The battlefield stretched before them, a desolate expanse of broken stone and swirling dust, a testament to the realms' brutal nature. They moved through the carnage, each step treacherous. Kael could feel the tremor of every impact, every death rattle, the ground beneath his boots soaked with the metallic tang of blood. The silence of the System, no new encounters announced, was unnerving. The only sounds the echo of the wind, the crunch of gravel, and the girl's rasping breaths. It felt different here, this realm, a weight in the air, a shimmering heat, as if the sun itself were a predatory eye, judging their every move.

His gaze swept across the landscape, searching for the Starlight Blooms—their blue glow, a beacon in this desolate place. The remnants of the battle, carcasses littering the cracked earth.

"We should… gather those," Yareeth said, gesturing towards the fallen forms of the wolves and chitinous insects. He could feel her gaze on him as he hesitated, saw the confusion, and then a spark of realization, the understanding blooming in her eyes. It was a reflection of his own journey, the way the System had twisted his perspective, remade his priorities. But they needed the experience.

Kael nodded. "Those fangs, those claws. Maybe they'll be useful, maybe even valuable for trading."

But the thought brought little satisfaction. He could smell the death, feel it clinging to them like a shroud.

"The insect chitin, too, if we can carry them.” Her suggestion. Practical. He felt a pang of... respect, maybe. She’d been horrified by the Blightmaw's destruction of her village, had questioned his willingness to participate in this slaughter, and yet, she understood. She was learning to embrace this twisted reality. Her world, now, too.

They gathered the scraps—fangs, claws, the iridescent shards of chitin. Each item placed carefully into the new leather backpack. He carried most of it. And the guilt, it wasn’t a burden anymore. It was a… a path. A promise.

But as they moved deeper into the battlefield, the tension tightened, the air humming with a predatory energy. They could feel it—the presence of something larger, more powerful. The realm boss.

He felt her hand, a squeeze on his arm, her tail twitching with anticipation. “I can feel it, too,” she whispered, her voice a low hiss.

"We’ve been spotted.” Yareeth’s voice, barely a whisper. But the sharpness of it, a blend of her learned tongue and a rasp that had nothing to do with the realms, jolted him back to the moment.

They moved deeper around the battlefield, careful, stealthy as they navigated the uneven terrain. It felt like the realms themselves were testing them, the ground shifting, jagged rocks offering treacherous footholds. The sky, a pale, unsettling yellow, seemed to press down, a suffocating weight. Each step was a gamble, his boots crunching on shale. His gaze scanned for a break, a path through this war.

A shadow detached itself, the first encounter a blur. They were outnumbered, three Shadowfang Hunters lunging from the shadows.

3x Shadowfang Hunter Level 2

A symphony of growls and gnashing teeth, but he met them head-on. Kael swung, his club-hammer finding its rhythm, a brutal, satisfying counterpoint to the wolf-creature’s frantic desperation. One down. The sound of bones crunching a jarring reminder of his new power, the stench of blood a tangible presence.

Two more, flanking him, their movements swift, but his own enhanced reflexes, his greater Strength, his armor. He parried a strike, felt the creature’s claws scrape against his vambraces. The leather parting, but sufficient to protect his flesh. Another blow, another creature collapsing into the dust.

2x Shadowfang Hunter Killed

Force Efficiency +1

Yareeth fought at his side. She didn't hesitate now, the fear he'd seen before, that raw terror of the unknown, replaced by a survivor’s focus. Her dagger flashed in the dim light, the point finding its mark, her cries as she struck a mixture of his language and a guttural rasp. It felt good. Powerful. It wasn’t just the levels.

But the Shadowfang Hunters were relentless, their attacks a frenzied dance of claws and teeth, a swarm of hunger that threatened to overwhelm them. Blood spattered, a warm spray as a claw, sharp, raked across her arm.

He saw her stagger, heard her gasp, pain etched in her expression as she pressed her hand against the wound, a smear of crimson against the dulled scales, a chilling counterpoint to his own anxieties. He pushed his fear, his own aches and the memories of her destroyed village, away.

He had to protect her. This was their life, now, and the guilt was a weapon he could use.

He was about to turn on the beast who’d dared strike her, but her hiss of pain quickly morphed into a roar of defiance as she drove her knife into the creature’s chest.

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Shadowfang Hunter Killed

Defensive Tactics +1

Toughness +1

The System blinked happily as she shoved the Shadowfang’s dying body aside, her scales gleaming in the dim light. He saw the determination on her face, the satisfaction of a hard-won victory.

But she was bleeding. “You're hurt,” he said. The concern, so raw. He wished he’d gotten her proper armor.

“It's nothing,” she dismissed, “A scratch. We’ll heal later. Focus, Kael"

They reached a large, jagged outcropping of rock. It offered little protection, but they could at least survey the battlefield, plan their approach. The fighting was more intense here, the ground beneath their feet littered with mangled corpses, the smell of blood and viscera a thick, suffocating miasma.

