Ryn stood on the edge of the street, watching the dwarves move through the aftermath of the chaos.

There wasn't even the slightest hint of panic.

Sections of walls that were wrecked by relentless attacks along with any cracks were already being reinforced using either Blessings or their natural affinity to Earth.

Shattered doors were lifted, reset, and sealed, as if nothing had even happened at all.

A dwarf pressed both palms against a collapsed section of masonry, the stone glowed faintly before it groaned slightly and pulled itself upright. Another traced a line of fire along a warped metal frame, heating it just enough to bend back into place before the glow faded.

Ryn exhaled slowly.

He thought he was used to their situation, but the sheer nihilistic endurance of the dwarves never failed to unsettle him.

He turned back to Amelia, who was sitting on the edge of a low stone bench, her expression carefully neutral as a dwarf knelt in front of her. The woman's hand emitted a faint green glow—Life Essence, Ryn noted immediately.

The Affinity was rare so he wasn't expecting to find any healers, but luck always finds its way.

The healer placed two fingers lightly against Amelia's injured leg.

She inhaled sharply, then relaxed.

"It'll take time," the dwarf said after a moment, pulling her hand back. "Nothing permanent. But she shouldn't be moving more than necessary."

Ryn nodded. "How long?"

"A few days. Maybe longer if she pushes herself."

Amelia opened her mouth to protest.

Ryn didn't look at her.

"We'll stay."

The decision was immediate. It'll be better if Amelia is in tip–top shape before making the voyage to Khaz Vordun.

The healer gave a satisfied grunt and rose, already turning toward another injured dwarf.

Amelia stared at Ryn instead.

"You don't have to—"

"I do," he replied quietly.

She saw it then, he looked calm on the outside, but there was a flicker of relief that bled through under his competent gaze.

It vanished almost immediately, buried beneath something sharper as Ryn's gaze drifted back toward the city.

Toward the part that intrigued him most.

Ryn noticed it by the way the dwarves were gathering. Not around the damaged streets or collapsed structures, but the edge of the city, where the panther corpses that he killed had been dragged and laid out with deliberate spacing.

Even after seeing it more times than he could count, it was as uncanny as ever.

Its body was too intact with no visible signs of decay, even though it had been a couple of hours. Its blackened fur absorbed light rather than reflected it, making it look almost invisible at night.

Several dwarves stood around the corpses, tools in hand but unmoving.

They weren't afraid, but cautious.

One of the dwarves noticed him first—one with soot-stained gloves and a pair of magnifying lenses pushed up into his beard. His eyes flicked briefly to Snow on his belt, then back to the corpse.

"So it was you," he said at last.

Ryn nodded once.

The dwarf studied him for a moment longer, gaze lingering just long enough to register the implication. Then he stepped aside without another word, opening a gap in the circle.

An invitation.

Ryn stepped closer.

Up close, the Evernight corruption was unmistakable. Veins of darkened Essence threaded beneath the panther's skin, pulsing faintly even in death.

"We've never managed to kill one intact before," another dwarf muttered. "Usually they retreat… or tear themselves apart before we can pin 'em down."

"Or vanish," someone else added quietly.

Ryn's eyes narrowed.

One of them quickly went to work, using a small dagger to part the panther's hide with precision, through flesh and finally bone.

There was no blood, only the sluggish seep of dark ichor Ryn was too familiar with that evaporated moments after touching the air.

Several dwarves exchanged uneasy looks.

Ryn leaned in slightly.

"Something's wrong," he said quietly.

The soot-stained dwarf huffed.

"You're tellin' us."

They worked deeper, peeling back layers that shouldn't have existed. Muscles gave way until finally they reached the center.

Then one of the dwarves froze.

Ryn stepped closer.

Embedded near the core of the creature's chest, where a heart should've been, something dark glinted under lanternlight.

A crystal.

Filled with black energy that pulsed faintly, as if it hadn't yet realized its host was dead.

Ryn stared at it, his expression unreadable.

But the crystal was unmistakable.

Manalite.

But how did…?

The dwarves hadn't spoken it yet, but everyone could feel the shift. Awe mixed with unease as a shared understanding formed without words.

The same dwarf that carved it, reached in for the core.

A gloved hand moved carefully toward the crystal, metal tongs already angle to lift it free from the panther's chest.

"Easy," someone muttered.

The tongs closed around the jagged edge.

For a single heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then the crystal cracked.

Black veins flared violently, light folding inward as the manalite fractured from the inside out.

"—Back!" Ryn barked.

Snow was already in his hand.

Cold erupted outward in a snap, a wall of ice forming between the circle and the corpse just as the crystal shattered.

Fragments burst outward in a spray of blackened shards and liquid-dark residue.

The moment they struck the wall, ice hissed violently, eating into it almost like an acid. Cracks spiderwebbed instantly, frost evaporating where the corruption touched.

Ryn gritted his teeth and reinforced it, more Essence flooding into Snow as the shield thickened just enough to hold.

Barely.

Silence followed.

The dwarves stared.

One of them took an involuntary step back, eyes locked on the ruined corpse. Another swore softly under his breath.

"That…" the soot-stained dwarf said slowly, "…wasn't supposed to happen."

Ryn lowered Snow, the ice shield cracking and collapsing into frost at his feet.

"It's unstable," he said.

He crouched near what remained of the panther, careful not to touch anything directly. Where the crystal had been, the flesh around it had suddenly turned into a pile of goop, as flesh decayed instantly.

It was like time finally caught up.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.