After another hour of trekking, Axel found himself atop a jagged ridge.

He stopped and glanced around—then frowned.

"This isn't right."

The peak beneath his boots was Virethorn Heights—he recognized the thorny, curling vines choking the boulders. But according to the map Isaac gave him, he should've already passed this area by now.

"I followed the damn route. How did I loop back here?"

He narrowed his eyes. Either he'd misread the terrain… or something else was messing with the environment.

"Is the map wrong? Or did something shift in the Abyss?"

A low rumble cut through the wind.

The lumbering thuds of a mutant beast—heavy, slow, but close.

Axel's figure shimmered, vanishing in a flicker of light. A second later, a low-level mutant beast appeared in his place, casually strolling past the rocks.

Only when the sounds faded did Axel reappear and exhale.

"Still got time. Let's try again."

He carved a fresh mark in a nearby stone—jagged, sharp, unmistakable—and continued moving. "Can't afford to waste another hour."

......

Elsewhere in the Abyss…

Beside a winding, glassy river, Gabriel stared at the crabs scuttling through the shallows.

"Bro, don't these crabs look exactly like the ones from before? I swear we've been here already. Think they're edible?"

He was practically drooling.

Jorvan pinched the bridge of his nose. "You just remember crabs."

He sighed and scanned their surroundings again. Gabriel was right, for once. They had been here. Not long ago either.

"Something's wrong with this place," Jorvan muttered, voice low.

Gabriel, still munching on his rations, pouted.

"Yeah. Everyone says the Abyss is overflowing with Force, but I haven't leveled up even once."

Jorvan shot him a glare. "That's because you're too busy snacking to train. And put those chips away—the smell'll attract beasts."

Deep down, he'd already made up his mind. If this place goes to hell, we lay low. No heroics. Remingtons have more resources than they know what to do with. We don't need this.

.......

Back at the Abyss entrance, the air grew heavier.

The sky, blood-red as always, seemed to pulse ominously above the swirling boundary field.

Several Awakened still outside looked up in confusion. "Is it just me… or did the killing aura just spike?"

"Did something happen in there?" one muttered.

A group of military officers and academy staff huddled near the monitoring equipment. One tech whispered urgently into a communicator.

"Sir, confirmed. Murderous aura levels are rising. Rapidly."

A senior officer's brow furrowed. "Stay alert. I'll report this upstairs."

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Eyes turned back to the red horizon—where the veil between their world and the Abyss shimmered faintly, like a warning.

......

"Something's definitely wrong."

Axel stopped again after another hour of walking and pulled out the map.

His eyes narrowed. "This is Crescent Lake. It's supposed to be twenty kilometers northwest of Virethorn Heights."

But that made no sense. With his speed, even factoring in that short delay with the mutant beast, he should've passed this location—or at least taken a different route entirely.

"I haven't looped back, but this isn't the path I planned.."

He exhaled slowly, letting his Force sensitivity expand. The ambient Force in the air was noticeably more agitated than before. When he absorbed it, his body reacted—hotter than usual, slightly flushed, like something inside him was burning faster.

"It's restless… but still usable." The absorption rate hadn't changed.

Fifteen days at this pace? He could hit the bottleneck. He might even begin Force liquefaction.

......

Meanwhile, deep in a thorn forest elsewhere in the Abyss…

"Ugh, Caius, what kind of 'shortcut' is this?" Millers groaned, swatting away thick vines with a branch. "My legs are screaming."

Caius, scratching the back of his neck, offered a sheepish smile. "I swear, this isn't normal. Maybe the terrain in the Abyss shifted. I'm sure we'll hit open ground soon—just past this ridge!"

"Fine, I'll trust you one more time," Millers muttered, hauling himself up the final slope through brambles and roots.

Caius followed right behind him—only to hear Millers slump down hard at the top.

"If I believe you again, I'll eat a shoe," Millers growled.

Caius climbed up, looked out… and went silent.

A sheer drop. A goddamn cliff. Hundreds of meters down. "What the hell… this shouldn't be here."

......

Back near Crescent Lake, a low snarl echoed across the trees, followed by a wet crunch. A third-level mutant beast dropped to the earth with a heavy thud, Axel's blade dripping.

He crouched, pulled the beast's life crystal from its core, and slipped it into his satchel.

The deeper he ventured, the more deliberate he became. The Abyss was rich in Force, yes—but it was also home to forbidden zones, places that radiated death and were teeming with apex predators.

Caution was king. Better to farm life crystals along the way than blindly sprint into danger.

As he rose to his feet, his gaze fell on the horizon—and his eyes narrowed.

A circular lake. An island in the center.

Axel froze.

"That's it." The location Isaac had marked. The one place he was told to reach. The Heavenly Spirit Fruit Tree was supposed to grow right there—on that island.

He hadn't expected to arrive this soon. According to his original route, he should still be half a day out.

But before he could move, a voice echoed nearby.

"Hey, do you know where we are?"

Axel ducked behind a tree, eyes locking onto two men emerging from the brush.

Young, probably early twenties. Their uniforms were clean and crisp—War Academy students.

They spotted him and waved. "Hey there! Didn't expect to run into anyone else out here," the taller one said with a disarming smile. "I'm Leander. This is Laziel. We're from Stormwatch Academy."

The shorter man nodded silently, eyes mostly on the ground.

Axel approached with casual steps. "Axel, from Whisper Syndicate."

Leander scratched his head. "Do you feel like something's weird with the Abyss? This place doesn't match our map at all."

Laziel chimed in quietly, "We've been walking for hours and haven't seen a single landmark we were supposed to pass. Everything's changed."

Axel kept his expression neutral, but inside, his pulse quickened. They have no idea what this place is.

"Yeah... it's all messed up," Axel replied calmly. "I haven't figured it out either."

Leander sighed. "Want to stick together for a bit? Might as well walk the lake and see what we find."

Axel nodded. "Sure. Let's take a look around."

Unlike Axel, who moved with speed and purpose, Leander and Laziel strolled along the lakeside at a slow pace. They kept glancing into the woods, clearly more interested in spotting valuable spiritual plants.

"How the hell am I supposed to shake them?" Axel thought grimly, watching the two wander with tourist-level enthusiasm.

He couldn't collect the **Heavenly Spirit Fruit** with these two shadows hanging over his shoulder. If they followed him all the way to the island, the secret would be blown.

Just as he mulled over his options, Laziel suddenly twitched his nose. "Someone's coming," he said calmly.

Axel raised an eyebrow. That sense of smell... an awakened ability.

They crested a small slope, and from the ridge, they saw two figures about three kilometers away stepping onto the lake's surface, apparently using a Force technique to cross toward the island.

Leander perked up. "They're heading to the island? That places like that are usually loaded with spiritual plants. Let's go!"

Axel's heart dropped. Exactly what I was afraid of.

If all five of them reached the island, the Heavenly Spirit Fruit tree would be impossible to hide.

And then, it happened.

A sharp scream echoed across the water.

One of the two people crossing the lake suddenly lurched, as if yanked by an invisible hand. He fell with a splash and vanished beneath the surface.

"Sore!" the second person shouted in horror. But before she could react, a thick, vine-like tentacle erupted from the lake and lunged toward her like a whip.

"Help! There's something in the water!"

Leander and Laziel didn't hesitate. They sprinted toward the lake's edge, closing the distance in seconds. Axel followed more cautiously, watching from a distance.

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