The last thing anyone expected was for the darkness to move.
But somehow, it did, quietly at first, then fast. Like a wave folding in, thick and shapeless, curling in from the edges of the hall.
"Do you feel that?" Liria whispered.
"Feel what?" Cael tried to feign ignorance. It was already too much for him to take up until now.
Everyone could feel it.
The temperature dropped, and the air became heavy. And the whispers… they became sharper, louder, and creepier.
Screams, giggles, chants, orders — each voice layered on top of the next. Not echoing, not hallucinations. Real. Louder by the second.
"Miss Ivara…" Vanna's voice cracked. "What's happening?"
Ivara turned, eyes scanning the darkness. Even she could see nothing.
Her tone was flat. "We need to move."
Cael staggered backward. "Move where? We came from there!"
He pointed behind them, but the path was gone. The darkness had swallowed the door whole. Only now did he realize how bad their situation was.
"What the hell?" he muttered. "No. Nope. This is too much. We're trapped in here."
"No, we're not," Demitri said, but even he sounded unsure. "Maybe… maybe it's just an illusion."
"It's not an illusion," Ivara said. "The Field is responding to something. Or someone."
The voices climbed higher. One whispered Raith's name. Another hissed Liria's. Then came a thunderous growl that shook the stone beneath their feet.
"What's that?!" Vanna screamed.
Raith turned in a slow circle, his jaw tightening. Then, his eyes landed on the altar again.
It was glowing.
Not bright. Not flashy. Just… alive. A slow pulse. Like a heartbeat synced with his own.
He took a step toward it.
"Raith." Liria's voice was quiet. Careful. "What are you doing?"
He didn't answer. Another step. His hand twitched at his side.
Demitri moved, one foot forward. "Hey. Maybe you didn't get the memo, but Miss Ivara said we're not supposed to touch anything."
Raith barely heard them.
There was a pull in his chest. Like invisible hands reaching into his ribs and guiding him forward.
The whispers were clearer now. Not angry. Not urgent. Just calling. Beckoning.
"Raith," Ivara said sharply. "Think. We don't know what that altar does."
"I don't either," Raith said, his voice flat. "But I know it's calling me."
"What do you mean by calling?" Cael interjected.
He didn't wish for any mishap to happen. He then turned toward Ivara and said, "Miss Ivara, I agree that Raith must have knocked his head."
But Raith didn't show any sign of stopping. He took another step. But no one dared to stop him. They just watched.
It was because they had no idea how to get out of here. If Raith could do something right now to get them out, they would gladly follow.
'What is this feeling?'
He reached out slowly. His fingers hovered over the surface of the altar, still faintly pulsing with light. The symbol in the center spun slightly, slowly, and mechanically.
CLICK!
The moment his palm touched the altar, the sound ripped through the hall like someone tearing open the sky.
"Now what? What've you done?!" Cael shouted at Raith.
Then, a whirling sound, like wind trapped inside glass, was heard.
Ivara was ready to protect her squad. Her Mark glowed. However, she couldn't feel any danger coming. In fact, she could feel a magical aura surging from the altar.
Then, a burst of purple light erupted around them, shooting outward from the altar like a shockwave. It didn't knock them back. It wrapped around them like liquid fog.
"What is this?!" Vanna shrieked, stumbling away. "What's happening?!"
Cael shouted, "Raith! What did you do?! What the hell did you do?!"
Those were the words they kept on repeating all this time. Asking what was happening, blaming Raith of things that nobody had any idea about.
"Trust me! This is the only way out." Raith yelled, pulling his hand back.
He didn't know where the confidence came from. But he believed in his instinct, the calling.
The light clung to his fingers, then wrapped around his wrist. Around his chest. His eyes widened as glowing symbols rose from the floor, circling the group like runes made of flame.
Demitri didn't speak. His mouth was open, eyes flicking from Raith to the altar to the swirling purple storm now blooming around them.
Liria's breath caught in her throat. "Is this… some kind of teleportation field?"
Ivara stepped in between them and the altar. "Nobody move," she said.
Her voice didn't rise. But it didn't need to.
The pressure in the air had doubled. No one dared to make any move.
Liria looked at Raith and asked, "What did you actually do?"
Raith stood still, still tangled in the glow. "I didn't mean to trigger anything," he said, his eyes locked on Ivara. "It called and responded."
Ivara's eyes flicked to the darkness, which had stopped moving, now circling just outside the radius of the light.
"Don't resist anything," she murmured. "It's taking us out of here."
The purple aura shimmered around them like a dome, humming softly. Then silence. Total silence.
