In the Mortal Realm, night reigned.

The sky stretched like a dark sea above, scattered with cold, distant stars. A crescent moon hung like a silver scythe, its light bathing the snow-covered mountains in a quiet, ghostly brilliance.

Once hailed as some of Europe's finest natural wonders, these mountains had become twisted. Warped by time, neglect, and invasion, they were now fertile grounds for cursed creatures. The sheer number of Gates that opened here had turned this region into one of the most dangerous on Earth.

And, as cruel fate would have it, Luna's Gateway had led her right into the heart of it.

She had barely made it through to the other side because of the collapsing Gateway. And in the end, Luna was forced to cut her way past a wave of cursed beasts to earn her return to the Mortal Realm.

The battle was brutal, but she survived. Of course she did. She wasn't the same girl who had once wandered into the divine realm, trembling and unsure.

Her strength was now honed. It was sharpened to absolute perfection with no drawbacks.

However, in this fight, Luna held herself back. She refused to draw her sword, instead relying on the life essence within her body—and the ambient essence drawn from the world itself.

Commanding essence had once been an impossible task. Without her master's guidance, she had stumbled through her early efforts blindly. But after unlocking the full potential of the Gate of Insight, Luna began to sense the threads of the world more clearly.

She could now touch them and even shape them. The power of the world was now something she had access to—barely.

But not all essence was equal. Her own was pure, serene, a pale golden current that soothed and flowed. But Razchar's essence was violently red and seething with divine pride.

It had mixed with her soul gate, but it still raged like a wildfire caged in crystal. His lineage had grown more natural thanks to Luna's special lineage, and this imbalance had stained her Soul Gate, tainting her path to the Second Gate.

This was a problem the current Luna could not take care of. Her authority of the essence of the world was still weak, and the weakness could be seen in the pathetic weapons she manifested.

When she attempted to wield Razchar's volatile essence, it rejected her outright. As though it still judged her unworthy.

Razchar's power pulsed inside her like a second heartbeat, heavy and unreachable. And yet, she had long made peace with it. Power meant nothing if she couldn't wield it. It was a throne built in a sealed room.

"This is so frustrating…" Luna's voice trembled, barely louder than the wind.

She stood over the twitching corpse of the largest cursed beast she'd encountered in the range—a monstrous bear, its fur as pale as ice.

Its eyes, once glowing with ancient malice, were now empty. It had led a pack of white-furred monsters after smelling the blood. But they were now all dead, killed by her swift hand.

The golden glow of her qi flickered weakly across her skin before fading. Her shoulders heaved as she knelt beside the fallen beast, her breath shallow and ragged. She extended her hands over its chest, struggling to draw in the last threads of its fading life essence.

She needed it. For strength, and to practice stubborn sorcery that had refused to evolve in two full years.

Nothing came easily anymore, even with her talent. Her memories were clearer now, but nothing about sorcery had been revealed.

She did get glimpses of distant memories of when the Feng clan was still in the Divine Realm. But these memories were very hard to recover, even though she was also cursed. Missing memories of her childhood often resurfaced, memories of the mysterious knight who trained her battle aura. And the harsh fights her father put both her and her sister through.

Aside from those, most memories were still covered in a haze.

Her eyes lifted, scanning the horizon. The sphere of white light that marked the Gateway had fully vanished.

"The Gateway's gone," she muttered.

Only a few cursed tyrants had made it through the Gateway before its collapse—and most of them had already fallen to Luna's traps and quiet blade.

Now, the snow-covered mountains stretched endlessly before her.

Luna descended them in silence, weaving through jagged paths and ancient trails, always careful to avoid the heavily Ether-polluted zones. Any creature reckless enough to lunge at her met a swift, silent death.

The snowstorm howled like a beast, the wind biting against her cloak. But Luna didn't falter. She'd once crossed a frozen wasteland crawling with predators—and survived a Kraken attack on a glacial sea. This was nothing by comparison.

