The path ahead was narrow, jagged walls pressing in like clenched teeth. Bioluminescent fungi pulsed dimly along the walls, casting a sickly blue light on the trio's faces.
Noct adjusted the strap holding the Serrated Phasefang across his back. It was lighter than it looked, and the way it pulsed in response to his Ather flow made him feel like it had chosen him—rather than the other way around.
"How long until the next floor?" he asked, glancing toward Ellen.
She didn't respond right away, eyes scanning the moss-covered floor. "Hard to say. This sector isn't mapped. If we're lucky, another day of travel. If we're not, three."
Mia stretched her arms behind her head, daggers glinting at her hips. "Let's just hope we don't run into another Gravebore. That one smelled like fermented failure."
Noct chuckled softly despite himself. It still felt strange—laughing with them.
As they moved, Noct kept practicing small equations in his head. Sequence Dash, Multiplier Edge, even a modified version of Vector Strike. His body was still adapting to the mental load. Every use sharpened him—just as much as it drained him.
They entered a clearing—an old ritual chamber, perhaps. Etched stone pillars surrounded a small circular platform, and scattered bones confirmed it hadn't been uninhabited.
Mia crouched. "Fresh claw marks. Smaller than the Gravebore."
Ellen nodded. "Scouts. Or younglings."
Just as she said it, the air shifted—Ather trembling.
Three monsters dropped from the ceiling, landing silently.
[Entity Detected: Rivejack Hounds]
Classification: Fast-type ambush predators]
Mid-sized, obsidian-skinned creatures with elongated jaws and hook-shaped claws.
They struck first.
Mia blurred forward, engaging one of them with a flurry of dagger strikes. Ellen moved like clockwork steel, intercepting another mid-pounce.
The third lunged for Noct.
He activated Division Blink mid-step and reappeared to the side, slashing with Phasefang. The serrated blade connected, and a flash of violet tore through the beast's leg. It staggered—but didn't fall.
Noct quickly composed an array in his mind:
Gravity(x) = Mass × G × Inverse(Distance^2)
Localized Gravity Model. The air bent as a sudden weight crushed the Rivejack downward.
It yelped, spine buckling under the invisible pressure.
Noct moved in, blade stabbing through its skull cleanly.
Mia had already dispatched hers, grinning ear to ear with blood on her cheeks. "Clean math, Numbers boy."
Ellen impaled hers and wiped her blade in one motion. "That makes six confirmed kills for you."
Noct stood still for a moment. His breathing was ragged—head pounding.
A low-level equation like Gravity Model shouldn't have hit him this hard.
Mia noticed. "You're overheating your brain."
He nodded. "The formulas… they're stacking too fast. I need more control."
Ellen crossed her arms. "Then learn to pace your thoughts. Power means nothing if it burns through your body faster than your enemy's blade."
Her tone was cold, but it wasn't cruel.
Mia placed a hand on Noct's shoulder. "You're getting there. You're not dead yet, right?"
He smiled faintly. "Yeah. That's a start."
They moved on.
The deeper they went, the older the ruins became. The floor tiles had inscriptions, and faint echoes hummed through the air like residual whispers.
Something was coming.
They could all feel it.
A threshold was near—not just to the next floor, but to something… older.
Ellen's hand drifted to the hilt of her blade.
Mia stopped humming.
And Noct... began to calculate.