The air was sharp in Rin's lungs, clean, untouched, a luxury she had never known. Around her, the world twisted into chaos, the Nightmare Trial unfolding like a waking dream, but all she could focus on was the way each breath filled her with something almost alive. It was nothing like the stifling grime of the slums or the sterile, recycled gusts of the city above.
A bitter laugh curled inside her. Lucky bastards , she thought. The ones who didn't need to pay for air like this, who could just stumble into it by accident, if they were reckless enough to let the spell toss them into some frozen hell crawling with monsters.
Then again, maybe it wasn't worth it.
She shook her head, forcing the thought away before it could take root. Dark musings had a way of festering, and she'd learned the hard way how quickly they could swallow her whole. But the memories she tried to summon slipped like smoke through her fingers, leaving only the cold, gnawing dread in their wake. For a fleeting, terrifying moment, the fire ahead looked like salvation, warmth, an end, something simple.
Seventeen. Wasn't it strange? Here she was, trapped in a nightmare where death lurked in every shadow, and yet her pulse stayed steady, her hands didn't shake. If anyone asked how she did it, there was only one answer worth giving:
'It is what it is.'
The infection took hold with a cold, creeping certainty, and for the first few moments, panic clawed at Rin's throat. Anger followed—hot and bitter—at the universe's relentless cruelty. But then, like the slow settling of dust after a collapse, acceptance came. Survival in the slums had never been kind; it demanded resilience, and she had learned that lesson well.
She still sought refuge in the skeletal remains of her childhood home, its crumbling walls and gaping roof framing the night sky like a broken cathedral. Her parents' grave stood silent amidst the rubble, and there, under the watchful eye of the moon, memories flickered to life—soft, golden things that wrapped around her like a well-worn blanket. She smiled. Even now, they could still warm her.
A quiet strength stirred in her chest. She had scraped together more than just survival, she had tools now, a path forward that wasn't entirely shrouded in shadow. It hadn't all been misery.
And when the weight of it all threatened to press too hard, she let her mind drift to Greg's comically horrified face or the flustered policeman drowning in the chaos she'd leave behind if she died here.
'Served him right, trying to pin guilt on my shoulders'
A flicker of unease pricked at her conscience.
'That's a little sadistic, isn't it?'
'Maybe I should find a healthier way to cope.'
She shrugged.
'Nah. I'm fine.'
Rin pressed her lips together, cutting off her own rambling thoughts.
'Enough. Get it together before you trip over your own feet and crack your skull open on a rock.'
The irony wouldn't even surprise her at this point, just another laughable misfortune in her never-ending streak of them. Never mind that she supposedly belonged to some elite ninja clan; where were those legendary reflexes when she needed them? Assuming luck bothered to show up at all.
And the spell—right, the spell. She needed to review her Spell Runes now, before she got distracted again. Attributes, too. Most people treated them as an afterthought, but even a minor edge could mean the difference between breathing and bleeding out.
Sure, attributes were just skills reflecting innate traits, passive boosts at best, but if being decent at cooking meant a thirty percent lower chance of burning down the kitchen, then hell, she'd take whatever advantage she could get.
'Wow, Rin. What a brilliant analogy.'
She froze. '...Did Greg's idiocy somehow infect me?'
Shaking her head, she shoved the thought aside and pulled up her stats. Time to see just how screwed she really was.
—---
Rin's eyes skimmed over the glowing descriptions, her lips parting slightly in surprise. 'Not bad at all.'
[Essence Pathway]
Energy Harvesting: Converts cellular vitality into usable Essence.
Distribution Network: Channels Essence to limbs, organs, or tools on demand.
Refinement Process: Vital organs act as filters, increasing Essence potency
'Useful. Very useful.'
Then there was [Genin].
Essence Control: Innate understanding of energy flow, allowing precise augmentation of strikes, speed, or defense.
Combat Reflexes: Muscle memory for basic weaponry and hand-to-hand combat is hardwired into your movements.
Adaptive Efficiency: Under stress, your Essence pathways temporarily overclock, sharpening reflexes at the cost of accelerated fatigue.
But [A Shadow's Friend] gave her pause.
You receive fragmented sensory input from the Controller's shadows and themselves(sight, sound, or intent).
The Controller can, at will, experience the world through your senses.
Condition: Betrayal (by either party) triggers a Soul Fracture—a permanent degradation of the bond's benefits, alongside escalating physical and mental deterioration till death.
The warning at the end was clear: betrayal meant consequences. Great. Forced teamwork with a mystery person. She exhaled sharply. Well, as long as we don't piss each other off, I guess.
She tapped her chin. [Genin] and [Essence Pathway] work together, synergize, or whatever. The term felt awkward in her thoughts, something overheard from business men haggling over deals. But it fits. One fueled the other, a cycle of strength.
Now she just had to figure out how far she could push them.
And, more importantly, how to avoid pissing off her new shadowy pen pal.
As Rin was finally in a good mood, Lisa shattered it:
"The horses are tired, we will rest here."
As they disembarked from the vehicle, she couldn't ignore the quiet warmth that seemed to envelop the woman before her, a tenderness reserved solely for the horses, as if the rest of them were little more than an afterthought. With a faint, weary sigh, she watched as the woman poured water from their dwindling supply into the animals' troughs, her hands gentle, her attention unwavering.
Rin's lips twisted into a scowl as she took in the scene, the careful strokes along the horses' manes, the murmured words meant only for them. A bitter thought flickered through her mind:
'Maybe I should die and be reincarnated as a horse.'
Then, just as quickly, she recoiled from the notion.
'…Never mind. Scrap that.'
The others busied themselves with setting up camp, entirely unaware of her mischief as the forest closed in around them once more. Despite the familiar embrace of the wilderness, true solace remained elusive, especially when the creeping cold gnawed at them, leaving no room for rest. Their makeshift shelter, overstuffed with provisions the woman had deemed indispensable for the horses, offered little more than cramped discomfort, leaving them all on edge.
Then, without warning, the twins stiffened. Their eyes flicked toward the shadowed depths of the trees, unease tightening their expressions. Before either could utter a word, a thunderous
CRACK
Shattered the night, a massive tree splitting and crashing onto the campfire, sending a storm of embers and sparks exploding into the dark.
And then, from above, something enormous plummeted from the sky, striking the earth with a force that shuddered through the ground beneath them.
'You jinxed us, you muscular bastard.'