A slight breeze blows through the foggy woods, bringing the scent of blood and moist pin needles. Above, the trees groan quietly. In front of me, the Kob seems to have regained its senses. The swaying has stopped, but it still seems dazed. I clench my newly freed sword. The blade is free, but I don't have time to question why. I need to capitalize on this moment.

I bring the sword to my waist, the tip pointing to the ground. Every muscle burns, and I feel cool sweat dripping down my face. If it weren't for the adrenaline, I would be knocked out. I take a step forward, and the quiet thump of my boot seems to echo on for eternity. The Kob snarls. With a yell, I jump off my right foot, my sword dragging behind my left side. The creature takes a step back as I swing up diagonally. I miss by just a hair, and the Kob roars as it prepares to slice me to shreds.

I yell, "GET HEAVY!" The weapon that is now just over the monster's shoulder stops its advance and immediately drops. I almost lose my grip but manage to guide the blade as the Kob raises its massive arm to stop it. But that does nothing. The sword cleanly cuts the forearm in two and continues all the way down its shoulder. It screams in pain and recedes just in time for the tip of my blade to only leave a deep groove instead of splitting it in half.

Black blood spurts out of the massive slash mark, covering me completely. The sword makes contact with the ground with a loud thud, and then it becomes light enough for me to hold it easily, even though I can barely move. With a deep breath, I lower my stance to a high squat, with the sword level with my eye. The Kob screams in pain as it tries to reattach its severed forearm. Tears stream down its face as the creature writhes in pain.

I lunge at it, sinking the sword deep into its gut. With a large exhale, I force the blade up, splitting the monster in half from its stomach to its head. The wailing stops as the shell's body crumbles to the ground.

Only after the thing has completely gone still, do I breathe in. I gasp for air, my lungs inflating to the max. I drop the sword and fall onto my hands and knees in the massive puddle of blood. I wheeze as pain racks my entire body, and I crawl to sit against a tree across from the severed monster.

"I must admit, I did not expect you to beat it. That sword is really impressive." I roll my head to the side and see Zack leaning against my tree, arms crossed. He whistles, "Yup. Quite the piece of art." He gets on one knee and makes a box with his fingers, peering through them like a camera. "And click. This will be a core memory for you." He gets up and rolls his shoulders, grabbing his spear.

"Welp, I'll finish off the rest of the stragglers. Oh, here they come now." I follow Zack's nonchalant gaze and groan. A dozen Kob walk toward us out of the fog, all of them in that black-veined state. They snarl as they look at the dead monster.

Zack casually walks in front of me, spinning his spear, "Yup, that was the work of my weak teammate. Can you imagine how embarrassing that must feel? It's like getting killed by a fly." One of the Kobs roars and jumps above us, latching onto a nearby tree. Zack waves his finger and tsks. He punches the tree and blows a hole through it. With a push from his pointer finger, the tree falls, crushing the shell.

Two others try to blitz him, moving at speeds I struggle to even watch. Zack stops one punch with his hand while kicking the other in the head, blowing it off. He grins and breaks the Kobs's arm, and I watch, horrified, as he forcefully removes one of the bones in its arms and shoves it through the creature's skull. He turns to the remaining nine with a feral smile.

There's a roar, and the largest of the group steps forward. Unlike the others, this one has no claws. The shell pounds the ground and dashes toward him, grabbing a handful of dirt and flinging it at his enemy. Zack spins his spear in front of him so fast it almost looks like a white wall, and the dirt is deflected. The Kob jumps into the air and slams down with both fists, but Zack is already gone.

I look around the area, but I can't see him. The Kob looks just as confused as it roars and glances around. Movement catches my eye, and I look up in time to see Zack throw his spear from fifty feet in the air. I hear a slight whistling as a line of white slams directly into the Kob. A boom and vibration follow that shakes my bones and sends me back several feet.

I raise up on my elbows as the dust settles. Zack's spear is in the center of a small crater, and the Kob is nowhere to be found. Zack lands beside his weapon and rips it out of the ground.

