They left the building without a word.
At the threshold, a strange sensation greeted them — as if the world itself had paused to witness their every step. The air was warm but not hot; a light breeze rustled the leaves of the trees growing along the western side of the complex. The sun hung high, bathing the earth in gentle golden light, and it seemed to welcome all who stepped outside on this beautiful day.
There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Just an endless expanse overhead — boundless, clear, blue, like the product of some divine design. In such weather, it was hard to believe that something dark, twisted, and dangerous lurked nearby. Yet that was precisely where they were headed.
The off-road vehicle stood a few dozen steps from the exit, crouched near the edge of the parking lot like a predator lying in wait.
Tall, black, with a streamlined shape, it looked like a shadow under the daylight. Its body was forged from reinforced nanocomposite — strong yet light — glinting with a deep matte sheen. The car's contours were bold, angular, yet smooth, as if sculpted by a master from liquid metal. The windows were tinted, nearly mirror-like. On the roof sat sensors, antenna arrays, and a compact mana-engine. A faint glow emanated from the front grille's emblem: three interwoven rings — the symbol of the "Arkan-7" series, designed for traversing harsh terrain.
Sebastian clicked the key. The doors lifted upward. They climbed inside.
The cabin greeted them with dim lighting and the soft hum of power. The seats adjusted to their body weight, and the dashboard instruments lit up, displaying a map of the area.
"Destination uploaded," spoke the vehicle's AI. "Dungeon No. 363688. Codename: Fallen Burrows. Rank: G. Dungeon stability — 85%. Distance — 35 kilometers. Estimated arrival — 45 minutes."
The vehicle began to move.
Smoothly, without a jolt — like a predator on the hunt.
The city, born around the teleportation station, was small — just a few dozen buildings that resembled cubes of metal and glass.
People moved briskly and purposefully, like ants in a nest — hunters, researchers, guild workers, and ordinary citizens alike.
Cain watched them. His gaze wandered across faces, structures, signs. Every element here pulsed with mana. Even the air hummed. But not excessively — this wasn't a metropolis oversaturated with energy. This was balance. Calm before the plunge.
The city ended abruptly. They were swallowed by forest green.
The vehicle silently entered an old forest road. It resembled a direction more than a real path — but the machine glided confidently over tangled roots, ravines, and rocky outcrops. Its suspension absorbed every movement.
The forest itself was dense and primeval.
Towering trees rose dozens of meters into the sky, their trunks wide like the pillars of ancient temples. The bark was laced with thin silver veins that pulsed softly — as if the trees breathed light. These veins curled along the bark, forming strange patterns — sometimes resembling runes, sometimes a natural script decipherable only through instinct. Their leaves — broad, deep green with a bluish sheen — trembled even in absolute stillness, as if reacting not to wind but to the presence of life itself.
In the tangled canopy flickered tiny lights — not merely reflections of mana, but living creatures.
Birds, unusually small, with shimmering pearl-colored feathers, darted along branches or hovered midair like fragments of a rainbow. They emitted faint calls — bright, crystalline.
Among the branches flitted odd insects — resembling butterflies with translucent wings sprinkled with droplets of light. Their movements were incredibly slow — as if time itself slowed around them. Some glowed green or violet, leaving thin trails of mana in the air.
Occasionally, beetles sat on the bark, armored with crystal-like shells — completely motionless, nearly indistinguishable from the trees themselves. But as one approached, their back-wings quivered — sensing shifts in space.
Everything around felt alive. Not just biologically — but intertwined with energy. It watched, waited, breathed. And yet — everything was too quiet. As if the forest wasn't asleep but listening. As if it were a single organism — feeling the intruders on its skin.
"We're almost there," said Sebastian, eyes fixed on the dashboard. "About a hundred meters remain, but the forest is too dense. The car won't pass."
The vehicle stopped.
"On foot from here," he added.
They exited the car and slowly moved deeper into the forest. With every step, the trees grew taller, thicker, and the light filtered through the branches in scattered slivers — as though afraid to awaken something.
They walked among the trunks for nearly ten minutes — immersed in green silence. The branches arched overhead like massive natural umbrellas. Roots intertwined beneath their feet, protruding to the surface like veins of an ancient beast slumbering in the earth.
A soft, enveloping rustle surrounded them — the whisper of leaves, faint flutter of wings, distant, fragmented bird calls. Occasionally, a rhythmic creaking of branches echoed — a sound too measured, as though the forest breathed — deeply, steadily, with tension in every breath. The sound was almost hypnotic, yet urged vigilance — like a lullaby hiding a warning. Everything felt part of one great whole — alive, mysterious, and unknowable.
Cain listened and felt each sound enter his mind.
Gradually, they approached the edge of a clearing where the trees had retreated — as if yielding to some incomprehensible force. There, in stillness and silence, stood the gate.
A portal.
Not very large, but not small either — about two meters tall.
It glowed with a soft, light-blue radiance — even and calm.
But this portal… it was a threshold.
A line beyond which a different world began — dangerous, harsh.
Cain stopped just before the portal. He involuntarily reached out to it.
Ripples danced across its surface — as if it acknowledged its new visitor — Cain.
"This is it," Cain whispered. "Dungeon No. 363688. The Fallen Burrows."
"The portal is stable," Eli said calmly, watching the light's pulsation. "The light is clean. No mana leakage."
"G-rank dungeon," confirmed Sebastian. "Judging by color and radiation amplitude. All standard."
Silence wrapped around them again — deep, oppressive, as if the world held its breath in anticipation.
Suddenly, Cain stepped forward.
His fingers touched the portal's pulsing surface.
And he stepped through.
The world shattered like brittle glass. Space convulsed, colors blurred into a stream, and sound disintegrated into silent waves. For a brief moment, Cain felt his body dissolve — becoming part of the flow.
Then everything snapped back.
But the world…
The world — had changed.