Chapter 2

First day of wilderness field training outside the city.

I carry the supply pack, following behind Instructor Sara.

"Six per group." Sara orders into her communicator. "Maintain formation, stay alert."

Besides Sara and me, our group has four new students: two E-rank Awakeners, two F-rank. They're all nervous—this is their first time on real wasteland.

I walk at the back of the formation, carrying the heavy supply pack containing ammunition, medical supplies, and some repair tools.

Sara occasionally glances back at me.

She doesn't say anything, but I know she's looking after me. Having me follow her group instead of operating alone with other logistics personnel is already the greatest kindness.

The wasteland is very quiet.

Too quiet.

We've been walking for three hours without encountering even a single mutant spider. This area should normally have many low-level mutant creatures.

"Strange." Sara stops, frowning at the data on her detector. "Biological signals are almost zero."

An E-rank Awakener nervously asks: "Instructor, is this normal?"

"Not normal." Sara shakes her head. "The wasteland has never been this quiet. Unless..."

She doesn't finish.

But I know: unless something has eaten all the other creatures.

"Stay alert." Sara grips her high-energy particle gun tighter. "There might be a large mutant nearby."

We continue forward.

The four new students form a small circle, moving back-to-back. Their abilities are already activated, the air thick with energy fluctuations.

I'm still walking at the back.

But my hand has already reached for the broken bow on my back.

In my Law-Breaking Eyes, the surrounding environment appears different. Every rock, every withered blade of grass has its own structural lines. And among these normal structures, I sense an anomaly.

Something is moving underground.

Something big, fast, and approaching.

"Instructor..." I begin to speak.

The ground suddenly explodes.

A mass of blood-red something bursts from the earth, fast as lightning. Thick tentacles lash toward the two nearest students, each tentacle tip sporting an open maw bristling with fangs.

My expression changes. This aura is identical to the spore that tried to attack me last night!

"Scatter!" Sara shouts.

But it's too late.

Two tentacles wrap around an E-rank and an F-rank Awakener respectively. The maws at the tentacle tips bite through their skin, injecting some red fluid into their bodies.

"Ahh!" The two students scream.

Sara immediately opens fire. Blue particle beams strike the infected entity's surface, but it's like hitting a sponge—completely absorbed.

Those red spores even grow brighter, as if savoring the energy.

"Energy attacks ineffective!" Sara's face pales. "Use physical attacks!"

The other two students immediately act. One releases metal spikes, the other summons stone blocks, all aimed at the infected entity.

But the infected entity's skin is tougher than armor. Metal spikes only spark off it, stone blocks bounce right off.

Worse, the two students bitten by the tentacles begin to change.

Their skin turns ash-white, their eyes blood-red. From the wound sites, red spores rapidly spread, covering their bodies.

"No... don't..." one student pleads, but his voice grows increasingly hoarse.

Seconds later, they've completely transformed.

No longer human, but two small infected entities.

Sara's face is deathly pale.

She's seen many mutant creatures, but never anything with such rapid infection speed.

The infected entity releases the two bitten students, letting them join in attacking the remaining humans. Now it's three against four, and the enemy is still growing.

The remaining two students are paralyzed with fear.

"Instructor, what do we do?"

Sara grits her teeth: "Retreat!"

But the infected entity is faster.

Three monsters surround them from different directions, sealing off all escape routes.

I stand at the back of the formation, quietly removing the bow from my back.

In my Law-Breaking Eyes, the largest infected entity reveals its true form. It's not a mass of chaotic flesh, but a precision biological machine. Every spore is an energy node, every tentacle a transmission conduit.

And at its center lies a very small core.

All spores revolve around this core like planets around a star.

If I shoot it...

Sara raises her particle gun, targeting the nearest small infected entity.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, then pulls the trigger.

A blue beam pierces through the infected entity's head. It was once her student, but now it's just a monster.

The other two students fight desperately, but their attacks are nearly useless against the infected entities.

The large infected entity's tentacle reaches for Sara.

She sidesteps to dodge, but the tentacle is too fast, tearing a gash in her tactical suit.

I raise my bow, making the drawing motion.

Aiming at the core.

Release my fingers.

No arrow, no sound, but something crosses space, directly hitting that core and shattering it.

The infected entity's movement suddenly stops.

It maintains its attacking posture but simply doesn't move. Then, starting from its center, the entire body begins losing vitality. Red spores rapidly wither, tentacles hang limply.

Seconds later, it collapses to the ground, completely dead.

The remaining small infected entities also fall simultaneously. They've lost the main body's control, reverting to ordinary corpses.

But those two students are already dead.

The battle is over.

Sara pants heavily, looking at the corpses on the ground. She doesn't understand what happened, why the infected entity suddenly died.

She looks around, searching for answers.

Her gaze finally falls on me.

I'm putting the bow back on my shoulder, the motion natural, as if nothing happened.

Sara stares at me for several seconds, eyes full of confusion.

Just then, the humming of a gravity field comes from the sky.

Duke flies over with his elite squad from the distance. They use gravity manipulation to move, looking imposing.

"Instructor Sara!" Duke calls out loudly. "We heard combat sounds!"

He lands beside the infected entity's corpse, glancing over the scene.

"An unknown new mutant?" Duke's eyes flash with excitement. "Any still alive?"

As soon as he speaks, one of the "dead" students suddenly moves.

He only looked dead, but spores were still lurking in his body. Now, sensing new life signatures, the spores reactivate.

The student's corpse stands up, red light flickering in his eyes.

"Look out!" Sara shouts.

But Duke is already in action.

He raises his right hand, and a powerful gravity field instantly concentrates. The infected student is tightly bound by invisible force, unable to move.

Then Duke closes his five fingers.

Crack.

The infected entity's body is crushed by the gravity field, flesh and blood splattering.

"Done." Duke dusts off his hands, looking at Sara. "Instructor, leave these small monsters to us."

Other squads are also drawn over. New students look at Duke with eyes full of worship.

"Senior Duke is amazing!"

"One-shot kill on the infected entity!"

"Worthy of an S-rank ability user!"

"That battle must have been intense! How did Senior Duke kill these new mutants?"

Duke basks in the praise, forcefully gripping the large infected entity's corpse on the ground—BOOM! The infected entity instantly explodes into a mass of flesh and blood!

"Just like that—gravity implosion directly destroys its internal structure."

The crowd gasps in amazement.

Only Sara doesn't speak.

Duke just killed a small infected entity, not the big one.

But everyone around now thinks Duke did it all.

She opens her mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately remains silent, only turning her head toward me in the corner.

Could it be that I, this useless guy who's practiced with a broken bow for ten years, killed with one arrow the infected entity she couldn't handle? It's too absurd.