"Were those things always so weak?" I want to say something, but pain runs through my body in waves as I arch my back.

I feel my mouth open, but no scream comes out as pain laces up my spine. I see nothing, hear nothing. There's just fire burning my body.

*********************

I awake to the sound of a beating heart monitor. Above me, white tiles make up the ceiling, and the stifling smell of anesthetics confirms I'm in a hospital. There's nothing in the room besides my bed, my sword propped against the wall, and the heart monitor.

The pain I felt before I passed out is gone, and lifting my right arm, there is only a faint white line to indicate I was even in a fight. The last thing I remember was Zack carrying me out of the forest. I swing my legs off the bed. I shudder as my bare feet touch the cold floor. My legs are weak. I must have been here a few days. I trudge over to the monitor and notice a small yellow orb.

Huh, this must be the core from the Kob. I start to reach for it and hesitate. I remember reading an article that stated when a human touches a Neo core without gloves, it will literally start to burn them from the inside out. That begs the question, why can I touch them without that side effect? I tap the core cautiously, but nothing happens. Yup, same as usual.

I inspect the dull yellow core. Seems pretty middle of the road in shade. It's not exactly bright, but it's not dark either. I shrug and put it back. I look at the metal door. I'd like to leave, but that's probably not going to happen without a doctor signing off. With a sigh, I plop back onto the bed.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I look at the scar on my arm. I thought I was doing good when I managed to beat the Kob, but Zack is in a completely different world of strength. The question is he the average or the outlier? I sit and ponder this until the door opens, and Heraon walks through.

"Ah, Silen. I'm glad to see you awake and walking." He lumbers over to me and gives me a quick once over, "All limbs are attached, and you even have both your eyes. Congratulations."

I raise my eyebrows, "Are you congratulating me on passing the test or surviving in one piece?"

"Yes!" Heraon says with a beaming smile. Uh-huh. He hands me a burlap sack with my clothes in it, "I got them washed for you. We will leave to meet Alexander as soon as you are ready." Hearon exits the room as I get dressed. It's surprising how good I feel. Those doctors are unbelievable. I'm curious what they had to sacrifice to heal me.

I grab my sword and hold it out. I wonder. . . I place my hand on the hilt, and the metal that wraps around it retreats. I pull the sword out with ease. "Hah," I examine the weapon. So, it required a blood sacrifice? That's kinda hardcore. I guess that is part of the bonding process. Just wish I would have known earlier. I sling the sword over my shoulder and pocket the core. Heraon smiles as I exit, and we leave the hospital.

"I thought Zack would come pick me up," I say as we walk toward Keep Tower, poking above the buildings.

Hearon grunts, "He had some things to take care of. He'll be at the tower if you have any questions." We trudge through the quiet streets in silence. Above us, hundreds of floaters fly around.

"Why don't we take a cab?"

Hearon looks up and grimaces, "I get motion sickness."

"Oh." I never would've guessed. We walk the rest of the way in silence. I don't know how to approach Hearon. Not that I want to. Even if I'm stuck with these three for the foreseeable future, that doesn't mean I need to make forced conversation. Talking was never my strong suit. I'm more hit first ask later. But there are so many questions.

We enter the tower and ride the elevator to the room Sir Bell works in. The Hold is what it's called. Sir Bell is flanked on each side by Zack and Azu Mi as they look at something over the railing. Hearon steps beside Bell and I follow suit, standing beside Azu. Below us are at least a hundred people, all staring at small holograms. Each one is talking quietly to said screen.

Dozens of smaller screens surround Sir Bell. I can't make most of them out, but one is clearly a temple or church of some kind, and another shows a hulking shadow covering a small mountain. With a tap, the images disappear.

"I heard good things from Zack about your Exam. I am pleased to see you still in one piece, " Sir Bell says, nodding in my direction.

"Thank you, sir." I glance at him and notice he isn't wearing his overcoat. Azu and Zack remain in casual clothes.

