Seth and Nightmare slowly moved through the dense underbrush of the Wicked Forest, searching for easy prey. The sun had just risen above the treetops, illuminating the leaves with its soft light. Every now and then, a beam of light pierced through the thick foliage, casting bright spots onto the dark forest floor beneath.

Despite the possibility of being attacked, Seth couldn't feel even an ounce of fear in Nightmare—the pup belonged here. Being surrounded by arcane beasts and aether was nothing special for him.

As they continued inching through the silent woods, there was absolutely no sound apart from their own footsteps. Without warning, Nightmare froze, his ears twitching.

'Bird!' the pup said, pointing his muzzle toward a hidden oriole perched among the branches.

Its vibrant orange-and-black feathers stood out against the surrounding green leaves. Both its beak and claws appeared thicker and sharper than those of all the other orioles Seth had seen before. Although it wasn't listed in his father's encyclopedia, he had no doubt it was an arcane beast.

'I'll get it,' Seth said through their bond as he silently drew out his bow before nocking an arrow. Infusing aether into his arm, he pulled the bowstring and prepared to shoot, but paused when memories of the Tempest Hare surged in his mind and cast Identify.

Black-Winged Oriole

 

Potential: Copper Tier

Rank: 2 (Low-Copper)

Affinity: -

 

Strength: 2

Arcane Power: 4

Toughness: 2

Well Capacity: 1

Agility: 7

Regeneration: 2

As the bird turned toward them, sensing the spell, Seth had already released his arrow; the projectile pierced the beast straight through its chest, killing it on the spot. The lifeless body dropped from the tree, and Nightmare quickly darted forward, snatched it up with his maw and brought it back to Seth.

Without wasting a second, Seth cut a line down the oriole's corpse and harvested the green beaststone inside. 'Let's keep going—'

Before he could finish his sentence, Nightmare nervously snapped his head to the right and screamed in Seth's mind. 'Hide! Up tree!'

Without thinking twice, Seth scrambled up the nearest oak, climbing as fast as he could until he reached its highest branches. Nightmare's fear spread through Link, grasping Seth's heart with a firm grip while sharp, cold tingles rushed across his skin. Almost simultaneously, his core began to throb within his chest, releasing some of its mysterious energy. At the ground, Nightmare slipped under the oak's large roots, ready to use Illusionary Emptiness if needed.

From his vantage point, Seth could see what was causing all that fear: in the distance, a massive boar the size of a wagon was lumbering through the forest, pushing aside bushes and trees. The two enormous, curved tusks that jutted out from both sides of its head shone like they were made of metal, each larger than Seth's legs. Even when sharp branches struck its ebony hide, none of them left a scratch on its surface. The whole forest seemed to rustle from the sheer presence of that behemoth. A Dark Colossus Boar—a beast with an Iron potential.

Seth instantly discarded any thought of Identifying it. That thing could certainly uproot the tree he was on without any effort. He and Nightmare remained perfectly still for several long minutes, not moving an inch even after the boar had disappeared from sight.

'Boar gone,' the pup said, cautiously stepping out of his hidden spot.

'How did you know it was—' Seth started, then paused as he remembered the direwolf's second spell. 'Danger Sense… When did you cast it?'

Nightmare tilted his head. 'No cast. Just there.'

Seth dropped out of the tree, scanned the pup's Well and found it completely full, not missing even a drop of aether. A spell always active in the back of one's mind that triggered automatically in the presence of danger—it sounded almost too good to be true.

Given that Nightmare, who had lived alone in his mother's den, possessed a spell to sense danger and another to turn nearly invisible, it seemed logical to assume that arcane beasts could learn spells through their actions, much like humans.

But does their Path play a role too? Seth wondered. If I were to train Nightmare to hunt differently than other Tenebrous Direwolves, could he develop spells he isn't supposed to have? Would his actions and behavior override the nature of his species?

Shaking his head, Seth set those questions aside and crouched in the underbrush. 'Let's continue, buddy.'

'Yes!' the pup exclaimed, following him.

Over the next two hours, they managed to find two more weak catches: a red-furred squirrel and a brown rabbit, both Rank 1. Those beaststones joined the wildcat's and the oriole's in Seth's potion pouch. Even if they didn't seem particularly rare and probably wouldn't sell for a lot, Seth was confident he could still get at least two or three common coins for each. This meant if they kept the same pace, he would earn half a copper coin in a single day—a sum practically equivalent to a year's income before his awakening.

