Chapter 94: Beginning of the tide
One year had gone by since the day the hidden monster crisis came to an end.
During the last year, the Supreme Beast Academy seemed to remain perfectly quiet on the surface.
The seasons changed, the leaves of the grand trees fell and grew back, and the daily routines of the disciples continued without any major interruptions.
However, deep inside the dark and dangerous inner rings of the Supreme Forest, a completely different reality was unfolding.
Ayla had spent the entire year operating as a silent ghost, hunting down beasts that lived far away from the academy. She systematically devoured every single high-tier creature she could find, absorbing their raw biomass, gaining and evolving traits.
Because of her continuous feeding frenzy, her Bronze core had finally reached its absolute maximum threshold.
The light blue color of her soul had darkened into a deep, solid hue that hummed with immense energy. Her physical and spiritual vessel was completely full, saturated to the very brink of evolution.
Standing on a high cliff overlooking the misty valleys of the inner rings, Ayla closed her eyes and summoned her full status screen to review her progress over the past year.
Master Status Screen: Ayla
Name: Ayla
Race: Mimic Slime
Age: 1 Year, 14 days
Rank: Bronze (100%) [Fully Saturated]
Core: Apocalypse Bronze Metal Core
Bone Fragment: Twin Lens of the Weaver
Vessel (1): Eight-Winged Goddess
Vessel Classification: Apocalypse
Traits:
Perfect Assimilation , Emotion Weaver (Legendary-SSS+), Death Looper (Legendary-S+), Eight-Wing Transformation (Epic-A), Bloodnet (Rare-B+), Abyssal Shadow Blink (Rare-A+), Corrosive Abyssal Fluid (Rare-A+), Earth Armor (Rare-A+), Gale Acceleration (Rare-A+), Sonic Shriek (Rare-A+), Iron Grip Tendrils (Rare-A+), Abyssal Camouflage (Rare-A+), Venomous Barb Extraction (Rare-A+), Grounded Gravity Shell (Rare-A+), Vampiric Devouring (Rare-A+), Feathered Flight Matrix (Rare-A+), Thermal Vision (Rare-A+), Regenerative Cell Reset (Rare-A+), Steel Claw Transformation (Rare-A+), Pyromancy (Common-C), Iron Will (Common-C), Wind Walker (Common-C), Life Link (Common-C), Earth Bind (Common-D), Bone Density (Common-D), Body Enhancement (Common-E)
Available Forms:
Form 001: Human [Equipped]
Form 002: Bloodnet Spider
Form 003: Goblin
Form 004: Hobgoblin
Form 005: Eight-Winged Bat
Form 006: Eyes of the Weaver
Form 007: Celestial
Form 008: Shadow Cat
Form 009: Wind-Rider Falcon
Form 010: Phantom Panther
Form 011: Subterranean Viper
Ayla closed the status menu, a deep feeling of satisfaction washing over her mind. She had completely cleared the entire inner rings of the Supreme Forest, devouring every single real beast that possessed a worthy genetic trait.
But at this specific point, she found that she could not go any further into the core zone of the woods.
Whenever she tried to cross the deeper boundary line, her advanced sensory traits warned her of a massive wall of strange energy.
This was the area where the main Spire Event was happening.
The deeper parts of the forest were entirely made of complex, heavy illusions and system barriers designed to keep challengers inside the designated script.
There were no real beasts left for her to hunt in that area.
Realizing that she had reached a temporary dead end in her solo progression, Ayla decided to go back to the academy to find Kenji.
With Abyssal Shadow blink it only took her seconds to cross the city, without alerting anyone.
When she arrived at the campus, everything in the Supreme Beast Academy looked completely normal on the surface.
Disciples were still walking to the library, instructors were still holding lectures in the open courtyards, and the daily training matches were continuing as usual.
However, inwardly, this was absolutely not the case.
If one looked past the fake peace of the campus, a dark atmosphere of dread was slowly spreading among the students.
Over the past few months, mysterious disappearances of students had been increasing at a terrifying rate.
At first, the academy administration tried to cover it up, claiming that a few careless disciples had simply gotten lost in the outer rings during their private training sessions.
But as time went on, the situation grew completely out of hand. It was no longer just the weak, low-tier first-year students who vanished into thin air.
