Just as the world started to light up, Vlad stepped out of the cavity in twisted Bentree and scanned their surroundings. His night vision still clung to the edges of his sight, but now the world had more colour—although not in a comforting way.
The bark of the trees and branches matched the colour of human skin, making him feel eerie. The massive leaves were blood-crimson in colour. Vlad looked up.
Through the dense canopy, instead of a calm, blue sky, a fearsome red loomed overhead. It was as if the sky itself was bleeding.
He gulped and shifted his gaze downward.
The black pit he nearly fell into yesterday—when he'd slipped on the moss-covered branch—was now visible in the early light. What he had assumed was a void due to the faulty night vision was, in truth, a body of pitch-black water. It stretched far below the web of roots and branches they stood on. Ripple broke on the surface, now made audible by the absence of pursuit.
Is that black stuff even water?
Vlad's eyes caught a glimpse of something stirring the dark waters. A sleek fin rose from the water—just for a moment. The creature had a shark-like resemblance.
A chill went down his spine.
Lucky...for once.
He switched his focus, forcing his attention elsewhere. They needed to move—and fast.
But as he scanned the horizon, all he saw was a chaotic and endless maze made of the Bentree limbs. Twisting. Tangling.
Behind him, Lana came out of the cavity.
The night vision wasn't very good for noticing details especially related to colours.
She had short green hair, all messed up due to the circumstances they were in. Her eyes were also an emerald green and freckles all over her nose and undereyes. Her small stature made her longsword look out of place.
She has freckles...
"Well...this place sure lives up to its name," she muttered.
Vlad nodded silently.
"Should we make a fire and eat? Or get away from here and then eat?
"We should eat first. We'll need the strength," Vlad replied, still watching the branches ahead.
***
Some distance away, they gathered what they could—leaves, dry moss and little twigs.
"That should be enough. We've got enough to keep it going for some time," Lana said, wiping her hands on her thighs.
"Alright, get back."
Vlad took one of the pistols, aimed it at the pile and fired.
The burst was too strong. The shot blew apart their carefully built pile. Burning fragments rained down into the water below, hissing as they touched the surface.
"Seriously?" Lana said, narrowing her eyes.
"Look, I don't know how this thing functions," Vlad muttered, frowning at the pistol in his hands.
All his experience was with hand-to-hand combat but he could wield a small projectile weapon fairly decently thanks to Kel pestering him to learn. But he was certainly rusty.
Lana quickly snatched two flaming leaves and shielded them with her hands as she piled more on top coaxing the flames into a controlled burn.
"There goes our extra stockpile," she sighed. "Leave the cooking to me. You go gather more."
***
By the time Vlad returned, hands full of dry foliage, the smell of some delicious meat hung in the air. Making his stomach growl in response.
"Oh, your back," Lana said, with a smile. "Put them here."
Vlad sat down near the fire, eyeing the Vulturov meat cooking over the flames.
"Have you cooked before?"
"A little. My mom taught me," she replied.
"I see."
Soon the meat was ready. They devoured the Vulturov meat like starved animals—no etiquette, no words.
After all, they hadn't eaten anything since the test began yesterday.
"I didn't know the Bentree Forest had a swamp region," Vlad muttered between bites.
"No one ventures this far. Word of mouth is scarce."
"How far in are we?"
Lana chewed, then swallowed.
"Not far in—technically. But the swamp is located on the complete opposite side of the forest from Sector-5."
"...Then we're in the west?"
"Yeah," Lana said, then gestured vaguely with her hand. "We have to go east. Across the Kordyzek river."
Vlad groaned.
You've got me kidding me…
The direction she pointed in—mouth full of meat—was the same way they'd fled from yesterday.
"Are you sure?"
"Judging by where the sun rose? Yes."
He clenched his jaw.
And I was about to praise my luck...
Just then a rustle echoed beneath them.
Vlad froze.
Lana handed him another chunk of meat, but Vlad only stared blankly.
The crimson light filtered through the dense canopy, giving every shadow a pulse. Every branch creaked, every gust of wind felt like a breath against the neck.
Lana must have felt it too.
Down below, shapes were moving near the black water. Humanoid—but distorted. Lanky arms with claws. Fins protruding from shoulders. Their skin was slick, reflective, their eyes glowing a ghostly green. Mutants. At least four of them—maybe more, slowly climbing up the root like spiders.
Lana dropped the meat and reached for her shining longsword.
"You see that?"
Vlad didn't answer immediately. He stood up slowly. The silence was suddenly...heavy. The kind that comes before something breaking.
Then it did.
A low, guttural hiss slithered through the trees.
Vlad spun. Three more of the same mutants were climbing up a branch—leaves fluttering—twenty meters to their left. They moved with unnatural fluidity.
"Seven of them," Vlad hissed.