Above, cursed winged beasts circled the skies, shadows slipping across the white earth. A few dipped low, scanning for life. But her refined cognition skills and the stealth enchantments of her cloak kept her invisible to them.

She reached the base of the mountain moments before sunrise. The cold light of morning touched the sky's edge as she activated her watch.

A flicker of static buzzed across the small screen before it finally synced with the local network.

Beep!

[Identified Red Zone: Elbrus. Please evacuate to the nearest Green Zone.]

Luna narrowed her eyes.

"Northern Settlement…" Luna muttered, squinting at the snowy horizon. "If I remember correctly, the nearest Green Zone from Elbrus is twenty kilometers east."

She paused. A frown formed. "Or is it west?"

Her voice dripped with irritation as she bit her lower lip. Being away from the Mortal Realm for so long had dulled her knowledge, and now it was coming back to bite her. A Feng forgetting the orientation of Green Zones was like a scholar forgetting the alphabet—humiliating.

There had been a time when she could list every operational zone on each continent from memory. But now, she stood in the snow, rubbing her temple like a lost traveler.

'Pathetic,' she scolded herself.

Still, there was a plan. If she could find a Green Zone, she'd be scanned for infection, cleared, and then processed into the main sector, along with the other refugees. Once inside, she could quietly join the Ascender Agency operating on this continent. It would allow her to blend into the crowd and move freely, and climb up in the social rankings.

***

The morning sun finally broke over the horizon, casting its golden hue across the endless white. There was still no sign of the Green Zone. Just cold wind and the eerie silence of a cursed mountain range.

'Ascenders should've been deployed to investigate the gate rupture,' she recalled, thinking back to Mira's briefing.

That's when an idea struck.

Her eyes lit up as she glanced at her reflection in a pool of melted snow. With practiced ease, she dismissed her armor, leaving her in normal clothes and the enchanted cloak. She ran her fingers through her hair, tangling it with effort. Then, she rubbed dirt over her arms and legs, smearing streaks across her skin and cloak.

She tore a few seams in her clothes for good measure and added bruises using minor essence manipulation to discolor her skin. When she was done, Luna looked every bit the distressed survivor.

Then, she sat on a protruding rock, hunched over with her arms wrapped around her knees, and waited.

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Hours passed before her ears twitched at a distant hum—growing louder, closer.

'A vehicle.' She tensed, readying her mind to play the role she'd crafted.

'Let's see if the heroes bite.' Quickly, Luna pushed herself to her feet and turned westward.

There, cutting through the snowy haze, was a large armored vehicle rumbling toward the base of the mountain. Its treads crushed the frost beneath it with mechanical ease, and the sun gleamed off its steel plating.

Beside the vehicle strode a magnificent orange lion, its mane a living flame under the morning sun. A rider sat atop the beast, clad in light blue metal armor, a silver lance in his right hand. His long, dark hair whipped in the wind, and the sheer presence he radiated left no doubt.

He was an Ascender.

The vehicle halted a few dozen meters from the base, letting out a low hiss as its doors slid open. Armed personnel spilled out, swift and disciplined. Their weapons were sleek and deadly, their scanners humming as they swept the terrain for anomalies.

'This is it,' Luna thought when she saw the approaching group.

She adjusted her posture, just enough to look frail but not suspicious. Each step down the slope was careful, hesitant, as if every movement required willpower. Her face shifted—eyes wide and wild with manufactured fear, lips trembling with fake trauma.

Then, she stepped into view and screamed:

"HELP! HELP ME! PLEASE!"

Her voice rang through the cold air like a bell.

Dozens of heads snapped toward her. Shock swept through the personnel. Some paled at the sight of her—bloody, bruised, and seemingly broken.

The trained among them didn't hesitate, and Ascenders rushed into action, weapons materializing in flashes of light and essence.

The rider on the lion pointed his lance toward her, then motioned for his unit to move.

'Only seven Ascenders. Two summoners—their aura density gives them away. Not bad…' Luna concealed her sneer beneath trembling breaths as she stumbled forward, each step carefully choreographed.

