Ether: Pulse of the Forgotten

The closer they got, the louder the camp became.

Not loud like celebration. Loud like survival. Clanging tools. Barked orders. The distant hiss of a fire burning too hot. But under it all was that same thread of tension, wound tight through every conversation and glance.

This many people in one place? It felt surreal after nearly a month of seeing nothing but corpses and monsters.

Kai slowed as they passed through the gap in the earth-made walls. "Huh," he muttered. "Didn't think I'd ever see this many people breathing at once again."

"Don't get used to it," Sasha replied, eyes already scanning the camp, counting exits. "We know how that tends to end."

Talia snorted. "Yeah. Messily."

The camp wasn't exactly organized. Tents sprawled in uneven rows, some clearly made from salvaged gear, others just scraps of cloth tied together with hope and rope. Makeshift cooking fires smoked between clusters of players trading supplies, patching armor, or just sitting with that thousand-yard stare Kai had started recognizing as the unofficial tutorial mood.

Near one of the fire pits, someone was sharpening a sword with so much focus it looked personal. Another person—not even bothering with weapons—was curled up asleep next to a pile of rocks like that was just how life worked now.

"Feels like summer camp," Kai said. "You know, if the counselors forgot how to do their jobs and all the s'mores were poisoned."

"Best vacation ever," Talia added.

They kept walking, threading through the settlement as more heads turned their way.

Strangers were common out here, sure. But three people, strolling in calm as you please, looking like they weren't afraid of the air itself? That got attention.

And then there was the tent.

Bigger than the others. Center of the camp. Haphazardly pieced together from tarp and torn fabric, but it held weight—not physically, but in the way everyone around it kept glancing toward it like the answers might be inside.

That's where the leaders were.

Kai clocked them immediately.

First was Grant—the human embodiment of a brick wall, with a broad frame and a heavy shield slung over his back like it weighed nothing. His sword wasn't for show either. The man looked like he could plant himself in the dirt and take a charging bull without flinching. Probably a full defense build, if Kai had to guess.

Next to him was Selene, tall and lean, resting her pike lazily against her shoulder. Frost lingered on the blade, just faint enough to notice if you were paying attention. Probably Ice magic mixed into her kit. The kind of person who didn't need to waste words because the air did her talking.

And then there was Lio, lounging like he didn't have a care in the world, flipping a dagger between his fingers in smooth, lazy arcs. He looked like a Rogue, or maybe just someone who enjoyed the idea of bleeding out quietly in the night. His grin didn't quite reach his eyes.

Kai leaned toward Sasha as they neared. "We placing bets on who's about to give us the worst motivational speech?"

"Five silver says it's the guy with the shield," she whispered back.

"Ten says they all take turns," Talia added, adjusting the strap on her pack.

"Rude," Kai said. "At least let them disappoint us properly first."

As they approached, the trio of leaders turned toward them.

Conversations around the camp quieted. Just a bit. Just enough to notice.

Kai flashed his best grin. "Hey there. Nice setup you've got. Real homey. Cozy, even. Very... end-of-the-world chic."

Grant didn't smile. "Who are you?"

"Tourists," Kai said. "Thought we'd see the sights. Maybe kill a boss if the mood strikes."

That got a faint, amused snort out of Lio. Selene didn't react, just watched with sharp eyes, assessing every inch of them.

"You've seen what happens to the ones who try," Selene said, voice quiet but firm. "Gorran doesn't leave survivors."

Kai shrugged. "Yeah, we noticed the lack of welcoming committee."

Grant narrowed his gaze. "If you're here to throw your lives away, do it on your own time. We don't need more bodies for the pile."

"Relax," Kai said. "We're not here to start trouble."

"But," Sasha added smoothly, "we are here to learn. Figure we should at least ask the locals how not to die horribly before we go do something stupid."

Lio smirked. "Step one: Don't pick a fight with a boss designed to break teams twice your size. Step two: See step one."

