The next afternoon, the academy halls buzzed with rumors.
"Did you hear? Team Zhao encountered a Riftborn Predator.""And they survived? Impossible.""They say a first-year student predicted its movements—every single one."
Chu Tianxing ignored every whisper.
He had no interest in attention or praise.His mind was still replaying the battle—not the danger, but the data.
Patterns.Timings.Energy fluctuations.
Everything was accelerating.
That meant only one thing:
Bigger threats were coming.
That evening, his team boarded the academy's armored transport once again—this time not for emergency deployment, but for a scheduled training mission.
District B-7's border.
A controlled battlefield.A beginner zone.
At least, normally.
As the engine rumbled, Lin Yufan tugged nervously at his gloves."Do you think today's mission will be normal?"
Chen Feier gave a gentle smile."Let's… hope so?"
Chu Tianxing, however, had his eyes closed—not resting, but processing.
In his mind, thousands of data threads twisted into a dynamic, moving model:
Terrain topology.Weather conditions.Wind resistance.Possible insectoid species and numbers.Skill cooldown windows.Lin Yufan's average reaction latency.Chen Feier's spell stability range.
And above all—
the distortion levels of the rift zones ahead.
Instructor Zhao's voice cut through the hum of the engine.
"Listen up. This isn't yesterday's hellscape. Today's mission is a standard low-level nest sweep. You three," he pointed at them, "stick to formation and do not break ranks."
"Yes, sir!" Yufan and Feier replied.
Chu only nodded.
The vehicle stopped.
The doors slid open.
A scent of dust, blood, and faint corrosion greeted them.
Ruins stretched across the landscape—collapsed buildings, bent metal fences, and long scars gouged across the concrete ground.
Instructor Zhao ordered teams to fan out.
"Stay sharp," he warned. "The insects here may be low-level, but they swarm."
The three walked together through the broken streets.
Lin Yufan adjusted his goggles."So, Old Chu, what's the plan today? You gonna read the battlefield again like yesterday?"
Chu's tone remained calm."Already did."
"…Huh?"
Chu gestured lightly toward the shell of a half-collapsed cargo container.
"Three scavengers waiting in ambush behind it. Two more under the ground, five meters left."
Lin blinked."What— how can you possibly—?"
Chen Feier lifted her staff. "Tianxing, are you sure? I didn't sense anything."
"Positive."
"Should we attack them?" Yufan whispered.
"No," Chu said. "They're not the threat."
Before either could ask, Chu raised his voice.
"Head up."
A gust of wind sliced past, carrying with it a faint tremor in the air—almost undetectable.
Almost.
Chu's eyes narrowed.
"…A ripple."
Not from the insects.Not from raw energy.
From something else.
Something observing.
Instructor Zhao's command rang out across the comms:
"All teams, prepare! Unknown signal detected—high interference!"
Chen Feier's heartbeat quickened."Again?!"
Lin Yufan's grip on his daggers tightened."I thought today was supposed to be easy!"
The ground trembled—but not from a monster emerging.
No—
It was caused by the air itself compressing.
Like two layers of space rubbing against each other.
Chu Tianxing stepped forward.
His eyes sharpened.
His voice lowered to a whisper:
"…0.9 seconds."
Chen Feier blinked. "What?"
"Until it breaks."
A hairline fracture tore across the air—a small distortion, not a full rift.
But no less deadly.
From within that tiny ripple, a creature darted out—small, fast, needle-like, a blur of black chitin and venom.
A Piercer Mite.Level 6.Deadly not because of size—but because of speed.
Chen Feier had no time to scream.
Lin Yufan had no time to react.
But Chu Tianxing was already moving.
Because he'd seen it.
Calculated it.
0.1 seconds – its vector.0.2 seconds – its acceleration.0.3 seconds – the angle of its strike.0.4 seconds – the exact spot it would emerge.0.8 seconds – the moment it became lethal.
He stepped forward—
and his blade flashed.
CLANG!
Metal met chitin.Sparks flew.
The Piercer Mite crashed to the ground, twitching, its stinger severed.
Lin Yufan stared, stunned.
"You… you countered it before it even fully appeared—"
Chu Tianxing exhaled slowly.
"Battlefield analysis," he said."One second."
Instructor Zhao arrived, jaw tight.
"So it's true," he muttered. "You really can read an entire battlefield in a single second."
Chu didn't answer.
His attention was already fixed on the horizon—on the faint, unnatural shimmer in the air.
Something had changed.
Chen Feier stepped closer."Tianxing… what is it?"
Chu whispered:
"Something's testing the rifts."
The others froze.
"Testing…?" Lin repeated.
"Yes.""And it's getting faster."
A cold wind swept across the ruins.
The insects began to emerge.
And the real mission began.