As I ran through the forest, making sure to stay silent, I began organizing everything I knew.

I was on a very short timer. I didn’t know why Solomon didn’t want me to investigate the lighthouse, and honestly, I didn’t care. His reaction was just too suspicious, so he had to know something.

This was an opportunity to get some details and maybe something I could hold against Lionel and possibly Solomon in the future as well as understand what the hell was going on. The fact that Solomon was trying to block me from investigating just made me even more suspicious about the whole thing, and I didn’t believe for a damn minute that he was worried that I would be caught or killed.

He had flinched when I had casually said that the Darwinists were looking for something or someone. I had intentionally riled him up to see if he would reveal anything else, but I didn’t expect him to try to kill me.

Crazy bastard.

It would be best to avoid him as much as I could.

Since I wasn’t sure about the range of Solomons’s eyes, I purposefully backtracked several miles away from where Julius was, using camouflage at different intervals before circling around and beginning to head toward the lighthouse. As I moved, I could feel my connection with the mimic stretch until it was just a vague thin thread that let me know which direction it was in.

I continued running, and as I got within a mile of the lighthouse, spotting the tall tower poking above the treetops, I caught a glimpse of a familiar flash of purple hair ahead. Pretending I didn’t see it, I continued running.

All of a sudden, something wrapped around my foot and yanked me up before wrapping around me tightly and dragging me through the air.

As I dangled upside down from a branch, a rope tightly binding my entire body from my ankles to my neck, there was a flash of purple smoke, and a familiar figure appeared below me. With a face fully covered with a black face mask and sunglasses, wearing a black bodysuit with long purple hair trailing down her back in a silken sheet, a familiar classmate of mine had shown up.

“Hi, blank rank cutie. We really need to stop meeting like this.” A playful voice sounded out as Cassandra sauntered over to me before stopping right below me.

“I guess we should, huh.” How are you doing this lovely night Miss Cassandra Mirage?” I commented lightly while craning my neck to look at her.

“Boooo. You’re no fun. You don’t even seem surprised to see me, cutie. I’m hurt.” Even though I couldn’t see her face through the mask, I could tell that she was smiling as she stared at me.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m very shocked. See? Ahhhhhh,” I pretended to scream, causing her to snicker loudly. “ Is the other person going to come out? Also, do you mind if I get out of this? I don’t like blood rushing into my head or being upside down. It’s very uncomfortable.” I asked her in a bland tone while testing the strength of the rope. It was surprisingly tough.

“Why don’t I believe you, cutie? And, I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s just me and you having a nice one-on-one conversation. Plus, I actually do mind. I quite like seeing you tied up, you know? It keeps you out of trouble. Buuuuut,” she tapped her finger to her face before continuing, “if you can get yourself out, I’ll allow it. Just this once.” Cassandra replied lightly.

After getting her approval, I analyzed the rope.

[Rope of Binding.]

[Creator: Meraki Corp]

[Rank: F]

[A tough and tensile rope made from the silken threads of a Spring SilkWorm. It is imbued with mana that will automatically wrap around the targeted object. The more the caught object struggles, the more it will tighten. Useful for trapping prey.]

I guess I was the prey?

It seemed that she had prepared for the trip in a different way than I had. As expected, none of the 9 clan kids were normal.

Crafting a razor-sharp knife in my hand and imbuing it with extra sharpness, I quickly sliced through it, catching the branch and flipping to sit down on it.

“Neat trick.” Cassandra slowly clapped as she burst out laughing.

“Isn’t it?” I pretended to take a bow before turning my head to look at a tree slightly to my left. Through my mana vision, I could see a hazy figure squatting on a tree branch. Like smoke, the figure kept wavering in and out of focus and it seemed that darkness was concentrated like a shrowd in that one spot.

“Oi, are you really not going to come out; you know I can see you right?”

The forest was silent; the only sound was the rustling of trees while I continued staring at the figure watching me from behind the tree.

“I told you, it’s just me and you here, cutie. And since I let you release yourself, I feel like you should answer some questions for me.”

“You sure about that, Miss Mirage?”

“Very. I can swear on my life that no one else is here. And you don’t need to call me Miss Mirage. We’re classmates, cutie. Just call me Cassandra. Miss Mirage is my mother.” Cassandra replied casually while flipping her hair.

Hearing the bold-faced lie coming out of her mouth without hesitation, I snorted. Just like Julius had said, she was a damn liar.

Smiling softly, I pointed my gun at a branch slightly to the left and called out warningly.

“This is a high-ranked bullet. Shall we test whether your friend is faster than a bullet?”

“I told you it’s just me and yo-”

Bang!

Not letting her finish, I shot a mana explosive bullet at the tree, blasting a hole right through the trunk. As it began tipping over, there was a flash of purple smoke. and a large purple barrier immediately surrounded the area while the figure dressed in black leaped away from the falling tree and disappeared behind another tree.

There was another flash of purple, and suddenly, Cassandra was standing on the same branch as me, a light purple cloud of mana surrounding her and quickly expanding as far as I could see. I felt a sharp killing intent directed at me as she stared down at me while gripping the wrist and holding the gun.

