CHAPTER 61: CHAPTER 56: FIRST BLOOD

Location: Dark Forest - Outer Ring | Doha (Lower Realm)

Time: Day 367, Dawn

Dawn light filtered through the canopy like liquid gold, painting the forest floor in shifting patterns of amber and shadow. Jayde stood at the tree line, one hand resting on rough bark that still held the night’s chill, the other checking the twin blades at her hips for the third time in as many minutes.

Combat loadout confirmed. All systems nominal. Deployment conditions are optimal.

(This is really happening. We’re really doing this.)

The contrast hit like a physical thing. Last time she’d entered this forest, she’d been barefoot and bleeding, half-dead from exhaustion and terror. Desperate. Broken. Running for her life with nothing but survival instinct keeping her moving.

Now she wore proper boots. Combat leathers that fit like a second skin. Blades that sang when drawn. A year of training compressed into muscle memory and tactical awareness.

The forest hadn’t changed.

She had.

"First deployment," she murmured, then stepped forward into the undergrowth.

The moss underfoot gave slightly with each step, soft and yielding, cushioning her movements. The smell hit her immediately—rich, loamy earth mixed with something green and alive. Damp bark. Fallen leaves decomposing into soil. The faint sweet-rot of fungus growing on a fallen log.

Verdant essence concentration elevated. Typical for a deep forest environment. No immediate threats detected in audio signatures.

(It’s beautiful. I forgot how beautiful it is when you’re not running for your life.)

She moved deeper, letting White’s training guide her body. Stay low. Use cover. Watch your footprints. Control your breathing. The lessons had been beaten into her—sometimes literally—until they became instinct.

A branch overhead rustled. Jayde froze, hand moving to her blade.

Just a bird. Some kind of blue-feathered thing with too many tail plumes, essence-touched and glowing faintly in the dawn light. It regarded her with one golden eye, decided she wasn’t interesting, and flew off in a burst of sapphire sparks.

Environmental baseline established. Local fauna undisturbed. No apex predator presence indicated.

She kept moving, following a game trail marked by compressed moss and scattered scat. Old Man’s journals had been explicit about outer ring navigation—the spirit beasts created patterns, territorial boundaries marked by scent and scratching. Learn to read those signs, and you could hunt safely.

Ignore them, and you become the hunted.

The trail wound between ancient trees whose trunks were thick as houses, their canopy so dense above that even midday would feel like twilight down here. Sunlight came in shafts, solid-looking columns of gold that illuminated floating dust motes and made the whole forest feel ethereal. Sacred.

(The forest is watching us. I can feel it.)

Confirmed. Ambient essence readings suggest environmental awareness. Non-hostile assessment. Recommend maintaining respectful behavioral protocols.

Twenty minutes of careful movement brought her to a clearing, maybe thirty feet across. The grass here grew shorter, kept trimmed by grazing. Fresh tracks marked the soft earth—cloven hooves from some kind of deer analogue, the three-toed prints of a razorback boar, and...

There.

Jayde crouched, fingers hovering over the paw prints pressed into mud beside a small stream. Canine. Roughly the size of a large dog. Still damp at the edges, which meant fresh. Very fresh.

Track analysis: Four-toed paw print, retractable claws extended. Estimated weight is forty to fifty pounds. Species identification: ember fox. Cultivation tier: Sparkforged. Threat assessment: moderate in pack formation, minimal as an individual.

She touched the track gently, feeling the shape of it. The Old Man’s notes had been thorough—ember foxes hunted at dawn and dusk, solitary unless breeding or raising young. Cowardly alone, the journal had said. Vicious in packs.

More tracks led away from the stream, heading northwest. Following their line with her eyes, Jayde spotted broken branches at fox height, tufts of orange-red fur caught on thorns. The scent trail would be strong here, the beast marking its territory with musk glands.

Tracking opportunity identified. Target isolated. Recommend pursuit and engagement.

(My first real hunt. First time I’m doing this because I choose to, not because I’m desperate.)

Her heart hammered against her ribs. Not fear. Not exactly. More like... anticipation? Nervousness? The electric feeling before something important happens.

She followed the tracks.

The trail led away from the clearing into denser undergrowth, where ferns grew tall as her chest and strange purple-leaved bushes clustered thick. Jayde moved like White had taught her—three steps, pause, listen. Three steps, pause, listen. Never establish a rhythm an ambush predator could time.

