"We advised you all to try and embark on dungeon raids individually to prepare you for the journey ahead."

"I believe you did such."

The third seat said.

"Now you’ll put those exercises to the test."

"A raffle will be drawn. Some of you will go on gates individually of different ranks."

"Others will go as a pseudo team on larger-scale raids."

"Immediately you finish one raid, you proceed to the next."

"No cooldown time."

"All you get to do are upgrades."

"Lives will be lost."

"But that’s fine."

"This is all for the vessel system."

"Step forward and have your picks."

6:04pm: Kara and Xali arrived at the testing grounds.

"Oh, so you guys couldn’t make it on time because you were on a raid."

"I guess of the original set of us, it’s really just Zane who hasn’t made it," Xander thought.

"He’s pretty late. It’s already starting," Zeus added.

’Wow, none of them seem to consider the possibility that maybe Zane is already dead,’ Rean thought.

Wow.

They all went on to pick their raffles.

"I got a playlist," Rean said.

"I have 6 slots."

"First an A-rank dungeon. Then a C-rank."

"Then another C-rank."

"A D-rank, and lastly 2 consecutive A-ranks."

"Wow, that’s crazy."

"I also got a playlist," Victor said.

"Mine’s 10 though."

"In no particular order cause whatever."

"It’s 5 C-ranks, 2 B-ranks, and 3 D-ranks."

"It doesn’t seem as steep as yours, right?"

"I got paired in Group 6," Xander said.

"Me too," Xali added.

"Wait, who are you again?" Zeus asked.

"I’m a friend of Kara," she replied.

"Oh."

’So she’s already found a fellow vessel friend in the outside world,’ Xander thought.

"Well, I’m also Group 6."

Someone walked up to them.

"I’m Razga."

"Nice to meet you."

He was tall, like super tall.

Definitely above 6 inches.

’It seems ours is a team of 3.’

"Well, I got Team 2," Zeus said.

"I as well," Kara followed.

"Did you guys just say Group 2? I guess this is where I belong."

"I’m Sawn by the way."

"Oh great, a team of 2 girls."

"It seems we don’t have a playlist," Xander said.

"What of you guys?"

"Well, not exactly."

"It’s just a simple mission."

"Clear an S-rank gate."

"Same here."

"Ok, you guys. Best of luck," Xander wished all of them.

He called Rean in private.

His mouth moved, but no one but Rean seemed to be able to make out what he said.

"Don’t die on me. We still haven’t had our rematch."

"Right back at you."

The reply was sharp.

*********

Rean was off to do what he was assigned. For him it all starts with that first A rank gate.

This was what all the training was for.

Rean stepped through the A-rank gate without hesitation.

The transition hit like a pressure shift in the lungs.

Cold air first.

Then silence.

Then the weight of something vast pressing in from every direction.

When his vision stabilized, he was already standing in a forest that didn’t feel like a forest. The trees were too tall, too tightly packed, their trunks pale like bone and their branches tangled into unnatural arches overhead. Moonlight filtered through the canopy in broken shards, painting the ground in shifting silver patterns.

And beneath that light—

Something moved.

Rean exhaled once.

"...A-rank."

No welcome. No buildup.

Just presence.

The dungeon answered him immediately.

A howl echoed from somewhere deep in the woods, low and layered, like multiple throats speaking at once. The sound rolled through the trees and came back distorted, multiplied, until it felt like the entire forest was listening.

Then the first wave arrived.

Wolves.

Dozens of them.

Emerging from the treeline in silent formation at first—then accelerating as they broke into full sprint. Their bodies were wrong in subtle ways. Too lean. Too long. Their fur shimmered faintly with embedded mana veins that pulsed with each breath.

Low rank.

But not weak.

Rean didn’t move.

The wolves closed in fast, surrounding him in a tightening ring of motion and sound. The ground beneath their paws barely made noise—too coordinated, too practiced.

Then they attacked.

Rean vanished.

Not teleportation.

Not speed.

Absence.

The first wolf leapt through where he had been standing a fraction of a second earlier and hit only air. Its momentum carried it forward into another that was already mid-jump. Both crashed into the ground in a tangle of limbs and snapping jaws.

Rean reappeared behind them.

Blade already drawn.

One strike.

Two bodies fell.

