The Mu-crafted sailboat cut through the water like a knife—sleek, impossibly durable, a blend of Beastman instinct, Dwarven engineering, and Elven essence-channeling. The ocean wind hummed against the woven soul-wood hull, the sediments of enchantment glowing faintly beneath the surface.

  Tii stood barefoot at the bow, both hands behind his head, whistling off-key into the breeze.

  Technically, this was his first time away from the Isles of Mu.

  Practically, he had no idea what he was doing.

  Falcon Staff, resting against the mast, hummed softly as though disappointed in the child they’d entrusted with such a weapon.

  And behind Tii—making noises so unholy no language could define them—was Miko.

  Miko… the bird.

  A creature that somehow forgot how to be a bird.

  A creature that didn’t belong to any species known to Mu or the outerworld.

  A creature that had simply shown up one day… and never left.

  Miko stumbled across the deck, wings flapping in broken half-arcs, screeching like a goose, a dying chicken, and a squeaky door hinge simultaneously.

  Tii glanced over his shoulder.

  “Miko… I’m begging you. One normal bird noise.”

  Miko screamed louder.

  “…Cool. Perfect. Love that. Great travel companion.”

  Falcon Staff chimed in his mind:

  You could throw it overboard.

  Tii sighed.

  “I’ve tried. It keeps coming back.”

  The sky darkened.

  Waves rose into jagged walls.

  Wind roared, snapping the sails like whips. The Mu boat could withstand storms that would kill ordinary sailors—but this one shook even its reinforced frame.

  Tii dug his feet into the deck and held the ropes, yelling over the storm.

  “Miko! HOLD ON TO SOMETHING!”

  Miko grabbed onto Tii’s hair.

  “NOT ME, YOU STUP—GAH—”

  The boat plunged into a trough and shot upward again. Tii fought the wheel. Falcon Staff expanded into a rail for him to tie the ropes. The storm raged, each wave threatening to swallow them whole.

  Somehow, impossibly, Miko survived.

  Tii didn’t know whether to be impressed or concerned.

  When the clouds finally broke and the ocean calmed, Tii collapsed onto the deck, breathless.

  Miko landed on his stomach, chest puffed out, proud as a king.

  “You didn’t even help,” Tii groaned.

  Miko screeched triumphantly in his face.

  “I hate you.”

  Hours later, the wind shifted—unnatural, sharp.

  Tii sensed it before he saw it.

  Falcon Staff vibrated.

  Miko hid behind Tii’s leg.

  Dark sails appeared at the horizon.

  Sea Reavers.

  Slavers, raiders, killers—known for hunting Beastmen hybrids and selling their essence to Human and Demon buyers.

  Tii’s jaw tightened.

  They rammed his ship.

  Hooks embedded in the deck.

  Boots thundered aboard.

  Thirty pirates in all—Orcs, Humans, Demons—armed and sneering.

  Tii didn’t speak.

  He didn’t warn them.

  He stepped forward.

  Falcon Staff broke into two hooked short-blades.

  And then—

  Six orcs charged, cleavers raised.

  Tii inhaled.

  Cyclone Step.

  Wind spiraled under his feet, silent and lethal. In a blink, he vanished and reappeared behind the orcs.

  His blades were already dripping.

  The orcs stood still—then fell apart in a rain of limbs and shredded muscle.

  Blood sprayed across the deck, warm and heavy.

  Tii didn’t blink.

  Three more came—an elf and two human raiders.

  The first human swung downward.

  Tii parried him into a kneel.

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  The elf’s horizontal strike was redirected right into the human’s ribs—his partner’s sword doing the killing for him.

  The elf barely had time to gasp before Tii shattered his jaw with a hook and slammed his skull into the boards.

  The last human backed away, gathering a mana sphere with shaking hands.

  Before the spell reached stability, Tii kicked him—Mu air-step enhanced.

  The man flew across the gap, smacked into the mast of his own ship, and crumpled like wet parchment.

  The pirate leaders—three Demons—panicked instantly.

  They cut the ropes.

  Unfurled sails.

  Fled for their lives.

  Cowards.

  Their ship sped away.

  500m…

  800m…

  1km…

  Tii didn’t chase.

  He let Falcon Staff reshape—metal folding, lengthening, curving into a monstrous great-scythe.

  Wind condensed around him.

  Sea essence surged in.

  The ocean bowed under the pressure.

  2km…

  3km…

  5km away, the Demons relaxed, smirking, certain of escape.

