Emisarry Of Time And Space-Chapter 189: Encounter.

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Orion didn’t even need to get up for the monster to be dealt with.

By the time his attention fully registered the movement, the creature was already gone—its body torn apart cleanly by coordinated Nova Sparks. There was no follow-up needed, no secondary threat, no lingering danger. The forest settled back into its quiet almost immediately, as if nothing had happened.

Just as he’d thought earlier, it took far more than that to startle his group.

They hadn’t panicked. They hadn’t shouted. They hadn’t overreacted. Everyone had moved exactly as trained—fast, precise, restrained. The transition from rest to combat and back again had been seamless.

Still, something nagged at him.

That creature wasn’t what had killed the Mabites.

It was too weak.

Orion didn’t consider himself particularly experienced when it came to monsters. He hadn’t grown up on a frontier, hadn’t spent his life fighting beasts the way some nobles did. But instinct mattered. Pattern recognition mattered. And everything about that encounter told him the same thing.

That thing was not an apex predator.

It might have been dangerous to weaker prey. It might have been fast. But it wasn’t capable of wiping out multiple Mabites in a single area. Whatever had done that was either far stronger—or far smarter.

He stored the thought away.

"We take turns watching and resting," Orion said calmly. "We’re thirteen. We’ll have enough time for rest."

No one questioned it.

No one complained.

They all nodded and adjusted naturally, already falling into an unspoken rhythm. Watches were assigned without argument. Positions were chosen based on awareness and stamina rather than rank or ego.

Sleep, however, didn’t come easily.

Not because they were scared—none of them were—but because of excitement and unfamiliarity. The Jade Forest was nothing like the academy grounds. Sounds carried differently here. The darkness was thicker. Even with their low-profile heaters keeping the cold at bay, the forest felt alive in a way that demanded attention.

Every rustle stood out.

Every distant sound pulled at the edge of awareness.

They lay still, eyes closed, bodies relaxed, minds anything but.

By eleven, they forced themselves to sleep.

Orion took the first watch.

The night passed without incident. Quietly, almost suspiciously so. Nothing breached his range that required action. No sudden movements. No hostile mana signatures. No large-scale disturbances.

They rotated shifts smoothly, one after another, until dawn crept in through the dense canopy in thin streaks of pale light.

When morning came, they regrouped without prompting.

Selene stepped in immediately, activating her cleaning skill with practiced ease. Dirt, sweat, , and grime were removed in moments. The efficiency of it made Orion sigh quietly.

That skill had been on his list.

He’d planned to learn it before leaving the academy.

The surprise exit had robbed him of the chance.

He shook the thought away.

They packed quickly and moved out in the same formation as before.

The next two days followed a steady rhythm.

Move.

Observe.

Engage.

Rest.

They encountered monsters during the day and at night—some aggressive, some territorial, some simply curious. None posed a real threat. Each was dealt with cleanly, efficiently, without unnecessary expenditure of mana or stamina.

No one overextended.

No one got sloppy.

Rations were managed carefully. Everyone had come prepared, carrying enough food for three months. Scavenging remained an option, but it stayed firmly in reserve. There was no reason to risk unknown plants or toxins when they were properly supplied.

By the afternoon of the third day, something finally changed.

Humans.

Orion detected them immediately.

From the west.

His eyes narrowed slightly as the information settled in. Humans here meant competitors—and capable ones at that. They were moving fast, roughly a thousand distals per hour. That speed was comfortable for his group, but it wasn’t trivial.

Their set was talented. Their affinity for space made movement easier for them than for most. But that didn’t mean everyone here could keep up.

He forced himself to refocus.

He was thinking too far ahead.

The real question wasn’t who they were.

It was whether they were hostile.

As expected, Seris’s group stopped.

Along with them, everyone else paused.

Orion paused as well.

He trusted them. Erevan, Seris, and Jalen were a solid trio—strong, composed, disciplined. They wouldn’t panic. They wouldn’t escalate unnecessarily.

Trust mattered.

That didn’t mean blindness.

If there was instability in the Beacon—fear, injury, hesitation—he’d be there instantly.

For now, he observed.

He activated The Seer.

Mana flowed smoothly as his vision stretched across distance and obstruction. As long as he paid the cost, he could observe the present from anywhere within range.

His eyes locked onto Seris’s group immediately.

Two individuals stood directly in front of them.

Two women.

Behind them, slightly offset and poorly concealed, were two more presences.

Hidden. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Orion immediately categorized them as stupid.

Trying to hide within the vicinity of a Chronos was stupid.

It didn’t automatically mean hostility, but it did suggest either incompetence or arrogance. Neither impressed him.

He couldn’t hear what they were saying. That was the limit of the Seer. But facial expressions and body language were enough.

They were negotiating.

Likely proposing an alliance.

Seris was refusing.

Calm. Direct. Unmoved.

The women grew irritated. They were older—early twenties, probably—and being dismissed by a fourteen-year-old clearly bruised their pride.

They tried again.

Seris refused again.

They turned to Erevan and Jalen, who had remained silent the entire time.

Erevan glanced at Seris and mouthed, I told you we should have ignored them.

That did it.

The women’s expressions shifted immediately.

Orion sighed quietly.

They didn’t have time for this.

If they were going to fight someone, it should be for the mission—not over wounded egos and unnecessary alliances.

He teleported.

The displacement was clean and instantaneous.

The surprise on their faces was immediate.

Before anyone could react, he glanced toward the hiding spots without turning fully.

"Come out," Orion said evenly. "Hiding in front of us is useless. You should know better."

A few rustles followed.

The two hidden individuals emerged, clearly unsettled. Whether it was his sudden appearance or the fact that they hadn’t sensed him until he was already there didn’t matter.

"I don’t know what plan you have in motion that led you to approach us," Orion continued, voice steady and controlled, "but we’re not interested. I find it unnecessary to engage in silly conflicts. We’re all here to complete a goal. Let’s stick to that."

He paused briefly.

"Please leave."

There was no threat in his tone.

No attempt to intimidate.

Just finality.

The group hesitated.

Orion looked at them expectantly.

One of them scowled.

He could tell immediately.

Something foolish was about to be said.

"Please leave," Orion said again.

This time, his tone rose slightly.

So did the pressure