No wasted motion.

The rest of the pack reacted instantly, shifting formation as more wolves poured out from the forest. Mid-rank variants this time. Larger. Faster. Their mana signatures denser, their movements more synchronized.

Rean stepped backward into the trees.

Let them follow.

Then he disappeared again.

This time, he didn’t reappear immediately.

The wolves slowed.

Confused.

A faint pressure shifted above them.

Then behind.

Then within the treeline itself.

Rean moved through the forest like a shadow between breaths, using terrain, sound gaps, and mana suppression techniques to erase his presence completely. Each time a wolf tried to lock onto him, it found only afterimages or displaced movement.

A blade flashed.

A throat opened.

Another wolf dropped without sound.

The pack began to fracture.

Higher-tier wolves entered the battlefield now—elite variants with reinforced bone structures and faint elemental resistance. Their howls carried mana pulses meant to disrupt stealth.

It didn’t matter.

Rean adapted instantly.

He stopped relying purely on invisibility.

Started using angles.

Trees became launch points. Roots became stepping paths. Branch shadows became cover. Every movement was economical, precise, and layered with misdirection.

A wolf lunged from the left—

Rean stepped onto its back mid-air and drove his blade down through its spine before pushing off.

Another came from above—

He twisted sideways between two trunks and let it impale itself on a sharpened branch he had positioned earlier without breaking stride.

The forest began to fill with bodies.

Still no mana pulse.

He hadn’t needed it.

The realization came slowly as Rean moved deeper into the zone.

"...I’m not using mana."

He paused for half a second mid-step, watching a high-rank wolf circle him cautiously now. This one was different. Larger frame. Darker fur. Eyes that held intelligence instead of instinct.

It didn’t attack immediately.

It was assessing him.

Rean tilted his head slightly.

Then vanished again.

The high-rank wolf reacted faster than the others, snapping toward his position instantly—but still too slow. Rean appeared at its flank, blade grazing its side. Not a killing strike.

A test.

The wolf retaliated instantly with a burst of mana from its mouth.

Rean blocked with his forearm.

The impact pushed him back half a step.

Interesting.

He exhaled.

Then ended it.

The blade moved once.

Clean.

The wolf collapsed mid-turn.

Silence returned briefly.

But only briefly.

The deeper forest responded.

A new howl echoed.

Lower frequency.

Heavier.

The kind that made the trees themselves feel smaller.

Rean didn’t tense.

Instead, he moved forward.

The pack was thinning now. Not because they stopped coming—but because he was cutting through them faster than they could organize. Entire groups of mid-rank wolves were found already dead when they arrived at intersections, their bodies arranged unintentionally into paths that funneled the rest into predictable routes.

He was herding them.

Whether he realized it consciously or not.

At one point, a small hoard attempted a coordinated ambush.

Twenty wolves converging from three directions simultaneously.

Rean didn’t speed up.

He slowed down.

Stepped into the center of it.

And let them come.

The first wave hit.

Then the second.

Then the third.

For a moment, the forest became a blur of movement and steel. Wolves entered the space and did not exit it in the same form. Limbs separated mid-air. Bodies collapsed before landing. One wolf tried to bite and instead found its jaw redirected into another attacker.

When it ended—

Rean was standing in the center of it all.

Still breathing normally.

Blade slightly lowered.

No visible damage.

No visible strain.

He blinked once.

"...Still no mana used."

That was what surprised him.

Not the difficulty.

Not the numbers.

The fact that everything had been done through movement efficiency, stealth timing, and physical control alone. Even his stealth techniques had been low-cost adaptations rather than active mana drains.

He looked around at the field of fallen wolves.

Ranks had escalated gradually without him noticing.

Low rank.

Mid rank.

High rank.

And somewhere deeper—

Something stronger was watching now.

Rean turned toward it slowly.

The forest had gone quiet again.

Not peaceful quiet.

Predatory quiet.

Then he smiled faintly.

"...Boss chamber’s this way."

He adjusted his grip on the blade once, rolling his shoulder lightly as he began walking forward through the aftermath of the hoard.

No urgency.

No hesitation.

Just calm forward motion through an A-rank dungeon that had already stopped feeling like a threat.

The deeper trees parted slightly as he moved.

And Rean smiled a little wider.

Ready for the next step.