The forest grew silent.
Not the peaceful kind this was the heavy, suffocating silence that came before something terrible.
Milly's boots pressed softly against the soil as she walked deeper into the woods.
The students were long gone, safe within the marked zone. Now, it was just her and that faint pulse of power tugging at the edge of her senses.
"It's faint… but familiar," she muttered, eyes scanning the foggy undergrowth.
"Feels like Forgotten energy maybe a remnant from the past?"
The air thickened, heavy with a dark reddish haze.
Milly lifted her hand, summoning a small flame to light the way. Its glow flickered uneasily, as if reacting to something unseen.
"Strange… Forgotten energy doesn't distort light like this."
Her brow furrowed. "Is it because of the humidity…?"
The trees around her were twisted, bark blackened as if burned from the inside. The deeper she went, the stronger the aura became writhing, unstable, almost alive.
"Okay… definitely something off here," she whispered, forcing herself forward. "Just find the source, confirm it, and head back. Easy."
Then she felt it, eyes. Watching her from above.
"...Show yourself."
Her voice dropped, calm yet sharp.
The response came as a deep growl, echoing through the trees.
Grrrrrrrhhhhh-
Branches snapped. A massive figure leapt from the shadows its form a grotesque fusion of lion, serpent, and winged beast. The creature's flesh was scorched with black veins pulsing crimson.
Milly stepped back, eyes widening.
"What the hell?! A… Chimera?"
The air around it oozed with sickly red mist.
"No… that's not Forgotten energy… that's-"
Before she could finish, the beast lunged.
CRASH!
She dodged, rolling across the dirt, flames igniting around her hands.
"You picked the wrong person to ambush."
The Chimera roared, the serpent tail striking toward her. Milly ducked, countering with a burst of fire but instead of burning, the flames were absorbed.
"It… absorbed it?!"
Her eyes widened as the creature's body pulsed brighter. "What kind of mutation is this?!"
The Chimera slammed its claws into the ground, sending shockwaves that splintered nearby trees. Milly leapt backward, fire swirling around her arms.
"Alright then," she muttered, frustration flickering across her face,
"Let's see how much you can take before you choke."
Her flames spiraled, forming a smaller but dense fireball one of her perfected attacks.
"Flame Shot!"
The fireball slammed into the beast's shoulder, sending it crashing back. Smoke and embers filled the clearing but as it cleared, the Chimera stood back up.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me…"
Its eyes glowed brighter red, empty, hungry.
Then Milly finally sensed it properly: that twisted current running through the air, not warmth but decay.
Her expression hardened.
"That's not Forgotten energy…" she said quietly, realization striking her.
"That's… Corruption."
The Chimera roared again and lunged, darkness spreading behind it like a living shadow.
Milly took a fighting stance, her disguise flickering slightly, her true power aching to break free.
"Fine then," she hissed.
"Let's see whose fire burns the hottest."