Keth had finished meditating long before the others, yet she didn’t move from her spot. Instead, she sat there quietly, her chin resting lightly on her knee, her gaze fixed on Melvin.

He still hadn’t opened his eyes.

His breathing was steady, his posture unmoving, like he had sunk into something deeper than mere concentration. It had been a while now, long enough for her to start wondering just how far he had gone. It was also because he had started before anyone else.

Without realizing it, she leaned a little closer.

However, Aurex exhaled slowly as he came out of his own meditation. And when he looked, the first thing he noticed wasn’t the dimming fire... or the cave... or even the strange stillness around them.

His eyes went directly straight to Keth.

She was closer to Melvin now, staring at him intently. Really staring at him.

’What is she doing?’

Keth wasn’t like this. Everyone knew that back at the academy, she barely spoke. Barely interacted.

She existed on her own level alone, earning her a nickname as Magnum-Silenca. She did nothing with someone; she was more like a solo awakener in their school.

When it was time for general gatherings, she attended but always isolated herself from the others. People used to think she acted this way probably because she was some kind of genius. Because she thought no one was on her level.

People tried to get close. Tried to understand her. But after a while, they gave up. Hence, they had secondly tagged her a weirdo rather than keep trying.

And yet...

Aurex’s eyes narrowed slightly as he watched her from where he sat.

She had been acting different since they got here. After she met Melvin. She was... changing.

Aurex noticed that since their time in this cursed land, she had given Melvin more attention than she ever gave anyone. Was there something tied to them, or what? What was even special about him?

Nothing, really.

He didn’t see anything special about Melvin for now. The boy didn’t awaken an Origin; he was even a failed awakener when compared to the others. So why?

Or did she get comfortable around him all of a sudden?

Sometimes, it wasn’t about power or status or talent. Sometimes, it was simpler than that.

When someone feels easy to be around, certain walls drop without permission. You might not notice it happening, but you will just stop guarding yourself. Stop pretending. Stop being the version of you everyone else sees. And before you realize it, you are doing things you normally wouldn’t.

That should be the case for Keth.

’After so long, she finally found someone she’s comfortable with,’ Aurex surmised. Not that he wanted to care.

Meanwhile, Keth, unaware of the thoughts circling in Aurex’s head and that he was watching, slowly raised her index finger to poke Melvin’s face, but at that instant, Melvin acted like a jolt of electricity ran through him.

His arm shot forward in a sharp, clean motion, fingers aligned like a blade as he slashed through the air.

Keth’s eyes widened as she recoiled and dropped instantly into a squat, barely dodging the strike.

A split second later, a violent force tore through the cave.

Aurex’s eyes widened as the air itself seemed to split apart as the invisible slash shot forward, smashing straight into the cave wall behind her. Stone shattered like it had been struck by something far heavier than a mere hand, debris exploding outward as dust filled the air.

The impact, however, didn’t stop there.

It traveled deeper... striking something invisible beyond the wall. As soon as the contact was made, a ripple spread through the space.

Oblivious to what he had done but bodily present to the sudden tremble, Melvin opened his shut eyes and blinked as if he was just waking from a dream.

Once the impact subsided, Aurex shot Melvin a surprising look.

’What did he just do?’

Keth slowly rose from her crouch, brushing dust off her shoulder, her expression no longer calm.

"Do you want me dead?"

***

"What is that?"

Aurex asked as the three of them now stood before the shattered wall, staring into the open space beyond it.

To be sure of what they had noticed, Melvin bent down and picked up a chunk of broken stone and tossed it forward.

The rock flew straight into the open space and bounced back.

After several hits, they finally realized that they had unknowingly discovered what they could have spent their entire day... possibly life, finding.

They had found the barrier.

Right at the moment, it was invisible to the eyes, but from what had happened, they knew there was a blockage.

They turned to each other, and Keth asked if they were ready to move.

Aurex moped at her for a bit, then rushed to the pile of meat they had reserved. He brought out the storage orb and used it to store the meat.