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“You have a quick temper, cutie. But I don’t appreciate you making noise. Don’t do it again. Otherwise, who knows how I’ll react? You might just lose your entire arm and have to suffer until the school nurse can grow it back. You wouldn’t want that, would you? I’ve heard it’s quite uncomfortable.” Cassandra lightly commented

I glanced up at the purple barrier before looking at her with an arched brow. Even without analyzing it, based on her words, I guessed that it was to keep the sound down instead of protecting her, and it seemed to have some distorting properties as I tried to look through it.

“I definitely don’t want that, but why did you stop me? I was looking out for you since you didn’t seem to sense the person lurking and watching you. Take it as me looking out for a fellow classmate, Cassandra. Don’t be mad, okay?” I widened my eyes innocently while lightly responding, pulling my hand. She clenched her fist for a moment before releasing it, and I turned to focus on the hidden figure.

“Still not coming out? This time, I’ll actually aim for your head, you know?”

It was silent for a moment as she continued to stare at me before someone spoke up.

“He knows Cass. That bastard has had his eyes trained on me the whole time. I’m coming out.” A low voice sounded out as a man stepped out from behind the tree. He was tall and lean, dressed in all-black fitted clothes with a black facemask covering the bottom half of his face. His long hair was tied to the back, the white stripe stemming from his widow’s peak catching the moonlight. His eyes were the most interesting part: a white pupil with concentric black rings in both eyes and as I met them, they immediately reversed in color, as if a switch had been flipped.

The way he silently moved reminded me of someone trained to attack efficiently, so I immediately put up a barrier around me while waving at him.

“Killian Raven, I presume. We haven’t met before.”

“Good catch. No need for the barrier, I won’t hurt you.”

The yet was silent.

“Let’s just say I feel safer having a protective layer between you, her, and me.” I focused completely on him, noting that even though the moonlight illuminated the surroundings, it seemed to warp around him and leave him covered in shadows. His eyes narrowed, and I could feel his sharp aura solely directed at me.

Dangerous.

I felt as if the moment I took my eyes off him, he would stab me in the back.

As expected of someone from the clan considered the hunting dogs of the 9 clans, I suppose.

“You’re Asani Martin, right? Rank 1000. Gun user. Easily went through the professor barrier on the first day and have been training with Professor Lee.” He mechanically listed off information about me before continuing, “Where are you headed tonight?”

As I thought about a response, Killian subtly made hand signs behind his back. I could see Cassandra making some in return while he nodded slightly.

Pretending I didn’t see it, I responded with some slight irritation in my voice.

“Is this a police stop? Or your private property? Last I checked, it’s free for all, so I can go wherever I want.“

“That’s true. But you see, we’ve claimed this area as ours. Unless you want a fight, I suggest you make your U-turn and head back to where you came from.”

“Why should I? I’m just passing through. I’ll be gone in a few minutes.”

“No. Don’t make me repeat myself.” Killian bluntly rejected me, placing a hand on the knife strapped to his thigh.

“You see, cutie, what Kil is trying to say is that we’re keeping track of who is approaching the lighthouse, especially because there’s been an attack on multiple students and sketchy things going on. It’s our duty as members of the 9 clans to protect the weaker students. So, I’d like you to explain what you’re doing here like Kil asked. Otherwise, I’d find it just a little bit suspicious that you don’t want to leave. If you don’t, I can’t guarantee that you won’t be hurt, you know? Your face is quite pretty, and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to it.” Cassandra explained in a cheerful voice as she took a seat next to me, her feet kicking in the air.

“Oh really? I didn’t know it was so dangerous. I was just taking a midnight stroll and wanted to check out the lighthouse since I was in the area. Professor Lee said there’s something good hidden there that’s worth a lot of points.” Holding up my empty wrist I continued with a despondent sigh, “I lost my watch and wanted to see if it would be something that would let me earn some bonus points or something. Since you say it’s so dangerous, I won’t enter it and just want to see it with my own eyes. Call it checking something off my island bucket list, if you will. Can’t I at least do that? I’ll be quick and get out of your hair. I promised Julius I would scout it and I can’t just go back empty-handed,” I explained earnestly while selling out Julius’ name.

Cassandra and Killian exchanged a glance before Cassandra shrugged and lightly hopped down to stand beside Killian.

“Well if Jules sent you to scout, it’s fine by me. Why don’t we let the cutie see the lighthouse, Kil? It can’t hurt, and once he sees it, maybe he’ll believe us. We can have him spread the word to other students too.”

“Then you don’t mind if we come with you? For your protection, of course.” Killian asked in a tone that made it clear he wanted a positive response.

Thinking for a moment, I tried to harness my connection with the Onyx, trying to feel where it was. Although it felt close and was headed toward the lighthouse, I couldn’t really tell whether or not it had successfully gotten in. All I knew was that it wasn’t in any danger, and its body hadn’t been hurt, as my mana wasn’t draining, so I just had to hope for the best.

Nodding toward Killian, I casually replied, “Of course. It’s always more fun going sightseeing with friends. I appreciate you looking out for me.”

