Night had fallen.

  They had been traveling for over a week now, which meant it was more than likely that Leah had already entered the trials. The thought refused to leave Ethan’s mind. He had warned her and told her everything he could in order to prepare her, but looking back, he could admit he’d probably sounded unhinged and maybe a little crazy. If the roles were reversed, he wasn’t so sure he would have believed her either.

  But Leah was different.

  She had always been there for him. Always listened, even when what he said made no sense. If there was one person in the world who might have taken his words seriously, it was her.

  Still, doubt gnawed at him. He had given her all the information he could. Even what each class offered or turned into. He just hoped she would pick something that offered her protection.

  Ethan opened his eyes, breaking out of meditation. He sunk his hands into the sand, feeling the lingering heat. A small fire burned a short distance away, its light flickering over the others.

  “Any word yet?” he asked.

  Alex looked over from where he sat near the fire. “No,” he said after a moment. “No one’s entered any settlements we’re aware of under the name Leah Carter.”

  Ethan nodded, then stood and began pacing.

  He hated this part. The waiting. The not knowing. He told himself—again—that actively searching for her would be pointless. The trials were too vast. Too chaotic. If she was out there, he wouldn’t find her by wandering blindly.

  And yet…

  It felt like doing nothing. Like abandoning her.

  His grip tightened unconsciously. With a sharp motion, he drew his sword and stepped away from the firelight. To clear his mind, he began his routine.

  The blade moved through familiar arcs, cutting the air cleanly. His body no longer struggled with the weapon’s weight. Each strike stopped exactly where he wanted it to, forcing himself to control each movement. Practice, repetition, and rising stats had begun to align his body with his intent. He could feel the difference.

  When he caught his reflection in the blade, even he was surprised. He’d always been skinny—lean to the point of fragility—but over the last couple of weeks, his body had changed. Corded muscle traced his arms and shoulders, subtle but undeniable. Still slim, still light, but he felt stronger.

  Alex watched from the fire, silent.

  To Ethan, it was obvious that the man he once knew wasn’t quite the same. Maybe that version of Alex still existed somewhere beneath the surface, but actions defined who you were, and Alex hadn’t been tested yet. Not like before. He was still confident. Still calm. Still easy to talk to.

  But the edge was missing. It made it hard for Ethan to connect with him once more. But even if that was true, Ethan knew he would do anything for him.

  Nivia rose from the fire, breaking away from a quiet conversation with Thane, and approached Ethan.

  “Mind if I join you?” she asked.

  She didn’t wait for an answer. Her short sword was already in her hand as she stepped into the dim edge of the firelight.

  Ethan nodded once.

  Maybe this would help. Maybe having an actual fight, even a weaker one, would be enough to move his sword mastery forward.

  Nivia raised her weapon and lunged.

  Ethan barely had time to register the intent before steel rang as he parried. The impact was light, controlled, but she had been aiming to cut him.

  She must have seen the flicker of surprise in his eyes, because she spoke immediately. “Don’t worry. I can heal minor wounds. Attack as hard as you like.”

  Ethan hesitated, then shrugged. “If you say so.”

  He wasn’t worried. He’d seen her swordsmanship before, and now that he felt it directly, his confidence only solidified. She wasn’t bad. But she wasn’t good either.

  She took his response as permission.

  Nivia attacked again, this time coming in from the side, blade angled toward his shoulder. Ethan stepped back half a pace, redirected the strike, and let the momentum carry her past him.

  She recovered quickly, circling, her stance tight and cautious. She tried another probing strike, then another, each one controlled but determined.

  Ethan matched her pace.

  He blocked. Redirected. Sidestepped.

  From the outside, it probably looked even. Ethan gave ground when he needed to, never overcommitting, never forcing the issue. Nivia began to breathe harder, her movements growing sharper, more urgent.

  She attacked faster, her blade moving almost too fast for Ethan to see.

  Ethan adjusted without thinking. He activated [Keen Sense]. While it might be cheating, he wasn’t bothered. He needed to practice and use the skill as much as possible before he had to use it in a real threatening scenario.

  Her blade came in low, he turned his wrist and caught it cleanly. Another strike followed immediately, this one aimed at his ribs. He twisted aside, letting it scrape harmlessly past. He could have countered there. Her stance was open for a number of different attacks.

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  Instead, he let the moment pass. More than happy to toy with her. She noticed as well.

  Her breath grew ragged. Sweat darkened her collar despite the cool night air. Her strikes lost precision, power bleeding away with each swing as she got more and more frustrated. She overextended once—just once—and Ethan decided to end it. This wasn’t the practice he had hoped for. He wanted to level his sword mastery, but it was evident that wouldn’t be happening. She just wasn’t a strong enough opponent. Maybe it would be different if active skills were involved, but as it was, her swordsmanship quite frankly was shit.

  So as her blade slid past his body, he stepped in and tripped her. She tried to stop her fall, but she had already overextended. Instead, she stumbled a few steps before dropping to her knees. Ethan positioned his blade to rest on her shoulder.

  She froze, chest heaving. She looked down at the blade before twisting around to look up at Ethan. Her green eyes stared at him for a moment, a light sheen of sweat on her brow.

  “Good fight,” she said after a moment, her face slightly flushed.

  Ethan nodded and pulled his blade away.

  “It was.” He lied. It had been a rather average fight if he was honest, but it had helped clear his thoughts. So he guessed he owed her for that. And, well, the cherry on top was he had easily beaten her. From a bystander’s view, it would have looked like a balanced spar. Two fighters testing each other. With only a winner decided at the end.

  But they both knew better. Which pleased Ethan. After all, he could admit he was a little petty.

  Ethan reached down, offering a hand.

  Nivia wiped her forehead and let out a breathless laugh. “Thank you.”

