Kruger

The ground trembled beneath his boots.

Explosions carved smoking craters into the jungle as Kruger dropships howled overhead, their cannons blazing across the Voidling swarms. The air itself had turned metallic—thick with ozone, ash, and blood. Somewhere to his right, Joran's squad was screaming over the comms. Somewhere to his left, Nelis tore through a dozen Riftborn like parchment.

But Kaiell had gone silent.

The noise around him no longer registered. His mind wasn't calm—it was focused, wired to every microshift in his body, every ounce of strain threading through his bones and sinew like signal through copper.

A whip-limbed Voidling dropped from the treetops—fast. Too fast for a normal soldier to see, let alone counter.

Kaiell didn't think. He moved.

He dropped low, shifted his weight to his back foot, and let Nightfell flash up like a reflex. The creature's chest tore open in a silent burst of wet steam. Its pieces landed behind him before his own motion finished.

[Ibex Cells: 16 Active][Bone Reinforcement: 11%][Ocular Focus Enhanced]

He could see further now—down to the rippling heat lines in the jungle fog. His skin picked up tension in the air before anything made a sound. He knew when something was behind him by the shift in pressure against his teeth.

And still… it wasn't enough.

A new shape moved through the trees ahead.

Larger. Heavier. Unnatural.

Vox.

The Warlord had stopped moving. His shadow stretched across the field like an eclipse made of claws and memory. Voidlings parted around him like obedient dogs. He was watching.

Testing.

Kaiell slowed.

Every part of him buzzed with pressure. Pain was still there—deep in his ribcage, in the back of his skull—but it was quieter now. Like it knew it wasn't in control anymore.

The forearm interface updated again.

[Ibex Cells: 17 Active][Viora Sync: 62%][Heartbeat Alignment: Stable]

His fingers flexed. Nightfell pulsed once.

Ahead, Vox cocked his head.

"You're not what I expected," the warlord said, voice echoing across the field. "You're better."

Kaiell didn't answer.

Words didn't fit anymore.

He took one step forward. Then another. Each one deliberate. His breath steady. Muscles like wires pulled taut across living steel.

"I see it now," Vox continued. "The thing inside you. It's not just power. It's hunger. The same hunger I was forged in."

He grinned. A flash of voidlight cracked across his plated fangs.

"Come, little forgeborn. Let's see if your flame is real."

A pulse of Void energy burst out from the Warlord, shredding the earth between them in a jagged line of impact. Kaiell jumped back just in time, flipped over debris, and landed hard.

His HUD blinked again.

[Ibex Cells: 18 Active][Neural Lag: 0.2s][Combat Window Expanded +8%]

He could feel himself pushing closer to something. A threshold. The edge of what the exams had started. What Commander Seth's voice had warned him about.

He could feel his limits starting to crack.

The blade in his hand seemed to whisper with pressure—no language, just intent. Like it knew what came next.

Kaiell surged forward.

Not away.

Toward Vox.