The Vice Chancellor wasn't exaggerating when she said the Hunting Wood was big enough to be a city on its own. The moment they stepped past the tree line, the woods swallowed them whole. Cale felt an eerie aura hanging all over the place, and he really didn't want to meet whatever beast carried that kind of presence.
The shift from open air to thick canopy shadow was immediate. The weight of branches pressed down overhead, and the air smelled of damp earth and rot. Behind him, the girl's footsteps were light, the boy's heavier. None of them spoke.
They walked for about ten minutes before the girl broke the silence.
"So," she said, her voice low, "we're supposed to kill a Cyclops together, right?"
"Yeah, I guess," the stocky boy replied.
"And none of us knows anything about the others."
He grunted. "That's about the size of it."
"Then we should fix that." She glanced at Cale, then at the other boy. "Everyone calls me Val. My Zodiac sign is Aries. I have the Fire element. I can do a few things — Wildfire and others. My fire control is not great." She said it while gesturing for the guys to follow suit. "And I'm ranked D."
"Ethan's my name. Taurus. Earth. I can project walls, armor, and strength. Nothing flashy. I'm of the C rank."
They both looked at Cale.
He kept his eyes forward. "Caelan, but you can call me Cale. Scorpio. Water and dominant Ice. Rank E.
Val's eyebrows rose. "E?"
"That's what it says."
"Why did I get stuck with such a weakling?" she muttered under her breath.
"What?" Ethan asked, not hearing her properly.
"Oh, nothing," she replied, lowering her gaze.
Ethan just shrugged. "Whatever."
They kept walking.
The woods grew denser. Roots twisted across the path like grasping fingers, and the canopy closed overhead until only thin slivers of sky leaked through. Cale's Death Sense prickled at the edges of his mind — not a clear warning, just a low, sick hum in his gut.
Like something was watching them.
He opened his mouth to say something.
The hum spiked.
"RUN!"
He grabbed Val's arm and yanked her sideways with everything he had. Ethan dove the opposite way. A massive shape exploded out of the undergrowth right where they had been standing, snapping a young tree like a matchstick.
Cale rolled across the dirt, came up with his sword already drawn, heart slamming against his ribs.
The thing was huge. Ten feet tall, maybe more. Its skin looked like wet stone, thick and cracked. A single blood-red eye the size of a dinner plate glowed in the center of its ugly face. Its fists were bigger than Cale's head and looked like they could pulp a man's skull without trying.
A Cyclops.
It had been waiting. Crouched in the brush like a trap. These creatures were intelligent enough to set ambushes like this.
Val scrambled to her feet, fire already sparking wildly in her palms. Ethan slammed his hands to the ground and threw up a thick wall of earth between them and the beast, buying them a single precious second.
"How the hell did you know?" Val demanded, eyes wide on Cale.
He didn't look at her. "Just One of my Special Abilities."
She opened her mouth to ask more, but the Cyclops roared — a sound that rattled his bones — and smashed its fist straight through Ethan's wall. Dirt and stone exploded everywhere. The wall held, but cracks spiderwebbed across it like breaking glass.
Cale's mind went ice-cold and razor sharp. He'd killed an ogre. He'd trained for months with Aldus. He thought he knew how this worked. But this Fallen beast was more than he had expected.
"Val, hit it from the side! Keep it moving!" His voice came out sharp, almost like his father's. "Ethan, hold the line! Don't let it get past you! I'll slow it down!"
Val shot him a look — half surprised, half irritation — but she moved. Fire exploded from her hands, streaking toward the Cyclops's flank. The beast turned with a snarl, swinging at the flames. Ethan stepped forward, arms raised, and another thicker wall surged up, bracing against the monster's shoulder.
Cale circled behind it fast. Ice formed on his palms. He slammed both hands against the Cyclops's ankle and poured everything he had into it. The joint froze solid with a sharp crack. The beast's leg buckled. It stumbled, roaring in rage.
For one beautiful second, it worked.
Val poured more fire into its back. Ethan held the walls steady. Cale froze the other knee.
Then Val lost control.
Flames erupted around her body. Wild, hungry flames exploded outward in a roaring wave. They missed the Cyclops completely and slammed into the dry undergrowth instead.
The bushes went up like dry tinder.
"Shit!" Val tried to pull the fire back, but it was already out of control, racing toward the trees. The Cyclops swung its head toward the new flames, confused but still deadly, its glowing red eye locking onto Val as she stumbled back.
Cale didn't think. He dropped to the burning ground, both hands flat against the earth, and shoved every drop of cold he had into the roots beneath the fire. Frost exploded outward in a hissing circle. The flames screamed as they died, but the heat was brutal against his face. He held on until the last ember choked out.
When he looked up, Ethan was standing right in front of the Cyclops, arms shaking, a desperate shield of earth barely holding back the beast's massive fist. Sweat poured down his face, but he didn't move an inch.