And it was all thanks to Nightmare's Danger Sense.

Without the pup's spell, they would've run into three powerful arcane beasts by now—the Dark Colossus Boar, an enormous brown-and-black python which wasn't in Seth's encyclopedia, and a deer covered by some sort of wind cloak. Any of them would have slaughtered the duo without even blinking.

From those three encounters, and all the others, it was now clear to Seth that Nightmare's spell efficacy depended on the level of danger—the greater the threat, the wider the range of detection.

'Let's take a break,' Seth said, leaning against a tree after a few hours of hunting. But just as he was about to sit down, a deep, menacing growl made his heart skip a beat.

Nightmare's ears perked up, and his body tensed. 'Danger!'

Seth scanned the area, searching for the source of the sound while pulling out his bow. Almost immediately, his gaze landed on a badger that was emerging from a hole beneath a sequoia several dozen feet away. It stood just a few inches taller than Nightmare and had dark amber fur with red eyes that slightly shimmered.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The beast growled again, its claws digging into the ground while its muscles bulged and rippled. Seth slowly filled Identify's grooves while reaching for an arrow. We cannot hide this time.

Two-Tailed Badger

 

Potential: Copper Tier

Rank: 8 (Mid-Copper)

Affinity: Earth

 

Strength: 9

Arcane Power: 12

Toughness: 13

Well Capacity: 10

Agility: 13

Regeneration: 12

'We'll fight that one,' Seth said to Nightmare. 'Try to first sneak around. If you attack, use aether to strengthen your bite. Otherwise, it won't do much with his Toughness.'

The direwolf pup nodded, eyes locked on the beast as Seth moved to the side, nocked his arrow, and drew his bowstring.

Sensing the threat, the badger immediately darted forward. Seth quickly aimed and fired before dashing away to keep his distance. The arrow flew with great speed, yet before it could hit, a wall of dirt erupted from the ground, blocking its path.

Mud Wall, Seth thought, recalling the spells listed beneath the beast's drawing in the encyclopedia. The two others he could remember were Ripping Claws and Aether Blast—two offensive spells he had seen countless times across the book.

Seth grabbed a second arrow and shot again, but the badger dodged with surprising agility this time. With the beast closing in fast, he tossed his bow aside and drew his knife, peering into his chest for any sign of his core's fierce energy. To his disappointment, the thing remained asleep.

I'm gonna do this without you, then.

Infusing aether in his arm, Seth lunged forward, knife flashing in the sunlight. The badger evaded the blade and pounced at his face, but Seth ducked under the attack just in time. In one fluid motion, he spun around, using the momentum to whip his knife. Yet it ended up only cutting through empty air, the beast having leapt out of the way.

Snarling, the Two-Tailed Badger charged again. Seth tried to step back to dodge, but the beast was too quick—its gleaming claws came straight toward his throat.

'Coming.'

Just as Seth braced for the impact, Nightmare phased out of Illusionary Emptiness and pounced at the badger, intercepting it mid-air and knocking it off course. The pup sank his teeth into the badger's leg, and black smoke poured from his maw, corroding everything it touched. The beast's brown fur fell in clumps, exposing the beige skin underneath that rapidly turned purple and black before sloughing and dripping onto the forest floor.

The beast howled in agony and kicked Nightmare away. After glancing at its festering wound, the badger glared at the pup and opened his mouth. Blue particles began gathering inside, forming a dense, blue orb the size of a fist.

Aether Blast.

Without thinking, Seth forced aether into his legs and charged forward, delivering a powerful kick into the beast's flank, which sent it flying a dozen feet and interrupting its spell.

The moment the badger crashed to the ground, Nightmare seized the opportunity and struck again, pouncing at its throat. Seth immediately joined him and charged, his knife in hand. As he emptied half his Well in a flash, he swung his arm down and buried the blade hilt-deep into the beast's neck. With a brief shudder, the creature collapsed lifeless to the forest's floor.

Sighing in relief, Seth wiped sweat off his brows. The scent of blood would undoubtedly attract other predators; they should get on the move as soon as possible. Crouching down, he cut open the beast's chest and dug his hand in, easily finding the cold stone next to the heart.

He pulled it out and turned to Nightmare. 'I'll give it to you when—'

'My beaststone,' the pup interrupted, his gaze fixed on the green crystal.

