The Demon’s Brand made it feel as if my entire body was set aflame. Each breath I let out created a faint cloud of steam. The brand itself burned in a steady rhythm that pulsed throughout veins. I felt that if I didn’t direct the growing agitation in my body I would begin to suffer. So that’s what I did.

The War Scythe was nothing but a blur as I spun it. I kicked off of the ground, simultaneously avoiding the thick webbing being shot toward me like a net. Fighting a spider that was larger than a bus wasn’t an easy task. I struck one of its legs and a shock was transferred through my bones. The damage wasn’t negligible, but at the same time, it slowed my momentum and threw me off.

The spider seized the brief pause and swiped at me. I was just barely able to raise my war scythe to block it but was still sent flying. The war scythe snapped in half and I turned into a flock of crows before I could smash into anything, gathering myself and landing.

Perhaps the spider didn’t wish to continue fighting me itself, as silvery threads began to sway in the air. What immediately followed was a group of husks and spiderlings that began to emerge from the inner depths of the forest. Sprinting wildly out of the hellish red haze like monsters from a bad dream.

I let out a hollow chuckle as I watched them approach. Had I gone crazy? Had the Demon’s Brand rotted my mind? No. I just found this entire situation funny and the fact that I couldn’t feel any fear caused me to laugh a bit. I still had my sanity- well, whatever sanity I started with.

“I bet you didn’t have to deal with this Penelope,” I whispered softly as my body continued heating up, my blood almost boiling under the surface of my skin.

I inhaled deeply and moved to meet my new foes. I raised both of my arms to fire a torrent of Blood Arrows that came with an immediate drain on my body. I ignored it as a chorus of hissing emerged from my victims. Not all of my arrows hit, but they did just enough to disrupt the crowd of enemies.

I launched myself into a husk who was suffering from the bloody projectile and slammed my knee into its face. Whatever bones it had were broken, but that wasn’t enough. With a thought, it became my Corpse Puppet. Next, I lifted it into the air with my increased strength from the brand and Soul Siphon before tossing it into the group. Another thought and the corpse exploded into chunks of flesh and blood, that I stormed into. Webbing came flying toward me, but the Spiderlings couldn’t restrain me and I managed to get my hand onto a body. I held it down with my foot and pulled its arm off before swinging it downward. With a new war scythe in my hands, I could fight properly.

I could see nothing in front of me but enemies and all I could hear was my own heartbeat through a wall of white noise. I fought as hard as I could, making everything seem like a blur. I absorbed any blood that spilled and ignored my wounds. My war scythe cleaved through my targets easily until there were no more.

I had a rush of souls filling my chest and enough blood to fill a bathtub absorbed into my body, but I was-

I looked at my arm which had split open, revealing burnt flesh and my bones that were inscribed with runes. I didn’t even notice, but my body had become much thinner.

“Ah…” I exclaimed from a parched throat.

I was mistaken to think I could power through my exhaustion at my current state. Was this my inexperience being shown firsthand? I think I could say it was now a little too late for that to matter now.

A clump of webbing suddenly restricted my already weakened body. I was snatched from the ground and experienced a fierce whiplash, but all I could think is that it would be a perfect time to be saved.

My body came to an abrupt stop as I was wrapped in a thick, suffocating, cocoon. The Dark Arachnid won in the end. Once again, I found myself greeting death but I couldn’t feel any fear which was frightening and relieving. The feeling soon passed as the webbing held my body and I felt myself falling into a deep sleep, one I didn’t think I’d wake up from.

My consciousness separated itself from everything and I was left in the dark. That’s when the fear finally came in the form of deepening anxiety that slowly unraveled. The feeling where you first learned to swim and you thought you might drown. I thought I might lose my mind as that terror-filled my body and then…

I felt arms placed around me and felt a calm drift over me. Someone held me tightly as if letting me know I wasn’t alone. I couldn’t see them or hear them, but just knowing they were there was enough. I let myself sink further into the tranquility that came with their embrace.

For a moment, I felt that the arms around me were Penelope’s.

…

Jameson and Sophia ran without looking back. The sound of fighting and the hissing of insects faded out and the only sound remaining was their breathing, hurried and frantic. Guilt, frustration, helplessness, all those feelings welled up as they moved to safety. Casper sent them away without a second thought as he was the most equipped to deal with the problem, but even he had his limits. This was not a place that a single Class-3 Gifted could survive for long. Especially one that was still relatively fresh to Ruin Clearing.

In spite of that, he sent them away and gave them some time.

“Damn it!” Jameson growled as he rushed ahead.

They began to tire, but soon stumbled upon human-shaped silhouettes in the distance.

“Jameson.” Sophia cried out softly as she stopped.

“I see them.” He gripped his sword tightly and pulled her behind the cover of a tree.

The shadows approached at a steady pace, meaning they hadn’t been discovered.

“Hey! You two!”

Or so they thought.

The human voice that called to them didn’t allow them to relax and they wordlessly broke into a sprint until a powerful gust of wind brushed past them and a woman in armor stood at their front.

“I’ll assume that the both of you are running because you are scared.” The woman spoke.

Jameson and Sophia were both shocked at the fact the person in front of them was a living human, but even more so when they recognized the emblem on her chest.

“The Iron Dragon Guild!” Sophia shouted in surprise before looking at the woman’s face, she squinted her eyes under the reddish haze and could barely distinguish any features. “Are you-”

“Alexandra Hallworth, leader of the Iron Wyvern Guild.” She corrected Sophia’s previous statement. “Hmm… I guess you two need artifacts to see in the dark, right?”

