I Can Only Cultivate In A Game

Victor's mood had shifted slightly.

The longer he remained here, the more he understood how heavy the price of war was. Every rock, every skeleton partially buried in ash, told a story. A story that ended with someone not going home.

He didn't just feel like a student here... he felt like a witness.

They moved past heavily-armed bastion outposts that marked the military stronghold within the K-22 sector.

Instructor Rukia stood at the head of the group, clad in her black-and-gray instructor's uniform with a flowing cape trailing behind her as her heel-boots clicked sharply with each step across the reinforced alloy platforms.

Victor strolled lazily near the back of the student group with his hands in his pockets, eyes only half-paying attention.

"Well, well, look at us, walking history textbooks with legs," he muttered under his breath.

Felix who was a few paces ahead, glanced back and snorted. "You're one to talk. I caught you falling asleep during the part about Mana-Fluctuation Suppression Zones."

Victor shrugged. "What can I say? If the enemy's asleep in suspended animation, maybe I should join them."

Some nearby students chuckled.

Instructor Rukia's voice rang out sharply. "Eyes forward. This is the Refinement Point."

They had reached the top of an elevated slope. It was a former hill reshaped during the Drakenar Terraforming Siege thirty years ago. Now, it was a polished platform encircled by glowing blue runes embedded into the metal, surrounded by railings laced with tech-infused glyphs.

Victor narrowed his eyes, letting his vision sharpen through a minor boost of qi. In the distance, red scorched marks still remained on the land.

He suddenly recalled when he fought a Drakenar party leader. The terrain was very similar to this.

Rukia gestured toward the runes.

"This place," she began, "was once a beacon for refining weapons harvested from Drakenar corpses. After the siege, energy experts found it rich in residual elemental traces, especially volatile fire and crystal mana. Now, it functions as an observation deck."

She turned, motioning to the southern edge which was where a restricted area began.

The crowd leaned forward and spotted something unusual.

Encased in glowing, translucent domes and forced to remain in suspended animation were at least ten Drakenars.

Each was easily seven to eight feet tall, with glowing red eyes dimmed in frozen slumber.

Horns coiled in strange patterns from their temples, and their clawed hands were poised as if they had been captured mid-attack.

A murmur rippled through the students.

"So that's what they look like in real life…"

"Creepy."

"Yo, do you think they're like, aware in there?"

"Nah bro, if I were aware and stuck like that, I'd lose my mind."

Victor didn't speak.

He stood at the farthest edge, watching silently.

A strange heat rose in his chest... not due to heat... but due to simmering hatred he was struggling to hold back.

Every cell in his body was begging him to crush the Drakenars left in suspended animation.

Victor clenched his fists slowly with hatred filled eyes.

Not now.

He inhaled, forcing the feeling back down, trying to keep the surge under control.

Beside him, a student stepped closer. "You okay?"

Victor blinked and gave a casual smile. "What, you're worried I'm gonna fall into one of those bubbles and start a diplomatic crisis?"

She squinted at him. "You looked like you were ready to leap in."

"I was just admiring the horns," he replied. "Thinking maybe I should grow a pair for the next costume party. Give me a bit of that bad-boy mystique."

Instructor Rukia continued explaining.

"These Drakenars were intercepted during infiltration attempts after K-22 sector had been claimed. This happens occasionally due to the roaming Drakenars in the surroundings. The magical stasis field is courtesy of Sector-Alpha's advanced animatronic suppression mages. They'll remain trapped here until relocated for research and interrogation—if we ever figure out how to make them speak a language other than guttural roars and fire."

Victor paused when he heard that. 'The War party leader spoke English... is that irregular? Or are they trying to hide the fact that these creatures understand us?'

He couldn't put his thumb around why pieces of info was being left out. He probably would have never known if he had never fought one himself.

The students on the other hand were completely clueless about Drakenars.

Some students stepped closer to the magical field. One boy reached out but before he could make contact...

"Don't touch the stasis barrier," Rukia commanded with narrowing eyes. "You'll get a nice little memory-wipe pulse for your troubles."

