Si-woo didn't wait for an answer. He moved through the mist, his boots clicking against the damp stone. The System interface flickered in the corner of his vision, pale blue and mocking.
[Trait: 'Heart of the Slaughterer' is resonating.]
[Mana Saturation: 0.02%]
"Shut the fuck up," Si-woo muttered to the empty air.
A loud boom echoed from a clearing twenty yards ahead. A flash of orange light scorched the fog, followed by a string of high-pitched curses that could make a sailor blush.
"Get back, you overgrown flea-bitten shits! I'll turn you into charcoal!"
Si-woo rounded a massive, moss-covered pillar and saw her. Liora. She looked smaller than he remembered—scrawny, covered in soot, and wearing a tunic that was three sizes too big. Her hands were glowing a violent, unstable red, sparks jumping off her fingertips like dying fireflies.
Facing her were three Shadow Cats, their bodies tensed to spring. Behind her, cowering against a rock, was a massive teenager with shoulders the size of a barn door. Baek In-ho. He was holding a broken wooden shield, his face pale as a ghost.
"In-ho! Do something!" Liora screamed, her voice cracking. "Swing that goddamn board!"
"I... I can't see them! They move too fast!" In-ho wailed.
One of the cats launched. It was a black blur aimed straight for Liora's throat. She winced, shutting her eyes and thrusting her hands forward in a desperate, panicked burst of flame.
Thwack.
The cat didn't hit her.
Liora opened one eye. Si-woo was standing in front of her. He had caught the Shadow Cat by its tail mid-air and slammed it into the ground with enough force to crater the mud. He didn't stop there. He stepped on the creature's head, the sound of a cracking walnut echoing through the clearing.
"Nice fireworks," Si-woo said, not looking back at her. "Too bad your aim is dog shit."
"Who the hell are you?" Liora snapped, her hands still sparking. "Move out of the way before I blow your head off!"
"Kid, if you could blow my head off, those cats would be dead already," Si-woo retorted. He turned his gaze to the remaining two beasts. They were circling now, confused by the sudden shift in momentum.
"Hey, Big Guy," Si-woo called out to In-ho. "Stand up. Stop acting like a terrified toddler."
In-ho blinked, wiping snot from his nose. "U-uh? Me?"
"Yeah, you. You have the biggest shield in the district. Use it. When the one on the left jumps, you don't swing. You just lean into it. Let the cat break its own neck on the wood."
"But—"
"Do it, or I'll throw you to them myself," Si-woo growled.
The cat on the left hissed and leaped. In-ho let out a strangled yelp and threw his weight forward, bracing the shield against his shoulder.
CRUNCH.
The beast hit the reinforced wood with the sound of a car crash. It fell to the mud, twitching, its spine snapped. In-ho stared at his hands, his mouth hanging open. "I... I did it?"
"Don't celebrate yet, dumbass," Si-woo said. He turned to the last cat. It was the largest of the pack, the alpha. It didn't jump. It lowered its head, its violet eyes glowing brighter.
Si-woo pulled the rusted shortsword from his belt. The blade was chipped and dull, barely better than a kitchen knife.
"Liora. Direct your mana into the blade. Now."
"What? I can't do that! I'll melt the damn thing!"
"Just do it, you loud-mouthed brat! Trust me!"
Liora gritted her teeth, her face turning bright red from the effort. She reached out and grabbed the hilt of Si-woo's sword. A surge of raw, unrefined heat flowed into the metal. The rusted steel began to glow a dull, angry orange.
[Warning: Weapon integrity is failing.]
[Temporary Buff: 'Hell-Stained Edge' applied.]
Si-woo kicked off the ground. He didn't use a skill. He used the "Vertical Sever" he had practiced ten thousand times in the Abyss.
The Alpha Shadow Cat tried to dodge, but Si-woo was already there. The heated blade cut through the mist, through the air, and straight through the creature's skull, shearing it clean in half. The cauterized halves of the beast tumbled into the dirt.
Si-woo dropped the sword. It was glowing white-hot and warped beyond repair.
"Not bad," he said, wiping a splash of black blood from his cheek. He looked at Liora and In-ho. They were both staring at him like he was a monster.
"Who are you?" Liora whispered, her hands finally stopping their shaking.
Si-woo looked toward the center of the forest, where a massive mana-pulse was beginning to throb. The Trial Boss was waking up.
"I'm the guy who's going to make sure you two don't end up as monster shit," Si-woo said. "Now move. We have a lot more things to kill before lunch."
