Chapter 210: finishing the job
Her tone was playful, but Elise frowned slightly, though she quickly smoothed it away and turned to Jae. "Are you tired?" she asked softly, concern threading her voice.
"I’m fine," Jae said, rolling his shoulders. And outwardly, he was. No torn clothes, no blood, no labored breath. But inside, he felt the faint unease. The flames had come too easily. His body had moved too fluidly. Training explained some of it, but not all. The system’s influence ran deeper, weaving strength into him faster than he’d realized. It unsettled him, how natural it all felt.
Byun clapped a hand on his shoulder, dragging him out of the thought. "Don’t get used to being perfect," he said with a grin. "Next time, I’ll show you up."
Jae smirked faintly, his voice low. "We’ll see."
They turned toward the path back to the academy, the group’s chatter rising around him. Tirel teased Elise, who stammered back in soft protests. Byun needled them both with casual jabs, grinning at their reactions. The tension of the fight had bled into laughter now, the adrenaline simmering into something lighter.
As they started down the trail, Sun passed close by with his battered group. For a heartbeat, his gaze locked with Jae’s. His eyes burned, not with fatigue, though that was there too, but with something sharper, heavier. Challenge. Resentment. A storm waiting to break.
He said nothing, but the silence was louder than words.
Jae met the look evenly, then turned away. He let the quiet fall, choosing instead to focus on the warmth of his team’s chatter as they walked.
For now, all that mattered was that his group had once again proved itself.
The path back toward the academy wound through the forest like a narrow artery, the canopy above filtering the sunlight into dappled shadows. Shafts of gold pierced the branches here and there, spilling across mossy trunks and damp earth. The air carried the cool, lingering scent of rain even though the skies had stayed clear.
The students walked in loose formation, their steps uneven with fatigue, their voices weaving together in a tired chorus. Victorious squads compared the beasts they had defeated, some exaggerating details already. Others simply trudged along in silence, content with survival. A few carried bruises, shallow cuts, or bandaged scrapes hastily tied during the mission. Still, the overall mood was one of relief, this was the hardest assignment many of them had faced, and the fact they were all walking back alive was enough to soften even the sharpest complaints.
Jae walked at the head of his team. His steps were sure, eyes sharp despite the casual chatter around him. He tugged lightly at the cuff of his sleeve, grounding himself as the forest loomed quiet around them.
Elise stayed close at his side, her gaze flitting to him now and then. She still seemed astonished at how little fatigue showed on his face, as though waiting for cracks to appear. Tirel, by contrast, seemed untouched by worry. She hummed cheerfully under her breath, flicking small sparks between her fingers as though playing with an invisible string. Byun lingered just behind, his usual smirk replaced by a guarded calm as his gaze swept the undergrowth.
The forest seemed quiet. Too quiet.
At first, Jae didn’t notice, he was half-listening to Tirel teasing Elise about her precision strikes, and Elise stammering out shy denials. But then it settled on him: the silence. No birdsong above, no insects buzzing near the brush. Even the wind, which earlier had rustled the canopy, seemed to have stilled. The longer he listened, the heavier it pressed.
He slowed, his frown tightening.
"Something’s wrong," he murmured.
Byun noticed it too. His shadows rippled faintly at his feet, as though sensing his unease. He cocked his head, eyes narrowing into the trees. "Yeah. The forest doesn’t go still like this unless..."
The ground trembled.
It was faint at first, a low vibration underfoot, like distant thunder rolling through the soil. Then it came again, harder, enough to rattle loose leaves from nearby branches. A deep growl followed, reverberating through the trees until it seemed to come from everywhere at once.
Students froze in their tracks. Nervous chatter cut off in mid-breath. A ripple of alarm spread down the line, and the air turned brittle with tension.
Then the beast appeared.
It tore from the underbrush with terrifying force, scattering earth and foliage in its wake. A wolf—larger than any they had faced before. Its body was grotesquely warped, twisted with unnatural growths. Jagged spikes of bone jutted from its shoulders and along its spine like a crown of blades. Its eyes burned with a molten red glow, each step radiating raw pressure that made the air itself feel heavier. Its very presence pressed against them like a physical weight, the kind that forced weaker knees to buckle.
"Alpha variant," Jae said grimly.
The instructors had warned about such things during lectures. Rare mutations that turned ordinary mana beasts into something more. Stronger, faster, deadlier. They were forces of chaos in the natural order, battles that demanded coordination and discipline, or reckless confidence.
The wolf lowered its massive head, lips peeling back to bare long, jagged fangs. Then it lunged.
Not at Jae’s squad, but at the nearest group of students further down the line. Panic erupted instantly. A few screamed, scattering backward into the trees. Others raised weapons hastily, too slowly to matter.
"Stay together!" Jae’s voice cut across the chaos. He stepped forward without hesitation, the Dragonfire Blade already igniting in his grasp. Flames roared to life, searing the air with their heat. "Byun, cut its flanks. Tirel, fire on my signal. Elise, be ready to reinforce!"
The alpha wolf hit the ground with enough force to split the soil, claws gouging deep trenches. It moved impossibly fast for its size, a blur of muscle and bone. Jae met it head-on, his blade a sweeping arc of fire that turned the air molten. The wolf twisted mid-leap, impossibly agile, avoiding a direct strike. But not cleanly. Fire kissed its side, burning into flesh. The beast snarled, the sound guttural and furious.