Then, she collapsed into the snow, limbs limp, body heaving…as though strength had finally abandoned her.

Three Ascenders broke formation and rushed to her, their steps urgent but controlled. The man with the silver spear led the way, flanked by two others bearing the insignia of House Ares.

Behind them, the orange lion padded through the snow, its molten eyes fixed on Luna. Its rider, the spear-wielder, slowed as he approached her. He didn't lower his weapon. Not yet.

They weren't careless. Some Cursed beasts could mimic distress. And demons could copy the cries of the desperate. These were trained Ascenders—they knew better than to be fooled by emotion.

"Identify yourself!" the rider commanded. His voice cut through the icy wind like steel through silk—clear, unwavering, impossible to ignore.

Luna looked up at the spear poised inches from her face, her expression perfectly calculated: dazed, fearful, confused. Her voice cracked with fake exhaustion.

"L-Lara… It's all I remember. Where am I?" she stammered, her gaze unfocused, blinking against the blinding white of the snow.

The spear didn't move. But his brows furrowed, visibly confused. This woman was a mortal.

"You don't know where you are?" His tone softened slightly, though still edged with suspicion. "You're in the Northern Continent. This region is classified as a red zone—Elbrus sector. My name is Ethan Ryize, rank-three Ascender of House Ares."

He lowered the spear an inch. He sensed no hostility coming from her.

"Tell me," he said, watching her every blink, "where did you come from?"

Luna lifted a trembling finger toward the towering mountain behind her. "I… I woke up there," she gasped. "I've been trying to get down for five days."

Her voice cracked with a believable desperation as she reached out and clutched Ethan's spear, her body shaking. "The Mighty Ares has heard my prayers… even in his grave. Thank the gods. Thank the gods indeed."

Ethan flinched slightly at her touch but didn't pull back. His eyes scanned her torn clothes, frost-bitten fingers, dried blood on her arms and legs, and a hollow look in her eyes that made her seem both broken and blessed to be alive.

He turned his head toward the mountain, taking in the ridge and the trail she might've used. Then he looked back down at the woman still clinging to his weapon.

Her voice had sincerity. Her posture screamed exhaustion. And her face, though dirtied and worn, carried a natural softness—young, vulnerable, yet oddly composed beneath the tears.

'A trafficked survivor, he thought grimly. 'They've been using this region more often…'

"Poor girl," he muttered under his breath.

With a flick of his wrist, the silver lance vanished into flickering particles. He crouched beside her, resting a careful hand on her shoulder, firm but not invasive.

"We've got you now," he said gently. "You're safe."

He turned to the other two Ascenders. "Fan out. Check the path she came from. Scan for signs of life—or corpses."

The two men nodded and headed up the slope without a word, vanishing into the whiteness.

Luna kept her head low, facing the snow-speckled ground as her thoughts raced. 'He believes me.'

But she didn't dare let down her guard—Ascenders weren't easily fooled, and one wrong move could bring the whole act crashing down.

Suddenly, Luna felt a ripple in the air when a dome of blue light shimmered into existence around them.

Ethan's power hummed gently as it expanded from his body in all directions, pushing through the cold like a calm breeze. It felt like a scan, a detection ability, designed to sense hidden threats. But also warm like a protective ability.

'Damn.'

Luna resisted the urge to flinch. She kept her breathing erratic, her muscles weak, her presence small as she watched the barrier spread.

Ethan stood again, eyes narrowing as he studied the reaction from his dome.

"Remember," Ethan called out, his voice steady and commanding, "you're only stronger inside my territory. Step outside the dome, and the power boost vanishes. Stay alert."

His remaining teammates gave curt nods, already adjusting their formation to remain within the glowing blue radius.

Ethan turned back toward the girl, still kneeling in the snow. He extended his gloved hand, his tone softening. "Come on. Let's get you to the ATV. We'll run a check for infection. If you're clear, we'll escort you to the nearest Green Zone and try to locate any of your family."