Another hiss echoed—now closer. From below.
Vlad didn't have time to warn her. One of the mutants lunged up from beneath, landing on the branch with a wet slap.
Vlad ducked and landed a hook in its guts, heaving it back over the edge. The creature screeched as it fell into the black below. A splash followed.
Too close.
Another one leapt toward Lana. She slashed upward, catching it mid-air. The blade dug deep into its humanoid torso. She kicked it off her blade and over the edge with a grunt.
"Behind!" Vlad shouted.
She weaved just in time to parry a claw swipe, sparks flying as her blade scratched against the mutant's wrist. Vlad raised his pistol and fired—clean through its chest. It jerked once, then crumpled.
More were on their way.
Two more climbed up from beneath, digging into the wood with their claws as they rose. One of them didn't have an arm, but it didn't stop the bastard from dragging itself along with the others.
Vlad stepped in, punching the first one in the jaw with a sickening crack, making it cave in. Then he followed up with a shot to its guts, sending it flying. The second one lashed out, scraping his gauntlet with the one arm it had. He punched the bastard, making it slip on some moss and fall over the edge. He shot the mutant as it fell into the dark water.
He missed.
I should try aiming next time.
Lana charged past him, blade flashing in the crimson light. Vlad turned. A mutant had crept up behind him. Just as his gaze fell upon it, the mutant's head dropped from its shoulders, its body soon following.
Vlad and Lana locked eyes for a second.
Suddenly, a heavier thump landed ahead—on the branch just past the fire. This one was larger. Broader. Covered by an exoskeleton. It had four arms instead of the two the ones before had. Longer too. Fins jutted from its elbows like weapons. As if the flesh tearing claws weren't enough.
If the previous ones were regular soldiers then this one would be their captain.
"That one's different," Lana said.
"Yeah," Vlad breathed. "And worse."
Why hasn't the QC been giving assessments? Or a warning?
Vlad was right. In situations like this, the Quantum-Comm would tell its user the class and category of the mutants near them.
So why was it not doing anything? Was it broken? But it had been working just minutes ago…
I'll figure it out later.
The creature roared and charged.
Vlad raised his pistol and fired—three times. All the bullets landed on its large torso but it barely flinched.
It reached them in seconds.
Lana leapt aside. Vlad, like a fearless paladin—perhaps a madman—stood his ground. He ducked low as the creature swung its heavy arm. The air crackled as the claws whooshed past him.
He shot it in its thigh while the creature couldn't defend. It screamed and tried to grab him—this time feeling the pain, but he rolled away, coming up—pulling on a nearby leaf—drenched in the mutant's purple blood and some moss.
Lana came in from the side, landing a clean strike across the back of its leg. The creature stumbled from the impact but it wasn't cut.
She may not have been able to damage it but she did distract it and created an opening. And Vlad took it.
Pistol in hand, Vlad shot it right in its eye, but the damage was minimal. It flailed violently, nearly knocking him off the branch.
He clung onto a branch tight, trying not to fall into the dark waters below. Blood dripped down its distorted face, each drop marking a lost beat.
Tough nut to crack huh?
With a roar, the creature swung all four of its arms, slashing through the air with lethal precision. Vlad barely rolled aside in time—if he'd hesitated, he would've been torn to shreds.
Lana swept in from the right, but the mutant was fast. Too fast.
It blocked her strike with two arms, the other two kept pounding away at Vlad, hammering away into the wood near his head.
Then—a crack.
Lana's longsword hit just right, cracking the creature's exoskeleton slightly. A line split across its forearms.
It snarled, staggered—and that gave Vlad the opening he needed.
He rolled to his feet and yanked the other pistol from his waist and started blasting away at the bastard.
Pushing it back towards the edge of the branch.
The mutant flinched under the barrage, but it didn't drop. The bullets thudded into its armoured flesh, vanishing like pebbles in deep mud.
Then it let out a low gut-wrenching roar, not one of pain, but one of purpose.
It shook the branch violently. The whole limb of the tree began to shudder.
What's it doing?
The shaking intensified. Moss tore. Leaves scattered into the air.
Vlad didn't wait. He leapt and grabbed a vine nearby, and climbed up to a higher, thinner branch. Lana had already scrambled to a parallel branch, a few meters away.
From above they watched.
The creature stopped its antics. It stared into the ink-dark water.
The forest fell into complete silence. No movement. No sound.
Vlad dropped to a crouch, narrowing his eyes. Something was wrong. He scanned the water below.
Then—bubbles.
Dozen. Maybe more. Spreading. Bursting to the surface like boiling tar. Something was coming.
More shapes broke through the surface.
They climbed up the root and limbs, moving too fast, too fluidly. Their wet claws dug deep in the Bentree.
Vlad whispered like a curse.
"Eight. At least."