A boy with black hair was sprinting for his life.

That boy was me.

And behind me, less than three steps behind me, was a fifteen-foot, pitch-black sabre-toothed tiger whose entire existence could be summarised as: murder first, roar later.

Its claws were the size of my torso.

Its breath smelled like it lived off the souls of disappointed parents.

And its footsteps shook the damn forest.

My beautiful, majestic and mysterious golden eyes were wide.

Wide with terror.

Wide with adrenaline.

But also

Yeah.

I'll admit it.

A crazed smile was stretched across my face.

{You crazy-ass bastard, talking to yourself while a giant kitten is chasing you. I'd almost be disappointed in you… if I'd ever had expectations to begin with.}

I ignored him.

The world around us was pure carnage. Massive eruptions of dirt and mana shook the ground. Trees were being uprooted like blades of grass. Shockwaves blasted through the air so violently that my hair kept smacking me in the face.

Beside me, three others were running at the same breakneck speed, each about seventeen, same as me. Two girls, one guy.

And all of them were screaming.

Especially the girl on my right.

She ducked under the tiger's massive claw barely and yelled, voice cracking from pure panic:

"Sebastian! When this is over, I swear on every god in existence...I'm going to strangle you!"

I laughed.

I actually laughed.

Delighted.

Thrilled.

Borderline unhinged. It was the kind of laugh that makes people re-evaluate their life choices.

Someone watching from afar would probably think:

Wow, that guy's having the time of his life!

And I was, but can't say the same for those other three poor souls.

To understand how they ended up in this "mildly fatal, extremely illegal, sanity-fragging situation," we need to rewind a bit.

Just a bit.

A few hours earlier.

Back to right when the Hollowveil Excursion was about to start.

Back to when everything was… well… "fine."

Relatively speaking.

Yeah.

Let's go back.

---

I was walking toward the entrance of the Hollowveil Forest with my very questionably functional four-person group: Nora, Annalise, Kent… and me. Yes, me, the only sane person in this lineup depending on who you asked. (No one should ask.)

Nora and Kent were already arguing about something stupid. Something so stupid I genuinely felt my lifespan shorten every time they opened their mouths.

"I'm telling you, a squirrel can absolutely kill a mage if it has enough velocity!" Nora snapped.

Kent looked personally offended. "That's not physics! That's not even close to physics!"

They kept going.

And going.

And going.

Meanwhile, Annalise walked silently beside me, hands behind her back, looking absolutely calm, composed, and 0.2 seconds away from murdering both of them if the bickering continued.

And me?

I kept nodding along like I was participating in this conversation.

I wasn't.

I was thinking about something entirely different. Something both comforting and horrifying at the same time:

My nightmares had come back.

Yup.

Those nightmares.

The ones where I lived other people's lives in excruciating detail. Trauma simulator at 4K Ultra HD with surround sound.

The emotions weren't as painfully real anymore, not like before Bastard started eating those nightmares for me. But still… they sucked.

That was the "bad" thing.

The "good" thing?

Bastard was back.

The same annoying, smug, narcissistic voice that I had really hoped was part of a mental disorder but nope, it was very real and apparently back from its little vacation.

Right on cue, the bastard chimed in inside my head:

{Miss me?}

No.

{Lying is a sin.}

So is existing, I shot back mentally.

{You say the sweetest things.}

Despite the urge to strangle the empty air around me, I couldn't help the feeling in my chest.

Relief.

Actual, genuine relief.

Because with Bastard back came a clear goal, finally.

A direction.

A solution.

See, I had tried to heal Belle's curse.

Tried until half my mana was gone and my nose nearly started bleeding out of protest.

Nothing happened.

Not even a twitch in the curse.

Not even a single "oh no please stop" sparkle.

I had cursed myself for being weak.

Cursed the world for giving Belle such a monstrous burden.

Cursed fate, because clearly that bitch was personally out to get us, acting like an abandoned ex.

But then Bastard came back.

And he told me something.

Something so stupidly hopeful I had nearly cried.

