It took Hazie a few moments to process what was happening, her mind struggling to reconcile Kaiser's sudden burst of agility with everything she knew about human limits being broken by him.

  “H-how can you run so fast?!” she finally stammered, her voice rising over the rush of wind.

  Logically, it made no sense. He's at her age—eighteen—and she was even slightly older by a few months. No teenager, no matter how athletic, should be able to pull off such a feat, especially not while carrying another person and their supplies.

  What puzzled her even more was Kaiser's physique. He wasn’t built like an athlete. His frame was lean but average, devoid of the chiseled muscles and polished appearance that the university's top athletes flaunted. Those guys—arrogant and attention-seeking—loved to show off their sculpted forms, often exaggerating their workouts to impress her with sweaty muscles whenever she's around. Though, she found them more creepy and unsightly rather than attractive, but at least their abilities matched their physiques.

  Kaiser, on the other hand, was different. He didn’t look like he had ever stepped foot in a gym. If anything, his unassuming build suggested he was just another ordinary guy—certainly not someone capable of outrunning the fastest sprinter on Earth while carrying extra weight.

  “I’m in the track club!” Kaiser blurted out an obvious lie, instinctively spouting nonsense to avoid saying what he rather hid.

  "Track club? Really? I’m a sprinting champion in the female division, team captain of the main track team, and an exceptional member of multiple sports clubs. I know every outstanding athlete in the university. You’re not one of them!”

  Kaiser faltered, his lips twitching as he scrambled for a response. “Uh… I practice at home?” He groaned, realizing how ridiculous he sounded. “You know what? Screw it. I’ve killed some eyeless horses or maybe got accidentally married to a murderer that's not even human. Through magic or sheer dumb luck, I’m now fast as f*ck. Does that answer your question? Anyway, where’s the damned cave?”

  A lie is more believable than the crude truth, honestly.

  Rolling her eyes at his antics, she brushed off the strangeness as the result of him being a higher level than most people she encountered and logic of Earth doesn't apply her—or perhaps the effect of some hidden ability. But even that explanation didn’t fully add up.

  Kai already had his glass sword, which she assumed was his core power. Yet the speed and endurance he displayed now felt disconnected from that assumption. Could his ability extend beyond the blade? That said, is his sword even an ability?

  Pushing her curiosity aside, she strained her neck to glance over her shoulder and saw where the problem lays.

  The dim world beneath the ocean-like sky was bizarrely haunting, living up to the term *otherworldly* in many senses. The land was strewn with jagged formations resembling obsidian—though it wasn’t quite the volcanic glass familiar on Earth. Instead, these structures bore an eerie resemblance, sharing its gleaming black sheen but rougher in texture, arranged in ways that defied natural logic. Massive black mountains loomed, yet their contours were neither entirely natural nor artificial, existing in a strange liminal state. It was impossible to tell whether they had been crafted by a twisted hand or shattered by some ancient calamity.

  Right now, Kai are sprinting across this surreal terrain, navigating an area that looked as though a great mountain had been broken into colossal fragments and scattered like marbles. The ground alternated unpredictably between smooth and jagged, forcing Kai to adjust his every step with precision. It was no small feat, especially given the weight he carried and the staggering speed at which he moved. His uncanny ability to maintain his balance without stumbling lent an almost predatory grace to his movements, like a wolf navigating treacherous ground, making Hazie doubt his humanity even more.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  However, despite his extraordinary capabilities. He was still human—or so Hazie thought. If he truly were a flawless being, he wouldn’t be struggling in navigating this nightmarish landscape. The uneven terrain demanded his full attention; the tiniest misstep could send them sprawling and seal their fate.

  Kai’s focus was entirely on the path ahead as he fought to avoid making a fatal mistake. The simple act of looking back—something as trivial as checking the distance between them and the predator—was a luxury he couldn’t afford. One glance over his shoulder could very well doom them both.

  “We’re close,” Kaiser said, his voice cutting through the wind. Ahead of them loomed several dark openings, each one a potential refuge, but his not sure.

  “Which one?” he asked urgently. “Or should I just pick at random?”

