Absolute Cheater

"I will master the skill," Veyra said with determination as Asher turned to look at her.

As she began again, drawing on her bloodline and will, Asher watched her quietly.

Her skill is truly gifted, he thought. Those vines she can summon aren't just powerful—they're dangerously versatile. Even I would need to summon a portion of my true strength to sever or stop them at full force.

More than just weapons or traps, the vines pulsed with life—not bound by a single elemental legacy, but instead rooted in both blood and growth. They could constrict, heal, devour, or protect. A living extension of will.

"She's like a natural-born prodigy of a hybrid path," he murmured. "If she cultivates it well… she could rise to become one of the top Evolvers in the world."

The training courtyard shimmered with residual energy, the scent of crushed grass and lingering blood thick in the air. Veyra stood with her arms outstretched, her breath steady but deep, strands of her hair sticking to her damp forehead.

Around her, thick crimson vines pulsed and writhed like living serpents—each laced with thorns and soaked in faintly glowing blood essence. Their roots broke through stone and dirt alike, cracking the tiled ground beneath.

Asher nodded in approval, arms folded. "Good control. You're learning how to call them faster."

"They respond quicker when I focus through my blood instead of mana alone," she said, brow furrowed as she narrowed her eyes. "It's like they… listen better."

"Because your skill is rooted in will and blood," Asher replied. "That vine, the Crimson Bloom, isn't a summoned object. It's part of you now—your instinct, your rage, your protection. The more you treat it as a tool, the weaker it gets. But the more you treat it like a limb… the more terrifying it becomes."

Veyra paused, then nodded. "Then I'll learn to breathe with it."

Asher smiled faintly. "Good answer."

He turned, and Valeris appeared beside him in a shimmer of soullight. "We've wasted enough time here," she said, eyes scanning the now-scorched training grounds. "Shardrift Valley is waiting."

Veyra hesitated. "Why there?"

Her voice held more confusion than fear, though her vines subtly coiled tighter around her wrists.

Valeris looked at her with a raised brow. "You've heard of it, haven't you?"

Veyra nodded slowly. "Isn't Shardrift Valley… forbidden? Eternal night blankets that place. Nocturnal beasts roam freely. Some say ancient monsters still dwell there. Even… vampires." She bit her lip, her voice lowering. "Though I know that's probably just a myth."

Asher laughed, shaking his head. "In this world, yeah. Vampires, werewolves, fae—just myths people whisper about around campfires."

"But," he added, gaze darkening slightly, "I've been to other worlds. And in a few of them… those myths are very real. And very deadly."

Veyra blinked.

Valeris continued, her tone cool. "Shardrift isn't just dangerous—it's natural selection incarnate. The strong thrive, the weak perish. It's the perfect forge for you."

"Forge?" Veyra asked.

"To temper you," Asher said. "The best blades are made from pressure, heat, and violence. And the best Evolvers are no different. In that valley, even your instincts won't be enough unless you sharpen them."

He turned toward the transport platform, his cloak fluttering behind him. "Of course, we're going there to train. But not just to survive. You need to learn how to thrive in the worst conditions. If you can fight through Shardrift's beasts… you'll be ready for anything."

"And besides," he added with a grin, "whoever first came up with the idea of training by nearly dying every hour… must've been a damn barbarian."

Valeris smirked faintly.

Veyra swallowed, then nodded. "Then let's go."

Moments Later — Edge of Shardrift Valley

The portal hummed behind them as the world twisted into gloom. The sun was gone—lost behind a swirling curtain of black mist that never lifted. Wind howled low across the cracked valley floor, and every breath they took tasted of old ash and stone.

Far ahead, violet lightning danced across distant peaks. Broken towers jutted from the ground like the ribs of ancient giants. Echoes of something primal moved beneath the soil.

Veyra looked around, her vines twitching. "It feels like… the whole place is watching."

Asher didn't deny it. "It is."

A low growl rumbled from deeper within the valley.

Valeris reached for her sword, her eyes beginning to glow. "Welcome to your next lesson."

A distant howl echoed, low and drawn-out, threading through the ruined valley like a warning. Veyra's vines coiled tighter around her arms, reacting to the pulse of foreign energies in the soil and air.

