''Okay wait, everybody calm down, we have no magic, we are in some random forest and we can't leave yet until we know the situation outside'', Elena says amidst all the chaos

  Adrian fidgets with his hands, looking downwards, his bottom lip trembling slightly, ''S-Should we find somewhere safe, just for the night, then should we keep moving during the day?''

  We all agree with Adrian's suggestion and continue to wander further throughout the forest. During our two years spent in this world, whilst we have mainly been busy cultivating our respective magic pathway we also learnt the basics of survival in different types of terrain, after all whilst all of us here are Rank 2 we still need food, water and sleep. Once one advances to rank 3 do they start breaking the so called 'human limit'.

  But I can't help but feel on edge, no one has ever mentioned to us any place that restricts the usage of magic. Sure mages at a much higher rank can restrict the usage of our magic. So either there's an unknown mage at the minimum of rank 3 capable of supressing the mana usage of seven rank 2s or even worse it's a Rank 4. That might be worse than confronting those monsters out there, at least we know what their final goal is, kill us! But if someone is here, restricting our magic no matter what they wish to do how can we stop or even try to understand what their goals are.

  Night starts to fall and we have made a makeshift place to camp. Since the first step we took here I haven't seen or heard any animals, none whatsoever. We can't stay here longer than tonight.

  We all sit together in the around the fireplace having small talk with each other to try ease our nerves. Throughout these past two years we all have come quite close with each other. I mean who wouldn't, who else us could relate to being quite literally kidnapped from your own world, the others may have had a quite difficult time coming to terms with their lives on earth basically being over. But I don't really have any lingering attachments back there, one could say my strongest connections all came with me here.

  Lukas sitting down his legs crossed, hands planted behind his back to support him asks, ''So have any of you tried modifying any of your spells yet?''

  Sofia locks eyes with him sighing, ''It's too hard, I have only been using the basic lightning spells, every time I try to add something special, it's just explodes''

  Adrian speaks up, '' I have actually'' . Everyone looks at him surprised Elena especially

  ''Wow that came out of nowhere, come tell us what did you manage to create''

  Adrian looks up smiling, ''Well if your so jealous of me I can tell you, at first I thought earth magic was just something basic like moving the ground and stuff like that, but then I thought instead of just changing the ground why don't I use it. After a lot of trial and error over the two years all though it may not sound like much, I've managed to modify a spell to send constant vibrations throughout the ground, so when anything comes into contact I'll notice''

  ''Maybe I'll learn to do something like that once I reach Rank 3'' Sofia sulks

  I turn towards Sofia saying, ''Having more power is cool and all but doesn't it hurt to much create another one of those mana cores, feels like someone is ripping out the flesh from inside my stomach''

  To my surprise I'm met by confused gazes, Vera adds, ''Making a core for you hurts? I'm pretty sure it doesn't for all of us''

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Weird.

  Before I can ponder I am interrupted by a shriek, ''W-What is that!'' Lukas says his eyes widening, sweat dripping from his brow, instinctively he moves backwards

  Where is he looking at?

  ''Where Lukas, what is it'', I say to him on edge

  He cranes his neck up, his arm shaking as he lifts it ups his gaze meeting the empty spaces between the leaves of the surrounding trees, ''Those two white lights, look there, what the hell is that!''

  We all follow his trembling hand, our eyes lifting toward the canopy

  At first I don't understand what I'm looking at

  Two pale lights hover between the branches, distant and still, like fragments of moonlight caught in the leaves

  Then they blink

  Not flicker

  Blink

  A cold weight settles in my stomach as my gaze slowly drags downward from those lights

  Down past the tangled branches

  Down past the thick weave of leaves

  Until the darkness beneath them begins to take shape

  It isn't perched in the tree

  It is standing behind it

  No

  Not behind

  Among

  Its body is so vast the surrounding trunks look like saplings beside it. Bark shifts where its shoulder presses against the wood. The canopy parts around its head, swallowed by foliage so thick I cannot make out its full shape

  Those white lights stare down at us without movement

  Without emotion

  Without sound

  The pale lights remain fixed on us

  Unblinking

  Unmoving

  Then something beneath them shifts

  At first I think it's the wind disturbing the leaves, a ripple of shadow where its face should be

  But the forest is still

  Too still

  The darkness below those eyes begins to stretch

  Slowly

  Deliberately

  A thin curve pulls outward from the centre of its face, splitting the blackness like a crack in stone

  It isn't wide at first

  Just enough to suggest shape

  Then it spreads

  Wider

  Wider

  Far wider than any mouth should be able to

  The canopy trembles as its head tilts back slightly, revealing rows of pale shapes within the void, not quite teeth, not quite bone, but something jagged and uneven, glinting faintly in the moonlight

  The smile does not move like a human smile

  It doesn't twitch

  Doesn't breathe

  Doesn't strain

  It simply exists

  Carved across its face like it had always been there

  Like it had been waiting

  My jaw hangs low, mouth agape, heart hammering against my ribs so hard it hurts. My pupils tremble, my hands shake uncontrollably, and the air feels too thin to breathe. Words clog my throat, thick and useless, as if even sound is afraid to exist here

  That smile never fades

  Those white eyes never blink

  Move

  MOVE!

  Why can't I move

  My lips finally twitch, dragging themselves into shape, my voice cracking as it forces its way out

  "Run… we need to run"

  Except Oskar. He exhales slowly

  Laughs

  Actually laughs

  "You guys are overreacting," he says, adjusting his glasses with shaking fingers he's clearly trying to steady. "This is exactly how it starts. Overwhelming enemy. Everyone panics. Then the protagonist steps up"

  My blood runs cold

  "Oskar don't—"

  He steps forward anyway

  Calm

  Measured

  Delusional

  "I knew it," he continues, walking toward the towering shape without any fear. "Ever since we got here. I've been waiting for my moment. This is a classic narrative turning point. Hidden potential awakening under pressure, watching all that anime, watching all that manga, showed me that moments like this are where the main character shines!"

  The thing doesn't move. Doesn't react. It simply watches

  Oskar raises his chin

  "You picked the wrong person to mess with"

  For a fraction of a second. Nothing happens

  Then the forest explodes

  There is no roar. No warning. No dramatic windup. The creature moves faster than thought, one massive shape descends from the canopy

  A snap. Wet. Violent

  Oskar doesn't even finish his breath

  His entire head is simply gone

  His head vanishes between jagged pale shapes as the rest falls to the ground in a spray of dark red

  Silence

  Thick

  Absolute

  Something lands several feet away. I don't look at it

  I can't

  The creature slowly straightens again. Chewing. That same carved smile never fading and for the first time I feel something from it

  Amusement