Before I returned back home our trainer gave me new coordinates for the new unanchored world we’re going to train in but she wouldn’t tell us anything about it, I spent the day mostly napping and meditating and then I stepped back through the portal that Velarion created.

  The sky was a swirling mess of impossible colors, the astral bleeding into the fractured veil of reality . A pinkish hue clashed against streaks of violet and deep indigo, reflections of the cosmic chaos above. Hanging over us, a massive planet loomed in the sky, its surface a churning mass of storm clouds, vast continents barely visible beneath. Several other moons orbited alongside the one we stood on, some close enough to make out jagged mountains or shimmering ice fields, others distant specks against the fractured sky.

  Despite everything I had endured since becoming an Ascendant, I thought the cold didn’t bother me anymore. But this? This was something else entirely. The wind howled through the frozen tundra, an unforgiving force that cut straight to the bone. Every breath felt like inhaling shattered glass, and even my aura flickered slightly in response to the relentless chill.

  Vael’dargar stood in front of us, her arms crossed as her piercing gaze swept over the group. “You’re all too soft,” she declared. “Too cautious.now we’re going to focus on my favorite way to fight, Counterattacks, they are about efficiency, minimizing effort, maximizing impact. But waiting for an opening is weak. You make an opening, you force your opponent to take an action .”

  She jabbed the butt of her spear into the ice. “Pair up. Joro with Bel. Llin with Sylvan. Alex with Thal. We rotate after every match. You have one goal: when your opponent strikes, make them regret it.”

  The fights started fast. Joro pressed forward with his shield raised, trying to push Bel into a bad position, but Bel was used to getting used to staying mobile, twisting away with precise steps. Llin was a blur, shifting between shadow and light as Sylvan kept her at bay with small bursts of wind, using her quarterstaff to redirect her movements. Thal and I circled each other before I lunged with a manifested sword , forcing him to react. He managed to parry with his spear, but I could tell his form was still developing.

  Vael’dargar wasted no time making her dissatisfaction known. “Sloppy,” she snapped, tripping Joro mid-step, sending him sprawling. “You’re relying too much on brute force.” She turned to Sylvan, flicking a small stone at her knee. “Don’t just react, lead your opponent where you want them.”

  It went on like that for what around an hour . Every mistake was met with a swift lesson, usually in the form of a well placed trip or an unexpected strike. When Vael’dargar was finally satisfied or just bored of knocking us over, she pointed toward the tundra stretching beyond our training ground.

  “You’ve wasted enough time,” she said. “We’re moving out. Consider this an exercise in teamwork.”

  Llin groaned dramatically. “Finally! I was starting to think you just wanted to bully us all night.”

  Vael’dargar’s response was to flick another stone at her forehead. “Less talking. More moving.”

  We trudged forward through the snow, the biting cold a constant reminder of how hostile this moon was. The wind howled around us, carrying strange echoes that sounded almost like distant whispers. Then, we saw them.

  They were penguin like creatures, but something was very wrong with them. Their feathers were matted with frost, their eyes clouded and lifeless. Open, frozen wounds still leaked black ichor, staining the snow beneath them. As soon as they spotted us, they let out a shrill, warbling cry and charged.

  Joro stepped forward, slamming his shield into the ground. And Bel yelled “Form up!”

  He had an arrow nocked before the creatures even got close. “They don’t look so tough,” he muttered before loosing a shot. The arrow struck true, piercing one of the creatures cleanly through the chest but it kept moving.

  “What the ”

  Then they were on us. They moved in chaotic swarms, too fast to pin down easily. Joro’s shield held strong against the first wave, but they clawed and pecked relentlessly, forcing him to brace. Llin danced between them, stabbing into their sides, but for every one that fell, another lunged at her. I formed a two handed sword and swung wide, cutting through their ranks, while Sylvan blasted a gust of wind, sending a handful tumbling across the ice then she hurled fire balls at them, the air was filled with the smell of burnt flesh and feathers, Thal kept to the back, keeping an eye on our injuries, but there wasn’t much time to think, only to react.

  Bel loosed another arrow, then ducked as one of the creatures lunged at him. “They’re like little demons,” he muttered. “Furry, squawking demons.”

  Llin grinned as she backflipped over an incoming strike. “You say that like it’s a bad thing!”

  I flinched at her badass and honestly unnecessary backflip expecting the usual punishment from Vael’dargar but nothing happened.

  The fight raged on, but little by little, we gained the upper hand. Sylvan’s fire melted the ice beneath their feet, throwing them off balance, while Joro used his shield to break their formations. I set up energy traps to thin their numbers, and soon enough, the last of them fell, twitching in the snow.

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  Joro exhaled, his breath misting in the freezing air. “That was more trouble than it should’ve been.”

  Vael’dargar, as always, remained unimpressed. “You hesitated. You adapted, but too slowly. Keep moving.”

  Then she was standing next to Llin smacking the back of her head.

  “You know why I hit you, right? ”

  Llin nodded, her shoulders slumped and murmured

  “ the backflip “

  We didn’t argue. We just kept going.

  The tundra stretched endlessly before us, the sky above swirling with otherworldly colors. After an hour of trekking, the terrain shifted. Ice gave way to rocky outcroppings, and the wind carried a new scent, something heavy, musky.

  The ground trembled beneath our feet as the massive creature emerged from behind a ridge of ice. At first, all we saw was the shifting of shadows against the pinkish sky, then the sound of crunching snow, the weight of something far too large pressing into the tundra. When it stepped fully into view, a cold knot tightened in my gut.

