Part 1 – The Return
The sun had barely risen when they dropped the girl off at a clinic on the edge of the city.
Thomas carried her on his back all the way to reception — limping, exhausted.
The nurses' eyes widened when they saw them both covered in dust, sweat, and dried blood.
But he didn't say much.
Only explained she had gotten lost in the woods and needed medical attention.
Hector stayed silent the entire time.
Soon after, they returned to camp.
They reached the clearing atop the mountain just as the sky turned orange, painting the clouds in fire.
Thomas didn't say a word on the way back.
Neither did Hector.
They had both survived —
But something in Thomas had changed.
For five days, Thomas was alone.
Hector left after the third sunrise without saying exactly where he was going.
He took the two sealed cores with him.
Left behind only one sentence:
— I need to find someone who knows how to deal with this. You train. I'll be back.
And Thomas trained.
But not like before.
It was like he'd been shattered on the inside —
And as he rebuilt himself, something else had taken root.
Rage became focus. Guilt became silence. Pain became a tool.
For the next five days, Thomas trained four times more than he ever had.
Slept little. Ate less.
Trained twice as hard.
He ran up the mountain with weights strapped to his body.
Did push-ups with stones on his back.
Struck the air with his daggers until his arms burned.
Kicked tree trunks until his shins turned purple.
And at dawn, he stood still —
Meditating, feeling his Ayvu pulse.
No drones.
No gadgets.
Just him —
And hunger.
He didn't sleep for five days.
Only trained.
And meditated.
Hector returned on the sixth day.
He stepped out from the woods slowly — wearing the same clothes, but with a different expression.
Then he stopped.
Stood there for several seconds —
Just watching.
Thomas was in the clearing, alone.
Sweat evaporated from his body like smoke rising from a car hood on a cold night.
His bare chest glistened, muscles vibrating like living cords.
His eyes were shut — clenched, yet calm —
Like two blades meeting at rest.
The aura of Ayvu around him was thick. Wild.
Vibrating like heat over asphalt.
But what surprised Hector most —
Thomas hadn't heard him.
He had felt him.
Thomas turned his face…
And looked him straight in the eyes.
— You sensed my Ayvu? — Hector asked, raising an eyebrow with a teasing smile.
Thomas nodded, a slight smile on his face.
— I started sensing presences two days ago. But only now I could tell where it came from. — He furrowed his brow. — I think I knew it was you… like the scent was different. A different color.
Hector stepped closer.
His eyes studied Thomas carefully.
— You've changed. — he said.
Thomas didn't reply.
But his gaze…
It was heavier.
Sharper.
Like he no longer carried anything on his back.
— I wanted to be sure it was still you. — Hector added. — Only confirmed it by that dumbass face.
Thomas relaxed his shoulders and smiled —
That same faint, boyish smile he had before everything changed.
Hector let out a short, relieved laugh.
— Still the kid.
— Just with more scars. — Thomas replied.
Then he paused — And looked at Hector.
— The amulets?
— Got them from a Spiritual Engineer from the Order. The cores were intact, made forging easier. Already dropped them in your mailbox. Left a letter for Olivia explaining how to use them.
They're safe now.
Thomas closed his eyes for a second.
His jaw unclenched.
A subtle tear formed.
It was like something massive had dissolved inside him.
His Ayvu, once wild, took on a controlled form.
And Hector could feel the shift —
Like a red filter lifting from a lens.
— Thank you, Hector.
— No need to thank me. I owed you. Now we're even.
Thomas shook his head with a light smile — Recognizing the kindness in Hector's voice.
Then Hector said:
— Word got out about the girl. They say two outsiders saved her from a pack. Some folks in the village… Already calling us heroes.
Thomas chuckled softly.
— Heroes? I nearly died trying.
— That's exactly what heroes do. — Hector replied, walking to the water barrel. — Don't worry. They'll forget soon.
Thomas looked up at the sky.
— Good.
Part 2 – Stoneheart
On the twenty-sixth day, Thomas could feel it —
His paid leave days were almost over.