Talia snorted. "Real helpful."

Grant studied them for another moment. "Advice? Leave. You're not ready. No one is. We've sent teams. Strong ones. Gorran crushed them."

Kai tilted his head. "Sure. But did those teams happen to be us?"

For just a second, Selene's lips twitched. Almost a smile.

"Bold," she said.

"Confident," Kai corrected. "There's a difference."

And just like that, they weren't strangers anymore. They were pieces on the board.

And the game had just begun.

They left the safety of the walls together.

Kai, Sasha, and Talia, flanked now by Grant, Selene, and Lio—the so-called leaders of the settlement, though none of them looked particularly eager to be leading anything today.

"Don't usually escort newcomers," Grant muttered as they climbed the ridge. His heavy shield clanked softly with each step. "But you're the first people cocky enough to ask what we're actually up against."

Kai smirked. "Happy to lower the bar."

From the crest, Gorran's territory spread out below them—cracked and broken earth, scarred from the repeated attempts to bring the thing down. It looked like a warzone abandoned by the losing side.

And there, in the center of it all, stood Gorran.

Gorran was a monster built from nightmares and stone, towering over the battlefield like the mountain that refused to move. Thick slabs of muscle twisted beneath armor that looked grown, not forged—jagged, dark, and cracked like volcanic rock, with veins of dull orange light pulsing faintly beneath the surface. His head was low-slung between hulking shoulders, eyes like smoldering coals watching the world with bored contempt. Every movement was deliberate, slow, and terrifyingly final. He didn't pace. He didn't roar. He simply existed, like an avalanche waiting for someone dumb enough to shout in its path.

Massive. Silent. Still.

He wasn't prowling or guarding. He just waited.

Like the end of the world wearing a body.

Selene rested her pike against her shoulder and exhaled. "Ugly bastard, isn't he?"

Kai shrugged. "I've seen worse first dates."

Lio snorted quietly, twirling his dagger. "We've been watching him for over a week. Same thing every time. Group goes in, group gets flattened. No one's made it back across the line."

They all stood there for a while, observing as another team—six people, all geared and confident—began their approach.

At first, it looked clean. Coordinated. Like maybe they had a real shot.

But then…

They slowed.

Kai narrowed his eyes. It wasn't obvious. Not at first. But there was something… off.

The way their movements dulled the closer they got. Sharp footwork getting sluggish. Quick strikes dragging just a fraction too long. Like the wind had shifted around them, pressing back in subtle, invisible ways.

"You see that?" Kai murmured.

Grant grunted. "See what?"

"They're... delayed," Sasha said, frowning. "But not like they're tired. Like they're stuck."

Talia tilted her head. "Feels wrong. Like they're moving through sludge."

Another blow landed—a massive sweep from Gorran's arm that took out two at once. They didn't even flinch in time to dodge.

"They should've seen that coming," Lio muttered. "That was the slowest attack of the week."

Kai stayed quiet, watching.

It was subtle. Too subtle.

But there was a line out there. An invisible boundary. People crossed it and just... faded. Not dead, not instantly. Just worse. Slower. Duller.

And then they died.

One by one, the team below fell apart, their plan crumbling under invisible weight.

"None of them are getting out," Selene said softly.

"They never do," Grant added.

No one spoke after that.

Kai leaned back against a boulder, arms crossed, mind turning.

Something about Gorran's territory itself felt wrong.

And if no one made it out alive, that meant no one had been able to warn the next group.

Until now.

"We're gonna need a new plan," Kai said finally.

Sasha glanced over. "Figure something out?"

"Working on it," he said. "But whatever's happening out there... it's not just the boss. It's the field itself."

Selene's brow furrowed. "You think the terrain's cursed or something?"

Kai just shrugged. "Don't know yet. But if it is, we're going to find out the hard way."

They lingered at the ridge a while longer, watching the aftermath unfold.

