Kael and Seris were walking through the forest.
Seris walked ahead. She was far more alert than he was.
Kael kept a healthy distance—not because he didn't trust her, but because he was realistic. He wasn't a warrior. Not really. Sure, he had taken a few martial arts classes back in high school. A little kickboxing. A semester of jiu-jitsu in college before the loans crushed his schedule. He could handle a drunk at a party, maybe. But in a real fight—with blades, fangs, or claws? He knew better.
Kael stepped over a knotted root and checked the map again.
"We're close. The nest should be west of this ridge, past the dead oak."
According to the guild's map, the pest nest was half a mile deeper into the Blackroot Forest. The infestation had started weeks ago, with livestock going missing and travelers reporting skittering sounds and strange shadows. A low-priority mission—D-rank. Nothing glamorous. Ten silver coins.
Kael didn't care about the reward. This wasn't about silver.
He wanted to see what Seris could really do.
It was one thing to see her posture shift with a blade in her hand, to witness her confidence.
"You've fought in forests before?" Kael asked as they pressed deeper.
She nodded. "Forests. Swamps. Ruins. Wherever they sent us."
Kael didn't ask who 'they' were.
"What kind of pests are we dealing with?"
"Hard to say," Seris replied. "The guild listed it as a Type I infestation. That usually means burrowers. Insects, possibly mutated. Or worse."
Kael made a face. "Of course it's bugs."
He hated bugs. But he was happy to think that he still had some insecticide in his storage.
The further they moved, the quieter the forest became. No birds. No squirrels. Not even the rustle of leaves in the breeze. Just the occasional creak of branches overhead and the crunch of twigs underfoot.
Seris stopped suddenly, raising a hand.
Kael halted beside her.
"Do you hear that?" she whispered.
He strained his ears—and heard it.
A faint chittering, like the sound of bone scraping metal. It came from below. Beneath their feet.
Then the ground trembled.
"Move!" Seris barked, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him back.
The earth erupted in a geyser of dirt and shattered roots. A creature burst forth—a grotesque blend of insect and reptile. Its exoskeleton gleamed wetly, and its eyes glowed like molten glass. It had too many legs, all moving in a nauseating rhythm, and mandibles that clicked in anticipation.
Kael stumbled back. "That's not a damn bug—that's a nightmare with legs!"
Kael was a little scared. This was the first time he had encountered such a monster since coming to this world.
Seris didn't answer.
She was already moving.
With a fluid motion, she slid the shield from her back and brought it up as the creature lunged. It slammed into her with a hiss, and the force drove her back a step—but she held. Steel shrieked against chitin as she pivoted, planting her foot and driving the longsword into the creature's side.
Black fluid spurted from the wound. The creature let out a shrill cry and thrashed, but Seris was already behind it, shield raised again.
Another vibration. Then another.
Two more creatures burst from the earth.
"Three of them? For a D-rank mission?" Kael hissed.
Seris didn't answer. She was too busy dodging a lunge from the second beast.
She finished the first creature with a clean decapitation. Its head thudded to the dirt, mandibles still twitching.
Kael took a sharp step back, heart hammering.
"Okay—nope. I'm not dying to Bugzilla today."
He opened his storage. A shimmer of light appeared mid-air—like a thin crack in the world itself—and he reached into the space.
Seris froze mid-swing, eyes catching the unnatural glow as Kael reached into the nothingness.
"What…" she started—but the second creature lunged at her from behind.
She twisted, shield-first, smashing it in the face. Then followed up with a precise thrust straight through one glowing eye. It dropped in a spasm of chitin and black blood.
The third screeched and charged Kael, eyes blazing.
He raised the can and aimed.
PSSSSHHHT.
A sharp chemical spray hit the creature in the face as it charged. It recoiled—if not from pain, then from confusion—chittering wildly as the mist clouded its senses.
Seris skidded to a stop beside him, sword half-raised. She blinked at the smell and hissed. "What is that? Alchemist's fire?"
Kael didn't look away. "Insect repellent. Kinda."
Seris frowned, then ducked as the creature thrashed. "You carry potions that smell like poison and smoke like cursed incense?"
"Yeah, something like that—for you."
The beast was reeling, its mandibles snapping wildly as if disoriented—just enough of an opening.
Seris surged forward and slammed her shield into its flank, knocking it off balance. Then she swept under and carved through its lower body with a brutal slash.
The chittering stopped.
Three bodies twitched in the leaves.
Silence returned.
Kael exhaled hard, his pulse thundering in his ears. "Holy shit."
"You alright?" Seris asked, wiping her blade on a patch of moss.
"Yeah," Kael said, brushing dirt off his coat. "You?"
"Good... What did you use just then?"
"Ah, it's an insecticide, but these insects are so big that it's not very effective."
"No. Before that." She tilted her head. "That… sound. That shimmer. The creak in the air."
Kael hesitated, then sighed. "Oh. That. Storage."
"Storage?" Her brow furrowed. "You mean spatial magic?"
"It's... something I can do," Kael said. "A skill."
She stared at him. "You say that like it's normal."
"It's not?" Kael asked, half-joking.
Seris didn't laugh.
"As far as I know," she said slowly, "only three people in our entire country can use true spatial storage magic. All of them are archmages. Royal court level. And even they need incantations."
Kael scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I don't have any of that."
Her expression darkened—not hostile, but focused. "You didn't use a scroll. You didn't even chant. You just… reached into thin air."
"I just… think about it. It's a skill. Something I was given."
"By who?"
Kael glanced away. "It's complicated."
"If you've made a pact with a higher being, or touched something from beyond the known planes, I need to know. That kind of power draws attention."
"Look, I didn't make a deal with a demon, if that's what you're worried about. It's not magic. Not like yours."
"You're not a mage. You're not a knight. And yet… Who are you?"