Not in sudden, obvious ways — no trees uprooting themselves or vines lashing out — but small things. The leaves were too glossy. The bark on some trunks seemed to ripple faintly when touched. Mana, invisible and unknown two days ago, now hummed like background static in the back of Mike’s skull.
The others couldn’t feel it the same way, but they felt something.
Arin walked in front, sword ready. Her posture was steady, but her eyes flicked constantly from shadow to shadow.
Marina followed close behind her, staff clutched in both hands, its faint glow their only reliable comfort. Vex darted between them, scanning the edges of the group with hunter-like paranoia.
Mike took the back.
Partly to cover their retreat if something attacked.
Mostly because something was following.
He didn’t tell them that.
Not yet.
Not until he understood it.
Lumi perched on his shoulder, all six tails raised like an alarm system, ears twitching at the slightest sound. Every few steps, the fox would look behind them and emit a low growl.
Mike finally whispered, “Still there?”
Lumi’s tails bristled.
That was a yes.
The orb drifted near Mike’s left shoulder, humming with faint blue light.
Chaotic signature detected.
Entity remains at long range. Observing.
“Yeah,” Mike murmured. “I figured.”
Arin glanced back. “You said something?”
Mike shook his head. “Just talking to Lumi.”
She nodded, but her gaze lingered. Arin was perceptive — painfully perceptive. But she didn’t press.
Marina stepped up beside them. “Mike… can I ask something?”
“Shoot.”
“How are you walking so easily?” she asked softly. “You were nearly dead yesterday.”
Mike shrugged. “System perks. Healing. A little magic. Didn’t have much choice.”
Marina’s brow creased. “We haven’t gotten anything like that. Not even basic perks yet.”
“You haven’t hit the level threshold,” Mike replied.
“Yeah, but you hit it in what… two days?” she said. “That’s not normal.”
Vex whistled. “Understatement.”
Arin didn’t comment — but she did look at Mike with a thoughtful expression that said she was filing away every detail.
Mike internally winced.
He wasn’t hiding his power.
But he also didn’t feel like explaining that he’d killed:
- a Nightstalker Alpha alone
- a Minor Boss while nearly dead
- a higher-ranking demon’s plans without realizing it
- and had a transcendent soul he didn’t understand at all
So he just walked in silence.
It was the safest option.
They reached a stream where the water shimmered faintly with green light. Marina knelt down but recoiled instantly.
“It’s… warm.”
Arin touched it with the tip of her sword.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Steam rose.
“The boss died upstream,” Mike said. “The area’s still saturated with mana.”
Vex muttered, “Mana is not a word I ever expected to use casually.”
Marina lifted her staff. “We should move. The air’s getting denser.”
They moved.
Another thirty meters.
Then fifty.
Then a hundred.
And the forest grew quiet again.
Too quiet.
Mike felt Stormsense tingle.
Weak, but constant.
It’s here.
He didn’t look back.
But he didn’t have to.
Arin stopped abruptly. “Hold.”
Mike froze.
Arin stared at a tree trunk. “Something moved.”
Vex’s eyes narrowed. “Where?”
“There,” she said, pointing to the canopy.
All four looked up.
Leaves rustled.
Branches swayed.
But there was no wind.
Then Mike saw it.
A silhouette.
Barely visible.
Like a stain of darkness perched between two branches.
Motionless.
Watching.
Lumi’s claws dug into his shoulder.
“Keep moving,” Mike said quietly.
Arin shot him a look. “You know what that is?”
“…No,” Mike lied.
Because he didn’t know what it was — not truly — but he knew it was tied to him.
And until he understood why, he didn’t want to explain it.
Vex whispered, “That thing gives me the creeps.”
Marina clutched her staff tighter.
The shadow didn’t move.
But the next branch they passed under rustled gently.
Mike didn’t need to check.
It was following.
Always above.
Always at a distance.
Never attacking.
Never revealing itself fully.
Arin turned to Mike again. “If it’s after you—”
“It’s not attacking,” Mike said. “Yet.”
“And if it does?” Vex asked.
Mike hesitated.
Lumi bared tiny fangs.