"You... you just killed a Shadow Cat with a piece of scrap metal," In-ho stuttered, finally pushing himself up from the dirt. He looked like a giant toddler trying to find his balance.
Si-woo didn't look back. He was busy checking the System notifications that were popping up like annoying spam.
[Kill confirmed: Rank-F Shadow Cat (Alpha)]
[Experience gained. Level: 1 -> 2]
[Strength increased by 1. Agility increased by 1.]
"Keep your voice down, you big ox," Si-woo snapped. "You want every hungry thing in this forest to know exactly where we are?"
Liora stepped forward, her face a mix of suspicion and genuine irritation. She rubbed her soot-stained palms on her tunic. "Hey. I asked who the hell you are. You're not one of the regulars from the District 12 soup kitchen. I'd remember a face that miserable."
Si-woo turned to her, his gaze flat. "I'm the guy who's going to keep you from becoming a stain on the grass. That's all you need to know. Now, give me your hand."
Liora flinched back, her fingers sparking. "Touch me and I'll burn your nose off."
"Your mana circulation is dog shit," Si-woo said, his voice dropping an octave. "You're pushing it all to your fingertips like a child playing with matches. That's why your skin is blistering. If you don't let me fix the flow, your arms are going to melt before we even hit the second gate."
Liora froze. She looked down at her red, peeling knuckles. She hadn't told anyone about the pain. "How did you..."
"Hand. Now."
She hesitantly reached out. Si-woo grabbed her wrist. His grip was cold, like iron left in the rain. He closed his eyes, visualizing the jagged, chaotic mana pathways in her body. In his past life, he had spent years learning how to stabilize 'Glass Cannons' like her—mostly because they kept exploding in his proximity.
"Don't fight it," he muttered.
He forced a tiny, sharp needle of his own soul-mana into her meridian. Liora gasped, her knees buckling. For a second, it felt like ice water was rushing through her veins, extinguishing the burning heat. The angry red glow on her skin faded into a soft, steady hum.
"There," Si-woo said, letting go. "It's a temporary fix. Don't go overboard with the fireballs, or you'll pop a lung."
"I... it doesn't hurt anymore," she whispered, staring at her hands in disbelief.
"Don't get emotional on me, it's pathetic," Si-woo said, turning his head toward the sound of rustling bushes.
Five figures emerged from the mist. They weren't monsters. They were other candidates—older, scarred, and carrying weapons that actually looked functional. The leader was a man with a jagged scar across his lip, swinging a mace with practiced ease.
"Well, well," the leader sneered, his eyes darting between the dead Alpha cat and the three of them. "Look at this. A couple of runts and a lucky bastard found the easy kills. Hand over the mana-cores, kid. We need them to pass the quota."
In-ho stepped forward, his shield trembling. "W-we found them first! Go find your own!"
The man laughed, a harsh, grating sound. "This isn't a schoolyard, you fat pig. This is the Shepherd's Trial. There are no rules in the mist. Give us the cores, or we'll just take them from your corpses. It's less paperwork for the Church anyway."
Si-woo stepped in front of In-ho. He looked at the five men with the bored expression of someone watching a bad play.
"You've got five seconds," Si-woo said.
"Five seconds for what?" the leader mocked, raising his mace.
"To turn around and run before I turn your ribcage into a birdcage," Si-woo replied.
The leader's face twisted in rage. "You little piece of—"
He swung the mace. It was a heavy, vertical strike meant to crush Si-woo's skull.
Si-woo didn't move until the last millisecond. He stepped inside the man's guard, his elbow connecting with the leader's throat with a sickening crack. As the man gagged, Si-woo grabbed the mace's handle, twisted it out of his grip, and used the momentum to slam the heavy iron head directly into the leader's kneecap.
CRACK.
The scream that followed was loud enough to clear the mist for ten yards.
Si-woo stood over the whimpering man, holding the mace like it weighed nothing. He looked at the other four candidates, who had frozen mid-step.
"That was one second," Si-woo said, his eyes glowing with a faint, predatory blue light. "You want to see what happens at five?"
The four men didn't say a word. They turned and bolted into the fog, leaving their leader behind.
"Absolute cowards," Liora spat, though she looked at Si-woo with a new kind of fear.
Si-woo tossed the mace to In-ho. "Here. It's better than that piece of wood. Carry it."
In-ho caught it, fumbling with the weight. "U-um, thank you, Mr...?"
"Si-woo. Just Si-woo."
He looked toward the center of the forest. The ground gave a low, heavy thud. The trees in the distance were shaking.
"The Boss is coming," Si-woo said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Stay behind me. If you die, I'm not carrying your bodies back."