Lucen shifted behind the tree.
Slow.
Quiet.
Every movement small enough not to draw attention.
The construct hadn't turned.
It stood in the center of the clearing, still facing the cracked stone. One foot forward. Arms locked to its sides like it didn't have joints. Or didn't need them.
The thing didn't look fast.
But it didn't have to be.
Lucen didn't want to test whether it could throw a tree at his head.
He reached down and grabbed another chunk of bark.
This one was thicker. Damp. Snapped when he bent it too hard.
He winced.
'Nice. Stealth rating just dropped to zero.'
The construct didn't move.
Still facing forward.
Lucen leaned sideways. Peered around the edge of the tree.
No reaction.
He pulled the spell window up again just to double check.
[Mana: 36 / 51]
[Kinetic Point – Ready]
[Gravitic Snap – Ready]
He eyed the bark again.
Then the far side of the clearing.
The undergrowth was thicker there.
More moss. More vines.
He turned the bark over in his hand and took a breath.
'Alright. Time to find out if this thing reacts to sound.'
He stood.
Only for a second.
Then tossed the bark like a sidearm throw across the clearing.
It flew wide. Arced. Hit a tree with a soft whump and bounced into the grass.
The sound wasn't loud.
But it broke the silence.
The construct's head snapped left.
It turned one slow step in that direction.
Lucen stayed frozen.
Didn't blink.
The construct walked.
Deliberate. Heavy steps. It moved toward the noise. Not fast. Not hesitant either.
Lucen counted in his head.
One.
Two.
Three steps out of the center.
It reached the bark.
Bent down.
Touched it.
Lucen moved.
Fast.
Three steps out from behind the tree, one across the stone ring, and he was in the middle before the thing turned around.
The cracked stone glowed under his boots.
A faint glyph flickered to life.
[Sigil Trace: Confirmed]
[Extraction Possible]
[Warning: Proximity Alert – 3 Meters]
Lucen crouched and pulled the case from his belt.
Flipped the latch.
The crystal from earlier rattled as the case opened.
He reached down.
Pressed his hand to the glowing stone.
The glyph flared. Heat licked his palm.
[Extracting…]
[Stability: Medium]
[Interference Detected – Hostile Nearby]
He didn't look up.
He could hear the steps.
The construct had turned.
It was coming back.
He clenched his jaw.
'Just a few seconds. Come on. Hurry up.'
The glyph flared brighter.
A sharp cracking sound rang through the clearing. The air pulsed. Light surged through the stone and burst upward in a vertical line.
Lucen snatched the fragment out of the light as it launched.
He dropped it into the case and slammed the lid.
Turned.
Too late.
The construct was already there.
Lucen raised a hand.
Triggered the spell.
[Gravitic Snap – 12 Mana]
[Mana Remaining: 24]
The pull hit center mass.
The construct's feet skidded out from under it. Its body yanked sideways, momentum jerking it left just enough to throw its weight off.
It slammed shoulder-first into a nearby trunk.
Lucen sprinted.
Right past it.
Through the vines.
Back toward the slope he came in from.
Didn't check if it followed.
Didn't check if it recovered.
Just ran.
Because he didn't need to win.
He just needed to leave with the prize.
Branches slapped his coat as he ran.
Vines caught at his legs. He kicked them off.
Moss under his boots shifted like wet carpet. He slipped once, caught himself, kept moving.
The jungle behind him stayed quiet.
No footsteps. No crashes. No angry wooden stomping.
That made it worse.
'It's either not chasing me, or it's faster than me and waiting politely to attack from the side. Which would be great. I really love that vibe.'
He turned sharply around a tree and slowed.
Breathing hard.
Shoulder to a trunk. Knees bent slightly. Eyes scanning.
No movement.
He took a breath through his nose.
Held it.
Exhaled slow.
Then muttered, "Alright. Time to find the front door before this place invents new wildlife to throw at me."
He opened the system.
[Zone: DRFT-12]
[Status: Active]
[Field Sync: OFFLINE]
[Exit Node: Unstable – Location Unknown]
[Warning: Driftshift Detected]
Lucen stared at the bottom line.
'Driftshift? What the hell is—'
Then he remembered.
'Right. Drifts don't stay still. They… shuffle. Gate entrance isn't always where you left it. That's why cleanup teams mark the path with anchor glyphs.'
He looked around.
No glyphs.
No markers.
No flagging lines or chalk runes.
Just trees. Wet roots. And that awful blue haze in the sky that didn't belong to any real weather system.
He took a slow step forward.
Then another.
Back in the direction he thought he came from.
The terrain didn't look right.
The slope was missing.
The trees were wrong. Too many in the way. One had a split trunk that looked like a snapped jaw. He would've remembered that.
Lucen turned around.
Then back again.
Then looked down at his footprints.
There weren't any.
'This moss resets itself. Of course it does. Sure. This shit is definitely fair.'
He tapped open the system again.
No help.
No compass. No directional pings. Just the same message blinking in soft yellow:
[Exit Node: Location Unknown]
He resisted the urge to scream.
Instead, he sat down on a chunk of exposed root and wiped a hand down his face.
The sigil case rattled in his coat pocket.
Two fragments.
Sitting there like they meant something.
'Great. Two priceless rune pieces. Zero idea how to get out. That's the Lucen Ivara brand experience. Fuck my life. Maybe I should have just said I have an SSS rank class…what the fuck am I thinking. They would have just laughed into my face.'
He glanced up.
Still no sound.
Still no wind.
Still no reason for the jungle to let him go.
He opened the spell archive.
[Mana: 24 / 51]
[Spells: 2 Active]
[EXP: 110 / 150]
He'd probably level up soon.
That might help.
Or it might make the drift notice him harder.
He sighed and stood.
Then walked again.
This time slower.
Every few steps he scratched a mark into a tree with the end of the field knife.
Just a line. Just in case.
Not because he thought it would work.
But because doing nothing felt worse.