Luna hesitated for only a breath before she nodded, eyes still wide with faux fear. She reached up and grasped his hand with shaking fingers.

'His ability… It's a territory? Incredible. It now makes sense why they're so little.'

As she was lifted to her feet, Luna's eyes briefly scanned the shimmering dome around them. The subtle hum in the air wasn't just for show—she could feel it enhancing her strength, refining her senses. It wasn't overwhelming, but noticeable enough that a skilled warrior would detect it.

'This domain doesn't just boost the strength of others—it stabilizes them, she mused. 'If I used it now, I could crush half this squad in a blink.'

But she stayed in character—weak, tired, harmless.

Ethan half-carried her to the large Army Transport Vehicle, his orange lion following silently at his heels like a living shadow.

The rear doors hissed open, revealing a pair of medics and two scientists in sterile suits waiting by a scanning capsule.

"She's clean," one of the medics reported moments later, blinking in mild disbelief as Luna's vitals lit up the screen. "No infection markers. No signs of corruption. She's... completely stable."

"She made it down from the mountain alone and untainted?" murmured one of the scientists. "That's impossible."

But Ethan didn't question it. "Sometimes, luck favors the unfortunate," he said with a faint smile. It was hard to believe this girl wasn't an ascender.

With the check complete, Ethan waved off a junior officer and gestured to the resting berth in the back of the vehicle. "She can take my bunk for the ride. Make sure she gets food and heat."

"But sir—" the officer began.

"That's an order."

Luna allowed herself to be led further inside. She sat on the edge of the padded berth, curling her legs in and wrapping herself in the emergency thermal blanket they provided.

Her expression remained blank—exhausted, traumatized, but subtly observant beneath the surface.

'What a gentleman.' She thought to herself with a wicked sneer.

Luna sat quietly, tucked beneath the emergency blanket, her body resting, but her mind sharp. Through the narrow, reinforced window beside her berth, she observed the organized chaos beyond.

The mundane scientists were busy setting up their portable workstations, scanning the area for residual energy signatures. The collapsed Gate had left a lingering pulse—an echo of its grade and magnitude. Each wave of residual energy gave the researchers a rough estimation of what kind of threat had passed through.

The ascenders, meanwhile, stood like sentinels at the border of Ethan's domain of power. They weren't here to purge the mountain—they were a shield to ensure nothing made it past the perimeter toward the civilian Green Zones.

They would only engage if a cursed creature came too close.

Luna's eyes caught a flash of light at the edge of the snow field.

Ethan was outside the dome now, far from its protection. He and the female summoner were cutting through the rocky terrain, hunting down stragglers and searching for other survivors.

'They're thorough,' she noted. 'Too thorough.'

Satisfied, Luna leaned back onto the berth, then rolled onto her side. Her body was exhausted, but sleep was a luxury she couldn't afford—not yet.

With a deep breath, she shifted into a seated position, crossing her legs atop the thin mattress. She closed her eyes, silencing the world beyond the armored walls, and retreated inward.

Her breathing slowed as she started purifying the essence she had stored in her soul.

Through experience, Luna had learned that followers of the True Path could also improve the quality of their essence, like Zenshi users. She could absorb essence, purify the high-quality qi, and merge it with her weak essence to improve its quality.

Right now, her essence was of Level One Mastery. And if she moved higher, her essence might change to a more definitive color like Victor's essence, which was silver.

She dove deep into her soul gate as she entered a true meditative state. The Soul gate is what linked Luna with the Divine Realm and her lineage.

As long as the gate wasn't destroyed, her true ascension was still in reach. But if it shattered, she would die instantly because, unlike a zenshi soul gate, this was connected to her life force.

Luna continued purifying the foreign essence. After purifying it, she directed it to her soul gate and late it merge with the pale gold essence in the golden ring.

After a couple of hours, Luna had only purified about thirty percent of the essence she had siphoned. 'This is going to be harder than I expected. I shouldn't have killed so many creatures.'

Nevertheless, Luna kept her eyes closed as she guided more pure essence into her soul gate to turn her mortal qi into something much greater.

