Ether: Pulse of the Forgotten

They didn't sneak up.

This group wanted to be seen.

Seven of them, stepping out of the treeline in broad daylight like they owned the whole damn forest. Matching smirks. Polished weapons.

The man in front was the loudest without saying a word—tall, broad, armor that still somehow looked freshly cleaned. The kind of guy who thought standing in front made him king.

Kai leaned against a tree, arms crossed, watching them come.

"Well," he said, "if it isn't customer service."

Sasha didn't laugh, but her fingers drifted toward her quiver. Talia stayed crouched near the packs, silent and still, eyes tracking every movement.

The leader stopped just short of the campfire's glow.

"Morning," he called out. Voice smooth, practiced. Like he'd given this speech before. "We've been watching you."

"Creepy start, but go on," Kai replied.

"You're strong. Skilled. Survived this long, which says something."

Kai tilted his head. "Complimenting us before the threat. Classic."

The man smirked. "Not a threat. An opportunity. Join us. Work under our banner, our leadership. Follow our rules, and we'll share what we've built. Food. Security. XP."

"XP," Kai repeated. "Wow. Really rolling out the red carpet."

The leader shrugged. "It's simple math. Lone groups die out here. But together? Under a system? We all win. We're offering you a place in something bigger than yourselves."

Kai glanced at Sasha and Talia.

Sasha raised an eyebrow. "Pass."

Talia snorted. "Hard pass."

Kai looked back at the man. "Yeah, it's gonna be a no from us. But I respect the hustle."

The man's smile thinned. "Careful. Saying no means you're competition. Competition doesn't last long out here."

Kai stepped forward just enough to make it clear he wasn't impressed.

"We're not competition," he said, voice light and easy. "We're just better."

Silence.

The leader's eyes narrowed, weighing the risk.

Kai gave him a lazy salute. "Tell you what. We'll give you a head start before we come for the XP you're so generous with."

Talia chuckled. Sasha smiled without warmth.

And just like that, the mood cracked.

The other group backed off, retreating with stiff nods and forced politeness.

But no one believed it was over.

A few hours passed as the sky faded into that dull grey night when it pulsed gold, and everything stopped.

[Tutorial System Event: Territory Capture has begun.]

Remaining Survivors: 914

*Warning: Regional bosses are now active.Each territory holds one sentient boss. Players must defeat the boss to claim the area.

Failure to claim a territory within 7 days will result in the boss becoming unbound and free to roam.

Controlled territories provide:– Safe zone activation– Resource multiplier– Passive experience gain– Reduced monster aggression– Customizable defenses*

Active Territory Bosses:– Zephyra, The Windrazor Matriarch– Moltrusk, The Burrowed Inferno– Cindralis, The Dusk Reaper– Gorran, The Shatterhide Juggernaut– Vaelin, The Deathroot Colossus

Silence fell over the camp for a beat, the words still hanging in the air like smoke.

Then Kai broke it.

"Well," he said, "that's horrifying."

Talia squinted at the names. "Windrazor Matriarch sounds lovely. Want to go get diced into sashimi?"

Kai held up a finger. "Counterpoint: no."

Sasha snorted. "Imagine we pick that one and spend the entire fight chasing her around like idiots while she shreds us from the sky."

Kai grinned. "Yeah, no thanks. We'd never hear the end of it. 'Remember that time we got filleted by Mother Nature's lawnmower?' Hard pass."

Talia tapped the next name. "Alright. Burrowed Inferno. Sounds... spicy."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "So we pick the boss whose whole gimmick is probably 'underground and on fire'? You want us cooked from below like baked potatoes?"

"Could be cozy," Talia said with a shrug.

"Could be dead," Sasha countered.

Kai gave a dramatic sigh. "I think we let the lava mole stay where it is."

They moved on.

"Dusk Reaper?" Sasha offered.

Kai rubbed his jaw. "Stealth and poison if I had to guess. So... we spend the whole fight dying slowly while something invisible giggles in the shadows?"

"Romantic," Talia deadpanned.

"I prefer dates that don't involve hemorrhaging internally," Kai replied.

Next.

"Deathroot Colossus," Talia read.

Kai squinted at the name. "Big. Slow. Covers the battlefield in vines. Probably more AOE than we can handle if it gets rolling."

"it's about time the Tree fights back," Sasha added.

"Yeah. No thanks. I'm not getting strangled by broccoli."

Which left one.

Kai tapped Gorran's name with finality.

"Juggernaut. See, now that sounds manageable. Big. Dumb. Predictable. Probably hits like a falling building, but we can work with that."

"Assuming it doesn't turn out to be some ultra-fast, acrobatic 'surprise!' kind of boss," Talia said.

"If it is," Kai said, "we die ironically, and that's a story worth telling."

They all laughed, the tension breaking for just a moment.

Then Sasha glanced toward the forest, where the rival group had disappeared earlier.

"They'll leave us alone for now," she said. "Nobody's gonna pick a fight while the event's running. Not with rewards like that on the line."

"Good," Kai said. "They can stay busy. We've got a juggernaut to deal with."

He stood, stretching his arms above his head, eyes on the sky.

"Nine hundred left," he muttered. "Guess it's not worth checking anymore."

"Think we'll be the last ones standing?" Talia asked.

Kai grinned. "Not if they don't make it interesting."

They packed their gear and started walking.

Next stop: Gorran's territory.

And hopefully, a very large, very stupid opponent.

