There was no time to dwell on the finer details.
It didn't take long for the others to arrive at his position. Their gazes swept across the surroundings, vigilantly searching for any lingering threat.
Finding nothing, at least, nothing that revealed itself, Jasmine immediately shifted her attention to him.
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she gave him a quick but thorough once-over, scanning for any visible injuries.
"Are you alright? Did anything happen here?"
With a smile, Kevin replied almost dismissively.
"I'm fine. Ran into a bit of trouble, but it's already dealt with."
Jasmine didn't look convinced.
Her gaze lingered on him for a moment longer before shifting past him, toward the shallow depression at the center of the cathedral. Her expression tightened ever so slightly.
"…Trouble?"
"Yeah." Kevin exhaled lightly and jerked his chin toward the center. "Tyrant-class Shade. Came out of nowhere. Was using that core as bait."
"…And it's gone?"
"It's gone."
That was all he said.
He didn't elaborate on how the fight had gone, nor did he mention the SYSTEM notification or the change within his body. There was a brief pause, as if the others were waiting for more, but when nothing came.
As if annoyed, Jasmine clicked her tongue and said:
"You should've called for support."
Kevin shrugged. "Didn't have the time."
That much wasn't a lie.
The moment that thing had appeared, it had already been on top of him.
Of course, he could have screamed for help at the time but putting his strength into something more productive turned out to be the better choice.
Noah murmered absentmindedly. "A Tyrant-class Shade using a core as bait… That's definitely not normal behavior. Could it be a remnant that had somehow gained semblance."
"Semblance?"
"To put it simply, there are some Shadow Creatures that don't behave like the others. Most Shades act on instinct. Hunt, kill, consume. But in rare cases, some of them develop something closer to awareness. Not true intelligence. Some grow smart enough to set traps or tire the opponent out before finishing them off."
"Like mimicking human behavior?"
"Hm. Something like that."They're usually anomalies influenced by external or unknown factors. We don't have enough data to say for sure."
Kevin remained silent as he listened, wearing an indifferent face.
'…A fragment of awareness.'
His thoughts drifted, unbidden, to the SYSTEM message.
A fragment of the
For a brief moment, the two ideas overlapped in his mind. Then he pushed it aside.
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Whatever it was, it's gone. Tsk. What a shame. I could've gotten some useful data from examining its body," Noah muttered, his tone laced with clear dissatisfaction, as though lamenting a missed opportunity of real significance.
Perhaps, to him, it truly was.
Jasmine exhaled through her nose, visibly displeased with how little they had uncovered.
"…This place just keeps getting better."
Her gaze swept across the warped interior once more before she straightened, her expression settling back into the usual mean look.
"Putting that aside, we'll scan the surrounding area for any additional abnormalities and conclude the expedition here. We'll establish a Gateway at this location. The structure and environment are stable enough, and it could serve as a viable access point for the Guild."
No one argued.
Not even Kevin.
After encountering something like that on his own, there was little reason to push their luck any further.
And more importantly—
Further exploration no longer guaranteed worthwhile returns.
The decision was not made lightly. Even without verbal discussion, the reasoning behind it was clear to all of them.
This place was different.
Not just in appearance, nor in the unnatural distortions that plagued its structure, but in the way it behaved. The cathedral was not merely a ruin left behind by time. It was stable in the most unsettling sense of the word. Despite its fractured architecture, it did not collapse, did not shift beyond a certain threshold, and did not deteriorate further.
That alone made it valuable.
In a region like the Forgotten Lands, where the environment itself could become hostile or unpredictable without warning, a location that maintained a degree of consistency was rare. The other places were either odd, bizarre and the changes in environment even more.
More importantly, it could be used.
The presence of a Tyrant-class Shade only reinforced that conclusion.
Creatures of that level did not appear without reason. Whether it had been drawn here by the unique properties of the cathedral or had emerged as a result of them was unclear. Either way, a site capable of sustaining or attracting such entities was, by default, significant.
Establishing a Gateway here was also important too. In fact, finding a suitable part for creating a Gateway had been their main priority.
It would turn an unpredictable, isolated ruin into a monitored point of entry. Hunters, researchers, and support units could be deployed with purpose rather than blindly venturing into the unknown. Data could be gathered systematically and the peculiar distortion could be observed over time instead of pieced together from fragmented reports.
From survival to investigation and there was also the matter of resources. For the Guild, and by extension Fortcliff's governing forces, securing a location like this was just too beneficial.
One that none of them voiced, yet all of them understood on some level.
They had entered the cathedral with limited information and had already encountered a threat beyond standard expectations. Continuing deeper without preparation would just be reckless. Some would even call if foolish.
The objective had never been to conquer the Unknown.
They had seen enough of that end.
By establishing a Gateway, they ensured that whatever lay within this place would not remain isolated. It would be observed, documented, and eventually unraveled under controlled conditions.
Step by step.
Piece by piece.
The Forgotten Lands were vast and filled with countless dangers, but not every discovery required immediate descent into its depths.
Some were better approached with patience.
This—
Was one of them.