When she opened them again, the world was bathed in the orange evening light. The vehicle was in motion already.

'Have I been cultivating the whole day?' Luna was surprised it took that long to finish the energy she had siphoned from the cursed creatures.

The door hissed open, and a woman stepped in. She was tall, regal, and breathtakingly beautiful. Her snow-white hair was short, matching her pale complexion.

Her eyes were cold grey, almost translucent, like twin shards of frozen lake water.

In her arms, she carried a neatly folded tracksuit, freshly laundered and warm from the press.

"Good evening, Lara," she said, her voice as smooth as wind across snow. "I brought you something clean to wear. Thought you might like to freshen up before joining us for dinner with the rest of the team."

Luna took the clothes gently, nodding with slow, deliberate gratitude. "Thank you, Miss Ascender… Did you find anyone else?"

The woman sighed, her expression softening with regret. She shook her head.

"Unfortunately, no. It looks like you're the only one who made it out." She offered a small, comforting smile. "And please…call me Ascender Nali. Or White Fang, if you prefer."

"Thank you… for saving my life," Luna said, voice barely above a whisper.

"It's what we do," Nali replied warmly. "Now go ahead and get changed. Then come eat with us. We have meat on the fire and real pie. Trust me, no one says no to that."

As soon as the word 'pie' hit her ears, Luna's stomach twisted with yearning. She hadn't had real pie in years. The thought alone made her mouth water.

"I'll be there," she said, still lowering her gaze.

Nali gave her a reassuring nod and stepped out, the door sliding shut behind her with a soft hiss.

Only then did Luna exhale.

'So this is the real white Fang.' Luna was familiar with that name because White Fang was actually someone she had trained with a long time ago in the White Dragon Sect, which was one of the main Feng Sects. But Luna never caught up to her because she never awakened to advanced in ranks.

'She was always a fun sparring partner. It's no surprise she picked House Ares. The warmongers were always good at growing combat skills.' Luna recalled her sessions with Darkness from years ago.

Remembering the life she sacrificed often left Luna feeling depressed. But sacrifices needed to be made. If it hadn't been for her Storm Rider's sacrifice, then a lot more people could've died that day.

The sacrifice she made was the reason why many people returned to their families that day. But because of the curse, Storm Rider remained a mystery to most. While people like Lena, Darkness, and Snow remembered her vaguely.

After changing into the tracksuit, Luna left the room and joined the group for dinner. It would be impolite to avoid her rescuers after all they've done for her.

She joined the group on a small table and sat right next to Nali who offered her plate with some food already on it. She wasn't lying when she said they had a lot of meat because that's what 90% of her plate consisted of. Two sausages, four pieces of ready stake garnished with herbs (which she appreciated), some "Beacon" with a side of beans and steamy rice.

Luna looked around and noticed that this table only had the researchers. Ethan and the ascenders were missing for some reason.

"Excuse me, is it okay without Ascender Ethan?" Luna asked innocently, keeping her confused damsel act.

"He's with the others, fighting some creatures that were chasing after the vehicle a while back. They'll catch up with us later." Nail explained as she started eating her meal.

Luna looked back at the researchers. The army vehicle was large enough to support twenty people—there were eleven researchers each one of them dressed in a lab coat as a sign to show that. They were all mundane but shared a common trait of a dormant spark of divinity in them.

Luna could feel the weak divinity.

'All of these people want to become ascenders, too?'

Luna didn't ask questions after noticing that. Many people had their reasons to ascend. Some had already foreseen the end of the Mortal realm, while others needed the money and opportunities that came along with it. And the minority ascended because they were as curious as these researchers.

'Ascension always came with a price.' Luna turned her focus to her food. The meat was top tier, so she found herself eating everything on the wide plate.

When dessert arrived, Luna was only saddened by the fact that she received only one piece because this was the best pie she'd had in a long time.

'I want to learn the recipe. Maybe if I asked nicely, Nali might give it to me. But do I even have time for baking?'

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