The last of the team below crumpled under Gorran's fist, their body landing with a heavy thud that echoed across the broken ground. Then silence, as if the territory itself held its breath.

Gorran turned, slow and deliberate, and lumbered back to the center of the field. Back to waiting. Back to daring someone else to try.

"That's the fourth group in three days," Selene murmured, her voice barely louder than the wind.

"Fourteen people," Lio added. "Maybe more, if you count the ones dumb enough to try rescues."

Kai shifted his weight, eyes locked on the jagged terrain. "No one's making it back. That's not normal."

"You think it's not just the boss?" Grant asked, brow furrowed under the weight of the thought.

Kai shrugged. "Feels... wrong. The way they moved. Like the closer they got, the worse they got. Slow, clumsy... it's not panic. It's not exhaustion. It's something else."

Sasha crossed her arms. "Some kind of suppression? Field effect?"

"Gravity," Kai guessed softly. "Or something like it. But that's just me spitballing."

Talia glanced over. "And if you're right?"

Kai gave a slow grin. "Then we fight smarter. Before we cross that line."

Grant grunted. "Suppose that's why you're here. New ideas. The rest of us are running out."

Kai leaned back against a boulder, gaze drifting over the battlefield. "Not really looking to lead your little camp, if that's what you're getting at."

Selene smirked. "Relax. We're not the type to hand over the keys after a good observation."

"Good," Kai said. "I'd lose them anyway."

They all chuckled at that, but the humor didn't last long. The weight of what came next pressed down on them like the sky itself had gotten heavier.

One week to clear the territory. One week before Gorran was unleashed for good.

And from the looks of things, they were running out of teams to throw at the problem.

Kai exhaled slowly. "Alright," he said. "Let's head back. Talk through it. I've got a feeling we're gonna have to get real creative."

Talia stretched her arms over her head. "Or real stupid."

"Same thing," Kai shot back, already turning to lead the way.

As they hiked back toward the settlement, Kai's mind kept spinning.About the invisible line out there.About the people who never made it back.

And about how they'd have to be the first ones who did.

Four days passed.

And the number of survivors kept bleeding out.

Kai stopped checking the count somewhere around 820. Maybe lower by now. At a certain point, watching the system's death toll tick down started feeling more like reading a countdown timer than anything resembling news.

The camp shrank.

People left in the night, chasing easier bosses or joining other groups. Some returned in pieces. Most didn't return at all.

Word filtered through from the edges of the map—two territories had been claimed. Vaelin's domain fell first, some massive combined effort with a dozen survivors clinging to the reward like it might save them from what was coming next. Cindralis dropped two days later, the team that pulled it off limping away half-dead and full of venom.

And Gorran?

Gorran just waited.

Every morning, Kai watched from the ridge as another group gave it a shot. And every afternoon, he watched the same pattern unfold: confident charge, sudden hesitation, and then the quiet, brutal end.

They weren't getting better.

They were getting desperate.

And that invisible line—the one no one else seemed to notice—kept claiming bodies.

Kai sat on the outskirts of the settlement, legs kicked out in front of him, watching the sunset burn red across the sky like the whole world was catching fire.

"three days left," Sasha said, dropping down next to him.

"Plenty of time," Kai replied, smirking without humor.

Talia plopped down on his other side. "Unless someone else tries Gorran and gets us all killed first."

"Guess we'd better make sure that doesn't happen," Kai said.

Behind them, the camp was quieter than usual. Fewer people. Less hope. The leaders—Grant, Selene, and Lio—had started spending more time near Kai's group, not saying it out loud, but the shift was obvious.

They knew who the last real shot was.

Kai flexed his hands, staring out at Gorran's territory where the juggernaut still stood, unmoving, a living wall waiting to crush the next fool who stepped too close.

"Tomorrow," Kai said finally.

Sasha nodded. "Tomorrow."

Talia cracked her knuckles. "About time."

Kai grinned. "Let's make it interesting."