Author's Notes: I dunno if you've noticed but this fiction is blowing up!  Thanks for that, guys. Really, I mean it. Comment for faster releases and to be a spectacular man/woman/child/unspeakable horror. Or whatever else floats your boat. :)

Shorter chapter this time. Sorry, guys. Off-season for track just started and I've been swamped.

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"Captain! Captain! Status report, and this time it's urgent!", shouts a hurried young man. His black uniform is ruffled from his recent 'flight' and his olive eyes belie his near-panic. His brown hair is also untidy and wild from the rush. He catches a few stern gazes because of it. After all, the Lux Endorso prides itself on discipline and neatness.

Yet the military outpost haa bigger problems than scrupulous self-grooming.

A graying man look up from the glowing console in front him. He wears a similar uniform, only with a gold trim and the emblem of an eagle emblazoned above his chest. Though obviously not in his prime, his focused yellow eyes are dangerously sharp. He stares daggers at the young man a moment before motioning for him to continue.

He gulps before speaking again, "We have detected 1,000 life-forms on in our home system, Lux. Although it is on Kinni, they're rather peculiar..."

The captain glowers, making everyone uncomfortable (especially the young messenger). "You didn't come for just 'peculiar'", the captain growls, "Did you?"

"N-no, sir!", the young man quickly replies, "They seem to be... completely devoid of qi. Even so, their thermal scans are normal, and otherwise exhibit all signs of life. One even seems to be matching the terrestrial locomotion of a D-rank Steel Cultivator."

Confusion crosses the captain's visage before recognition does. After a pause, his voice solemnly resounds, "You aren't supposed to be privy to that information yet, Private Connors. I suppose this is the result of your downright meticulous habit of scanning the outer planets. So, you've earned the right to know to truth... if it leaves this room, you die."

Private Connors shudders at how casually his captain says that but leans in with curiousity.

"The council has enacted the yearly summoning ritual, but it's not the usual super-soldiers from the Gold Dimension. No, they've discovered a new dimension; a realm that has only one intelligent race. Stranger yet, every single life-form they found was devoid of qi, not even a bit of it. If you ask me, that's unnatural, but I guess they were summoned because of some kind of experiment. Seeing how they react to an environment with qi, or if they even survive it", the Captain spoke ominously.

The private's mouth is agape in shock. The mere idea of a being born without qi chills him to the core. Hell, even his cat in middle school had a Stone level dantian!

"Don't ask me more", the captain waves dismissively as he speaks, "That's all they told me. That and Devros Buthaine was 'introducing' them."

"Damn", Connors mutters, "He's one scary bastard."

The Captain can only shake his head in agreement. His big brother certainly was.

<<<>>>

The forest loomed ahead, dominating the entire horizon. I had forgotten a while back just how long I had been running. Yet two things remained constant: I still wasn't tired, and the trees just never stopped getting bigger in my eyes. I mean, I ran and ran but all it seemed to do was bring the trees closer to the sky. The trunks must've be wider than cars...

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The sky was illuminated equally by a plethora of stars, accompanied by a massive moon. The light level was actually quite close to daytime. I remained alert to predators, heeding Devros' advice. It never does a warrior well to underestimate his enemy... damn, I was starting to sound like a shonen protagonist.

Speaking of which, I never got to see the finale episode of my favorite show... Oh, well.

My parents probably were relieved at my sudden disappearance. My family was quite prestigious and well-to-do. We had inherited the royal bloodline of twelve countries, after all. But I was particularly stubborn stain to their image, being the 'crazy and lazy one' and all. I'm pretty sure that I would've been assassinated long ago if it weren't for my tamper-proofed cameras around my apartment (which I never leave).

Hell, if I had turned out just a bit better, I could've been a prince or something. But no, I was hated and shunned instead.

Just another reason that I'm glad to be here.

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I finally made it to the outermoster layer of trees. They had dark grey bark, light gray leaves, and most of all: were GIGANTIC. The titans stood wider than half a city block and stretching incredibly far into the sky. How did they get so big? Something to do with qi? I was both very curious and in awe.

The next layer was only a slight bit bigger, but I inferred that the tree sizes would grow to be ludicrous the farther I went in. The ground below the giants was dark brown and shaded, completely devoid of plant life. How could there be with all these trees sapping up all the sun? It only got darker the further I peered into the "thicket". Shuddering, I wondered if the forest was pitch black at its core.

Curiosity and something... deeper fueled my steps further into the forest.

I half expected the forest to echoing with the strange grunts and roars of wild animals. But no, there wasn't a single sound to be heard. Eerily, that included my footsteps. Stealth passives are useful until you need something tangible to hold onto, like the sound of a footfall. Otherwise the mind goes untethered, delving and spiralling into recesses of the mind most don't want to see. Astronauts experience a similar phenomena in space, but I knew that feeling on earth.

So I went deeper and deeper. It gradually became quite dim, then completely dark. I was alone in the silent darkness, yet I didn't feel scared at all. My footsteps never faltered. It felt as if something was calling out to me further on. I had felt a similar way in Axis Online before I got rare items or quests, but this feeling was stronger, much stronger.

Really, it was a wonder that I didn't bump to into trees. ...or was it? I had taken the exact right path to avoid the wooden giants; if I reached out my right hand, it immediately struck bark.

The Masked One had led me here. I began to realize why: it was training. I had to finely tune my senses in this pitch black, then maybe, just maybe, I'd be able to feel qi. That gave me a shot at survival. I wasn't a fool. I knew that Devros had no obligation to reward us for surviving, so I planned to at least be strong enough to flee from him by the time he returned. To do that required qi.

And so, my training began in the somber black labyrinth of trees.