The forest was quieter than usual.
Not peaceful quiet—more like the drained, breathless silence of something slowly dying.
And in a way, it was. The ecosystem had been drained by human hands and desperate stomachs. The smaller creatures—the squirrels, rabbits, glow-fleas, even mutant lizards—were gone.
What remained?
Dirt. Leaves. The smell of moss and decay. And creatures too dangerous for most to hunt.
Zane crouched beside a root-arch, staring at a set of deep footprints pressed into the forest floor. The edges were still moist. Something big. Heavy.
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes.
Then he opened them, muttering.
"Alright, let's go find something worth dying over."
Scattered across the forest, nearly all students looked half-dead.
The ones who weren't lucky enough to find supplies early on now clung to bitter berries, moss-boiled water, and the occasional leaf they thought might not be poisonous.
Some tried to form teams again, but even those alliances crumbled from paranoia and fatigue.
Some were eating bark. Others had collapsed from lack of nutrients. One even began chewing on his own robes.
Only the Alchemists, those with herbology knowledge, were barely surviving—creating edible broths from weird fungi and bitter roots. The rest were breaking.
They didn't care who was being attacked anymore.
They didn't care who was ambushing others.
They just wanted the trial to end.
Zane followed the trail of heavy footprints until he reached a clearing where the earth had been churned up, like something massive had been rolling.
Then he saw it.
A Mudwalker—low-rank elemental beast. Seven feet tall, arms thick as logs, skin like packed clay. Its chest pulsed with a faint, molten glow, indicating unstable elemental mana.
Zane didn't rush it.
He didn't even move.
Instead, he waited.
He circled the beast once at a distance, noting its patterns. The way it turned. How far it could reach. How long its attacks took to swing. Its slow turning speed. The brief pause before it raised both arms.
He smirked.
"I can work with that."
Zane moved.
Not fast. Not loud. Just decisive.
He threw a rock into the bushes to his left. The Mudwalker turned. Perfect.
Zane ran right up behind it and shoved a sharpened wooden spike into the back of its knee joint.
It didn't pierce—but it caused the beast to stumble.
As it turned with a slow, growling rumble, Zane rolled under its arm and slammed a heavy stone into its shin.
> 🔹 [S.A.S.S.]: Blunt object damage: 0.2%. Effective as a motivational speech from a brick.
"Not aiming to kill," Zane whispered. "Just annoying the hell out of it."
He danced around the Mudwalker, always staying out of arm's reach, making it turn.
Over and over.
Until finally—
It stepped onto a patch of earth that Zane had soaked earlier with mana-charged wild sap he'd stolen from an alchemist's ruined camp.
> CRACK.
The beast's foot sank. Sticky. Sluggish. It hesitated.
Zane used the moment.
He leapt onto its back, slammed both fists into the molten spot on its spine, and shoved one of his rusted beast-bone daggers into the glowing core behind its neck.
CRACK!
The elemental howled—a low, grating moan like a cave collapsing.
And then it fell.
> ●●● [System Notification]
Enemy Defeated: Mudwalker (Low-Tier Earth Elemental)
EXP gained: +43
Total: 86 / 100 → LEVEL UP: 7
New Passive Skill Unlocked: [Graviton Body]
Your body has absorbed dense mana from Earth-elemental tissue.
Effects:
• Body Weight +15% (applies only when moving or attacking)
• Fall resistance increased
• Can create localized gravity "anchor" during physical strikes (very minor effect)
• Requires no activation; auto-applies when moving with intent to strike or tackle
Warning: Graviton effects do NOT work on spells or long-range objects. Purely physical.
Later that evening, Zane sat by a fire made of fungus and tree resin, roasting chunks of clay-infused elemental meat on a spike.
He didn't smile.
But he felt something shift in his body.
When he stood, he felt heavier—but not tired. Rooted. Balanced.
He ran forward and slammed his shoulder into a tree—cracked the bark without hurting himself.
Useful.
Very useful.
> 🔹 [S.A.S.S.]: Congratulations. You've become a slightly overweight martial artist. Bruce Lee with bricks for abs.
Zane didn't reply.
He was thinking.
With this kind of passive power... he could knock down enemies by just tackling them. Crush ribs. Shove someone into a wall and hold them there with weight alone.
He wasn't a mage.
He didn't need spells.
He just needed more beasts.
And maybe more solo students carrying high-grade supplies.
---
Meanwhile: Elsewhere in the Forest
A distant scream echoed through the trees.
Another student ambushed. Not killed—just beaten, bruised, and robbed.
Those who heard it didn't even look up.
No one cared anymore.
They just kept chewing on bark. Swallowing dry leaves. Clutching what few points they'd earned like precious gold.
The trial was almost over.
All they had to do was not die.
And somewhere in the forest, a hidden predator was leveling up quietly.
One ambush at a time.