  Tii raised the glowing scythe.

  “Wind and Sea Style…”

  The blade vibrated, humming with power beyond its size.

  “…Beast Sever Hurricane.”

  He swung.

  Silence.

  Then—

  WHOOOOOOOOOM—FWOOOM—

  A colossal expanding vortex of wind and sea erupted from his strike. A storm of blades—tens of thousands—screamed outward.

  Everything for 10 kilometers:

  ? water

  ? ship

  ? sails

  ? bodies

  ? bones

  ? steel

  ? Demon captains

  ? every crate, plank, rope—

  all shredded into red vapor and drifting splinters.

  The ocean frothed white for minutes afterward.

  Tii stood, lowering Falcon Staff as it reverted to normal.

  “Annoying.”

  Miko peeked out, horrified.

  Tii patted him.

  “Relax. I’m only this violent on Thursdays.”

  It was Sunday.

  Tii’s ship drifted toward the shore of the Human Continent.

  Miko stood at the bow, chirping a victory noise that didn’t match any natural creature in existence.

  The moment Tii stepped onto solid ground, a few dumb-looking spiders,and bugs—eyes crossed, drooling slightly—slithered up and swallowed random objects like leaves and dirt whole.

  Tii blinked.

  Blinked again.

  From inside the ship, Miko screamed.

  Tii sighed.

  “Miko… you idiot.”

  The coastline rose like a jagged black scar against the horizon. Tii guided his Mu-crafted sailboat through the mist, salt spray hitting his face. The storm finally faded into calm… but not before claiming the dumbest companion he never asked for.

  Miko — the fat, cross-eyed, low-IQ seagull who somehow survived a hurricane, lightning, capsizing waves, and a pirate massacre — fluttered happily into the air the moment they reached the cliffside.

  Tii blinked. “Huh. Maybe you are immortal.”

  A snake emerged from the underbrush. A stupid one. It stared at Miko with both eyes pointing in different directions.

  Miko stared back with both eyes pointing in different directions.

  The snake lunged.

  CHOMP.

  Miko was gone.

  Tii froze. “…No way. THAT kills you?”

  Tii would later laugh at this story for years.

  But for now, Tii sighed, shrugged, and walked on.

  THE JUNGLE OF SHADOWS

  The jungle greeted him with a wall of thick, humid air and overwhelming life essence. It pulsed around him — wild, uncontained, ancient.

  “This place will be perfect,” he muttered. “For training… meditation… maybe not dying.”

  He set up a small camp, ground herbs for potions, and practiced essence regulation. The Mu way required aligning oneself with the environment. And this jungle was overflowing.

  Then the forest went silent.

  All life essence withdrew.

  Even the bugs froze.

  Tii slowly stood. “Ah. So that’s bad.”

  A shadow darted past him.

  Then another.

  Then a third — faster than anything a normal beast or fighter could track.

  Tii barely saw the flash before—

  SLASH.

  A razor-sharp wound opened across his right arm. Blood spattered the ground. Tii leapt back instantly on instinct, Mu training taking control.

  “That… was almost my whole arm.”

  A rumbling growl. From the darkness stepped a massive wolf. Pitch black. Lean and deadly. Its fur swallowed the moonlight. Its eyes burned like dim amethysts.

  A Shadow Wolf.

  S-Rank.

  A beast with shadow-realm affinity, spatial flicker movement, terrifying intelligence… and murder-instincts honed by surviving in the most dangerous part of the human continents.

  Falcon Staff whispered from within Tii’s spirit:

  “Do not fight him. You will die.”

  Tii grinned. “Yeah. I’m gonna tame him.”

  Falcon Staff: “…You are actually insane.”

  (Near-death #1 and #2)**

  Tii tried a simple snare with essence-reinforced vines.

  Nyx stepped into it, looked down, then looked at Tii like he was the biggest idiot alive.

  Then Nyx teleported.

  A shadow flash — BAM — Tii went flying, smashing into a tree that cracked in half under the impact.

  He blacked out for two seconds.

  When he woke up, Nyx was sitting five meters away… watching him like he was studying prey.

  Tii sat up. “Okay. That one’s on me.”

  Nyx vanished again.

  A second flash. Tii ducked just barely, Nyx’s jaws missing his skull by an inch.

  Near-death #2 narrowly avoided.

  Tii puked from the pain and stood back up anyway.

  Nyx tilted his head, amused.

