WHISPER

  The marsh was quiet—too quiet. No birds, no insects. Even the wind seemed to die at the edge of the fog as Ethan and Callan walked side by side, careful not to make too much noise as they scouted ahead of the others.

  Ethan’s Lion Sight flickered to life, scanning the ground. What should have been just water and mud was laced with dark threads—as though something had sunk into the very veins of the land and refused to let go.

  Callan, ever sharp-eyed, watched the tree line. His bow rested loosely in his grip, but his fingers were ready—his new thread-guided arrows glimmered faintly with a faint enchantment Ethan had helped him reinforce during their crafting class.

  “So,” Callan murmured, keeping his voice low, “do you think it’s as bad as they say?”

  Ethan hesitated. “Worse.”

  Callan looked at him, raising a brow, but didn’t push further.

  They moved through the fog carefully. Occasionally, Ethan would pause, kneel down, and run his hand over the mud, activating his Lion sight to read the alchemic code of the land beneath.

  “Anything?” Callan asked quietly.

  Ethan frowned. “It’s like… the ground was rewritten. Like someone changed its structure to hold something. I can’t quite figure it out yet.”

  As they pressed deeper into the marsh, Callan suddenly held out an arm, stopping Ethan.

  “Look.”

  Ahead, near a fallen tree half-submerged in the dark water, the body of a deer lay unmoving—its fur matted and discolored, with strange black veins crawling through it. What should have been a peaceful animal was twisted, its eyes hollow and glowing faintly red, though it was clearly dead.

  Ethan took a sharp breath. Corruption had seeped into the wildlife.

  Before either of them could say a word, a faint humming filled the air—low and deep, like a distant echo vibrating in the bones.

  Callan tensed. “What is that?”

  Ethan narrowed his eyes. “Something’s coming.”

  From the mist, three figures began to form—humanoid, but with limbs too long and bodies bent unnaturally. Their skin looked like rotted bark fused with bone, and veins of black energy pulsed through them, as though they were trees brought to life by the darkness.

  Corrupted guardians of the marsh.

  “Ethan…” Callan said, raising his bow slowly.

  Ethan took a step back, eyes scanning them, chains of light already beginning to form from his sleeves—the atom-forged double-helix links pulsing faintly with golden engravings.

  “I see them.”

  Suddenly, the first creature lunged—faster than expected.

  Callan let an arrow fly, and Ethan flung a chain toward its leg. The arrow buried itself in the creature’s shoulder, but instead of stopping, the thing yanked the arrow deeper, as if feeding off the impact.

  “What the—?” Callan muttered.

  Ethan’s chain wrapped around the creature’s leg, and he focused, altering the atomic structure to increase its weight, trying to pin it. But instead of slowing, the creature surged forward, dragging the chain like it weighed nothing.

  Ethan’s eyes widened. “They’re… reinforced. Someone’s altered them.”

  The second creature lunged at Callan, claws reaching, but Callan shot two arrows back-to-back—one aimed at the creature’s chest, the second threaded to the first, guided by Callan’s aura. As the second arrow flew, Callan pulled the thread, yanking the creature off balance and sending it crashing into a tree.

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  Meanwhile, the third came straight for Ethan.

  Ethan’s eyes narrowed, and he activated Lion Heart—gold flaring through his veins. His eyes turned sharp and bright.

  “Alright then,” he whispered, summoning his chains, but this time, instead of simply binding, he unraveled them in midair—breaking them into thousands of tiny metallic threads that glimmered like dust in the fog.

  As the creature lunged, Ethan swiped his hand horizontally—

  The threads whipped out, wrapping around its limbs, and Ethan willed them to harden and expand, splitting apart like spikes and piercing through the creature’s joints.

  The corrupted being shrieked—a sound that was half wind, half animal—and collapsed.

  But then—the downed creature began to shift, its form melting and reforming, pulling itself back together with new, darker limbs that pulsed stronger than before.

  “They’re adapting,” Callan growled, backing up to stand beside Ethan.

  “Yeah,” Ethan agreed grimly. “We need to end this fast.”

  The first creature charged Ethan again. This time, Ethan pointed his finger toward the ground and rewrote the marsh water, altering the hydrogen bonds— freezing a sharp spike of ice upward into the creature’s chest, pinning it.

  As the creature shrieked and tried to tear free, Ethan twisted his fingers and snapped his atomic chains back into form—wrapping around the creature’s head and tightening until the corruption began to hiss and sizzle, forced to disperse under the concentrated aura.

  Beside him, Callan wasn’t idle—he fired an arrow into the ground at the second creature’s feet, then jerked the thread upward, pulling marsh roots and mud up like a snare, trapping its legs.

  With another twang of his bow, Callan launched a final arrow straight into the trapped creature’s throat, piercing through its core and leaving it crumbling into dark ash.

  As the last creature melted into nothingness, the marsh grew quiet once more—except for their breathing.

  Ethan wiped sweat from his brow. “That was… more than I expected.”

  Callan pulled back his bowstring, checking the tension before glancing sideways. “If that’s what’s at the edge of this marsh, I don’t want to see what’s deeper in.”

