Far away from the bright, safe halls of Vedas Heritage International, hidden deep within a damp, underground cavern, the only sound was the heavy dripping of water and blood.
A figure wrapped in a torn black cloak stumbled through the darkness. His breathing was ragged, sounding like crushed glass. He took one more agonizing step before his legs completely gave out. He collapsed onto the cold stone floor, coughing up dark blood.
From the shadows of the cavern, two other mysterious figures stepped forward. Their faces were hidden behind pale, featureless masks.
One of them quickly grabbed the fallen man by the shoulders, lifting him up. "You look like you just walked through hell," the masked figure said, his voice cold and calculating. "Your Chakra core is almost shattered. Who did this to you?"
The injured man let out a painful, bitter laugh. His right arm looked like it had been crushed by massive gravity, and his chest bore the scorch marks of incredibly dense Pran energy.
"Our mission..." the bleeding man gasped, his hands trembling as he reached into his cloak. "We needed the Dark Gold for the ritual... I went to the secure vault to get it."
"And?" the second masked figure demanded impatiently. "Did you secure it?"
The injured man slowly pulled his hand out. Resting in his bloody palm was a jagged, heavy piece of metal that pulsed with a sickening, corrupted black-and-gold aura. It was the Dark gold—a rare, forbidden material known to absorb and mutate Pran Energy.
The two masked figures let out a breath of relief. But the injured man wasn't smiling. His eyes were wide with lingering terror.
"I got it," the bleeding man whispered, his whole body shaking. "But my escape route was blocked. I came face-to-face with two monsters. They weren't even trying... they were just having a casual conversation, but their mere presence almost crushed my soul."
"Monsters? What kind of beasts?" the first figure asked, frowning.
"Not beasts," the injured man corrected, coughing up more blood. "Humans. I survived... only because they didn't care enough to chase a dying rat. I crossed paths with The Mirror King and The Ultimate King."
The temperature in the cavern seemed to drop by ten degrees. The two masked figures froze entirely, their masks hiding the sudden, absolute dread on their faces. To survive an encounter with even one of the Top 7 Global Council members was a miracle. To survive two of them standing together was unheard of.
"The Kings are moving," the injured man warned, his vision fading. "The academy is preparing. Start the ritual with the Dark Gold now... before it's too late."
The Morning of the Hunt
The sun rose over Vedas Heritage, but the atmosphere in the grand courtyard was anything but bright. Hundreds of first-year students stood in perfect formation, divided into their four-person teams. The air was thick with tension, fear, and the smell of ozone.
Today was the day of the Aether Hunt.
At the very front of the courtyard stood Professor Agni. He held a large, ancient artifact in his hand a heavy, glowing crystal key. Behind him was the academy's massive, arched stone monument, which usually served as a decorative fountain. Today, it was the gateway to hell.
"Listen well, first-years!" Professor Agni's voice boomed, silencing the nervous whispers. "The objective is simple. Enter the Mirror Dimension, survive for twenty-four hours, and harvest the Pran Cores of the Shadow Beasts. If you panic, you die. If you break formation, you die. Trust your teammates!"
In the middle of the crowd, the Core Four stood together.
Kanha was nervously bouncing on his heels, adjusting the straps of his heavy backpack (which, despite Sambhab's warnings, was definitely full of snacks). Sambhab was constantly checking his wrist-mounted Pran-meter, his face a mask of pure concentration. Daizy took a deep breath, keeping her hands close to her chest, ready to cast her healing barrier at a moment's notice.
Karma stood right beside Daizy. He didn't look nervous. His eyes were calm, his grip on the dark wooden sword steady. He remembered his promise from the rooftop.
Professor Agni stepped up to the stone archway. He raised the glowing crystal key and slammed it into a slot in the stone.
"Gate, open!" Agni roared, pushing his massive 5th Chakra fire energy into the stone.
KRZZZZT!
The sound of shattering reality echoed across the courtyard. The empty space inside the stone archway violently tore open. The portal didn't look like a sci-fi movie door; it looked like a jagged, bleeding wound in the air. Swirling, chaotic red and black energy spun inside it like a hurricane.
"Teams 1 through 10, advance!" Agni commanded.
One by one, groups of terrified students walked into the swirling vortex and vanished from sight.
"We're up," Sambhab said, his voice tight. "Stay close. The moment we step through, form a diamond defense. Karma in front, Daizy in the center, Kanha on the left, me on the right."
"Got it, Sammy," Kanha nodded, finally dropping his jokes.
"Ready?" Karma looked back at Daizy.
"Ready," she nodded bravely.
Together, the Core Four stepped into the swirling red portal.
For a terrifying second, Karma felt like he was falling through an endless, freezing ocean. Colors flashed past his eyes, and a loud, rushing wind deafened him. His stomach flipped, and then
THUD.
Karma's boots hit solid ground.
Instantly, his stabilized 1st Chakra flared to life. He drew his wooden sword and dropped into the Storm Hand Style defensive stance, sweeping his eyes across the landscape to protect Daizy.
But as his vision cleared, Karma slowly lowered his sword in pure confusion.
Something was incredibly wrong.
During Kanha's previous fight in the Mirror Dimension, the sky had been a menacing, bleeding red, and the area was just a ruined version of the academy courtyard.
But they weren't in a red courtyard.
They were standing on cracked, black obsidian stone. The sky above them wasn't red—it was a suffocating, pitch-black void filled with swirling, dark purple clouds. Twisted, dead trees that looked like reaching hands surrounded them. The air was freezing cold, and a strange, pale ash was falling from the sky like dirty snow.
It was dead silent. There was no roaring of beasts, no shouting of other students. Just absolute, terrifying silence.
Kanha looked around, shivering slightly. "Uh... Sammy? Where are the other teams? Didn't like forty students jump in right before us?"
Sambhab was frantically tapping his wrist-mounted Pran-meter. His face, usually so calm and composed, turned completely pale.
"The signal..." Sambhab whispered, his voice shaking. "We aren't at the drop zone. The portal coordinates... someone tampered with our jump."
Daizy stepped closer to Karma, looking up at the horrifying purple sky. "Where are we, Sambhab?"
Sambhab looked up, pure dread in his eyes. "The Mirror Dimension has layers. The academy only uses the outermost layer for the Hunt. But we aren't in the outer layer. We've been dropped into the Deep Zone."
Karma gripped his sword tighter, his knuckles turning white. The Deep Zone. The place where the oldest, most mutated, and most horrifying Shadow Beasts lived.
Before anyone could say another word, a low, guttural growl vibrated through the cracked black stones beneath their feet. It didn't come from one direction. It came from all around them.
From the shadows of the dead trees, dozens of glowing, blood-red eyes began to open in the dark.
"Formation!" Karma shouted, his voice cutting through the fear. "Protect Daizy!"
They had walked into a trap. And the real nightmare had just begun.