Victor's gaze locked onto one of the Drakenars.

This one had faint scars across its cheek and the way the horns curved backward like blades… it was similar.

Could it be?

No, that war party leader head had been incinerated.

And yet…

Killing intent was slowly drifting out of Victor... a penchant urge to snuff each and every one of this magical species out of existence.

He took a half step forward before halting himself. Qi had began to gather around his fngers which was an instinctive attempt to mask an attack with his Void Emperor Bloodline and crush them with his will.

Victor immediately shut it down, gritting his teeth.

Not now.

Not here.

He drew in a slow breath and forced a grin on his face. "Ugly sons of bitches."

...

...

Crackling embers rose lazily into the night sky. The sound of laughter echoed around the flickering orange campfire as several students sat in a loose circle, sharing ghost stories, jokes, and roasted bites of seasoned meat.

The flames cast dancing shadows on their faces, highlighting both excitement and exhaustion from the day's trials.

Victor sat slightly apart, leaning against a smooth stone with arms crossed. His hood was down, and his sharp eyes glinted occasionally in the firelight, but his expression remained distant. He wasn't really listening.

His mind was elsewhere.

—In the past.

"Father, behind you!"

But he had been too slow.

He clenched his jaw as the memory pierced through his thoughts: the moment the lava spear erupted from the Drakenar party leader's hand completely unexpected and flew across the battlefield like a molten comet.

When he sped forward and reached out, only for the lava spear to slip through his fingers before he could clasp it...

When it struck straight through his father's back, instantly cauterizing flesh with its heat and searing through the man's heart.

Victor remembered that frozen second.

The stunned look on his father's face.

The disbelief in his eyes.

And then… the smile.

A weak, blood-smeared smile… as if telling him not to grieve.

Victor had screamed and rushed over, barely managing to grab the corpse before it completely fell. But it was too late. His father was already gone.

Seeing those Drakenar sealed in magical suspension orbs at the edge of the restricted area... still breathing.

He gritted his teeth.

"Yo Vic!"

A light slap landed on his arm, breaking him from the trance. A student named Jonas grinned and gestured toward the circle.

"It's your turn to tell a scary story, man. Don't think you can hide back here forever."

Victor blinked slowly, only now realizing that his fist had been tightly clenched this whole time and his fingers were digging into his palm.

Drip~

A line of fresh blood ran down from his clenched fist.

"Uh, are you okay?" a girl beside Jonas questioned with a look of concern crossing her face.

Victor unclenched slowly. "I'm fine," he muttered while rising to his feet.

"I just need to use the restroom."

Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked away from the firelight, heading into the shadows near the makeshift facility they were camped beside.

He washed his hands slowly at a basin in one of the outer restrooms. The blood swirled into the drain like a ribbon.

He stared at his reflection in the darkened mirror.

"You couldn't save him... but make sure you avenge him... erase the Drakenars..."

Victor exhaled sharply through his nose and looked away.

He stepped outside again and stepped forward unknowingly taking a detour through the side path that led past the restricted zone.

His mind still wasn't settled so he just kept walking and ended up getting lost in the process.

The night wind was cool, but he felt nothing.

After a while, his mind jerked back to reality upon finding himself at a location that he shouldn't be in.

Up ahead were glowing spheres floating five feet above the ground in a sealed alcove.

Suspended inside each was a Drakenar warrior with their reptilian features frozen in place. They all had dark red molten scales and a horned browline.

He instantly paused as the fire he struggled to keep under control initially, threatened to burst forth again.

His hand trembled… and his heartbeat quickened. Killing intent flared from his body like a surging tide, wrapping around him in invisible pressure.

The area trembled slightly causing stones to crack beneath his feet as his Qi churned violently.

Victor took a step forward with his hand outstretched as void qi coiled faintly around his palm.

"They will feel my pain..." his voice trembled as an invisible force wrapped around the head and neck of one of the Drakenars in suspended animation.

"They will pay for what happened to father..."

Just as it was about to crush the skull of this Drakenar...

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

A soft voice rang out from behind.