It was torture to imagine going back to work after learning to use Ayvu.
Hard to deny the feeling —
That raw energy flowing through his body was… addictive.
Even if born from necessity,
He was hooked on the sensation of getting stronger.
It had become a habit.
Hector wiped his face with a damp towel and sat on his usual rock.
His eyes never left Thomas —
The way he moved, the way he breathed…
The way he handled his Ayvu.
— What happened during the five days I was gone?
Thomas didn't answer right away.
He approached slowly, stabbed the daggers into the ground beside the fire, and sat across from the man.
— I noticed something... strange. — he said.
— What?
— I'll try not to sound insane, but… you'll need to think abstract. — Thomas scratched his head with a half-smile, like he was about to share a secret.
— Just say it. — Hector grunted.
— I saw myself in an abyss. And I threw myself in.
The deeper I went, the more focused I became. — He hesitated for a second —
I called it absolute focus.
— And you managed to get back from that "abyss"? — Hector asked, doing air quotes, a skeptical smirk on his face.
— No. I got used to it.
Silence fell between them.
The wind carried the scent of the distant sea.
— You know you can't keep this pace up, right? — said Hector. — Sooner or later your body's gonna break.
— I'm not just training the body.
— I noticed. Your Ayvu's heavier. Vibrates different — more alive.
Thomas looked at his hands.
The palms were cracked, blistered, layered with fresh calluses.
— I stopped checking the system. Turned off notifications. I wanted full focus.
Only checked again this morning.
— And?
Thomas pulled out his phone and showed him the screen.
[ - Current level: 54
- Corporal Tier: Tactical Type II
- IPO control rising ^3%
- Ayvu stabilized
- Hekato Sync: 44% ]
Hector gave a short whistle.
— You climbed almost 30 levels in five days? That's a lot, isn't it?
— I didn't sleep much.
— You're gonna break the damn machine, Thomas. — Hector joked, the skepticism in his voice… tinged with respect. Maybe that system wasn't so crazy after all.
Thomas just smiled.
But not a careless smile.
It was the smile of someone who knew the cost —
And was willing to pay it.
— I want more.
— Why?
Thomas turned his gaze toward the horizon.
— Because it's part of it. — The voice was steady, but his eyes betrayed it.
— There's no turning back anymore. Even with those amulets… they're still in danger. And I need guarantees you can't give me.
He looked up, like admitting out loud something he'd already known deep inside.
— I need money. Real money. To build a fortress for them. And apparently… hunting Yandus pays better than programming.
Hector nodded slowly, clearly surprised by Thomas's clarity in that moment.
— Then you'll need a new kind of training.
— What's next?
— Real hunt.
— Wasn't that what we already did?
— That was a massacre. Now that you're ready… it's time to step into the real world.
Thomas clenched his fists.
— When do we start?
— Tomorrow.
Thomas nodded.
The sky was darkening again. The night breeze cooled his muscles, but the fire in his mind didn't fade.
He stood, grabbed the daggers, and spun one in the air.
They didn't feel heavy anymore.
It was like… They had accepted their new master.
Hector said nothing. Just watched in silence.
Part 3 – The Tracker's Path
The trail was narrow. Red earth beneath their feet, twisted roots jutting from the ground like bones tearing through the forest's skin. Sunlight filtered through the high canopy, casting shifting shapes across the floor.
Thomas walked beside Hector — His breath already adjusted to the rhythm of the forest, his senses awake.
— You sure this is the place? — he asked, ducking under a dry branch clawing the sky like a giant's fingernail.
— Yeah. — Hector answered, adjusting the light pack on his shoulder. — The whole place is too quiet for a village with kids. And the smell doesn't lie.
— Makes sense... my daughter would've snapped three branches by now and sung Baby Shark like ten times.
Hector laughed — a genuine laugh, free of sarcasm.
— Gabriele takes after you, doesn't she?
— God, I hope not the hair. — Thomas clicked his tongue. — That's gonna be a nightmare to comb.