"Now that you have all assembled, we shall begin the briefing." Bell motions in front of him, and a dozen screens pop up. He shuffles them around with quick hand gestures and enlarges them for us to see.

"Our scouts from company three have identified a new set of ruins. For now, they shall be called the treehouse ruins." Three images to my left show blurry structures of some kind perched on massive trees. I can't make out much of anything. Just some fuzzy squares attached to trees with lines connecting them.

"This is a class one mission, so expect resistance."

Zack huffs, "We always get the hard ones," He says quietly.

Bell ignores him and continues, "The scouts have also found traces of a Fairy and possibly a Guardian, so keep alert at all times." Four more images show some blurry shapes but I can't make them out, however, Azu inhales sharply.

"Could the Fairy be the Apex?" Azu asks, making a grabbing motion and bringing the images closer.

"Undetermined. The recon team wasn't able to scale the trees, so you'll need to bring climbing gear."

"What's our estimated time of arrival," Zack says.

Bell snaps his fingers, and a holographic map appears. There's a dot that must be us and a massive line that marks the entrance to the woods. There are several different names and locations differences, but I can't make heads or tails of it. The Heywood? Spark forest? I scratch my head as I look over the map, but it all looks the same to me. A red dot appears far to the right of me and deep in the forest.

"This is the location. It's in quadrant twelve. It's fairly unexplored, so watch your back out there."

Zack clicks his tongue, "That's almost a week out! Surely, there's going to be more than just us out there."

Bell shakes his head, "We're short-staffed at the moment so this will be a solo operation. If it's a worst-case scenario, you are free to withdraw. You will meet with recon team one at Steel Lake. They will provide what assistance they can." Zack scoffs and whispers something under his breath.

I remain silent. I know nothing about the forest, and while I have many questions, I can get them answered later.

"Last but not least, we believe a relic dwells within the ruins." At this, all three of my companions look sharply at Bell.

"They got a reading?" Azu says, gripping the railing till her knuckles turn white. He nods.

Hearon rubs his beard thoughtfully, "This changes things. If a relic is in those ruins, this becomes a class Omega, maybe even an Alpha if we're unlucky." Zack runs his hand through his hair with a deep sigh.

"Correct. Even if you can't do a sweep of the ruin, at the very least, try to confirm if a relic exists. If so, we will need to send an extraction team or two for assistance." Bell swipes his hand across the screens, and they disappear. "You have three days to prepare. Also, Azu Mi and Silen, please remain behind. We have something to discuss. Dismissed."

Zack and Hearon walk to the stairs, both of them talking about boundry temple, whatever that is.

"Azu, I need you to take Mr. Stone to the R&D district so he can familiarize himself with the MULE. Also, the Core team would like a word with him as well." Azu nods, thumps her fist against her chest, and bows. I follow suit, and we enter the elevator.

Azu sighs, "I know you have a million questions. Let's hear them."

Hmm. What's most important? "What were the classes Sir Bell talked about?"

"So you haven't even learned that? This will be more difficult than I expected." Azu whips out her glass, and after some tinkering, a hologram pops up. On it is text that comes from the bottom up. "In order there are Class four, three, two, and one. Those are the basic mission difficulties. Class four would be something similar to lower-class shell extermination while one is ruin exploration in a completely unknown location."

She points to the two classes above them, "These are Omega and Alpha classes. They pertain mostly to ruins with a relic and an apex. And before you ask, an apex is a Shell that presides over a ruin and has complete control of it and the surrounding area."

Right. I remember my teacher talking about that. They typically only exist in ruins with relics, though there have been a few outliers. "What's quadrant twelve?"

Azu twirls her hair thoughtfully, "That may be a bit more complicated to explain. For now, think of it as distrcits to the forest. It would take too long to explain it now."

I mean, I could have guessed that. It seems there's more to these "Districts," but it'll have to wait. I want to ask about the fairy and guardian and how those Kobs managed to get so much stronger so quickly, but we reached the end of our ride. I follow Azu outside and she hails a cab, "R&D." She says to the driver. He nods, and I watch the tower shrink as we float away.