniously to the ground.

  Kene extended his senses briefly in case there were any more beasts laying in wait, when nothing happened he relaxed, but kept alert.

  Though the beast was fairly low rank and easy to defeat. Kene was proud of the reliability of the enchantments on the spear, already it was self-cleaning itself from the blood and viscera. As soon as they perfected it, it would make the raid a less surmountable task.

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  Looking back to Siran he saw that the man had his jaw wide open, Kene was briefly confused then he remembered he was cycling the entire duration. It must have looked like he had unnaturally quick reflexes the entire exchange.

  Though it was not like he was trying to make his capabilities secret, at least within his own territory and especially the guards, he did it regularly in training now.

  ‘I guess seeing it up-close is a different experience for him’ Kene thought.

  “Mr Siran” Kene said,

  The one got startled out of his stupor and spoke “Yes-sir-”

  “How did I do?” Kene said, with a smile.

  “That was quite impressive, Master Ester, I see why Knight Merva took an interest in you, as expected of a Flamebearer” Siran said, half praising half confirming something to himself.

  “I try my best, know that I’m taking this mission seriously Mr.Siran” Kene responded smoothly. Now that he has witnessed Kene’s competency, the man could relax around him.

  “We’re going deeper into the nest, This time there will be multiple of them so I’ll have my attention split, signal verbally if you need assistance and I’ll be right there” Siran said.

  Kene nodded, and they proceeded further.

  ***

  Kene moved with ease, slaughtering the beasts as he slowly grew accustomed to his new body. Two Direboars charged at him through a narrower pass, their tusks scraping against one another, yet neither paid it any mind.

  When they reached a certain distance, Kene leapt forward and planted one foot against the trunk of a nearby tree for leverage. His spear shot downward as he extended his body, piercing cleanly through both beasts’ ears in a single strike before gravity reclaimed him.

  A moment later, the boar closest to him collapsed instantly, while the one further back swayed on unsteady legs, the blade having failed to penetrate deeply enough. Given time, it would have succumbed to its injuries—but Kene did not grant it that luxury.

  As he landed, he dashed to its flank and drove the spear between its ribs, aiming for where the heart should have been. He was slightly off in his judgment; the beast remained alive and sluggishly tried to turn toward him.

  A final thrust pierced its eye, and it crumpled to the ground.

  Kene had noticed that these Direboars were incapable of jumping while sprinting, for reasons he did not yet understand. Whenever trees were nearby, he exploited that weakness without hesitation.

  The tactic proved so effective that Siran began copying it as well. The man was performing admirably, his wealth of experience on full display as he dispatched multiple beasts at once. He remained constantly in motion, carefully tracking their trajectories and turning their momentum against them.

  The incessant squealing of the Direboars was becoming grating, and worse, it was drawing more of them toward the fight. Kene could continue for much longer thanks to his mana cultivation, but Siran would eventually need respite.

  Fortunately, they were closing in on the nest. That meant they were nearly finished thinning the herd.

  The sound of heavy footsteps soon announced the arrival of four more beasts charging toward them.

  “I’ve got the three on the left,” Kene called out, moving before Siran could respond. He cycled mana through his body, his muscles tightening.

  He wanted to try something different this time.

  Instead of stabbing, he intercepted them head-on and swept the sharpened edge of his spear in a wide horizontal arc, aiming for their throats. The momentum of the charging beasts made the cuts far deeper, and far more vicious than they otherwise would have been.

  The first two went down cleanly, but the last was only nicked.

  Still, they barreled forward. Kene slipped neatly through the gap between them as the wounded boars staggered onward, their lives draining rapidly.

  The last remaining beast wheeled around and charged him again. They sprinted toward one another.

  This time, Kene kept it simple. He sidestepped at the last moment and drove the spear straight through its brain.

  When he turned back toward Siran, he found the man already finished and watching him with a hint of concern. This mission was meant to be one of the easier ones, yet Siran remained visibly tense. Kene didn’t fault him for it, if an Ester were to die under his watch, his own head would surely follow.

  Siran approached and spoke, “We’ll take a break from fighting. We’ll bring the bodies back to the cart so Guard Yergot can load them.”

  “Sounds good. I could use a break,” Kene replied.

  In truth, he didn’t need one. He could easily keep fighting, but Siran didn’t need to know that—especially when the man was sweating profusely.

  Kene lifted one of the corpses and was mildly surprised by its weight. It felt light—around fifty kilograms, if he had to guess. As a Tier 1 Enforcer, he could lift twice that with ease, so he hoisted a second corpse and rested it on his other shoulder.