They walked in silence for a few more steps.
The air was thick with the scent of wet leaves and rich earth — but also something deeper… something bitter.
— Alright, explain it to me again. — Thomas broke the silence. — This mission's yours, right?
Thought you were some kind of freelancer for the Order.
— Kind of. I'm a tracker. I get targets. Observe. Send reports.
If it's serious, they decide whether to kill, infiltrate, or drop it.
But when it involves kids… protocol usually shifts.
— Why didn't they send more people?
— Because there's no proof yet. All they know is three kids disappeared in the last two months. No bodies. No clues. Just stories… that the forest swallowed them.
Thomas looked around. The forest was dense.
Almost suffocating.
But alive.
— Swallowed isn't a word people use lightly…
— Exactly. That's why the Order greenlit a recon sweep.
— And you brought me on a little hike?
— Let's say I want to see you in the field.
Alone.
Thomas raised an eyebrow.
— A test?
— An assessment. I wanna see if you can think, act, and kill without me whispering in your ear.
Thomas smirked sideways.
— Then watch me. And try to keep up.
Hector just nodded.
They continued for another twenty minutes.
The trail opened into a small clearing.
The ground was marked — Dragged footprints, broken branches forming strange circular patterns… As if something had circled a trapped prey.
Hector crouched and touched the earth.
— Here. Fermented Ayvu scent. Too much life in one spot.
— How many? — Thomas asked, though he already knew.
Hector closed his eyes for a second.
— Five. Maybe six. Three nearby. Two to the left, behind that rock. One above, on that snapped trunk. And one… that isn't moving.
Thomas stretched his neck.
— Permission to engage?
— Permission granted. — Hector answered without hesitation. —
But remember: I want precision, not a show.
Thomas didn't reply. His eyes had already changed,as if the life in them had vanished — the black of his irises turned ashen, gaining a new layer of depth, like a well with no bottom. His pupils dilated unnaturally, swallowing the light.
Even the muscles in his face had relaxed completely, as if numb — no tension, no emotion, like someone who'd injected cold steel into his veins.
A state beyond calm — Absolute Focus.
Ayvu rose from his body like hot vapor — Dense. Warm. Almost invisible.
His chest expanded.
Heart rate dropped.
The daggers came to him with a whisper of air.
Clink.
They locked into his hands like they were alive.
And then — Thomas vanished.
The first sound was dry.
A slash.
No scream.
The second was softer —
Something being smothered.
The third managed to react —
But mid-leap, the Yandu felt an invisible force snap its spine in the air.
Thomas had kicked it into a stone with a blow so casual, so violent, it echoed like bones cracking inside a casket.
Hector didn't move a muscle.
He only watched.
Thomas appeared and disappeared like a specter.
The daggers didn't dance — they cut.
Fast. Cold. Clean.
There was no pleasure. No hesitation. Only purpose.
The fourth Yandu — He went for the throat. A diagonal slash.
The creature staggered but stayed standing.
Thomas locked it in a choke with his elbow — And drove the blade into the base of its skull.
No sound.
When the last Yandu tried to flee,
Thomas used the vector of his own Ayvu to hurl himself forward like a bullet.
The leaves burst. The ground shattered. The creature became dust.
Thirty seconds. Five deaths.
Hector crossed his arms.
— Brutal. And efficient.
Thomas wiped the purple blood off his blade using the hem of his shirt.
— You don't give second chances to monsters that eat kids.
— That wasn't a fight. That was an execution.
— I'm learning from the best. — he replied, eyes glinting sideways.
Hector let out a short laugh — But the smile faded the moment they felt it.
It came like a wave.
A pressure. A presence.
Both of them stopped.
In the distance, between the trees, there was a rock formation nearly hidden by vegetation.
The smell of Ayvu there was thick. Rotten. Too alive.
— There's more here. — Thomas said, lowering his voice.
— It's not more. — Hector corrected. — It's a monster.
They looked at each other — And walked toward the cave's entrance.
The darkness inside pulsed — Literally — As if it were breathing.