Rhian's academy days hadn't even started, and he was already regretting coming here.
Wasn't this supposed to be a place to learn? To grow? To train to fight monsters, not be hunted like one?
Yet here he was. Running for his life through a forest he didn't know, being chased by something that barely counted as human anymore.
He didn't dare look back.
His legs pumped harder, feet slamming against the dirt as branches whipped past him. Every crack of a twig or shift of leaves behind him made his heart pound faster.
'This is insane.'
He didn't let the thought slow him down. If anything, it pushed him to run faster.
Whatever distance he had managed to put between him and Liane, he wasn't going to waste it.
Rhian ducked under a low branch, sliding past thick roots, weaving through trees. His breaths were rough, uneven, but steady enough to keep moving.
One thing was certain.
If this was supposed to help him awaken his core…
He really didn't want to know what failing looked like.
Rhian's foot caught on something.
A root.
Thick, rough, and he was sure it hadn't been there a second ago.
His body crashed forward, rolling over the dirt before slamming hard against the base of a tree. His back pressed against the rough bark, breath knocked from his lungs.
He groaned quietly, forcing himself to look up.
Straight ahead, from the direction he'd been running… the mist was coming.
It crept slowly, curling between the trees like it had a mind of its own. Thick, dark, and unnatural.
Rhian clenched his jaw and pushed against the ground, trying to stand, trying to run.
But the roots weren't done.
They curled around his legs, snaking over his boots, pulling him back down. They weren't fast, but they were strong, old, living things that responded to her will.
That's when fear, real fear, started sinking in.
What if she was actually going to kill him?
Liane didn't look like the type to care about rules. She looked unhinged. Wild. And being friends with the Headmaster probably meant she wouldn't get in trouble even if things got ugly.
What if the Headmaster knew? What if she'd just fed him to her?
His breathing grew heavier.
The mist was already around him now, curling low against the ground, slipping into his lungs with every strained inhale.
Rhian couldn't move.
His body felt frozen, not just from the roots holding him down, it was like his muscles refused to listen. Like his own fear had locked him in place.
And in that stillness, thoughts came crawling in.
'Why am I here?'
'What was even the point?'
'If I die here… then what did I even do with my life?'
'Nothing.'
'Just like back then.'
Just like when his parents died, and all he could do was watch. Helpless. Weak.
The mist ahead shifted.
It started to pull together, twisting unnaturally, taking form.
Rhian's eyes widened.
It was that shape.
The thing burned into his nightmares.
That faceless monster. Wet, muscle-like skin stretched over a towering frame. No eyes. No features. Just raw, living terror standing before him like it never left.
Then the voices came.
But they weren't the monster's.
They were his parents'.
"You killed us…"
"You killed us… You shouldn't have begged us to take you."
His blood ran cold.
His body tensed so hard it hurt. His breathing sharpened, his chest tightening until it felt like there wasn't enough air in the world to fill his lungs.
No.
His fingers twitched helplessly against the dirt.
'No…no...'
.
.
Not too far from the scene, perched comfortably on a thick branch of a tall tree, Liane sat, one leg lazily swinging in the air, biting into some strange forest fruit like she was watching a show.
Her blank white eyes were locked onto Rhian below.
She couldn't see exactly what he was seeing, the mist wasn't for her. It was an ability that worked directly on the target's mind.
It reached deep into the brain, pulled apart memories, fears, regrets... and shaped them into living nightmares.
But she didn't need to see it to know what was happening.
He was facing his fear.
And that was exactly the point.
Fear, stress, emotional extremes, all those things triggered responses deep in a person's body.
And in the case of divine blood carriers, it affected the core, the strange, mysterious organ that existed almost like a battery mixed with a muscle, buried near the heart or spine.
Most cores stayed dormant unless properly awakened.
But in a high-stress environment, with survival instincts going wild, the body would naturally begin to force energy to the core, trying to find any solution to live.
Scientists called it EPMR—Emergency Potential Memory Response. Basically, in moments of overwhelming fear or desperation, the brain would unlock certain pathways it normally wouldn't touch.
It was rare.
Risky.
Liane could've helped him the easy way. Given him guidance, shown him meditation tricks, walked him through peaceful methods to tap into his core like any normal instructor would.
Maybe a drink there and some other stuff.
But that wasn't her style.
Trauma shaped people.
Pain molded them sharper than any teacher could.
And Rhian… from what she'd seen, the kid had plenty of it buried inside him. But at the same time… he was too soft around the edges. Hesitant. Holding back.
That wouldn't survive in this world.
Liane bit into the fruit again, lips curling into a small, twisted smile.
Not that she'd admit it to anyone...
But watching someone suffer through their fears? Watching them break before they stood back up?
She liked it.
Not that Liane was a sadist or anything...
Oh no. Of course not.
That would be terrible.
Absolutely shameful behavior for a professional instructor of the Academy.
...
Yeah, she was a sadist.
She snorted quietly to herself, not even bothering to hide the crooked grin tugging at her lips as she sat there, enjoying Rhian's misery like it was late-night entertainment.
But then, her eyes narrowed.
Something changed.
Her lazy, amused posture straightened without thought. The fruit in her hand slipped through her fingers, falling forgotten to the forest floor below.
Rhian's body, stuck down there, locked in fear, trapped in that mist, was shifting.
Subtle at first. Skin tensing. Muscles tightening strangely. But then...
There it was.
Change.
Liane's blank white eyes sharpened.
Carriers awakened in all kinds of ways. Mystics, Physicals, even rare Hybrids that were both physicals and Mysticals.
But during their awakenings, their bodies stayed mostly the same. Sure, Mystics might have faint glows or tattoos. Physicals got stronger, faster, maybe more toned, muscle growth there and there, after all physicals got physical enhancements, while mysticals were a more into magic.
But cursed were different.
They evolved.
Hair color could bleach out or darken. Eyes could glow or change shape entirely. Height might shift. Features could sharpen, or twist.
Some even grew horns, fangs, extra limbs, or stranger things entirely.
Mutations, people called them.
Liane hated that word.
Mutations sounded like mistakes.
She preferred the truth.
Evolution.
If Rhian was really changing, really awakening like this, then this wasn't just fear pulling at his limits.
This was blood deep.
This was an evolved awakening.
Liane's grin returned, slower now. More dangerous.
"Well…" she whispered to herself, voice low with excitement. "Looks like I just got myself a new student."