All I had to do was reach enlightenment.

Open my dualflow energy.

And then?

{I'll handle the rest,} Bastard had said, voice dripping with smug certainty.

It might've been the best news I had heard in an entire month.

Hope.

Actual hope.

Not the delusional kind where you convince yourself things are fine while the universe beats you with a stick.

No real hope.

So there I was, walking toward a forest full of monsters specifically designed to kill the top ten students…

Listening to Nora and Kent argue about whether squirrels counted as artillery…

While Annalise radiated silent, impending violence…

And all I could think was:

If enlightenment is what I need… I'll get it. No matter what.

Bastard hummed in my head contentedly.

{Good boy.}

Shut up, I replied.

{Why so angry? Is it that time of the month?}

Yeah.

This was going to be a long day.

We finally reached the entrance point of Hollowveil Forest, and honestly, the place looked exactly like the kind of mystical deathtrap every academy loved throwing students into for "growth."

A shimmering barrier of rainbow hues wrapped around the treeline like someone had slapped a giant magical soap bubble over an entire forest.

It rippled gently, humming with that fantastical-but-also-you're-going-to-die-in-here energy that made my stomach twist in the best and worst ways.

A raised platform sat a few dozen meters in front of the barrier all white, carved from some marble-like stone that gleamed faintly even in the shade.

Its edges were engraved with swirling patterns, probably inscriptions or some "ancient formation of safety" that didn't actually do anything. A long strip of polished wood ran across the front of it, like a weirdly fancy stage border.

And on top of that platform stood a whole parade of instructors from different classes, all murmuring amongst themselves with the expression of people discussing the many creative ways students were about to get traumatized.

In front of the platform, hundreds of first-year students were packed together some excited, some shaking, and some whispering frantic prayers to gods who definitely weren't listening.

I scanned the crowd for Lilith's group but couldn't spot them. Knowing her, they were already here, probably standing somewhere strategic and looking superior.

I started walking toward the stage, and the ocean of teenagers parted around me like Moses parting the sea.

I wasn't doing anything special, just existing, but apparently, when you look like you don't care about danger, people assume you know something they don't.

Nora and Kent were still arguing beside me, which wasn't surprising at this point. What was surprising was the topic: the chicken or the egg.

"The egg obviously came first," Nora insisted, looking one step away from throttling him.

"No, the chicken had to come first," Kent shot back, waving his hands like he was making a philosophical breakthrough.

{Oh good, they're discussing high-level cosmic truths now. Your team is definitely qualified to enter a monster-infested forest.}

You have no idea, I told Bastard mentally.

Annalise walked beside me in stiff silence, the dangerous kind, looking like she deeply regretted every life decision that had led her to join this group.

Her eye twitched.

Her jaw tightened.

Honestly, I was starting to worry for Kent. And possibly Nora. And possibly the universe.

She finally snapped.

"GOD came first!" she shouted, loud enough that a few nearby students flinched. "He made BOTH the chicken AND the egg at the same time! And if you two don't shut up, I swear I'm having fried food for dinner!"

Both Nora and Kent shut up instantly.

For about five seconds.

Kent raised his hand like a schoolboy asking a question in kindergarten.

"So, uh… if both came first… did the mommy chicken breed with the egg?"

Annalise stared at him.

No emotion.

Just pure dead silence.

Then she punched him in the stomach.

Hard.

Kent folded like laundry, he ren do—bent over, collapsed to his knees, then flopped fully onto the ground in a groaning heap.

{He deserved that.}

Yeah, I agreed.

Nora looked down at his unconscious form and sighed. "He kind of did deserve that."

Annalise dusted her hands off, serene once more, as if she hadn't just knocked out a teammate before the excursion even started.

And just like that, our group was "ready" to enter the Hollowveil Forest.

At least, as ready as we'd ever be.

A/N: What is up, boys and girls? Being the magnificent person I am, I'm gonna do the same thing I did yesterday. There is a quote from an anime here. Find the quote and where it's from in under 24 hours, and I'll write a bonus chapter. Easy right.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.