  The bear was monstrous. Easily twice the size of any normal bear, with thick fur matted in places with frozen blood and open wounds leaking sluggish, blackened ichor. Patches of its body looked as though they had been gnawed away by something unseen, the flesh underneath marked by dark veins that pulsed unnaturally. Its breath misted in the freezing air, each exhale like the exhaust of some terrible engine. When it roared, the very air seemed to vibrate, a deep and guttural sound that sent a primal shiver down my spine.

  Feraloth Titan (Lev ???)

  The Apex Predator of Vaergrin

  A monstrous beast that dominates the frozen expanse of Vaergrin, the Feraloth Titan is a solitary colossus, unmatched in raw power and endurance. It mates only once in its lifetime, after which it selects a vast hunting ground to claim as its eternal territory.

  Then it charged.

  “Scatter!” Bel barked, already leaping backward and loosing an arrow in one smooth motion. The shot struck true, but the bear barely flinched. It just kept coming, a hulking mass of muscle, fur, and raw momentum.

  Joro was the only one who didn’t move out of the way. He braced his shield, planting his feet as the beast barreled toward him. The impact was thunderous,ice broke around his feet , ice shards flying everywhere, it knocked him clean off his feet. He rolled back several yards, his shield absorbing most of the force, but even that wasn’t enough to keep him upright.

  “Joro!” Llin shouted, vanishing into the shadows as she darted around the beast’s flank.

  I surged forward, a manifested spear forming in my hands as I aimed for its exposed side. My weapon struck, sinking into flesh but not deep enough. The bear twisted, swinging a massive claw in retaliation. I reacted instantly dodging under the swipe and stabbing it in the armpit , but the wind of its strike alone was strong enough to send a shiver down my spine. The sheer force behind that blow could have torn me in half if it had connected.

  Sylvan raised her quarterstaff, eyes narrowing. “We need to stop it from charging again.”

  She slammed her staff into the ground, and a gust of wind erupted from beneath the bear’s feet, kicking up snow and ice in a swirling vortex. The beast stumbled, momentarily unbalanced, but it dug its claws into the frozen earth and pushed through the windstorm with terrifying ease.

  Thal rushed to Joro’s side, gripping his shoulder. A faint glow surrounded his hands as he muttered a quick healing spell. “Get up! We need you!”

  Joro groaned, shaking his head to clear it. “That thing hits like a damn avalanche.” He staggered to his feet, raising his shield just in time to block another incoming swipe. The force sent him sliding back, but he stayed standing this time.

  Bel moved to higher ground, drawing another arrow and taking careful aim. “We need to bait it into committing to an attack.” He loosed the arrow, this time aiming for one of its already open wounds. The creature snarled as the shot hit, but it only made it angrier.

  The bear exhaled sharply, then let loose another ear splitting roar. The sound was so intense it rattled my skull. My vision blurred for a second, my knees buckling under the sheer force of it. Llin, who had been sneaking up for another strike, staggered, her footing slipping on the icy ground.

  “Move!” I shouted, shaking off the lingering stun just as the bear lunged.

  Llin rolled to the side, barely avoiding the massive jaws snapping down where she had been. She wasn’t quick enough to avoid the follow up swipe. The bear’s claws raked across her shoulder, sending her sprawling into the snow with a cry of pain.

  Thal cursed, already moving. “Llin, don’t move!”

  “No promises,” she groaned, clutching her bleeding shoulder.

  The bear turned its attention toward me next. Its blackened eyes locked onto mine, and then it charged again.

  “Not this time,” I muttered, raising both hands. My energy traps flickered to life, wires forming an intricate lattice between me and the beast. It was moving too fast to stop itself, the second its foot crossed the threshold, the energy snapped tight.

  The bear howled, thrashing as the wires dug into its flesh. It was strong, too strong. The trap wouldn’t hold for long.

  “Now!” I shouted.

  Sylvan wasted no time. She raised her staff high, channeling fire into the tip before slamming it into the ground. A burst of flame erupted beneath the bear, searing its underbelly. It roared in pain, thrashing harder against the wires. The scent of burning fur filled the air.

  Bel shot another arrow, this one glowing with a faint golden light. It struck deep into the bear’s chest, embedding itself near its heart. The creature faltered for a second, its massive frame shuddering.

  Joro seized the opening. He charged, shield raised, then slammed it into the bear’s wounded side with all his strength. The impact sent a deep, sickening crack through the air.

  The bear snarled, staggering back, but it wasn’t done yet. With a desperate final effort, it lunged at Joro, jaws wide.

  Llin appeared out of nowhere, her dagger flashing as she struck deep into the bear’s exposed throat. “Die already, you overgrown rug!”

  The bear choked, its roar turning into a gurgle as dark blood spilled from its mouth. It swayed on its feet, then finally collapsed with a heavy thud, shaking the ground one last time.

  For a long moment, none of us spoke. We just stood there, catching our breath, our bodies aching from the fight.

  “Well,” Llin finally said, wincing as she touched her wounded shoulder. “That was fun.”

  Bel shot her a deadpan look. “You have a twisted definition of fun.”

  I let out a shaky laugh, rubbing my temples. “We need to stop finding things that want to kill us.”

  Joro sighed, lowering his shield. “Good luck with that.”

  Thal finished healing Llin, then shook his head. “We should move before something even bigger shows up.”

  We all turned toward the horizon, where a faint glow flickered in the distance. A city. Civilization.

  “Agreed,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  Llin looted the corpse With one last glance at the smoking remains of the fallen bear, we continued forward.

  A city, its silhouette stark against the unnatural sky.

  Llin let out a low whistle. “Well, that’s ominous.”

  Joro adjusted his grip on his sword. “What do you think, Vael’dargar?”

  She simply smirked. “You’re about to find out.”