System: Daily login!!, jackpot on the first day!!!

Askara strode forward, boots crunching over frosted earth as he cut through the absurdly peaceful atmosphere.

Several of the "campers" noticed him, their laughter dying abruptly. The crackle of the campfire and the faint strum of the guitar were the only sounds left.

Anggana, of course, didn't move. His eyes remained fixed on the clouds above, as though the world's troubles were too small to matter.

"Oi, lazy bones," Askara called, his voice dry with irritation. "Explain before I burn this whole picnic down"

One of the students, a lanky boy with messy hair and nervous eyes, jumped to his feet, stepping between Askara and the lounging Anggana. "W-Wait! Don't attack! We, we're not enemies! We've agreed on a truce here. Everyone helps each other, no fighting, no bloodshed!"

Askara's gaze flicked to him, unimpressed. "A truce? In a death trial?"

His mismatched eyes gleamed dangerously. "That sounds like the opening act of a mass grave"

The boy flinched, but another voice, calm, amused, slid into the silence.

"Relax, Aska. You're scaring them"

At last, Anggana sat up, stretching with a lazy yawn. He glanced over at his brother, crimson streaks of mana faintly flickering in his eyes. "I made a deal. They give me food, water, shelter, and in return… I keep the beasts away."

Askara blinked. Once. Twice. Then he dragged a hand down his face. "You… built a commune in the middle of a kill-or-be-killed trial?"

Anggana shrugged, grinning faintly. "Hey, survival's survival. Doesn't say it has to be lonely. Besides…" His gaze sharpened, for just an instant, betraying something calculating beneath the laziness. "The more people around me, the more bait I have if things go wrong"

The students around him shivered, realization dawning too late on what exactly they had agreed to.

Askara let out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose again. "You're impossible…"

"Better than you scaring half the forest shitless just by walking," Anggana shot back with a smirk. "So, what's the plan, brother?"

Askara's lips twitched at the jab but he didn't rise to it. Instead, he stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Pack it up. Whatever you're doing here, it won't last. Something's wrong with this trial, and I'm not leaving you out in the open when the real storm hits"

Anggana tilted his head, eyes narrowing slightly. "…Something's wrong, huh?"

Askara nodded once. "Very. And until we know what, we stick together"

Anggana's grin widened, slow and sharp. "Well… guess the picnic's over then"

He rose to his feet at last, brushing off the grass. The easygoing air about him didn't vanish, but in his eyes, a flicker of seriousness had finally awakened.

The "campers" stared at the two brothers in silence, dread creeping up their spines.

Because in that moment, they realized, whatever peace they thought they had built… was about to end.

"Wait! Prince Askara!" A voice cut through the crowd.

A man stepped forward, and behind him, half-hidden in his shadow, a woman followed.

"What about us, the rest of us?"

Askara's gaze slid over him lazily. "Ohh~? And why should I care? More importantly… who the fuck are you?"

"He knows Uncle Rijal," Anggana muttered, propping himself up with a faint smirk.

That earned a flicker of interest from Askara. One brow arched. '... Uncle Rijal?'

The man inclined his head. "We are from the Dai-Yak tribe"

Askara's eyes narrowed, the air between them cooling. 'The Dai-Yak? What was one of them doing out here?'

That tribe hadn't shown its face beyond the mountains since the Great Calamity.

Even then, it was only their chief, Rijal Rai'il Rune, his father's old friend, who occasionally walked in the outside world, except for him, Askara had never once seen another.

His gaze shifted to the woman half-hidden behind the man. She avoided his eyes, clutching her cloak tightly around her shoulders. Something about the way Mukhlis shielded her set off a small spark of suspicion.

Mukhlis straightened. "We're here for a reason, Prince. A special one." His voice was steady, but his stance never shifted, keeping the woman carefully behind him. "My name is Mukhlis"

Askara shot Anggana a look, but his brother only shrugged, utterly unhelpful.