The smell changed. Became sharper. Musky and wild with an undertone of heat, like standing too close to a forge. Sulfur and cinnamon mixed into something that made her nose wrinkle.

Ember fox scent profile confirmed. Target proximity: less than fifty meters. Recommend extreme caution and noise discipline.

She dropped lower, moving from tree to tree, using their massive trunks as cover. Ahead, through gaps in the ferns, she caught flashes of orange-red fur.

There.

The ember fox crouched beside a rotting log, its attention focused on something small and squeaking that it had pinned with one paw. Maybe a mouse analogue. Maybe something stranger. The fox’s fur rippled with internal heat, each hair tipped in actual flame that didn’t seem to burn. Its eyes glowed like coals, orange with inner fire.

Beautiful. Deadly. Perfectly evolved for hunting in a forest rich with Inferno essence.

Target acquired. Tactical assessment: Subject distracted, vulnerable position, optimal strike angle available. Recommend immediate engagement while the opportunity persists.

(It’s going to die. I’m going to kill it.)

The thought made her stomach clench. Not fear. Not even squeamishness, exactly. Just... weight. The reality of taking a life, even a spirit beast’s life, even for survival and training. It meant something.

Acknowledged. First combat kill carries psychological significance. Recommend: fast, clean execution. Minimize suffering. Respect the necessity.

Jayde drew her blade with practiced silence. The leather-wrapped grip felt solid in her palm, familiar weight and balance. She’d trained with this blade for months until it became an extension of her arm.

Three silent steps closer. The fox remained focused on its prey, paw pressing down while its head tilted, considering the best angle for a killing bite.

Two more steps. She positioned her feet carefully, weight balanced, ready to strike.

One more step.

Optimal strike position achieved. Target spine exposed at the neck joint. Recommend downward thrust at forty-five degree angle. Instantaneous spinal severance achievable.

The fox’s head came up, nose twitching.

Now.

Jayde moved like White had drilled into her—smooth, fast, no wasted motion. The blade came down in a controlled arc, all her weight and momentum focused into that single point. Steel met flesh. Parted fur and skin and muscle. Drove through bone with a wet crunch that she felt through the handle.

The ember fox spasmed once. Then went still.

Clean kill. Spinal cord severed. Death instantaneous. No suffering registered. Mission parameters fulfilled.

Jayde stayed frozen, blade buried to the hilt in the fox’s spine, her heart pounding so hard it hurt. The small creature it had been hunting squeaked once and fled into the underbrush, forgotten.

"I did it," she whispered. "I really..."

Her hands started shaking.

Adrenaline response. Normal physiological reaction to combat stress. Recommend: controlled breathing, tactical assessment, resource harvesting.

(I killed it. I really killed it. Really took a life.)

Affirmative. Target neutralized. This was the mission objective.

(But it’s different when it’s real. When you’re the one holding the knife and feeling it go in and—)

Focus. You’ve killed before.

The thought came wrapped in Federation memories—harsh, clinical, undeniable. Images flooded her mind, not requested but provided anyway. Context. Perspective. Truth.

An insectoid warrior from the outer colonies. Eight feet of chitin and mandibles and compound eyes that reflected starlight like fractured mirrors. The memory showed it eviscerating a marine, its serrated claws pulling entrails out in one smooth motion while its victim screamed. The memory showed Jayde—Commander Jayde—putting three plasma bolts through its thorax. The way it had hissed and bubbled and died, acidic ichor eating through the deck plating.

A space beast encountered during a deep patrol. Something that shouldn’t exist according to natural law—a thing of vacuum and radiation and hunger. Massive beyond comprehension, its hide studded with crystalline growths that could slice through battle armor. Corrosive saliva that dissolved whatever it touched. The memory showed it trying to breach their ship’s hull, showed Jayde coordinating the defense, showed the thing finally dying after sustained fire from every weapon they had.

Compared to those nightmares...

An ember fox is mercy.

Jayde pulled her blade free, stepped back. The fox lay still, its internal flames guttering and dying as essence bled from its core. Pretty, in its way. Natural. Clean.