“…I’ll handle it,” Mike said.
No one argued.
But Arin’s jaw tightened.
She was smart.
She’d figured out more than he wanted — but she also trusted him enough not to pry.
Good.
He’d need that trust.
Because this wasn’t their fight.
Not yet.
They continued until the terrain shifted again. The ground sloped upward, the trees thinning slightly. The air grew sharper, cooler, tingling faintly with energy.
A ripple of light shimmered through the air ahead.
Arin slowed. “What is that?”
Marina whispered, “It feels like… pressure. Like something’s pushing us back.”
Mike stepped forward.
Stormsense vibrated.
Not danger.
Not warning.
Recognition.
“This is the boundary,” he murmured. “The system’s marking.”
Arin looked at him. “Marking… what?”
The orb answered for him.
[Tutorial Progression Zone Detected]
You are approaching:
THE TRIAL OF AWAKENING
Minimum Recommended Level: 5
Special Condition: Entry Allowed Regardless of Level
Rewards: Advancement, titles, class expansion, stat optimization
Warning: Failure results in elimination.
Vex’s face drained of blood. “Elimination-elimination? Or tutorial-elimination?”
The orb was merciless.
Yes.
Vex groaned. “Hate this place.”
Mike stared at the boundary.
The faint ripple of energy.
The pulse of power behind it.
His next step.
His next challenge.
Then—
A branch behind them creaked.
Mike didn’t turn.
Lumi’s fur puffed out.
Arin grabbed her sword.
Vex tensed like a coiled spring.
Marina lifted her staff.
The shadow stepped into view at the edge of the clearing.
Not above.
Not circling.
Right there.
On the ground.
Triggering the boundary’s light to flicker.
It stood halfway between a human shape and a smear of ink. No eyes — but somehow its head locked onto Mike. Its limbs elongated slightly, as if curious whether that shape felt “right.”
Arin lifted her sword. “Mike. What the hell is that thing?”
Mike didn’t answer.
Because the shadow took one step forward.
Its posture changed.
Mirroring Mike’s.
Down to the angle of his shoulders.
The tilt of his head.
The way he held his blade.
Marina whispered, “It’s… copying you.”
The shadow flickered.
A distorted spark of black lightning crackled between its hands.
Vex gasped. “Okay. Absolutely not.”
The shadow took another step.
And Mike finally understood.
“It’s me,” he whispered.
Arin stiffened. “What?”
Mike stepped forward, blade in hand.
The shadow twitched.
As if eager.
Hungry.
“I think,” Mike said slowly, heartbeat pounding in his ears, “this thing was created when I fought the boss. Residual energy. Chaos feedback. A broken imprint.”
He stared at it.
“It’s incomplete.”
The shadow’s head twitched at the word.
Like it understood.
Like it resented it.
Mike raised his blade.
Lumi growled, sparks forming around him.
“Everyone stay back,” Mike said, cold and certain. “This is my fight.”
Arin stepped forward anyway. “Mike—”
“No.”
His voice was firm.
Unshakeable.
“This thing was born from me,” Mike said. “And it’s not going to stop.”
The shadow leaned forward, posture mirroring his.
One-to-one.
Like a reflection waiting for the real thing.
“It’s stalking me,” Mike continued. “Learning me. Mimicking me. If I don’t stop it now, it’s going to grow.”
A pulse of black lightning rippled across the shadow’s arms.
Mike exhaled.
“That thing in front of me… is the beginning of a skill. I can feel it.”
Arin’s eyes widened. “You mean—”
“It’s mine,” Mike said simply. “But only if I conquer it.”
The shadow’s back arched.
Its shape cracked at the edges, like glass fracturing.
It let out a faint sound—
Not a roar.
Not a hiss.
Just a warped echo of Mike’s own breathing.
Lumi bared fangs.
Arin grabbed Vex and Marina, pulling them backward.
“Alright,” Arin whispered. “We’re with you.”
Mike stepped forward.
The shadow mirrored him.
The Trial of Awakening’s boundary pulsed behind them.
Something vast and ancient watched from far above.
Mike tightened his grip.
“Round one,” he whispered. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
The shadow lunged.
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