  Ethan looked down at the dissolving remains. His Lion Sight showed faint traces of dark energy still lingering in the ground, like roots spreading far and wide beneath them.

  “This isn’t over,” Ethan muttered. “Whatever’s behind this… it’s still growing.”

  Solis, appearing silently from the shadows, sat beside them, silver eyes sharp.

  “Very good, Fireborn. You’re starting to see the bigger picture.”

  Ethan didn’t respond, but his jaw set firmly.

  They had more scouting to do—and Ethan knew this was only the beginning.

  The fog thickened as Ethan and Callan made their way back toward the temporary camp where the rest of the scouting team was stationed. The air felt heavier now, as if the marsh itself was watching.

  Neither of them spoke for a long while.

  Every now and then, Callan glanced around, bow still in hand, an arrow nocked loosely—ready.

  Ethan’s mind, meanwhile, was still burning with the vision of the creatures reforming even after he broke them apart. Something about them gnawed at the back of his mind. Like a puzzle he hadn’t quite solved yet.

  Finally, Callan broke the silence. “What do you think that was back there?”

  Ethan’s jaw tightened. “Something that wasn’t meant to exist.”

  Callan raised a brow. “You think the rumors about these marshes are real?”

  “I don’t think anymore,” Ethan muttered. “I know.”

  As they reached camp, the crackling of firelight and murmurs of students filled the clearing. Several groups were already back—some visibly shaken, their clothes torn or singed.

  Selene stood near one of the fires, her arms crossed, her usual calm demeanor hardened into sharp focus. Next to her, Orlan was bent over a map of the marsh, marking areas where groups had gone.

  As Ethan and Callan entered, Orion spotted them first, waving them over.

  “Took you two long enough,” Orion said, though his grin faded when he got a better look at their faces. “What happened?”

  Ethan sat heavily on a log, dropping his bag beside him. “We found what’s been corrupting this place.”

  Selene’s eyes sharpened. “Show me.”

  Ethan took a breath, pulling a thin notebook from his bag—a habit he’d picked up from Virgo training to document observations—and opened it to a rough sketch of the creatures they fought.

  “Three of them. Like living ice and shadow. They weren’t natural. And worse—when I broke them apart, they tried to reform.”

  Selene leaned in, her expression unreadable. “Adaptive corruption.”

  Callan nodded. “And strong. My best arrows barely slowed them down.”

  Selene glanced at Orlan, who frowned deeply, then back at Ethan. “You said they were made of ice? Corrupted?”

  Ethan nodded. “Not ice like normal. The structure… it was rewritten. Like someone took the nature of ice and fused it with something dark.”

  Across the fire, other students were starting to whisper, clearly overhearing bits and pieces of the conversation.

  Orlan stood straighter, voice loud enough for the camp. “Alright. Everyone listen.”

  The chatter died down immediately.

  “We’ve received similar reports from the other scouting teams. This marsh is not naturally corrupted—something is changing the creatures here, twisting them.”

  He looked at Ethan and Callan. “You’ve confirmed what we feared. But we still need to know how deep this corruption runs.”

  As Orlan finished speaking, another group approached the fire, led by a tall student from House Sagittarius named Ronan, known for his survival skills and tracking. His usual confident expression was replaced with something graver.

  “We were attacked too,” Ronan said, sitting heavily. “Shadow beasts, but different from yours. Ours looked like deer—until they split open and turned into something else.”

  The group murmured uneasily.

  Selene frowned. “Did anyone else get injured?”

  One of Ronan’s team, a girl named Lyra from House Cancer, lifted her sleeve to reveal a long gash down her arm, though it had been hastily wrapped. “It clawed me before we killed it.”

  Selene’s expression darkened, and she moved to examine the wound. “We’ll deal with this. But no one is to go off alone until we understand what we’re facing.”

  Later that night, as most of the students rested and others sat quietly around the fires, Selene found Ethan standing alone near the edge of the clearing, gazing out into the mist.

  “You fought well today,” she said softly, stepping up beside him.

  Ethan gave a half smile, though his eyes were still distant. “Thanks. But I’m not sure it was enough.”

  Selene watched him for a moment, then spoke carefully. “You’re thinking about how they adapted to your chains.”

  Ethan nodded. “If they can adjust that fast… What happens when we face something worse?”

  Selene was quiet for a moment before answering. “Then you adapt faster.”

  Ethan looked at her, surprised.

  “You have a mind that sees what others miss,” Selene continued. “Use it. Twist what you know, make it into something new. You’ve done it before.”

  Her gaze sharpened slightly. “And remember… You’re not alone in this fight.”

  Ethan let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “Thanks, Selene.”

  She smiled faintly. “Get some rest, Ethan. Tomorrow will bring more.”

  Far away, deep in the marsh, beyond where any scouting team had dared to go—

  Something stirred.

  In a sunken ruin, half-swallowed by the fog and mud, a figure cloaked in shadow stood before a darkened altar. Crimson light pulsed faintly from the center, and the very air around it seemed to warp, as if reality itself bent under some heavy presence.

  The figure placed a hand on the altar, whispering words that made the fog churn unnaturally.

  “All is nearly ready,” the figure rasped. “The Fireborn draws closer… and when he arrives, the final piece will fall into place.”