(It’s still... I mean, I know we had to. For training. For points. But it feels different when you’re choosing to do it, not because you’re defending yourself or following orders or—)

The feeling is valid. You’re fifteen years old, experiencing your first deliberate kill. Discomfort is appropriate. But understand: this was necessary. Clean. Humane. You gave it a fast death. That’s more mercy than it would have given its prey.

Jayde knelt beside the cooling body, her hands steadier now. The discomfort remained—a weight in her chest, a tightness in her throat—but it felt... manageable. Acceptable, even. Part of what hunting meant.

"I’m sorry," she told the fox quietly. "Thank you for what you’ll give me."

Then she got to work.

The essence core sat just behind the heart, a crystal roughly the size of her thumb, glowing with trapped Inferno energy. She cut carefully, precisely, using the techniques Isha had shown her in preparation. The core came free with a soft pop, warm against her palm, pulsing with fading light.

Beautiful.

The pelt would be valuable—fire-resistant leather sold well in border towns. The meat was edible, though she’d need to field-dress it properly. Claws and teeth could be used for alchemy or crafting.

Nothing wasted. Respect for what was given.

Golden text scrolled across her vision, the Divine Tome’s interface activating:

SPIRIT BEAST ELIMINATED

Species: Ember Fox

Cultivation Tier: Sparkforged (Mid)

Points Earned: 50

Conversion: 5 Nexus Merits

Total Points:

50/10,000

Mission Progress: 0.5% to Level 2 Contractor

(Fifteen points. That’s... that’s actually good, right? For a first kill?)

Adequate. Sparkforged-tier beasts yield ten to fifty points depending on strength. This specimen was healthy, mid-tier. Fifteen points represents fair value.

She stored the essence core in her void-storage ring, began the process of field-dressing the carcass. The work was messy but not difficult—White had made her practice on training dummies until she could break down a kill efficiently.

(I can do this. It’s not comfortable, but I can do it.)

Affirmative. Initial psychological barrier overcome. Subsequent eliminations will trigger less emotional response. This is a normal adaptation to combat operations.

(I don’t want to stop caring. I don’t want to become cold about it.)

Acknowledged. Maintaining ethical awareness while operating effectively is the goal. You can be both competent and compassionate.

Twenty minutes later, she’d harvested everything useful. The pelt rolled and secured, choice cuts of meat wrapped in treated cloth, bones that might be useful for crafting. Nothing wasted.

Jayde stood, stretching muscles that had gone tense during the focused work. The sun had risen higher, turning the forest from dawn-gold to morning-green. Birds sang in the canopy. Somewhere nearby, water burbled over stone.

First hunt: complete.

First kill: processed.

First step toward becoming the cultivator she needed to be: taken.

(We did it. Together.)

Together, the Federation voice confirmed.

She turned to head deeper into the forest, already scanning for the next opportunity. The Divine Tome’s map showed several more ember fox territories within an hour’s walk, plus some ashclaw badgers and a flame-antlered deer that might be worth—

Rustling.

Jayde froze, every sense sharpening to diamond focus.

More rustling. Multiple sources. Behind her. To her left. Circling around to her right.

Multiple audio signatures detected. Coordinated movement pattern. Assessment: pack behavior.

The undergrowth parted.

Three ember foxes emerged from the ferns, forming a loose triangle around her. Each slightly larger than the one she’d killed, their fur rippling with barely-contained heat. Eyes glowing orange with predatory intelligence.

One yipped—a sharp, high sound that was answered by two more from different directions.

Five total. No. Six. The bushes were alive with orange-red shapes, all converging on her position with chilling coordination.

Threat assessment revised: Critical. Six Sparkforged-tier opponents, pack tactics engaged, surrounded position, coordinated attack pattern imminent.

The Old Man’s journal echoed in her memory: Cowardly alone. Vicious in packs.

(Oh gods. This is bad. This is really, really bad.)

The closest fox lowered its head, lips pulling back from fangs that glowed with inner flame. The others mirrored the posture, spreading out further, cutting off escape routes with practiced efficiency.

They’d been hunting her.

Following her scent while she’d been focused on their pack-mate. Waiting for the moment she’d be vulnerable, distracted, surrounded.

Tactical situation: Compromised. Recommend immediate combat engagement or emergency extraction protocols.

The lead fox took one step forward.

Then lunged.