CHAPTER 39: WHAT WAS IT?

The cavern was suffocating.

The air was thick with rot and damp stone, the weight of death pressing against my skull.

Julien stood a few paces ahead, his back to me. His hands were clenched, his body tense.

Cassandra was still. Watching. Always watching.

Something was wrong.

The darkness wasn’t just darkness anymore.

It was alive. Moving.

And then—

A sound.

A click.

A whisper of something slithering through the shadows.

Julien moved first.

"Behind—"

He didn’t finish.

The creature was fast.

Something lashed out from the dark—thin, needle-like appendages. They pierced straight through Julien’s chest.

I heard the gurgle before I saw the blood.

Julien’s body jerked. His hands shot up, clawing at the spines protruding from his ribs.

He turned—stumbling, gasping.

"Professor—"

His knees buckled.

I caught him.

But I couldn’t do anything.

I couldn’t save him.

His breath came in ragged, shallow bursts. His fingers twitched against my arm, like he wanted to grab hold of something.

But there was nothing left.

His lips moved—a whisper.

I leaned in.

"...figures..."

Blood spilled from his mouth.

A weak grin.

"Guess I was... always the first to go..."

His body slumped.

Limp.

Gone.

I sat there.

Holding him.

Staring at the blood soaking into the dirt.

The thing that killed him had already retreated.

It didn’t care.

It never did.

I forced myself to breathe.

Then—

A sharp pain.

Cassandra.

She staggered, clutching her stomach.

Something black and oozing dripped from a wound in her side.

I rushed to her, catching her before she fell.

She didn’t cry out.

She didn’t react at all.

Her pale eyes met mine—calm. Accepting.

Like she’d known this was coming.

"...I saw it," she murmured.

I frowned. "What?"

She blinked—slowly.

"I saw this."

My stomach twisted.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

She exhaled shakily.

"Every time I closed my eyes..."

Her fingers twitched against my arm.

"This moment. Again and again."

Her breath hitched.

"But I couldn’t change it."

Something tightened in my chest.

Her body shivered.

"...I don’t want to see anymore."

Her voice was barely a whisper.

I held her closer.

"...You won’t," I muttered.

She sighed—soft, almost relieved.

Then—nothing.

Her body went limp.

I sat there, holding her, staring at the last two people I had left.

And now—

I was alone.

Just me.

And the dark.

I knelt there.

Holding what was left of them.

Julien, still with that dumb, lopsided grin frozen on his face.

Cassandra, peaceful. Like she’d just fallen asleep.

I felt something in my chest crack.

Tighten.

Then break.

A choked breath left me, and suddenly it wouldn’t stop.

The air hitched in my throat. My vision blurred.

I wasn’t supposed to be the last one standing.

I was just the damn instructor.

They were kids.

They were just kids.

I gritted my teeth, trying to shove it down, but the tears came anyway.

Quiet. Helpless.

Because what else was I supposed to do?

I had taught them, trained them, prepared them—

And they still died.

One by one.

Until there was no one left.

A trembling breath shuddered from my lips.

And then—

The smoke thickened.

The purple tendrils that had been watching, waiting—

They moved.

Swirling. Curling.

Encircling me.

It spread across the cavern like a slow-moving tide, seeping into the cracks, covering the ground like ink spilled in water.

The air turned heavy.

It pressed against my skin, curling around my arms, my throat.

I sucked in a sharp breath—too thick, too wrong.

I tried to move. Nothing.

The smoke was wrapping around me now, curling over my fingers, my shoulders—

Like it was claiming me.

And then—

A whisper.

Not words.

Not a voice.

Just... something.

Pressing against my mind.

Like it was waiting.

Expecting.

I didn’t move.

Didn’t blink.

Didn’t breathe.

Because for the first time since this nightmare started—

I tried to breathe.

The smoke pushed into my lungs.

It wasn’t air. It wasn’t even gas.

It was wrong.

Cold and burning at the same time.

I coughed, but there was no sound.

The world around me dissolved into the haze—dark shapes, flickering lights, fading into nothing.

And then, just as suddenly—

[Pattern Recognised]

[Would you like to store the pattern ’Dream Mist’ inside Grimoire of Patterns]

The notification cut through the suffocating haze.

My thoughts lagged behind—heavy, sluggish.

Grimoire of Patterns.

The system.

It was still here.

A tether to reality.

A choice.

I swallowed hard, the purple mist clawing at my throat.

Dream Mist.

That’s what it was.

Not just smoke.

I focused. Forced my mind to sharpen through the fog.

Yes. Store it.

A pulse of energy.

A shift.

The mist shuddered around me.

Then—

[Pattern Stored: Dream Mist]

The moment the message flashed, the mist recoiled.

Like it had been burned.

___

"Professor? Professor?"

The voice was distant. Muffled.

Then—closer. Urgent.

"Professor!"

I gasped, jolting upright.

My body lurched forward, drenched in sweat, breath ragged. My heart slammed against my ribs like it was trying to escape.

The cavern—the blood—the mist—

Gone.

Instead, dim firelight flickered across the walls of a makeshift camp. The scent of charred wood replaced the sickly rot that had clung to my lungs moments ago.

I wasn’t in that place anymore.

A hand gripped my shoulder.

Felix.

His wide, frantic eyes locked onto mine. "You—" His voice caught, then steadied. "You were convulsing. We thought—"

I barely heard him.

My hands shot to my chest, searching for wounds that weren’t there. My fingers trembled as they pressed against solid skin.

Not torn. Not bleeding.

Not dead.

My breath shuddered out.

A dream?

No.

Not just a dream.

It had been too real. The weight of their bodies. The warmth fading from their skin. The mist—

I swallowed hard.

Dream Mist.

My Grimoire had stored it.

I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to focus. Felix was still staring at me like I’d grown a second head.

"Where—" My voice came out hoarse. "Where are we?"

Julien exhaled sharply, rubbing his face. "Still in the forest. After... whatever the hell happened back there when you ’borrowed the supplies from Class A,’ you suddenly passed out. Mira and I had to drag you back to camp."