Everyone gathered whatever it was they thought they would be needing beyond the barrier and what belonged to them.

Now prepared, they began to advance but halted at a point close to the wall. Lying adjacent to the wall on the right was the helpless body of the winged Lycan. Somehow, that creature was still holding onto life... which was good for them.

Melvin walked over to the wolf and grabbed the creature, trying to lift it, but it was heavy. He tried and tried, putting more strength into it; still nothing.

"...Tch."

Without its wings or limbs, there was nothing to drag. And its body was far heavier than it looked.

Then, how would they throw the wolf over to the barrier?

Since they weren’t going to establish close contact with the barrier until it opened, they had resolved to throw the helpless body of the wolf to the barrier. According to Keth, as long as it reaches closer, the barrier will magnetize it, and the process of opening should begin.

Now, that didn’t seem like it was going to be an option. What would they do in that case?

Aurex, on Melvin’s signal, walked over silently and helped him. Before lifting it, he used his ability to set a rule that would prevent the wolf from harming Melvin while he carried it.

With the wolf hoisted onto Melvin’s shoulder, they walked back to their former spot.

"What are you trying to do?" Keth asked.

"It seems we can’t follow Plan A. Then we go for Plan B," Melvin answered.

"And what is Plan B?"

"I will take the sacrifice there myself," Melvin answered simply, staring into the space.

"Don’t. Let’s find another way. Your life is more significant than this beast, and so, it will only make you the living sacrifice."

Melvin closed his eyes, with his hand supporting the wolf on his shoulder. Then opened them again and asked, "How does the barrier’s magnetization work?"

"The closer a living entity gets, the stronger the pull becomes. It builds like gravity but a selective one. It drags only what it recognizes as a sacrifice, and that is the entity with the most valuable life. In the case of one being, it doesn’t apply."

After Keth finished explaining it, Melvin nodded and walked forward. Then he turned back to Keth.

"Don’t worry about me, I will be fine."

Keth scoffed and crossed her hands over her chest. "And who said that I’m worried about you? Don’t flatter yourself."

A small smile tugged at Melvin’s lips, and then he activated his ability.

[Cost]: 1.5 Fragments

He reappeared right at the edge of the barrier, the pull already starting to tug faintly at him. Without wasting a second, he used his whole strength and tossed the lycan forward, its body crashing a few meters apart. Then, Melvin held firmly onto himself.

Concentrating, he let his body slip into that strange, balanced state, and using it to his advantage, teleported back to where he stood before and exhaled sharply.

"That was close. The force is too strong," he muttered in between breaths.

[Fragments]: 301/5000

He ignored the system runes showing his remaining fragments, and together, the three of them watched as the attention has shifted to the wolf.

Soon, the lycan’s body jerked violently. An unseen force grabbed hold of it, dragging it forward as if the air itself had come alive. Its body slammed against the invisible barrier’s surface and stuck there, suspended.

The lycan, still holding onto life, began to struggle desperately. Its body writhing helplessly.

Moments passed.

And the barrier began to glow. A deep blue light spread across its surface, growing brighter and brighter until its outline became visible.

Then, in that way, they were able to see it begin to unveil upwards, gradually opening a path for the three of them.

Melvin took note of the living lycan. That bastard has still refused to die. It was better to quickly end its life by slicing the head off.

When the barrier had risen high enough for them to pass, they exchanged glances and walked forward, then burst into a run.

Beyond the barrier was just white. An endless white of nothingness that covered everything.

One by one, they crossed.

When it reached Melvin’s turn to cross, as the last man standing, he summoned Aftertick into his hand as he stepped through. Without looking back, he swung the whip behind him.

CRACK!

And everything vanished.

Then, the first thing that greeted him was the system runes. On seeing it, a smile crept up his lips.

He didn’t know if his plan had worked perfectly as he wanted, but the screen floating before his eyes told him that his purpose of carrying out that plan was accomplished.

The runes on the screen read:

[You have slain...]

BANG!