Seth rolled his eyes, tucking the stone away into his pouch. 'Yeah, yeah. I'll give it to you when your channels are ready.'

The direwolf began jumping around him before pointing with his muzzle at the badger's leg. Nearly half of the limb was now black like charcoal, slowly melting as if it was being eaten away by some kind of acid. 'See what I did?'

'Yeah,' Seth laughed, Identifying the pup to confirm his suspicion that Nightmare had learned a new spell.

Nightmare (Tenebrous Direwolf Pup)

 

Potential: Silver Tier

Rank: 4 (Low-Copper)

Affinity: Darkness

 

Bonded to [Seth]

 

Strength: 7

Arcane Power: 7

Toughness: 5

Well Capacity: 3

Agility: 7

Regeneration: 2

Spells:

- Illusionary Emptiness [Silver〜Epic (Crude)]

- Danger Sense [Silver〜Rare (Decent)]

- Shadow Bite [Iron〜Rare (Crude)]

Seth recalled reading about that spell in the encyclopedia. Shadow Bite—a spell that allowed its owner to infuse aether with a darkness affinity into its bite to corrode its target's defense.

Two Rare spells and one Epic, he thought.

For a brief moment, a pang of jealousy stirred within his chest—the direwolf had effortlessly learned an Iron spell without practicing it even once. But then the feeling vanished and a smile spread across Seth's face. Nightmare's strength was also his strength, and the pup's offensive power had just taken an enormous leap forward.

Nightmare's ears perked up as he sensed Seth's emotion through Link. 'I use aether. Bite stronger now!'

Seth chuckled and patted the pup's head. 'You did great, buddy! Let's find other prey for you to practice on.'

The rest of the day went smoothly, with Seth and Nightmare securing four more beaststones. One had come from a multicolored blue jay adorned with striking feathers, and the other three from Horned Salamanders, green lizard-like creatures with long, protruding horns. And they managed to do so without even using Marcus' potion once.

As evening bled across the sky, staining the clouds in shades of amber and bruised violet, they returned to the campsite just outside the Wicked Forest and Seth sparked a fire to life before settling down beside the crackling flames. For a moment, he simply watched Nightmare gnaw on a piece of roasted meat, the direwolf softly growling at his side.

Three days.

That's how long he'd be gone for the Trogan Academy selections—not too long, all things considered. At first, he'd thought about bringing the pup along, maybe hiding him in a patch of forest near Arthuri for the afternoon. But with the higher population density around the city, the odds of someone spotting him were far too high—and who knew how people would react if they did?

He's practically as strong as a grown man with his current attributes. He can handle himself for a weekend... It's safer this way.

As he sat there, staring at the direwolf pup, Seth couldn't shake the weight of everything Sericar had said. He needed the academy—not just for the resources or the training grounds, but for the knowledge. He had no idea how his core had managed to craft Quick Step in the first place, how to improve the quality of its grooves, or why some spells like Danger Sense didn't need aether to be activated. Aether manipulation, sensing, Path alignment, combat techniques—he was fumbling in the dark, relying on instinct.

And instinct alone wouldn't be enough forever.

'I'll need to leave for three days,' Seth told Nightmare with a sigh, trying his best to convey the importance of getting into the academy and how it would help them become stronger. 'But I can't bring you. I want you to stay here and hunt outside the Wicked Forest so you can stay safe until I come back.'

'I can hide,' the pup stated, his ears sagging on the side.

Seth tousled the small direwolf's fur. 'It's too dangerous, buddy. When you're stronger, I'll take you everywhere with me, I promise!'

Nightmare reluctantly agreed, so Seth headed into his shelter to clean his gear for the next day while glancing down at his hand.

Seth

 

Class: Primalist

Rank: 6 (Low-Copper)

Subclass: -

 

Core: Feral Instinct

 

Strength: 13 (+1)

Arcane Power: 6 (+1)

Toughness: 8 (+1)

Well Capacity: 7 (+0)

Agility: 12 (+1)

Regeneration: 10 (+0)

Spells:

- Link [???〜??? (???)]

- Identify [Copper〜Common (Refined)]

- Quick Step [Copper〜Common (Crude)]

Although Nightmare had gained four more attributes, Seth didn't receive any additional bonus due to the one-for-ten ratio. With a sigh, he went through all his stats.

Hopefully, it will be enough to pass the selections.

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.