Asher glanced at her, then forward again. "First lesson. Always assume something is hunting you here. Because it is."

They walked in silence for a few minutes, their boots crunching against black shale and bone dust. The terrain twisted unnaturally—trees grew downward from rock arches, their roots blooming with violet thorns. Occasionally, the ground trembled beneath them, as if something massive shifted deep below.

Valeris was calm, her hand never far from the hilt of her weapon. "We'll start with a basic principle," she said. "Adaptability. Here, static skill rotations will get you killed. The valley breeds unpredictability. Which means you learn to improvise or die."

Veyra nodded slowly. "Then tell me what to do."

Before Valeris could respond—

CRASH.

The ground split open behind them, and a skeletal beast burst from the fissure. It had a long neck like a serpent, but its limbs were jointed like a panther's—its body wrapped in half-decayed sinew and layered obsidian bone.

Its eyes burned with the Law of Hunger.

"Scatter!" Asher barked.

Valeris shot to the left, vanishing in a blur of light. Asher's cloak snapped back as he leapt upward, sword drawn. Veyra hesitated for just a moment—but her instincts kicked in. She slammed her hand into the ground, and from her palm crimson vines exploded outward like blooming roots, creating a wall of barbed wood and blood-veins between her and the beast.

The skeletal monster collided with her defense, and shrieked as the vines pierced through its ribs, beginning to drink its marrow.

Asher's eyes glinted.

"She's syncing with the Blood Root skill instinctively now," he muttered.

The beast thrashed, breaking through—but slowed, its movements erratic.

Veyra flung her arm wide, and the vines twisted violently, snapping the beast's rear leg. She dodged to the side just as it lunged for her, letting it sink its skull into the dirt. Before it could recover, Valeris appeared above it like a falling star—her blade humming with Soul Light—and cleaved the head clean off.

The body slumped.

The valley fell still again, but the silence felt tense—like breath held in the dark.

Veyra knelt down beside the corpse, touching the blood-soaked ground. "Its blood… is strange."

Asher approached, crouching beside her. "It was infused with the Law of Hunger. Not just a beast—but a failed Ascendant. You'll meet many here. This valley is a graveyard of those who tried to conquer it… and failed."

Valeris stepped beside them. "Which means this was just the beginning."

She nodded toward the deeper fog-shrouded cliffs, where whispering winds carried the scent of rust and bone.

"Lesson two," Asher said softly. "You're never done. Not until you leave… or the valley claims you."

Veyra looked up at them both. She was breathing hard—but her eyes gleamed with fierce determination.

"Then let it try," she said.

As the pale mist rolled in again, thick and low like a creeping tide, Asher stood and dusted off his gloves. He looked down at Veyra, who was still crouched beside the broken corpse of the skeletal beast, her hands lightly trembling from exertion—but her eyes were sharp, and her breathing steady.

"You held your ground," he said. "That was your first real kill. Remember how it felt."

Veyra nodded, blood-specked vines retreating back into her arms.

Valeris crossed her arms, watching the horizon where the fog shimmered with strange shapes. "It's time," she said. "You've seen what this place is like, Veyra. Now it's your turn to face it without our hands holding you."

Veyra looked up at them sharply. "Alone?"

Asher's tone was calm, but absolute. "Yes. For the next day and night, you'll remain here in Shardrift Valley. Alone."

He turned and pointed toward a jagged ridge in the distance, where the ground split into a yawning crevasse and strange glowing plants pulsed with eerie life. "You're to reach that ridge by dawn. Hunt, evade, survive—use your instincts, your powers, and your will."

Veyra opened her mouth, then shut it. She looked once at the corpse beside her… and then toward the distant ridge. Her expression hardened.

Asher continued, "We'll be watching. Hidden. If something happens that you truly can't face, we'll intervene. But otherwise… this is your trial."

Valeris added, softer now, "You won't grow into what you can become by standing in our shadow forever."

Veyra stood. She brushed a smear of dirt off her cheek and turned her gaze to the ridge. "Then I'll see you there as soon as I can."

Asher nodded once. "Take your time but not more than a month."