  The walk took about ten minutes before they reached the clearing where Siran had demonstrated the first kill. Yergot was already waiting. Without a word, the driver began loading the bodies into the cart. The efficiency of it all suggested long familiarity—clearly, this was a well-rehearsed routine.

  Moments like this made Kene miss his core. As a mage, a simple levitation spell paired with wind magic would have transported all the corpses in seconds.

  With a quiet sigh, he turned and followed Siran back into the woods to collect the rest.

  ***

  Kene’s spear flashed, puncturing the heads of two boars in quick succession. His efficiency had improved greatly as he warmed up to his new body. He had also grown far more adept at weaving the extension enchantment into his spearplay, using it seamlessly without conscious thought. Decades of combat experience were slowly bleeding into this new form.

  He made sure to minimize unnecessary movement, sidestepping only enough to narrowly avoid being struck so he could stay close and deliver more decisive blows.

  Siran had fully trusted him to handle himself by now, the man focusing entirely on his own opponents and slipping into the familiar rhythm of combat.

  Several more boars rushed forward. Kene instantly predicted their trajectories and positioned himself to avoid a direct hit while setting up clean counterattacks. A few precise sidesteps, two thrusts, and a single sweeping slash later, they fell one after another.

  Despite the momentum, he refused to grow complacent. His senses remained heightened at all times, his awareness sweeping the surroundings in quick glances to ensure nothing was amiss. So far, the mission had been a success, and they had reached the nest.

  “We made it,” Siran said between heavy breaths, clearly exhausted.

  Kene would be lying if he claimed he was untouched by fatigue, but the relentless training of the past week had tempered his body and improved his stamina enough to keep him steady.

  “That he has, we should re—” Kene stopped abruptly.

  His danger sense flared violently, screaming at him despite the absence of any visible threat. His head snapped around before settling on Siran.

  “We have to go!” Kene said urgently, then froze as he realized something was deeply wrong.

  Siran stood completely motionless, as though time itself had abandoned him. Looking closer, Kene noticed the world around them had fallen into an eerie stillness. A leaf hung suspended in midair. The wind had vanished. Most alarming of all, he could not move.

  At all.

  What the hell is going on? Kene thought frantically. Did we stumble into some kind of suspension array? No, that makes no sense. Why would a high-level Array Master be in a backwater like this? Even that explanation does not hold up. I can still perceive the world. I can still speak.

  His thoughts raced as he searched desperately for a way out.

  Before he could form a plan, his soul suddenly quivered in agony. A nebulous shockwave erupted from everywhere and nowhere at once.

  The force shattered whatever had held the area in stasis. Siran was thrown to the ground and cried out in pain.

  Kene fared far worse.

  His body convulsed violently as he clenched his teeth hard enough for his jaw to creak. His core throbbed and his mana channels spasmed as searing pain tore through him. The agony felt endless, stretching into eternity, before vanishing just as suddenly as it had begun.

  Siran was shouting something, but Kene’s thoughts were muddled and his head swam. Instinctively, he turned his focus inward to assess the damage.

  His core remained atrophied.

  What stunned him was not injury or regression, but something else entirely.

  He now had a second set of mana veins overlapping his original channels.

  They were thinner, more delicate, but unmistakably real.

  Before he could grasp the implications, a piercing chorus of squeals tore through the forest.

  With Siran’s help, Kene forced himself to his feet and took in their surroundings. Dozens of Direboars had emerged, all caught in a sudden frenzy. Some charged aimlessly in every direction. Others smashed their heads against trees in a haze of madness. Most of them stared directly at Kene and Siran with unfiltered malice and insanity.

  Kene’s hearing finally cleared.

  “You have to go, Young Master!” Siran shouted, half panicked, half pleading. “Tell Yergot to call for reinforcements! I’ll hold them back!”

  Siran was strong, but the sheer number of beasts would overwhelm him in seconds. Kene was confident he could last longer, but even he would eventually be crushed under the tide. If he were a Tier 3 Enforcer, this would be trivial, but advancement was not something he could force.

  Are the beasts only this frenzied here, or is the entire forest like this? Kene thought. If it’s the whole forest, I’ll just run into more on the way back and slow us down even further.

  No matter the choice, the situation was grim. But Kene had a plan.

  Grabbing Siran by the shoulder, he spoke with absolute authority.

  “Follow me.”

  The command in his voice left no room for argument, and the guard obeyed without hesitation.