Squad C-707 vanished into thin air.
***
The air shifted near the outer edge of the Shatterveil as a second squad moved into the warped zone.
"Whoa…" Kev's eyes sparkled. "Can't believe we are back here again."
The others shared his sentiment. The last time they were here, for a mining task, still Untuned. This was the place where they had awakened their Forces.
Everything was still the same.
The trees here bent unnaturally, their roots tangled with black moss, and the light above seemed filtered through an invisible film. The air was dense, and the strange stillness of the Field made even breathing feel deliberate.
Kev tilted his head back, whistling a tune like this was just another training run.
"This is sick. I still can't believe we're actually out here," he grinned, hands tucked behind his head. "Raith's squad got to come first, and now us? I thought we'd be stuck with lessons and push-ups for another six weeks."
Mira turned sharply. "Can you not do that? You're going to get us all scolded."
Tamsin, walking ahead, raised a hand casually. "He's fine. Let him enjoy himself."
Mira blinked. "Wait. You're… okay with it? Aren't you supposed to be fierce since you're the Chief Instructor?"
The instructor chuckled, adjusting the strap across his chest. "Do I look like I enjoy playing the grumpy teacher? I've been stuck in Camp 70 for years. This is the first proper mission I've had in seven."
He cracked his neck. "The last time I led a squad, I was younger, faster, and a little less… dead inside."
"You're not even old, aren't you?" Kev teased.
That earned a small round of laughs. Even Mira looked like she was holding back a smirk.
"I like squads who aren't scared to step out here," Tamsin added, scanning the trail ahead. "You're S-ranked for a reason. Might as well act like it. Just don't be stupid."
Kev grinned. "Yes, sir."
They kept walking until the ground suddenly changed. Burn marks. Deep craters. A patch of trees had been blown backward, like a mini-explosion had torn through the area.
"Lucky that we met only one Crawler," Mira muttered.
Everyone nodded. Looking back, they were lucky. Especially to have had Raith that day. Without him, this might have been their resting place.
As they passed the one-kilometer radius, everyone stopped.
"Is this…?" Dane stepped forward.
The air was still thick with leftover Flux. The kind that clung to your skin.
"This has to be Raith's doing," he muttered.
The blue and red Crawlers were blown in a similar way to how the one that attacked them was.
Mira looked around, her lips parted slightly. "What the hell happened here?"
Even Elisa, quiet as always, furrowed her brows. Her eyes scanned the damage like she was calculating something.
Kev walked slowly toward one of the trees that had been snapped at the base.
"How strong is that guy now…?"
Before anyone could answer, Tamsin suddenly lifted a hand.
"Stop."
They froze.
The instructor's posture had shifted — casual to alert in a blink.
"Something's coming."
Everyone stiffened. They looked at one another, unsure if they were ready. They never had a proper lesson yet, even though they had fought a Feral Crawler a few days ago. They were just lucky to make it out alive.
They could feel it. Something was closing in fast.
Kev swallowed hard. "So… it is all up to us now."
Mira gripped her weapon tightly. "Instructor, what do we do?"
The instructor didn't answer immediately. Instead, he reached for his right glove and slipped it off.
They noticed something on his hand. A circular Mark, unlike any of theirs. It glowed a faint silver-blue.
"I know that you guys lacked the training and experience. That's why…" Tamsin smiled. "You're about to witness something I don't get to use much."
He held his hand out in front of him. "This Force is called Dominion Flow. It allows me to connect with others—feel their abilities, their Forces, and for a brief moment…"
He looked at each of them. "…I can show you how to wield them the way they were meant to be used."
Dane blinked. "Wait. What do you mean by—"
Before he could finish, silver lines stretched out from Tamsin's Mark, like threads of light, and linked to each of their backs.
Mira gasped. "What—what is this?!"
"Don't resist it," Tamsin said calmly. "This isn't control. You're still fully aware. You'll see what I see. You'll feel what I feel. But I'll be the one moving your bodies."
Dane staggered slightly. His hands were moving, but he wasn't doing it.
"Now I believe you understand why I was chosen as the Head Instructor," Tamsin said.
Kev's stance shifted, his fingers flexed. "Yo… this is weird. But also kinda cool?"
Elisa stood still. Her expression hadn't changed, but her body had already taken a ready stance. Her Mark glowed faintly, responding to Tamsin's touch.
"Elisa, I'm going to show you how to use your Telekinesis."
They could feel their own Forces stirring, more alive, more focused, more precise.
"I'll only do this for thirty seconds," Tamsin said. "But remember everything."
He closed his eyes.
And then it began.