After four days of travel, they’d made it to the edge of the Gloomvale Woods surprisingly unscathed—something that left Ace painfully suspicious.

  The System was up to something.

  He could feel it.

  Morning light knifed through the cave entrance at the line between the Gloomvale Woods and the Barren Highlands. The crimson sunbeam cast long shadows across the first ten feet or so of Ace’s makeshift camp.

  He sat with his back against the cold stone wall, one leg propped and with his elbow resting on his knee. The other leg stretched out across the rough cave floor, and a cold chill leached through his pant leg from the cool stone.

  The cold centered him in the moment.

  It allowed him to think.

  His gaze swept across the rolling landscape beyond the cave entrance, where the morning wind carried the metallic tang of approaching rain and the faint musk of something hairy in the distance. Even the air felt heavy, thick with the lingering scent of their campfire and the coppery undertone of dried blood caked onto their clothes. The cave's limestone walls amplified every sound—the rhythmic drip of water from stalactites deep in the darkness, Rachel's whispered calculations, the soft tap of Tara’s finger against her jaw as she lost herself in thought. Marcus sat nearby with the back of his head resting against the jagged rock wall, sleeping.

  How the man could sleep right now baffled Ace, but it was probably for the better. They needed to get whatever rest they could whenever possible.

  This cave offered one vital advantage: visibility. From this elevated position, stepping outside gave them a 360-degree view of the surrounding hills. No approach went uncovered, no threat unseen.

  Ace’s Blood-Bonded Thornplate armor rose and fell with each of his steady breaths. He and his squad were leveling, but not fast enough. They needed to reach Darkmoor's Crucible before Victor did, and they'd been playing it safe for too long.

  No more holding back.

  No more pulled punches.

  No more reacting to whatever stalked them through the trees.

  It was time to hunt.

  Through the night, the rest of his team had spread out across the cave. Tara was closest, kneeling in the cave's center with her surgical focus unbroken as crimson energy pulsed across her hands. Pulses of light shivered between her fingers again and again, before collapsing back into nothingness with each controlled exhale.

  They all needed to practice their powers, but more pressure weighed on Tara’s shoulders than anyone else. The paramedic-turned-Blood Saint had been at it for days, her hands never trembling despite the inevitable Soul Meter drain. Each manifestation of her Trauma Conversion grew sharper, more defined.

  She was learning.

  Rachel paced in tight circles near the back wall, a tablet-like construct of magical energy floating before her as she muttered under her breath. She stared down at the dirt, studying something she had been drawing for the last few hours, but Ace still couldn’t tell what it was.

  "...the forest has lower-Level creatures…” she mumbled to herself. “If we can just… maybe we can… hmm.”

  In the deepest shadows, Olivia moved through a series of fluid forms with her staff, each motion precise and deadly. The weapon gleamed with subtle energy as she spun it in controlled arcs, her face a mask of concentration.

  Four former humans, their humanity vanishing bit by bit behind red eyes and sharpened fangs. Four killers, each perfecting their craft in the confines of limestone and shadow—well, except for Marcus, whose snores were beginning to get on Ace’s nerves.

  The System's transformation operated on multiple levels—their physical enhancements and changes masking the deeper corruption of instinct and thought.

  And in this world, it was called evolution.

  Nearby. Tara as she pushed herself to her feet, and Ace’s gaze shifted briefly toward her as she joined him by the entrance. She slid down beside him, her back against the cold limestone, and she hugged her knees to her chest.

  Their healer nudged him with her elbow. "You keep watching that horizon like Victor's going to come crawling back with his tail between his legs."

  "Just cataloging exit routes," Ace muttered, though he didn’t meet her eye.

  "Bullshit." Her voice carried a hard edge. "It’s been four days, Ace, and he never rejoined the group. He’s a merc, right? He could track us if he wanted to. He's not coming back."

  "Tactically speaking, he’ll be back.” Ace's jaw tensed, and he let out a mirthless laugh. “We’re useful as meat shields, if nothing else.”

  "Tactically speaking, having someone who might stab you in your sleep isn’t ideal. I've seen how you track his movements when he's around. You know he’s a threat."

  "Force of habit."

  "Sure." Tara's eyes flashed crimson in the dim light. "Look, part of you is relieved he's gone. We all feel that way."

  Ace finally shifted his attention to her. "Maybe you’re right.”

  “I know I’m right.”

  He chuckled.

