ROMANÂ
Darkness…Â
It wrapped around me like something alive.Â
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Not the quiet kind of darkness you get when you close your eyes. This was thick… heavy, suffocating. ItÂ
pressed against my chest and crawled into my lungs.Â
I couldn’t see anything.Â
Not my hands. Not the ground beneath me.Â
The darkness didn’t echo. It didn’t respond. It just… absorbed.Â
I forced myself to move again.Â
One step.Â
Then another.Â
My foot sank suddenly, deeper than before. The ground shifted beneath me like thick sludge, dragging at my boots. I yanked my leg free, but the effort nearly pulled me off balance again.Â
Mud.Â
It had to be mud.Â
But I couldn’t see it.Â
That was the worst part.Â
I was fighting something I couldn’t even confirm existed.Â
I kept moving blindly, arms slightly outstretched, trying to feel my way forward. Every few steps, something stopped me–low obstacles, unseen ridges, sudden drops in the ground. I stumbled more than I walked.Â
Once, I tripped so hard I hit the ground face–first.Â
The impact knocked the air out of me, and when I tried to push myself up, my palms sank into that same thick, invisible sludge.Â
It clung to me.Â
Heavy.Â
Cold.Â
Dragging me down inch by inch.Â
Panic flickered in my chest.Â
LIBÂ
< Chapter 327Â
+25 PointsÂ
I struggled harder, but the more I thrashed, the deeper I seemed to sink. It rose past my wrists. My elbows. It felt like drowning–except I couldn’t see the water. I couldn’t see what was swallowing me.Â
“Move,” I muttered to myself.Â
My voice sounded distant.Â
Weak.Â
I tried to stand, but my knees slipped. My balance failed me again. I fell sideways, and this time the mud-Â
or whatever it was–crept up toward my chest.Â
I didn’t know where I was going. I didn’t know if there was even a direction to move toward. There was noÂ
horizon. No sky. No ground I could trust.Â
Just darkness.Â
And resistance.Â
I forced myself upright again, shaking, breath ragged. My body felt heavy, like every movement requiredÂ
twice the effort it should.Â
Why couldn’t I see anything?Â
Why couldn’t I find a path?Â
I took another step–and immediately collided with something solid. A wall? A tree? I couldn’t tell. My hands hit a surface that felt rough and immovable.Â
I tried to go around it.Â
Another obstacle.Â
Then another.Â
Every direction I turned, something blocked me.Â
Frustration surged through me.Â
I kicked forward blindly and slipped again, falling hard onto my back.Â
I lay there for a moment, chest heaving, staring into nothing.Â
This is pointless.Â
The thought crept in quietly.Â
You don’t even know where you’re going.Â
You don’t even know where you are.Â
The mud shifted again, rising slowly along my sides as if responding to my doubt.Â
No.Â
< Chapter 327Â
I gritted my teeth and forced myself upright again.Â
I refused to sink.Â
Even if I couldn’t see.Â
Even if I didn’t know the way.Â
Then-Â
Something changed.Â
At first, it was barely noticeable.Â
A faint glow.Â
So subtle I thought I imagined it.Â
I squinted into the darkness.Â
There… far ahead.Â
A soft light.Â
It didn’t flicker like fire. It didn’t shimmer like a lantern.Â
It was steady.Â
I blinked, trying to focus.Â
The more I looked at it, the clearer it became–bright enough to cut through the suffocating dark.Â
I took a cautious step toward it.Â
The mud still clung to my legs, but it felt… thinner.Â
Less aggressive.Â
I took another step.Â
The glow grew stronger.Â
Shapes began to form at the edges of my vision–vague outlines where before there had been onlyÂ
nothingness.Â
I stumbled once more, but this time I caught myself before falling completely.Â
The light wasn’t just light.Â
It had a shape.Â
A silhouette.Â
As I moved closer, the figure became clearer.Â
And then I saw her.Â
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+25 PointsÂ
< Chapter 327Â
Luna Faye.Â
She stood ahead of me, several feet away.Â
She wasn’t holding a torch.Â
She wasn’t carrying a lantern.Â
The light wasn’t coming from her hands.Â
It was coming from her.Â
Soft and steady, radiating outward from her form like dawn breaking through fog.Â
Her face was calm.Â
She didn’t speak. She simply looked at me.Â
Something inside my chest steadied.Â
The mud around my legs loosened.Â
I planted my foot firmly and pushed myself upright.Â
For the first time since the darkness swallowed me, I could see the ground clearly.Â
The sludge wasn’t endless. It was shallow.Â
The obstacles weren’t impossible barriers. They were scattered rocks. Fallen branches. Uneven ridges.Â
I could see them now.Â
And because I could see them-Â
I could avoid them.Â
I took a full step forward.Â
The mud barely resisted.Â
Another step.Â
Then another.Â
Each movement grew easier.Â
I inhaled deeply.Â
The darkness no longer pressed in. It retreated the closer I moved toward her light.Â
I stepped past her.Â
And she didn’t stop me.Â
She didn’t follow.Â
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< Chapter 327Â
She simply remained where she stood… watching.Â
My walk turned into a jog.Â
The jog turned into a run.Â
My legs no longer felt heavy.Â
The mud was gone entirely.Â
The darkness had thinned into shadows along the edges of the path.Â
And in the distance-Â
A door… tall and solid.Â
Closed.Â
Light spilled faintly from its edges.Â
I didn’t hesitate.Â
I ran harder.Â
Faster.Â
My heart pounded.Â
The path narrowed slightly, but I kept my footing. I avoided the final scattered obstacles without breakingÂ
stride.Â
When I reached the door, I didn’t slow down.Â
I slammed into it with both hands.Â
It swung open instantly.Â
Blinding white light flooded my vision-Â
And I jolted awake.Â
BEEP BEEP BEEP.Â
I jerked upright, my heart slamming against my ribs like I’d run straight into something solid.Â
My room.Â
The faint line of dawn slipping through the curtains.Â
The alarm kept screaming.Â
For a second, I just sat there, breathing hard, the echo of light still burned into my vision. My hands were clenched in the sheets like I was still pushing against that door.Â
Training.Â
< Chapter 327Â
The word hit before the rest of the dream could.Â
I lunged for the alarm and shut it off. Silence dropped heavily into the room.Â
I didn’t let myself lie back down.Â
There wasn’t time.Â
Alpha Alexander would already be up. Already expecting me.Â
And keeping him waiting?Â
Not an option.Â
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