He looked back, wanting to ask if she was alright, but the sight, her expression, stole his words. She was poised, alert, every muscle tense, her scales gleaming, their dullness forgotten in the heat of the coming battle. The creature's violence. It was her language, now, too. This world, this… evolution—it had claimed her, had reshaped her just as surely as it had remade him.

And for a moment, he almost envied her.

Kael’s gaze darted across the battlefield, seeking the source of the unsettling energy that seemed to permeate the air. His eyes, honed by countless battles, settled on a massive figure, standing on a rise in the distance. The creature towered over the rest, a towering silhouette of shadow and muscle, its fur matted with blood, its eyes burning with a cold, calculating fury.

“There.”

He pointed towards the rise, and Yareeth followed his gaze. “That’s one of the realm bosses. Take it down, and the others will scatter. The starlight blooms… They’re guarded. By it.” His assessment was harsh, a reminder of their goals. Her gaze. Not fear, not even the hatred for the creature that had devoured her world.

“How do we do it?” she asked. Her voice steady, but there was an edge to it now. An understanding of the rules.

“You’ve done this before.” Her tail flicked back and forth, a blur of motion as she scanned the battlefield.

Her words were both an accusation, and a truth.

Kael met her gaze, her dark eyes unyielding, the memories he shared unspoken, a burden carried within their silence. The air around them crackled. They moved closer to the shadow, to the battle. A shiver, not of fear, ran through him. It was the Shard’s recognition, a primal awareness. The excitement was mutual now. He liked this feeling.

They reached a large outcropping of rock, a natural barrier against the endless expanse. The ground beneath them was slick, treacherous, stained dark with a mix of mud and blood. It reminded him of the final battle in the marsh, a cold shiver, the reminder of the realms’ capriciousness. This one, its rules, different. The fight, more intense. A deeper level of despair echoed in the dry wind that whispered across the plain.

Kael felt a pull towards the shadow of the rocks. An urge to rest, to recover. But a louder, deeper instinct — an echo of Yareeth’s presence — kept him focused on their task. He would heal later. After.

He scanned the area, his gaze drawn to a sight that made his heart pound with an icy fear. There, in a clearing ahead, a cluster of shadows, a pack of wolves surrounding a single, massive figure. The Shadowfang Hunter Realm Boss, it stood over the body of a fallen Chitinous Guardian, its jaws dripping blood, its eyes fixed on the fray, a ruthless, calculating intelligence in their depths.

Shadowfang Hunter Level 3 [Realm Boss]

6x Shadowfang Hunter Level 2

He knew, with a gut-wrenching certainty, that this was their target. But this one, this boss, wasn't just driven by hunger, wasn't just another mindless creature reacting to the System's whims. This one…

…This one commanded the others. Its aura was potent, a physical presence that made the air hum with a primal tension. Kael could feel a cold sweat breaking out across his back. This wouldn’t be a quick, brutal dispatch, not like the others. This was a true predator, a leader, an alpha.

The Boss’s eyes locked onto his, and for a moment, Kael’s breath snagged. It was as if… the creature could see into his very soul.

“That’s one of the Realm Bosses. A Level 3," Kael muttered, his voice strained. The dread he tried to mask, he knew it was in her too. “We take it down, and I bet the rest of the pack scatters." He tried to sound confident, tried to project an authority, but his own voice sounded small, even to him.

Beside him, Yareeth’s tail thrashed restlessly. He could hear the hiss of her breath against the rough stone. "Level three?" Her gaze remained locked on the beast, but he could see the worry in the slight tremor of her head. She was remembering the Blightmaw. Level 5. He could smell her fear, acrid against the metallic tang, and his heart twisted with a familiar surge of…

It wasn't just protectiveness. It was guilt.

He had a plan, though. He had to.

“We have to be smart. The smaller ones are dangerous. This… this boss. It’s powerful. Intelligent.” His gaze locked onto the pack, analyzing their movements, his own skills, the System's upgrades a flicker of reassurance.

“You stay back,” he ordered, “take out the weaker ones, as we planned. Use your speed, your agility. Get them from the edges.” It wasn’t a question. A desperate strategy that echoed the battle with the Razorback Drake. This was his fight. His failure.

Her voice was firm, “Just don’t let it kill you, alright?”

The ground beneath their feet, cracked and uneven, made it impossible to move silently. It wouldn’t matter, he decided. This fight had to be a statement, too. He wouldn't let them think he was easy prey.

“Ready?” he asked. The words a soft hiss, a blend of caution and a shared understanding. It was her fight now, too. He'd pulled her into this, into the chaos of the realms.

She nodded.

Then, with a fierce glint in her eyes, a fire that made his own blood hum with anticipation, she whispered, “Let’s dance.”