Even high-ranked second-year seniors and elite third-year disciples were starting to disappear from their dormitories during the night, leaving no blood, no signs of a struggle, and no tracks behind.
Kenji was currently sitting in his usual quiet spot behind the library pavilion, leaning against the cold stone wall. His standard iron sword was resting flat across his lap.
His hazel eyes were calm, but his clinical mind was rapidly calculating the hidden variables of these disappearances.
He knew exactly that this was the work of the Enders, who were executing their alternative plan to bypass him and seize control of the Spire event.
A soft, familiar breeze brushed against the back of his neck, carrying the faint, sweet scent of fresh berries.
Kenji did not turn around, but his lips twitched into a very subtle smile as a small mass of blue fluid slithered up his uniform and rested comfortably against his lower back, hiding beneath his tattered outer clothes.
"You are back," Kenji whispered silently, his heart rate remaining at a steady sixty beats per minute.
"The forest is empty now," Aylaโs voice vibrated directly into his mind, a skill she derived some day for efficient communication. "I maximized everything. But the deeper zone is blocked by the script. Also, the humans here smell like fear. Something is wrong."
"The Enders are cleaning the board," Kenji replied mentally, his eyes scanning the empty courtyard. "They are killing the students.They realized they could not kill me directly due to the systemโs protagonist protection, so they are deleting the background assets of the simulation instead."
Before Ayla could reply, a sudden, massive commotion erupted from the central plaza of the academy.
The loud, frantic tolling of the grand academy bell echoed across the entire campus, shattering the fake peace of the morning. It was the emergency alarm, a sound that had not been used since the founding of the institution.
Within minutes, thousands of panic-stricken students rushed out of their classrooms and dormitories, crowding around the main notice boards in the center of the plaza.
Kenji stood up, his sword clutched tightly in his hand as he walked calmly toward the crowd to see what had happened.
Ayla remained perfectly hidden beneath his clothes, her sensory traits focused on the intense wave of fear radiating from the students.
Suddenly, a horrifying piece of news spread through the crowd like wildfire.
An official, blood-stained messenger from the high tower had just collapsed at the main gates.
According to the emergency bulletin, the entire fourth-year advanced battalion, along with thirty senior teachers and grand instructors who had gone out for a mandatory training expedition into the northern valleys a month ago, had been completely slaughtered.
Every single one of them was dead.
"This is impossible..." a nearby second year gasped, his face turning entirely pale as he gripped his friendโs shoulder.
"Instructor Marcus was a Gold-ranked summoner! He had a high-tier Flame Griffin! How could an entire expedition force be annihilated without even sending out a single distress flare?!"
"The notice says there were no bodies left," another student whispered in pure terror, her voice shaking violently. "Just empty clothes, broken weapons, and a massive pool of black sludge. The elders are saying itโs the return of the hidden monster!"
The entire plaza descended into absolute chaos. Female students began weeping openly, while the ranked disciples clutched their weapons in panic, their previous arrogance completely vanishing as they realized the academy could no longer protect them.
Kenji stood at the edge of the crowd, his face remaining a perfect, expressionless mask. He looked up at the high tower where the old elders were currently scrambling to organize a lockdown.
Inwardly, his mind was entirely sharp. He knew that the hidden monster hadnโt returned, because the real monster was currently resting against his lower back, eating a piece of dried fruit she had stolen from his pocket.
The Enders had finally initiated the final phase of their script.
They had slaughtered the expedition force to create a massive wave of panic and to force the academy into a total defensive lockdown, isolating the city from the rest of the world.
Kenji loosened his grip on his sword hilt, a confident look appearing deep within his hazel eyes as he felt Aylaโs light blue soul core humming with readiness against his thighs.
The chess pieces had all been moved into position, and the fake story was coming to an end. It was finally time for them to break this simulation apart.
The absolute panic in the central plaza did not settle down. Instead, it grew larger and louder as the morning sun climbed higher into the gray sky.
The grand academy bell continued to toll at a frantic pace, its heavy bronze vibrations rattling the windows of the nearby library pavilion.
Instructors dressed in formal silver robes rushed across the stone walkways, their faces tense and pale as they barked orders at the confused crowds of students.