"…Mukhlis, is it?" Askara's voice dropped back into its usual lazy drawl. "Listen well. I don't care if you crawled here from the Dai-Yak, or if your chief himself dragged you out of that hole. It doesn't change the truth: I have no reason to care about the rest of you. My objectives are clear. And I don't walk with people whose intentions are wrapped in secrets." He turned, cloak brushing the frost as he started away. "I'm done here. Angga, let's pick up Anindha"

Anggana sighed, pushing himself fully to his feet. His eyes drifted over Mukhlis and the silent campers, lingering a fraction longer on the shrouded woman. "Well… you heard him. Stay safe, everyone. The storm's coming, and from here on out, you're on your own"

He gave them a lopsided grin that didn't reach his eyes. "Okay?"

Then he jogged after his brother. "Aska, wait up"

Then... A single word sliced the air.

"…Monster"

Askara froze mid-step. The word hung like a thrown blade. He turned slowly toward its source. The woman who'd been hiding behind Mukhlis had looked up and met his gaze before turning away from his gaze.

"What did you just say?" Askara asked, voice low as he closed the distance.

"P-Prince, it's a misunderstanding, my sister didn't me-"

"Shut up!" Askara snapped.

Blood flared at his palms. Crimson links erupted and wrapped around Mukhlis, yanking him up off his feet. He hovered, bound by living iron-red chain.

"Oh shit," Anggana muttered.

There was a childhood legend everyone remembered, one taboo word you never spoke in front of Askara. Because of his mismatched eyes, he was often called a monster, and the children who dared to call him that learned the lesson the hard way. Even now, the word still made others flinch. Afraid that merely speaking the word would summon Askara himself.

"I said, what did you say?!" Askara demanded, stepping in until the woman's breath hitched.

"M-Monst-" she began, but Askara's hands clamped her jaw. He forced her face up so their eyes locked.

"Look me in the eyes and say it again. I dare you," he hissed. "SAY IT!"

"That's enough, Aska, she... She probably has her reasons," Anggana cut in, voice steady but wary.

The woman swallowed hard, voice trembling but stubborn. "I said… monster"

Even Anggana went still at that.

The woman's gaze flicked between the two brothers. "There's a monster presence behind you. It watches. It's the same"

Askara blinked. Confusion flickered across his features. He glanced at Anggana, who was equally puzzled, then at Mukhlis, still suspended and silent.

With a sharp motion, he drew the blood-chain back; Mukhlis slumped to the ground in a heap. Askara released the woman, then hauled Mukhlis up by the collar, forcing him to stand.

"Explain what your sister just said," Askara ordered.

Mukhlis stayed mute, eyes flicking to the other campers, who had gone utterly silent.

Askara gave a slow, controlled exhale. He turned to the man who'd first called out, the one with messy hair, voice flat and final. "You"

"Y-Yes?" the man stammered.

"Go. Now," Askara said.

"Wh-Where to, Prince?"

"North. I cleared a safe route. Keep going until you reach a... unique camp. Tell them it's me who sent you"

"…Right now, Prince?"

"Do I need to beat you first to make you move?"

"U-understood. We'll go." The man scrambled to obey, motioning the others to follow.

When the forest had thinned back to four, Askara turned his full attention to Mukhlis. The frost on the ground crackled under his boots as he stepped closer. "Now. Explain"

Mukhlis straightened, attempting composure. "First, let me say, thank-"

"Stop your nonsense," Askara cut him off, voice like a whip. "Get straight to the point. I don't have time for your pleasantries. Something is coming, and I won't let my siblings suffer because of your bullshit. I asked you a question. Give me a straight answer. Am I clear?"

Mukhlis swallowed hard, then nodded.

"Good. Now explain"

"The truth is… since we were children, my sister has had an ability that makes her able to see what others cannot"

Askara's brows knit. "Singularis? Your sister is a Singularis?" His gaze slid to the woman, sharp and assessing. But then his eyes narrowed. "No… that can't be right. Singularis all share one unmistakable trait, white hair. Yet hers…" His gaze lingered on the woman's dark hair.

"That's what we thought as well," Mukhlis admitted. "But Ayana doesn't bear the traits of a true Singularis. No white hair, no mark of their bloodline. That is why we travel here, to seek guidance from Elder Eldrin. As the Tower Master of the Singularis Magic Tower, perhaps he can explain what she is"

Askara's tone hardened. "I see. Then tell me, what exactly can your sister see?'What others cannot' is far too vague"

This time, Ayana herself lifted her gaze, her voice steady though her hands trembled slightly at her sides.

"…I can see what is hidden. In individuals. In things. In this world itself"

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