“Fine. Let’s go. And be quick about it.”

I hopped down, maintaining the barrier around me, before walking toward the lighthouse while whistling a simple tune. The two of them paused for a moment, exchanging another glance before following.

The moon sure was pretty tonight. The temperature was just right, and visibility would have been good except for the purple mist emanating from the girl behind me. I wonder what it did and if it would eventually cause purple rain if it thickened enough. That could be fun. Maybe I could pretend to be a dancer in a music video.

Thinking nonsensical thoughts, I continued strolling forward around while looking around, a jaunty tune coming from my lips.

“Can you shut up? You’ll alert the monsters in the area,” Killian said in an irritated voice.

“Oh, my bad. I thought since you guys claimed the area, you would have taken care of them all.”

Rather than whistling loudly, I hummed while continuing to scan the surroundings.

Everything looked pretty normal. Which was…surprising? I expected more of a fuss, especially since they had stopped me, but the forest looked completely empty. The only annoying thing was the fact that I began getting a notification message that had me hiding a smile.

[Charm has been resisted successfully.]

[Illusion has been resisted successfully.]

[Charm has been resisted successfully.]

That would probably be the lovely Cassandra Mirage.

[Insight has been resisted successfully.]

That one was a toss-up between her and Killian, but I assumed it was her.

Funny girl.

I guess that’s what all the purple mist that was winding around me was for.

I leaned backward, winking at her, “If you want to hit on me, just say that. No need to go about it in a round about way.”

She paused for a moment before she burst out laughing, holding onto Killian’s shoulder.

“What’s funny?” Killian asked in a disgruntled voice, and Cassandra continued chuckling while wiping away a tear beneath her glasses.

“Nothing. It’s just that this black rank is really quite the cutie. I keep liking him more and more. Don’t worry, cutie, when I hit on you, you’ll know.”

“Well, I’m looking forward to it.” I winked once more before continuing to hum.

“Oi, didn’t you hear me say be quiet?” Killian said again, putting his hand on the knife again.

“Ah, sorry, sorry. I’m just pretty happy. Isn’t the night pretty? And I have such good company, too. But if you insist, what can I do?” I grinned at the two before going quiet.

I walked for a bit, ignoring the pointed glances Killian was giving me.

Soon enough, we reached where the forest dramatically ended, dramatically transitioning to a rocky crag. Placed on top of it was what I assumed was supposed to be the lighthouse. But rather than the traditional lighthouse I was expecting, it looked more like a small castle with a single high tower and was fully covered in a black substance that seemed to be pulsing. As I watched, a small black blob seemed to peel off and slowly fall to the ground, staining it black and expanding the pulsing material slowly but surely over the ground.

It looked disgusting, to be honest.

It also looked like Onyx in puddle form, just bigger.

“Why is it black and pulsing like that?”

“Do I look like the architect to you? And haven’t you seen enough? Get going.” Killian answered in a short tone, and I saw Cassandra place a hand on his arm.

“No need to be mad, I was just asking.”

“Kil, why don’t you let me deal with the cutie while you go take a look around and find our friends.”

“…fine.” Killian hesitated for a moment before shooting me an irritated glance.

I watched as Cassandra blew him a kiss as Killian disappeared into the forest. Turning to focus on the lighthouse, I wanted to analyze it but honestly was a bit hesitant.

It looked….alive with the ominous pulsing and the black color that seemed to absorb the light.

After waffling for a bit, I decided to go for it. If anything dangerous happened, I would just hightail it out of here and leave the ‘protectors of the students’ to handle it. After all, I was a shrimp amoung whales. They should put in some work.

‘Analyze’

[Shadow Mimic Nest]

[Rank ???]

[ Strength: ??? ]

[ Intelligence: F ]

[ Perception ???]

[ Speed: F ]

[ Magic power: ???]

[Abilities: ▷Spawn (???) ▷Devour (???) ▷Encroach(???) ]

[Spawn amount: ????]

[An Original Mimic. It is slowly blending with a dungeon core and will continue spreading, devouring anything in its way.]

Oh, hell no.

Nope.

Nope.

Absolutely not.

No way in hell.

As if sensing my use of analysis, the lighthouse began vibrating, the ink-like material covering it pulsing in agitation while tendrils of the unknown substance peeled off rapidly. The large ink-like blob peeled off rapidly and began shooting forward on the ground, moving toward my direction as if they were hunting something.

’Squeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaak’

A high-pitched squeak rang through the air as an ink-black bird flew down at the black blobs. Quickly growing as it wrapped around them. The two shadowy figures grew and shrank as they wrapped around other in a silent display of violence.

It was Onyx.

Feeling my mana drain, I watched the spectacle, silently sighing in relief as Onyx won, swallowing the other mimic before approaching the Lighthouse and being absorbed into the general black mass.

“Well, that was interesting, don’t you think? What exactly was that? Shadow monsters?” I turned to Cassandra with an innocent expression.

“What exactly did you do, cutie? Speak up, or I’ll really make you lose that arm.” Cassandra asked in a threatening tone.