After the system event dropped, glowing markers stitched across the horizon, pointing out each boss's domain like a cosmic to-do list. You didn't need to guess where the danger was anymore. The world wanted you to know.

Kai didn't love that.

But it was better than wandering into something sharp and angry by accident.

They'd been walking for an hour, the trees thinning as they approached the lowlands where Gorran supposedly waited. According to the system, his territory spanned the rocky flats ahead. Big, open space. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to run.

Perfect spot for an oversized idiot to throw punches.

Kai adjusted the straps on his pack, glancing back at Sasha and Talia as they hiked behind him.

"So," Kai said, "territory leaders, huh? Safe zones. Defenses. Resource multipliers. Sounds pretty glamorous."

Sasha smirked. "Thinking of settling down? Maybe putting up a little welcome sign?"

Kai snorted. "Yeah, no thanks. 'Kai's Cozy Corner.' Population: don't talk to me."

Talia kicked a loose stone down the hill. "Could start charging rent."

"Oh sure, and I'll host weekly town meetings where I pretend to care about everyone's problems. First agenda item: who ate all the good rations."

They all laughed, but the truth lingered. Kai wasn't interested in leading anybody. Could barely stand leading himself most days.

Leave the kingdoms and thrones to the people who needed validation. He'd stick to his lane. Survive. Keep the people he liked alive. Maybe get a good meal out of it if the system was feeling generous.

The conversation paused when a pack of snarling wolf-like things slunk out of the brush, teeth bared and eyes glowing faintly red.

Kai didn't even slow down.

"Left," he said lazily, and Sasha's bow hummed as two arrows buried themselves in the first wolf's skull.

Talia vaulted over a fallen log, daggers flashing, carving through another before it could lunge.

Kai stepped aside as the last one leapt, drove his palm into its ribs, and sent it tumbling into the underbrush with a wet crunch.

"Anyway," Kai continued, as if they hadn't just disassembled an ambush, "what do you think Gorran looks like? Big rock guy? Maybe wearing a helmet two sizes too small?"

"Probably drools when he walks," Sasha added.

"Bet he has a catchphrase," Talia said. "'Gorran smash!' or something equally uninspired."

Kai chuckled. "Perfect. We'll ask him to autograph the dirt with his face."

More laughter.

The tension of the last few days loosened, just a bit.

Kai looked up at the sky, where the golden glow of the event announcement still faintly lingered.

One week.

One boss.

And, hopefully, one story worth telling.

By the time they crested the final ridge, the forest gave way to open ground.

And there it was.

A settlement.

If you could even call it that.

Rough walls of packed earth and stone surrounded a sprawl of tents, makeshift lean-tos, and whatever shelter people could throw together without dying in the process. The walls were uneven but sturdy—probably thrown up by an Earth Mage or two who'd decided they'd rather build than bleed.

Kai slowed as they approached, scanning the scene.

"Wow," he said. "It's like someone combined a refugee camp with a bad renaissance fair."

"Bet the plumbing's fantastic," Talia muttered.

Sasha gave a quiet laugh. "And look. A whole community of people we can disappoint."

Inside the walls, the place was busy. Runners darted between campsites, carrying supplies and updates. A central bonfire smoked lazily, with a few people sitting around it like they were waiting for their number to be called.

But even from here, the exhaustion was obvious.

The settlement below was the largest gathering of survivors they'd seen since the tutorial started—easily a hundred, maybe more, all crammed behind thick, uneven walls of hardened earth and stone. Someone had taken the time to mold the terrain into a fortress, or at least something trying real hard to be one.

"Guess the architects made it to round two," Kai muttered.

"Walls look sturdy enough," Sasha said.

Beyond the walls was Gorran's territory—a wide, scarred stretch of land that looked like someone had taken a giant hammer to the earth just for fun. Craters. Cracked stone. Dirt mounds as tall as houses.

And the real problem?

No one who'd gone out to fight Gorran had come back.

The stories were easy to overhear as they moved closer.

"Third group today," someone muttered near the gate.

"Didn't even last five minutes."

"Juggernaut? More like a damn mountain that decided it hates us."

Kai stopped just outside the entrance, taking it all in.

It was the most humanity they'd seen in nearly a month.

And somehow, that made it worse.

"Feels like a party," Kai said under his breath.

"Funeral's probably scheduled for later," Sasha replied.

Talia gestured toward the largest tent, where a few notable figures were gathered:

— A stocky man barking orders, his voice carrying across the camp like he thought volume counted as leadership.— A tall woman with a pike, watching the horizon like she was waiting for Gorran to come knocking.— And a younger guy flipping a dagger between his fingers, grinning like none of this was real and he was just killing time until the end.

"Think they're running this mess?" Talia asked.

"Running might be generous," Kai said. "Surviving. Stalling. Pretending there's a plan."

A distant crash echoed across the territory.

Another group, another attempt.

And judging by the way debris scattered across the field and someone's body tumbled like a kicked ragdoll, it was going just as well as the rest.

Kai exhaled slowly.

"No survivors from the last fights," he said. "Not one."

Sasha looked over. "Still feel good about this?"

"Not really," Kai admitted, rolling his shoulders. "But hey, we'll make it look cool."

Talia smirked. "As always."

Kai glanced at the camp one more time. The walls. The people. The unspoken fear hanging over everything.

"Alright," he said. "Let's go find out what kind of nightmare we're walking into."