  “Don’t!” Hazie snapped. “Pick the wrong one, we’ll end up trapped and starved to death. Just follow my directions!”

  'Good thing I asked, I don't want to be stuck in a cage with that tiradactel waiting outside.'

  To her relief, Kaiser listened without protest. He adjusted his pace, his breathing heavy but controlled as he prepared to follow her lead.

  “Left,” Hazie instructed, her voice sharp and precise.

  Kaiser turned sharply, ignoring a shallow crack in the bounder that deceptively appeared deep earlier as he moved forward.

  “Now right at the split! We're almost there!”

  He complied, his movements quick but deliberate as he navigated the uneven terrain. There was no hesitation in his steps, no stumble or misstep, even as the landscape grew more treacherous.

  The directions seemed to flow smoothly thanks to her accurate guide, the path growing clearer with each turn—until Hazie’s voice suddenly rose in alarm.

  "Stop! Kaiser, STOP!!!"

  Hazie’s shout was abrupt and seemingly irrational. A monstrous glider was bearing down on them, and even with Kai's strength and speed, he was not confident in completely

  outrunning it. Stopping now felt suicidal. However, Hazie surely doesn't wanna die either because they share the same goal of surviving.

  Trusting her words, Kaiser planted his feet into the ground, skidding to an unsteady halt. The force of his momentum nearly sent him toppling forward, and he tightened his grip on Hazie to steady them both with a bit of struggle.

  Before he could even demand an explanation, a gust of freezing wind roared past, ruffling his hair and chilling his skin. Then, in a flash, razor-sharp talons attached to pale, skeletal limbs sliced through the air where they would have been had he taken one more step. The monstrous glider’s dive lasted only a fraction of a second, the aerial terror soaring upward in frustration after its failed strike.

  Kaiser’s breath hitched. If Hazie had not warned him, if he had hesitated to stop even for a split second, those claws would have impaled them both, sending them flying with it as food ready to be dropped from extreme height, or worse.

  The thought sent shivers down his spine.

  He cursed under his breath, his sharp gaze darting between the uneven path ahead and the sky made of luminous water above, where the glider was already circling for another attack. However, Kai can't help but scan around them, a seed of dubiousness blooming in his heart, finding it odd that there were no signs of caves in the distance.

  "This just keeps getting better," he muttered, shaking off the lingering dread and suspicion, may his overthinking it?

  "Where now?"

  "That's close." She let out a sigh of relief, glad to be alive after that and added. "Just keep moving!” Hazie said, her voice resolute and cheering. “We’re almost there. Trust me!”

  Though Kaiser had his doubts, he gave a small nod and adjusted his grip on her slender waist. She wasn’t heavy, but every muscle in his body screamed at him from the constant strain of carrying her while maintaining his blistering pace. Kaiser would have activated his immortality to restore his strained muscles if not for the fact that it would drain what little points he had accomulated.

  Although, the amount was merely three points. It's a pitiful amount that begs to be wasted but it's the only thing separating his record from the level of an infant. Kia had some pride, too. Furthermore, this would be a good chance to train his endurance without cheating by dying, after all, death is bad for one's body. Pushing through the fatigue, he took off again, every step calculated to avoid stumbling over the treacherous terrain.

  The glider’s piercing shriek echoed behind them, fueling his adrenaline. He gritted his teeth and pressed forward, his movements fluid despite the obstacles ahead. The cave had to be closed. Hazie had said it was near.

  But as they sprinted through the jagged black landscape, Kai’s focus shifted from the path to a nagging thought in the back of his mind.

  Something didn’t feel right.

  His frown deepened as realization dawned on him, his sharp eyes narrowing. Then, a sudden grin creeped onto his face—one laced with equal parts frustration and amusement—he called out, his voice ominously cutting through the whistling wind.

  “Hey, Haze… can you stop bullsh*tting?” he said, a dangerous edge creeping into his tone. “We’re nowhere near that cave, are we? It wasn’t supposed to be this far!”

  Hazie didn’t respond immediately, her silence only confirming his suspicion.

  “Thought so,” Kaiser growled, his grin turning into a grimace.

  They're not running... Because she's intending to kill it.

  Without him knowing.