Night had come quietly.
Too quietly.
Kael stood in the clearing, panting, sweat soaking through his robes.
From sunrise to now, he'd done nothing but hunt—spell after spell, beast after beast, blood after blood.
And still... the egg drank.
Nestled in the snow, the black egg pulsed faintly—its surface gleaming under the moonlight like obsidian dipped in oil.
It throbbed now and then, as if it had a heartbeat of its own.
Kael stared at it, slouched, utterly drained.
His mana reserves were low.
His muscles ached.
Even his bones felt tired.
Yue stood nearby, arms crossed, voice low with unease.
"Kael… let's go. I don't think it has an end."
He sighed.
"Yeah, maybe you're—"
Crack.
The sound stopped his breath.
Both he and Yue froze, eyes snapping to the egg.
A thin fracture had split across the shell—dark light gleaming from within.
Kael's exhaustion vanished in an instant.
He dropped to his knees and carefully placed the egg on the frost.
It cracked again.
And again.
More and more.
Kael leaned forward, eyes shining.
His mind spun with fantasy:
A dragon.
A phoenix.
A wyvern.
A divine beast from some forgotten legend.
He grinned like a madman.
Yue watched him, unimpressed.
"You look like an idiot," she muttered.
Another crack.
Then another.
Each one sent a little shock of excitement through Kael's chest.
He leaned even closer, ignoring the way the shell now twitched beneath his fingers.
Yue's voice sharpened.
"Kael. Don't get so close. You have no idea what's inside—"
He chuckled.
"You worry too much—"
CRACK.
SPLURT.
The egg exploded open and something wet and black lunged straight onto Kael's face.
"AAAAAAAGGHHHHHH—!"
Kael screamed like a dying goat.
Yue screamed too.
Mostly out of reflex.
A thick, writhing black slime had latched onto Kael's face like some demonic pancake.
It pulsed, squirmed, and covered his mouth, one eye, and half his nose.
Kael flailed backward, slapping at it like it was a mosquito from hell.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS—GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF—"
He ran in circles, waving his arms like a malfunctioning scarecrow.
Then—without hesitation—he smashed his own face into a tree.
Hard.
Thunk.
Yue screamed again.
"KAEL?!"
Thunk.
Thunk.
He kept going.
Like he was trying to headbutt the slime to death.
"WHY IS IT MOVING?!" Kael howled, smashing into another tree.
"IS IT LAUGHING?! I THINK IT'S LAUGHING!!"
The slime was wriggling… with a strange rhythm.
Almost… playful.
Yue stood frozen, muttering holy prayers like a terrified auntie during an exorcism.
"O blessed spirit of flame, sever this evil from our plane—"
"YUE, YOU'RE MAKING IT WORSE!!"
Kael tripped over a root, rolled, slammed into a rock, and finally collapsed in a heap.
The slime gave one final wiggle on his cheek—like a proud tickle.
Then—
Silence.
Kael lay face-down in the snow, limbs splayed like a fallen scarecrow.
Unconscious.
Dignity optional.
Yue tiptoed over and gave his body a solid poke with her finger.
No response.
Not even a twitch.
The black slime clung to his face like a parasitic eyemask—gently pulsing.
Quiet.
Suspiciously innocent.
She sighed.
Like a tired mother realizing her child had eaten glue again.
With mechanical calm, she lit her tobacco pipe, took a long drag, and stared up at the moon.
"Yep," she muttered.
"This is fine.
Everything's perfectly fine."
Another puff.
She exhaled a skull-shaped smoke ring for dramatic flair.
"…I am definitely not getting paid enough for this."
***
Kael stirred with a groan, blinking groggily at the night sky.
His head throbbed.
His body ached.
And Yue was looming over him like a disappointed school teacher.
"You're awake," she said dryly.
"Shame. I was placing bets on how long you'd stay unconscious."
Kael sat up with effort, wiping snow from his cheek.
"Yue… I just had the worst nightmare.
The egg hatched and—get this—a black slime thing crawled out and jumped straight on my face."
He shuddered.
"It was horrifying. I couldn't breathe. I think it was laughing."
There was a long pause.
Then Yue casually pointed behind him.
"You mean... that thing?"
Kael turned.
And froze.
The slime was sitting a few feet away.
Perfectly still.
Glistening black, round-ish, pulsing slightly—like it was breathing.
Kael's face went pale.
"Fuck fuck fuck—it's real?!"
He scrambled backward in the snow, flailing wildly.
Yue didn't even flinch.
She just sighed.
Kael peeked again at the blob.
It wasn't attacking.
In fact, it was just… sitting there.
Wobbling faintly, like a blob-shaped puppy.
"…You've got to be kidding me," Kael muttered.
He cautiously reached out a hand.
The slime, as if recognizing him, extended a tiny tendril.
They touched.
Kael blinked.
Yue gave him a side-eye.
"You were screaming like a banshee five minutes ago."
"Okay, I overreacted," Kael admitted, already poking and prodding the thing.
"He's kinda cute in a terrifying, void-born way."
The slime wiggled with pride.
Kael grinned, suddenly confident.
"You're my little horror now."
Yue crossed her arms.
"You're insufferable."
Kael looked at the slime seriously.
"Alright, blob. What can you do?"
Silence.
The slime sagged a little.
As if... sad.
"…Seriously?" Kael frowned.
"You can't fight? No magic? Not even dramatic screeching?"
The slime quivered.
Kael sighed and gave it a pity-pat.
"Fine. You're still better than half the nobles I know."
Then—
Footsteps.
Fast.
Crunching snow.
Kael snapped to alertness, eyes flicking to Yue.
She was already gone—vanishing into the woods like a professional ghost.
A few tense moments passed before she returned, face grim.
"Twelve mages. All Rank 2."
Kael stood, eyes narrowing.
"And?"
"One of them's Aerik," she said. "The others look like his lapdogs."
She hesitated.
"But there's someone else too. I don't know who. Strong aura. Dangerous."
Kael's hand tightened around the slime.
Yue took another drag of her pipe and muttered,
"Told you this damn egg was bad luck."
Kael smiled darkly, the wind shifting his coat.
"Let's give them a proper welcome then."
###