"Little help here!" Ethan shouted, voice strained.
Cale scrambled up, his sword in his hand. Val was back on her feet, the fire damped down, her face pale. She glanced at the burned ground, then at Cale.
"Sorry," she said, voice tight.
No time for apologies.
The Cyclops shattered Ethan's shield like glass and sent him flying. Cale sprinted forward, freezing the ground under the beast's feet. It slipped, stumbled, and Val slammed a concentrated blast of fire straight into its chest.
They fell back, breathing hard, regrouping. Ethan pushed himself up, wiping blood from his lip. His wall was gone, but he was still standing.
"New plan," Cale said, voice low. "Val, no huge flames. Just focused hits. Ethan, keep it off us. I'll try and find an opening."
They nodded.
The fight stretched into what felt like hours.
Ethan was pure stubbornness made flesh. Every time the Cyclops charged, he threw up another wall, another shield, another desperate block. He moved like he'd been doing this his whole life — calm, steady, and unbreakable. Cale found himself watching and learning.
Val was learning too. Her fire was still wild, but she started firing smaller, tighter bursts. Each one hit hard, scorching the Cyclops's thick hide and forcing it back.
Cale circled like a shadow, eyes locked on the beast's single glowing eye. That was the target. If he could blind it, they might actually have a chance.
He thought about the Ogreian Dagger hidden in his system. It could turn invisible when he fed it Mauri. He hadn't shown it to anyone yet. He didn't want to. But they were losing. Ethan's walls were slowing. Val's fire was starting to flicker. Their Mauri was draining fast.
He made the choice.
The dagger appeared in his hand. He poured a thread of Mauri into it, and the blade vanished completely.
Val saw it disappear. Her eyes widened, but she didn't ask questions. She just kept firing.
Cale waited, heart pounding in his throat.
The Cyclops swung at Ethan. The wall cracked. The beast leaned in, its huge red eye exposed for one split second.
Cale threw the dagger.
The invisible blade flew true.
It buried itself deep in the Cyclops's eye with a wet, sickening thunk.
The beast screamed — a sound so loud it shook the trees and made Cale's ears ring. It staggered back, clawing at its face. Black blood and something thicker poured down its cheek. The dagger was lodged deep. The Cyclops was blind.
But now it was mad.
It swung wildly, fists smashing everything in reach. A tree crashed down. A boulder shattered. Ethan threw up a wall and the Cyclops punched straight through it like paper. Val hit it with fire, but the beast didn't even flinch.
It was almost better when it could see. Now it was just attacking everything and everywhere.
Cale called the dagger back. It reappeared in his hand, slick with blood. He circled again, sword lost somewhere in the chaos. His Mauri was almost gone. His ribs were burning from a hit he barely remembered taking.
They were all exhausted. All hurt. But the Cyclops was finally slowing too.
"One more time," Cale said, voice hoarse. This was their last chance.
"Together."
Val understood. She gathered everything she had left, a roaring ball of fire forming between her palms. Ethan braced himself, hands pressed to the ground, pouring the last of his strength into a wall behind them to funnel the beast forward.
Cale waited, every muscle tight.
The Cyclops lunged toward the sound of Val's fire, roaring.
Cale drove the invisible dagger straight into its skull.
The beast dropped like a falling mountain. The ground shook hard enough to rattle his teeth. Dust and leaves exploded upward in a thick cloud.
Cale stood over it, dagger buried to the hilt, arms shaking. Blood dripped from a cut on his forehead. His Mauri was almost empty. His legs felt like they might give out any second.
Val sank to her knees, fire gone. Ethan leaned against a broken tree, breathing hard, face pale.
None of them spoke.
There was nothing left to say.
The gauntlet on Cale's wrist chimed softly.
```
You have slain a Stargazer Royal Cyclops.
You have gained one soul core.
Experience: 156/200
```
He dismissed it without looking at the others.
Val was staring at him. Not at the Cyclops, but at him. At the dagger still buried in the beast's skull, invisible again without his Mauri to sustain it.
She opened her mouth.
"Don't ask." Cale said.
She closed it.
Ethan pushed off from the tree, limping toward the Cyclops's body. He looked at the wound in its eye, then at Cale.
"That was a good throw, you know?" he said.
Cale pulled the dagger free, felt it vanish into his system. "It was a lucky one."
"Lucky," Ethan repeated. "That was one hell of a lucky throw." He didn't sound like he believed it.
Val got to her feet, brushing dirt off her jacket. Her face was still pale, but something in her expression had shifted. Not trust. Not friendship. But maybe — respect.
"We should move," she said. "Before something else comes. Moreover it's getting late."
Cale nodded. He bent, retrieved his sword from where it had fallen, and strapped it across his back.
They walked back toward the edge of the wood in silence. The trees were thinning, the light returning. Behind them, the Cyclops lay still, its blood soaking into the earth.
None of them looked back.