Chapter 59 – What the Hollow Remembers
Part 1: The Ambush Beneath Black Stone
The third night in the Crimson Hollow felt heavier.
Not colder. Not louder.
Just heavier.
The air clung to their skin like old guilt. The sky didn't change—still red, still cracked—but the shadows beneath the stones grew longer. Hungrier.
Ariz didn't speak as they moved. He didn't need to. He led now—Luceris and Serika falling in rhythm beside him. No orders. No planning. Just instinct.
They'd grown used to each other's movement.
That was enough.
They passed through bone arches covered in vines shaped like screaming faces. Tier 1 bone-leapers stalked them from a distance, but didn't engage. Even beasts could feel it now—
Something in Ariz's shadow didn't belong.
Something that whispered back when the Hollow breathed.
They reached an abandoned ritual site—old, circular, etched with war runes and cracked obsidian slabs.
Luceris stopped.
Serika narrowed her eyes.
Ariz blinked once.
"Trap," he said.
She nodded. "Agreed."
Luceris tilted his head. "Should we spring it?"
Ariz stepped forward and knelt beside a faint mana trail—a glyph half-buried in the dust.
He touched it.
[Trigger Rune Activated]
Detonation Delay: 4 seconds
Ambush Rating: ModerateEngagement: 3 hostile signatures
Three silhouettes shimmered into view atop the ritual stones—three first-year students from Class A. All of them older. All armed. All smiling like they thought they were the ones doing the hunting.
"Team 27," one said, twirling a curved staff. "You've done all the hard work. Thanks for collecting those cores for us."
Ariz stood up.
Didn't flinch.
Didn't even draw his blade.
"You want a fair fight," he said, "or are you hoping one of us bleeds first?"
The leader snorted. "You're outnumbered."
Luceris smirked. "You're outclassed."
The ambush team attacked.
The fight wasn't clean. It wasn't elegant.
It was feral.
The first attacker blurred toward Serika—daggers drawn, shadow magic trailing behind her.
Serika met her head-on.
Their blades clashed once.
Then Serika kicked the woman in the ribs so hard she spun midair.
"You're not fast enough," she whispered.
She wasn't showing off.
She was focused—tight, fast, deadly.
Luceris took two spells to the shoulder, then blinked behind the caster and dropped him with a blow to the temple. Efficient. Non-lethal.
Ariz didn't even draw steel.
His familiar flickered between him and the third ambusher—a flame-wielding brawler who never even saw it move.
One moment, he raised his hand.
The next, he was unconscious.
Breathing.
But marked.
It ended in 26 seconds.
Team 27 didn't bleed once.
They bound the attackers' limbs, tagged them with signal runes, and left them for the competition supervisors to retrieve.
No mercy.
No malice.
Just rules.
As they walked, Serika was quiet.
Ariz noticed.
He didn't press.
But when they reached an old, broken wall where they stopped to rest—she sat down beside him.
The Hollow was quiet here.
Like it was listening.
"You didn't hesitate," she said.
He glanced at her. Said nothing.
"You didn't look at me once during that fight. Not to check. Not to see if I could keep up."
"I knew you could."
Her eyes drifted to the sky.
Even the stars here looked wrong. Like they'd been drawn by someone who'd only ever heard about them.
"My father trained me harder than any of his sons. Said I needed to be better. Stronger. Because no noble house respects a woman who needs protecting."
She looked down at her gloved hand.
Flexed her fingers.
"They all saw me as a weapon. Even Luceris, for a while. He got over it. Others didn't."
Ariz didn't answer.
She didn't want comfort.
She just wanted someone to hear it.
And he did.
"I didn't expect you to see me differently," she said. "But you do."
He turned to her—eyes cold, sharp, honest.
"You're not just strong, Serika. You're reliable. There's a difference."
She looked at him a long time.
No smile.
No smirk.
Just silence.
Then she stood.
"Let's move. I want one more kill before we camp."
She didn't know why she felt lighter.
Didn't say it.
Didn't need to.
But as she walked beside him, the distance between them felt different.
Smaller.
Earned.