Alexandra signaled to one of her subordinates and one produced a small clay lamp that began to hover around. It produced a bright spotlight that illuminated the area well enough for Jameson and Sophia to see her clearly. A woman with a strong build that instilled the impression of a strict mother.

“You both aren’t very strong, so you two must be with her I’m guessing?” Alexandra pointed to a body covered in a thin cloth.

“Emma!” Sophia covered her mouth as was about to rush over when Alexandra grabbed her shoulder.

“She isn’t dead, it’s a protective artifact. You see, this ruin was to serve as a training ground for my guild members. It appears to have merged with another ruin which brought you-”

“Casper! You have to help Casper! He was fighting a Dark Arachnid by himself! He’ll die without help! Please!” Jameson suddenly cried out, pointing in the direction where they last saw Casper.

Alexandra narrowed her eyes when she was suddenly interrupted, but gave a meaningful nod to her subordinates.

Two men rushed off ahead of everyone else while Alexandra began to speak.

“Settle down, we’re going to clear this ruin and then return to the surface. In the meantime, catch your breath and tell me what happened from the start.”

The two did as instructed, but gave a shaky recount of what happened from start to finish. They didn’t leave anything out and Alexandra’s eyes widened as she learned of Casper’s actions. At first, she turned suspicious and her eyes flickered to a reptilian pattern that held a dim glow.

Sophia hiccuped with fright as she suddenly recalled the synopsis of Alexandra’s evolving gift. She was granted an ability people called, “Wyvern’s Eyes” that allowed her to spot the flow of magic, surges in ruin energy, and other things that weren’t revealed to the public. There was speculation that she could even see if someone was lying by looking through their soul. In reality, she simply read their vitals and could detect minute changes that would indicate someone was telling a lie.

“You’re telling the truth.” Alexandra’s eyes became a normal green color and she stood astonished. The name “Casper” suddenly began to ring a bell as she recalled a video of a young man displaying his gift. The most interesting part was the fact he seemed to be able to enchant weapons.

Although the Iron Wyvern guild wasn't driven by corporate interests, she wasn’t one to pass up on an opportunity to recruit someone talented.

“Watch them.” Alexandra gave the order to one of her subordinate’s before she put strength in her legs and shot forward. Her speed greatly overcame human limits but she showed no sign of tiring. She overtook the two she originally sent to find Casper, and soon ended up at the sight of a battle.

Corpses of Husks and Spiderlings covered the ground, some were even still fresh.

“Ah,” Alexandra let out a low exclamation as the significance wasn’t lost upon her. It was rare for raw talent to appear in turbid situations and whenever it did, the large guilds would snatch it up for themselves.

She activated her Wyvern’s Eyes and peered deeply into the forest, before spotting a bright white flame that resembled the form of a woman.

“What?!” Alexandra continued moving but blinked her eyes as if she was seeing illusions. The activation of Gifts took many forms and shapes through her gaze, but she had never seen something so human-like and powerful.

It wasn’t until she moved closer did she notice that the form wasn’t coming from Casper, but was surrounding him as if protecting him. The signature from Casper was a much smaller flame in comparison that had nearly died out.

Alexandra didn’t even spare a glance to the Dark Arachnid hanging over her as she was too focused on the glowing white form of a woman. The apparition made of white flame turned to look at her, its expression full of melancholy. It slowly released its hold on the smaller fire and began to fade from sight. A faint tinge of reluctance was painted on her face, but she didn’t linger and disappeared.

“What the hell?” Alexandra muttered before dodging to the side as a pile of webbing landed next to her. She launched herself into the air and drove her fist through the head of the Dark Arachnid with one clean strike, ending its life in an instant. She then ripped the cocoon from the web as she landed and tore it open, revealing a gaunt young man who seemed to just barely be alive. His condition was horrible as even his bones could be seen, along with a series of symbols that were engraved into them.

At that point, Alexandra could no longer voice a reaction as things just seemed to grow increasingly startling. She reached for the pouch on her belt and produced a vial of bright glowing liquid. Its value would drive most people insane with greed if they knew, but Alexandra prepared to use it without hesitation.

“Hey,” She whispered as she lightly tapped Casper’s cheeks.

Although her appearance said otherwise, Alexandra wasn’t as young as she seemed. She even had a few children of her own, which would explain why she held Casper like he was one of them. It seemed his pitiful appearance gnawed at the motherly part of her.

Without further ado, she opened the vial and poured a small drop of the liquid onto his tongue which caused him to convulse.

His eyes slightly opened and he gained some semblance of consciousness.

“Listen close, I will save your life, but it’s going to cost you.” Alexandra began to speak to a barely cognitive Casper.

“Mom?” He asked in dazed, clearly mistaking her for someone else.

In spite of his error, she continued speaking.

“If you accept this, you’ll have to join my guild until you earn enough to pay it off, do you understand?” She intoned clearly.

Casper blinked dazedly before his eyes began to rollback to which she forced his mouth open and poured the rest of the contents into his mouth.

“I’ll take that as yes,” Alexandra said with a sigh.

In the blink of an eye, Casper’s body began mending itself at an incredible speed that was far faster than his own regenerative abilities.

Alexandra’s subordinates arrived a beat late and surveyed the area. Finding there was nothing for them to do, they simply waited for their next order.

“Double your speed, we’re going to clear this within the next hour or you all are getting punished, understand?” She spoke sharply.

“Yes, Ma’am!”

The two replied in an orderly manner as they felt she was in no mood to joke.

So, the members of the Iron Wyvern Guild sped up their pace and began to kill the arachnid-related creatures earnestly. While Jameson and Sophia watched over Casper and Emma, ensuring that there were no sudden changes in their health.