The moment I moved, the world around me slowed.
I could still hear the faint murmur of students scattered across the ruins, but their voices became distant. The damp scent of moss and decayed stone faded into the background as my focus narrowed on the presence lurking above.
It had been watching me. A creature, hiding within the crumbling remains of a broken tower, its form barely distinguishable from the darkness itself. It had been waiting. Observing, calculating its move.
Too bad for it.
I shifted my stance slightly, raising a hand.
Collapse.
The air trembled. Space folded inward, and before the monster could react, it was violently dragged from its hiding spot. It screeched, its body twisting unnaturally as it crashed into the cracked stone before me.
Now fully revealed, the monster was grotesque.
Its body was humanoid in shape but stretched beyond normal proportions. Its arms were elongated, fingers tapering into jagged claws. A mask-like structure covered its face, split down the middle where a gaping mouth twitched and quivered hungrily.
I inhaled sharply, fingers twitching as my jaw clenched. The sight of its malformed, asymmetrical body made my skin crawl. Its twisted proportions, its uneven limbs—wrong. Wrong. My nails dug into my palm, forcing the unease back before it could settle too deep.
But what was more concerning… was the energy radiating from it.
This thing was stronger than it should be.
No hesitation. The monster attacked, but I was already behind it.
It barely had time to register my movement before,
CRACK.
I twisted its head clean around.
The creature froze, body twitching as if struggling to resist death. But it was over. The moment passed, and its form dissolved into black dust, leaving behind only a single remnant,
A pulsating eye.
I reached down, picking it up. The moment my fingers brushed against it, I felt it.
This thing was… wrong.
Revulsion crawled up my spine. The slick, pulsing texture of the eye sent a wave of disgust roiling in my stomach. I wanted to drop it, to wipe my hand clean, but I forced myself to remain still.
Monster cores weren't supposed to hold this much corruption. Even for a ruin like this, where the remnants of past horrors still lingered, this level of energy was unnatural.
Someone was tampering with this place.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps. Unlike the skittering of monsters, these steps were firm. Steady. Controlled.
I turned, my grip tightening around the eye.
Emerging from the swirling mist was Instructor Flinn.
He wasn't alone.
Walking slightly behind him was Aiden, his silver hair barely visible through the fog. His expression remained neutral, but his gaze was sharp, scanning the battlefield with a quiet intensity.
Beside Aiden was the blonde girl with emerald eyes. Her usual carefree attitude had been replaced with something colder. Cautious, even. Her gaze flickered toward the remnants of the monster I had just killed.
Flinn's sharp eyes immediately landed on the eye in my hand. His expression darkened.
"Instructor, This ruin…" he muttered, voice laced with unease.
He crouched beside the black dust left behind by the monster, running a gloved hand through it. The way his brows furrowed told me everything I needed to know.
"Too strong?" I asked.
Flinn nodded, standing back up. "The creatures here… They're far beyond what the students should be facing."
He exhaled, crossing his arms.
"Even considering the influence of the ruin, this is unnatural."
Aiden remained silent, but I could feel his eyes lingering on me. Watching me. He must have realized it too.
Flinn glanced around, his shoulders tense. "I don't like this. If the monsters are already this strong, then we might have a serious problem."
He turned to me, his gaze sharp. "We need to start tracking down the students immediately. Some of them won't be able to handle this."
A moment of silence stretched between us. I glanced back at the eye in my palm, watching as the faint glow flickered.
Something was watching us, and it wasn't just the monsters.
Flinn stepped forward, lowering his voice. "Sulien, do you feel it?"
I did. The ruin itself was shifting. Something in the air had changed.
The deeper we went… the worse this was going to get.
And at this rate, this trial was going to become a massacre.
A chill settled in my bones as I stared at the eye in my palm. The pulsing energy seeping from it was unnatural, far beyond what should have existed in this place.
This wasn't right.
This ruin, this trial, the monsters lurking within. It was all deviating from what I knew.
I clenched my jaw. In the novel, this place was dangerous, but manageable. The monsters here were meant to test the students, push them to their limits, but not outright crush them. This creature I had just killed. No, erased, shouldn't have been this strong.
A variable. Something had changed.
If these monsters were already far beyond their expected strength, then that meant something had interfered. And if that was the case… then an organization should appear soon.
A hand tightened around my throat. Not physically, but the weight of realization made my pulse spike. That organization wasn't supposed to be involved yet. If they showed up now, it would warp the entire course of events. The academy's trial would no longer be a simple test for students. It would become a battlefield.
Flinn's voice dragged me back to the present. "Sulien."
I looked up. He was still watching me, his expression tight, guarded. His sharp eyes flickered to the students behind him. Students who were struggling to remain standing. Some had collapsed, trembling from the mental attack the monster had unleashed before its death. Their breathing was erratic, their minds overwhelmed by something they couldn't fight against.
Too many of them wouldn't last.
"Bring the students to a safe place," I said, my voice steady despite the storm brewing inside me. "Including the ones behind me. They're already suffering from the mental attack."
Flinn hesitated for only a second before nodding. He understood the weight of my words. If the monsters were already this strong, then staying here would be suicide.
He turned, his voice sharp as he barked orders to the students still capable of moving. Aiden lingered for a moment, his piercing silver eyes locking onto mine. He had noticed. He had seen the shift in my expression, the calculation, the realization that something was terribly wrong.
But now wasn't the time to explain.
As Flinn guided the students away, I exhaled slowly, staring at the dark mist swirling through the ruins.
The script had changed.
And if I didn't act carefully… I wouldn't just be a spectator to this world's unraveling.
I would be caught in its collapse.