  She studied him for a long moment once she was standing. “You should be careful,” she said quietly. “People don’t like it when you make them feel small.”

  He met her gaze evenly. “I wasn’t trying to.”

  She snorted softly. “That might be worse. I’ll get you back next time.”

  Alex clapped his hands together, the sound sharp in the cool night air.

  “That was a good fight.”

  Nivia looked over at him, still catching her breath, then smiled faintly. “It was,” she agreed. “Helpful, at least.”

  Ethan said nothing. He simply sat down near the edge of the fire, resting his sword across his knees. He felt… lighter. Not stronger in any measurable way. No notifications. No breakthroughs. His sword mastery hadn’t budged an inch.

  And yet the tension that had been coiled tight in his chest for days had eased. Sparring had soothed him.

  “How much farther?” Alex questioned, looking out at the dunes.

  Ethan followed his gaze. “Not far,” he said. “If we go much further east after tomorrow, we’ll overshoot and end up at the oasis. The Colossus’ territory should be close. Tomorrow, maybe the next day.”

  Alex nodded. “Good.”

  He poked at the fire with a stick, embers shifting. “I want to get back to the guild once this is done. Ari, has been writing to me in the Scribers book. She’s been sending reports. Strange ones.”

  Nivia glanced over. “Strange how?”

  “The guilds are starting to question our hold,” Alex said after a pause. “I don’t like it. They need me back at base to get a handle on things as soon as possible.”

  Ethan frowned. He needed to get his hands on some Scribers books. They were basically a long range device that let you write in it and the message would appear in its linked partner.

  “You think they have noticed something off?” He asked.

  Alex nodded. “Yeah. The guild master hasn’t shown face for over a month now. But if the Valkyries or any other guild think that’s an opportunity, they will regret it.”

  Ethan didn’t respond, but the words sat uncomfortably with him. No one had acted until the guild master had died. Was it because he took Alex away from the guild? Or was he just overreacting and they still had time?

  The rest of the night passed quietly as Ethan considered all the possibilities laid out before him. He pulled out his journal, reading over the beginning entries once again, making sure he didn’t miss anything.

  After a while, Ethan returned to meditation once more. The desert night wrapped around him, cold and still, stars scattered overhead like distant pinpricks of light. He slowed his breathing and turned inward, focusing past the aches in his body and the sand in his clothes.

  He could sense mana swirling through the air. It wasn’t elusive like before, not just a brush at the edge of awareness. He could feel it now, thin streams threading through the air, faint but constant. With careful intent, he reached out and pulled.

  The sensation was pleasant. Mana flowed into him slowly, settling into his body with a warmth that soothed tired muscles and eased lingering pain. It felt natural. Right. As if his body had been waiting for it.

  He held it there, guiding it gently, letting it circulate.

  For the first time, it stayed.

  Excitement threatened to break his focus, but he forced himself to remain calm. He was close. Closer than he’d ever been in this life. He could feel the shape of something forming, the pressure building at the center of his being.

  But it didn’t happen.

  Not tonight.

  Still, when he finally slept, it was deeper than it had been in days.

  Morning came with pale light and biting wind. Ethan woke refreshed, muscles loose, mind clear. The lingering heaviness from the last few days was gone, replaced by a restless eagerness. He wanted this done. Wanted answers. Wanted to be free to search for Leah properly.

  They packed up quickly and set out.

  Nivia had started walking closer to him. At first, he thought nothing of it. Then she asked, casually, “When you parry, do you always angle your body out of the way like that?”

  He glanced at her. “Like what?”

  She mimicked his motion awkwardly, stepping to the side. Ethan let out a small chuckle at her antics.

  “Like that,” she said, straightening up and walking beside him once more.

  “Not really,” he answered. “If you meet the strike head-on, you absorb the force. If you turn it, you let their momentum do the work. It depends on the attack.”

  She nodded, thoughtful. A few minutes passed before she asked another question. Then another.

  Ethan answered patiently, demonstrating small movements as they walked. He didn’t even realize how relaxed he’d become until the ground shifted beneath his feet.

  It wasn’t dramatic. No explosion. No roar. Just a deep, rolling tremor.

  [Steadfast] took over.

  Ethan’s footing locked in place as the dune beneath them began to collapse inward. He reacted without thinking, grabbing Nivia’s arm as she stumbled.

  “Careful,” he said, pulling her back.

  “Thanks,” she breathed, heart racing.

  They both looked up.

  The dune ahead of them began to rise. Sand cascaded down in heavy sheets as something massive pushed upward from beneath, the ground cracking and splitting under the strain. A curved shape emerged first, plated and dark, sand sliding off it in torrents.

  Tusks.

  Massive, ridged, curving outward like carved stone, each longer than Ethan was tall.

  The ground erupted as the creature pulled itself free.

  It was enormous.

  The Colossus stood on six pillar-like legs, its body shaped like a elephant carved from sand and stone. Plates of hardened earth overlapped across its flanks, etched with glowing fissures of amber light that pulsed faintly with each movement. Its trunk was thick and segmented, ending in a heavy, hammer-like mass that struck the ground with a thunderous boom as it fully emerged.

  Its eyes ignited—twin points of molten gold set deep within a skull-like face.

  The dunes around it collapsed entirely, sand flowing away as if afraid to remain near it.

  Alex exhaled slowly. “Fucking hell.”

  Ethan didn’t move. He stared at the Colossus, heart pounding, not with fear, but recognition.

  The Colossus lifted its head and let out a low, resonant call that vibrated through the desert, the sound echoing far beyond the horizon.

  Ethan watched as it started walking through the dunes, each step sending vibrations through the ground, even from their relative distance.

  After nearly two weeks of travel, they had finally found it. The Colossus was within view. Now it was time to kill the unkillable.