  “I’ve seen the System whispering to him,” Tara said, her voice dropping so that the others couldn’t hear. “To both of you.”

  Ace’s smile faded, and in answer, he simply nodded.

  “She’s getting in his head,” Tara added. “I don’t want her to get in yours.”

  Ah.

  He figured he knew what this was about.

  “I’m not leaving you behind,” he said flatly.

  They caught each other’s eye, and Ace watched her with the assured confidence of a man who had seen worse than whatever the System could throw at them.

  Tara’s shoulders relaxed, and she offered him a thin smile.

  "Oh, look at the brooding badasses,” a familiar voice chirped in his ear.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  In unison, he and Tara sighed in annoyance.

  Ace didn't flinch as the System materialized beside him, her child-like form perched delicately on a nearby boulder at the edge of the cave. Half-submerged in the shadows and half-illuminated by the crimson sunshine, the little girl swung her legs with feigned innocence. Those blonde curls bounced against her shoulders with each kick.

  "Get lost," Ace ordered.

  "That's no way to speak to a child." She raised her chin indignantly and huffed. "Especially when you're falling so disappointingly behind. Why, you only just made Level 10, Sergeant. My, my... even poor, broken Rachel has managed to do that before you."

  Ace shifted his gaze to the edge of the woodland, doing his best not to let her get under his skin.

  “Why are you all just sitting here?” the System prodded. “I have so many fun monsters for you to play with in the Highlands. Why, some are even vampires!”

  “Yay,” Tara muttered.

  "We're recovering,” Ace answered. “Strategic pause."

  "Is that so?" The System’s laughter cut through the air like a knife, drawing the others’ attention.

  She vanished and reappeared on Ace’s other side. With a furious little squirm, she settled into the space between him and Tara. Her elbows nudged them both until they scooted away from each other to give her space.

  “Much better,” she said with a smug smile. “Now, the Crucible awaits, my darlings, but you have a lot of leveling left to do. Tick tock, Sergeant."

  “But we have the map,” Tara pointed out.

  “Oh, that gets you in, sure,” the System replied with a shrug. “But you’ll need to level much higher to actually survive what’s waiting for you in there. Your call, of course.”

  With that, she dissolved into motes of crimson light, her laughter lingering like a bad memory.

  Though Ace clenched his hand into a tight fist, he ultimately relaxed his shoulders and let out a frustrated grunt.

  He hated to admit it, but the little terror was right.

  Ace stood abruptly, his boots grinding against the limestone floor as he got to his feet. “Everyone listen up.”

  In unison, his squad’s heads snapped toward him, and even Marcus woke up with a snort. One by one, the team converged on the center of the cave. Rachel closed her spectral analysis screens with a flick of her wrist, and Olivia emerged from the shadows with her staff resting against her shoulder. Tara stood at Ace's side, her eyes locked on his face, reading the shift in his demeanor.

  “This is important,” he said. “So, listen closely. From now on, we face this world as a squad. Unified, focused, and unafraid.”

  “I can’t promise the no-fear part,” Rachel admitted.

  “Fair,” he replied. “But try.”

  She anxiously wrapped her arms tightly around her body and looked down at the ground, but she didn’t say anything else.

  "We've been doing this all wrong," he continued, his voice low and measured. "From day one, we've been reacting. Running. Taking whatever the System throws at us and hoping to survive."

  Rachel shifted uncomfortably. "That approach has kept us alive."

  "Barely." Ace crossed his arms over his chest and scanned each of their faces as he spoke. "Marines don't survive by letting the enemy set the terms of battle. We act. We engage on our timeline, our conditions, our ground."

  "Slight problem," Marcus interjected. "We're not Marines. Hell, most of us have never even fired a gun, much less—"

  "We're something stronger, now," Ace cut him off, not wanting to let the man’s fears kill morale. "Predators by design. The System adapted us for this—to hunt or be hunted. We've just been fighting our nature."

  Tara frowned. "What exactly are you suggesting?"

  "We stop being prey," Ace replied, his voice hardening. "We coordinate. Establish clear combat protocols. Attack patterns. Fallback positions. Communication systems. We don't just fight whatever crosses our path. We select targets based on tactical advantage and EXP Solutes."

  "Calculated predation," Olivia murmured, her usual silence broken by what almost sounded like approval.

  Her cold tone sent an unsettling chill through the group, and though everyone paused, Ace once again took control of the conversation.

  “Look,” he continued. "We're not a loose collection of people who happen to be running in the same direction anymore. Starting today, we're a unit. We’re a squad.”