  (Near-deaths #3–#5)**

  Traps.

  More traps.

  Better traps.

  Pitfall?

  Nyx walked around it without looking.

  Weighted branch whip?

  Nyx dodged before it moved.

  A collapsing net?

  Nyx teleported above it and stomped Tii into the dirt.

  Three times.

  By the end of day two, Tii had:

  ? A cracked rib

  ? Two sprained fingers

  ? Three deep lacerations

  ? A dislocated shoulder

  ? Blood loss equivalent to a small bucket

  ? And a concussion that made Falcon Staff sound like it was underwater

  Nyx wasn’t even tired.

  He looked entertained.

  Tii lay on the ground. “You are… the worst… thing I’ve ever loved.”

  Nyx huffed.

  (Near-deaths #6–#8)**

  Tii changed tactics.

  He stalked Nyx instead.

  Nyx found this hilarious.

  Every time Tii thought he was making progress, Nyx appeared behind him.

  Or above him.

  Or beneath him.

  Or inside his shadow.

  Sometimes Nyx would swipe just hard enough to nearly kill him, then stop.

  Just to see how the boy reacted.

  Tii gained:

  ? A punctured thigh

  ? A cut on the jaw so deep bone showed

  ? A nearly collapsed lung

  ? Poisoning from eating a random blue fruit he thought was food

  ? And enough bruises to be mistaken for a demon ritual sacrifice

  Every night, Nyx watched him from afar.

  Amused.

  Curious.

  Waiting.

  Why was this tiny half-breed refusing to give up?

  Why did he keep getting up?

  Tii realized something during meditation.

  Nyx was too smart.

  Too fast.

  Too adaptable.

  Too shadow-linked.

  He would never catch him with Mu basics.

  He had to cheat.

  So Tii went full Mu-alchemy mode.

  He gathered every herb he could find:

  ? Jungle paralytic flowers harvested at dawn

  ? Rotroot spores for slow nerve disruption

  ? Mist-vine sap for containment density

  ? Death-moth powder (by accident — he sneezed for 10 minutes)

  He created:

  1. Paralysis Smoke Bombs

  Designed to incapacitate Orcs and Beastmen.

  2. Madness Toxin

  Strong enough to send an average beast into berserk frenzy for 2 minutes.

  He made the madness toxin by accident but kept it anyway.

  Falcon Staff watched him mixing things bare-handed.

  “…You know this could kill you, right?”

  Tii nodded. “Yup.”

  “That doesn’t bother you?”

  “Nope.”

  “…I hate you.”

  **THE FINAL TRAP — DAY 9

  (Near-death #9 — day 9)**

  Tii set old traps where Nyx expected them.

  Then made new ones in places Nyx wouldn’t suspect.

  Then used himself as bait.

  He stood in the clearing, shirt off, arms still bleeding, breathing through a painful lung.

  “Alright… come on then.”

  Nyx appeared behind him.

  Tii spun, dodging by instinct alone.

  Nyx flickered through shadows — ten flickers in a second — claws trying to take Tii’s throat.

  Tii ducked.

  Rolled.

  Leapt.

  Bled.

  Every movement scraping survival by pure instinct and training.

  Then Nyx made the mistake.

  He dodged the last visible trap.

  Exactly where Tii needed him.

  Tii slammed two paralysis smokebombs into the ground.

  BOOF — green smoke erupted.

  Nyx leapt out — but not fast enough.

  The smoke hit him.

  He kept moving… slower… slower… legs trembling…

  Tii lunged.

  And for the next minute, Tii fought with everything he had left:

  Bare-handed.

  Bloodied.

  Feral.

  He slammed Nyx down, pinned him with his forearm, and locked eyes with him.

  For the first time, Nyx wasn’t mocking.

  He was… listening.

  Tii whispered the ancient Beastmen tongue:

  “Walk with me.

  Hunt with me.

  Share battle and glory with me.”

  Nyx’s eyes widened slightly.

  Loneliness.

  Loss.

  Pain from his past as a stolen pup whose home was destroyed.

  Tii felt it all.

  Nyx slowly touched Tii’s chest with his muzzle.

  A silent acceptance.

  “Nyx.”

  The name echoed telepathically.

  His true name.

  At that moment:

  Nyx’s fur rippled, markings glowing faint violet — Mu-tribal sigils appearing naturally.

  A wolf-sigil burned itself onto Tii’s right arm.

  A perfect bond.