The man blinked, seeming to come out of shock. "Bears started to come out of that rift immediately after its appearance. Attacking everyone in their sight. It was chaos."

"Who contained the beasts? I see many corpses littering the floor."

The man looked confused. "It was a young kid, maybe eighteen or slightly older. He had a staff, used fire and earth magic. He killed everything. Even that." He gestured to the grizzly's corpse.

Isabelle's blood ran cold. "One awakener? Are you certain?"

"Yeah. Just him. He fought all of them alone. Was incredible. Must be a second sanctuary awakener to be that strong, right?"

Isabelle nodded. A second sanctuary awakener would make sense for this level of carnage, but they are rare, valuable and busy.

Perhaps it was a travelling Second Sanctuary awakener, who managed to help in time.

"What did he look like?"

"Uh, average height, dark hair, wearing a cloak. Had a wooden staff. Young face."

Before Isabelle could process this, voices appeared behind her.

"Manager, this is Response Team Seven. We've arrived at the location."

Isabelle turned toward the approaching team, five awakeners in standard combat gear, weapons drawn.

"You cleared the rift so quickly?" Isabelle asked, confusion evident in her voice. The timeline didn't make sense.

The team leader, a man in his thirties with a scar across his jaw, looked equally confused.

"What are you talking about, Manager? We just arrived. Haven't entered yet."

Isabelle's eyes snapped back to the portal.

Still occupied by whoever had gone inside.

Horror dawned on her face as understanding crashed down.

"Who entered the rift?!" she demanded, whirling back to the man she'd been questioning.

"The young man," he replied, pointing at the portal. "The one who killed all the bears. He walked right in maybe two minutes ago."

Isabelle stared at the rift, her composure cracking.

Someone had entered a B-rank First Order rift. Alone. A rift spawning level twenty creatures. Without backup or support.

Isabelle had already dismissed the possibility of the awakener being from the second sanctuary. Being young didn't necessarily exclude someone from reaching that tier—history had its share of prodigies who'd ascended before their twenties.

But there was something no human had ever been able to circumvent, a fundamental law enforced by the sanctuary system itself: Second sanctuary awakeners couldn't enter first sanctuary rifts or the first sanctuary itself.

The dimensional barriers rejected them. Their enhanced bodies and evolved classes were incompatible with lower-order spaces. It was an absolute restriction.

Rifts spawning beasts at level twenty-five and below were classified as first sanctuary rifts, and only first sanctuary awakeners could clear them.

Which meant whoever had just walked into that portal was a young awakener of the first sanctuary, powerful beyond reason for their tier, and apparently insane enough to enter an B-rank rift alone.

Isabelle's hands clenched into fists. "Get me a direct line to headquarters, now! Someone find out who that awakener was!"

♢♢♢♢

Inside the rift, Moon found himself standing in the middle of a dense forest.

Massive trees stretched overhead, their trunks scarred with claw marks that ran deep into the wood.

They were territorial markings left by generations of bears. The bark had been stripped away in places, revealing pale wood underneath where the creatures had sharpened their claws.

The ground was worn smooth along specific paths, packed dirt trails created by countless paws traveling the same routes repeatedly. These paths branched out like veins through the forest, connecting different areas of the habitat.

Bones littered the clearings between trees. Different creatures of various shapes and sizes that had fallen prey to the bears. Some were fresh, still carrying scraps of meat. Others were old, bleached white by time and weather.

Large earthen dens had been dug into hillsides and beneath exposed root systems, their entrances wide enough to accommodate the bears' bulk.

A stream cut through the territory, its banks churned to mud by heavy traffic. Fish bones and scales scattered along the water's edge marked it as a primary food source.

And surrounding Moon, drawn by his sudden appearance in their domain, were nearly fifteen bears.

They ranged from level thirteen to fifteen, their eyes locked onto the intruder with unmistakable malicious intent, growls rumbled from their chests in warning.

"Alright then, let's see what you've got."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Moon raised his staff as the fifteen bears spread out, encircling him.

Fire gathered at the staff's tip. The nearest bear charged. It was a level fourteen with a scarred muzzle and eyes burning with fury.

Moon released his spell, sending carnage towards the charging beast.

BOOM!

The fireball caught it mid-stride, flames washing over its head and chest. The creature's roar cut off as it collapsed, smoke rising from charred fur.

[You have killed a level 14 Forest Bear.] [You have gained 35 lives.]

Two more bears lunged from different angles. Moon spun, his staff sweeping low. Earth erupted beneath one bear's paws, stone spikes impaling its legs.

Growl!

With the first trapped temporarily, the second got closer with its claws extended to deal a fatal blow.

Moon's staff held firm against its jaw, the impact reverberating through reinforced wood.

He followed up with a fireball at point-blank range.

Boom!

[You have killed a level 15 Forest Bear.] [You have gained 50 lives]

The trapped one was still struggling. Moon ended it with another fireball.

[You have killed a level 13 Forest Bear.] [You have gained 35 lives]

Only twelve out of the fifteen circling him were left alive. Soon enough, that number would reach zero.

They came all at once, not giving him a chance to finish them off.

They had tested him as a threat. Now, it was time for aggression.

Moon unleashed fire in a sweeping arc, the flames cutting through multiple targets. Three bears caught in the blast, their fur igniting instantly. They rolled, trying to extinguish themselves, but Moon's fire clung like napalm.

[You have killed a level 14 Forest Bear.] [You have gained 40 lives]

[You have killed a level 13 Forest Bear.] [You have gained 35 lives]

[You have killed a level 15 Forest Bear.] [You have gained 55 lives]

By killing three of the bears with one attack, only nine remained. Although that was great news, the fire was spreading fast in the jungle.

Whether it was dry leaves, dead wood, or all kinds of inflammable materials, they caught fire.

The trees with their stripped bark caught it rather quickly, flames climbing toward the canopy.

Smoke began to fill the air, a thick cloud of smoke that even Moon started choking.

'Shit!'

Due to the smoke, Moon couldn't see properly. The bears were shadows moving through smoke, using the chaos to close the distance.

Claws raked across his cloak. The enchanted fabric had absorbed most of the impact, but Moon felt the pressure and felt how close that attack had been to injuring him. He retaliated, sending an attack hurling in the direction of the bear attack.

Unfortunately, it was a miss. The bear was already gone, circling around with its crew.

Realising he was at a disadvantage, Moon switched elements immediately. He wanted to level the field once again, to make it more favourable

Water gathered in his hands, and he sent it outward in a wave, dousing the nearest fires, clearing the smoke enough to see.

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