  Strange, really, to take on a new squad when he had led his human team through so much hell. They were brothers, practically, and these people were strangers.

  But, once upon a time, so were the men he’d left behind. They had learned to work together, and these people would, too.

  “We’re a squad?” Rachel asked dubiously. “What the hell does that even mean?”

  “It means we have our roles, and we do them well,” Ace explained with an authoritative air. “Rachel, you identify targets and give us a run-down on their strengths and weaknesses. Olivia and I engage primary threats while Tara heals from afar and uses her bow when she can. Marcus, you're our psychological warfare specialist. And… well, bait."

  “Fantastic,” the man said dryly.

  "Listen, and this is important," Ace said. "The way you train is the way you fight. We need to start practicing our powers together. We drill until coordination becomes instinct. Until we can anticipate each other's movements without a word."

  "And when something goes wrong?" Rachel asked anxiously. "Because something always goes wrong."

  Ace nodded. "That’s why we’ll build contingencies. Retreat protocols. Emergency signals. Rally points. Every engagement needs three things: a primary objective, acceptable losses, and abort criteria."

  "Sounds very... clinical," Tara observed.

  Ace shrugged. “I can tell you from experience that it works.”

  He paused to gauge the team’s reactions, but no one would look him in the eye. No one, that was, except for Olivia. She watched him with a calm, almost blank stare, as if she were looking through him.

  “You guys,” Ace continued, his voice a little softer as he assessed their fear. "The System wants chaos. She wants us scattered, uncoordinated, and easy to manipulate. We counter that with order, discipline, and coordination."

  "And the EXP Solute issue?" Marcus curled his hands into fists and raised his now-clear forearms. "Remember how I got covered in bark? We can't exactly plan what parts of us go ‘monster’ next. I don’t really want to kill any more monsters. Who knows what gross new feature I’ll grow."

  “You have a point.” Ace's expression darkened. "We can't control the changes, but we can select what changes us. Here’s what we’ll do—we try to only target creatures whose traits might prove useful.."

  "Hunting with the transformation in mind," Olivia nodded. "Strategic evolution."

  "Exactly." Ace said. "Every kill reshapes us, so that means we have to choose our monsters carefully. We’ll screw up sometimes, sure, but we’ll become stronger where it matters.”

  “Unless we fuck up,” Rachel muttered. “Unless we lose what’s left of our humanity in the process.”

  Ace met her gaze unflinchingly. "It’s a risk.”

  A heavy silence fell upon the cave, each vampire contemplating the bargain laid before them. Survival at the cost of humanity, measured out kill by kill, transformation by transformation.

  "So…" Marcus finally broke the tension. "We're officially Team Murder-Hobos now? Do we get matching jackets?"

  Tara snort-laughed, and even Olivia's lips curved into a slight smile. Rachel, meanwhile, glanced backward into the cave at whatever she had been working on.

  “Rachel, you’ve been busy,” Ace said with a nod toward whatever she was drawing in the thin layer of dust on the cave floor. “What are you working on?”

  She stiffened, and her gaze shifted briefly to him before returning to the elaborate lines sketched out across the stone.

  “A map,” she confessed.

  “A map?” Ace raised one eyebrow in surprise. “Of what?”

  “Floor 1.”

  “But we have a map,” Ace pointed out.

  “It’s incomplete,” Rachel said quietly.

  This time, everyone’s head snapped toward her in astonishment.

  “How do you know that?” Tara asked.

  “The System has been dropping hints,” Rachel answered. She wrapped her fingers around one elbow and shrugged. “I just listened and pieced it together.”

  “Wait, wait, wait.” Marcus raised his palms and gestured for everyone to take a step back. “Can we trust anything the System says, though?”

  “Probably not,” Tara admitted.

  “So what good is this map?” Marcus prodded. “Like Ace said, we already have directions to the Crucible.”

  Rachel bit her lip. “I’ve been figuring out the dangers and unique inhabitants of each area. I know a lot more about Floor 1 now than what’s on the map she gave us.”

  “That’s really useful,” Ace admitted.

  “How much of it is lies, though?” Marcus challenged. “Most of the time, I can barely tell if she’s fucking with us or actually being helpful.”

  “Think about her motivations,” Ace countered. “She wants us out there killing things.”

  And maybe each other.

  He cleared his throat to dispel the thought…

  …but an ominous sense of dread still lingered in the pit of his stomach.

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