Chapter 8 – The Second Girl

The trees whispered of pursuit.

Riku moved without sound, boots pressing against moss and ash. The Demon’s Forest had grown unusually still, and stillness here meant only one thing—something was watching.

Not a beast.

Something smarter.

He didn’t look over his shoulder. Didn’t break stride. But every instinct screamed: You’re being followed.

Selene flickered at his side, translucent in the half-light. “We’ve been shadowed for a quarter mile. Still no visual.”

He nodded once. “Can you tell how many?”

“Just one. Fast. Light steps. Patterned.”

Riku narrowed his eyes. “Stalking, not charging.”

“And better at it than anything else we’ve seen.”

He adjusted his pace—slower now, deliberate. Lured his stalker deeper into the trap web he’d woven three hours earlier.

The second tripwire didn’t snap.

The third one did.

With a blur of movement, a figure dropped from a high branch—and landed gracefully in the center of a spectral snare trap. Instead of panicking, the girl crouched, studying the arcane ropes wrapping her legs.

“Good craftsmanship,” she said.

Riku was already behind her, dagger unsheathed and pressed to her neck.

She didn’t flinch.

“I’m Kaela,” she said, voice low and calm. “Ashfang Tribe.”

He didn’t lower the blade. “You’ve got five seconds.”

“Or what?” she asked, turning her feline eyes toward him—golden and sharp. Her pupils were narrow slits, and a pair of white-furred ears twitched on top of her messy, snow-colored hair. “You’ll kill me before I’ve said anything useful?”

Selene hovered behind her, frowning. “No divine aura. Not god-touched. But a lot of natural magic.”

Riku stepped back, keeping his weapon ready.

Kaela smiled. “Didn’t think you’d be sloppy, Riku.”

His eyes narrowed. “You know my name?”

“I’ve been watching since you cooked the Flame Queen’s champion over his own fire. Word spreads—especially among those of us not licking god-boots.”

They made camp a few hundred meters west. Riku never fully let his guard down, but Kaela seemed more curious than hostile.

She sniffed a piece of dried meat he handed her, then shrugged and ate it in three sharp bites. Her tail lazily swayed behind her, expressive and unapologetic.

“Scout?” Riku asked.

“Spirit-scout,” she corrected. “Tracking, sensing, calling. I can smell mana changes like you smell blood.”

Riku raised an eyebrow. “That’s a skill?”

Kaela tapped her nose. “When your people are hunted like animals, you learn fast.”

She pulled a tiny totem from her pouch—an orb of twined wood and etched bone.

“Each one’s a spirit echo,” she explained. “This one holds my brother’s hunting focus. I carry him with me.”

Riku’s expression softened.

Selene, quiet for most of the exchange, finally asked, “Why approach now?”

Kaela glanced up.

“You killed three god-touched agents in one night and left the fourth in pieces. That kind of rage attracts attention. I needed to know if you were just a beast with a blade.”

“And?”

“I think you might be something scarier.” She grinned. “A man with a reason.”

Later that night, Riku did his usual perimeter walk. Kaela climbed into a tree above him, lounging on a branch like it was a bed.

“Why do you trust me?” she asked without looking down.

“I don’t,” he said.

“Then why the fire, the food?”

“Because I want to see what you’ll do with it.”

The answer came faster than expected.

A shriek tore through the trees—deep and furious.

Selene appeared instantly. “Incoming! Big! Eight legs—massive heat signature!”

Kaela leapt from the tree, landing beside Riku in a crouch.

“I smell venom. Old venom.”

They didn’t wait. The forest cracked as a colossal shadow surged into the clearing—a giant fangmaw spider, its body covered in chitin blackened with soot.

It launched toward Riku.

Kaela moved faster.

She flung one of her totems to the ground. “Spirit Bind!”

A ring of green light snapped up from the soil, halting the spider’s legs mid-stride. It hissed, furious.

Riku darted in, blade flashing. Two slashes—one to the leg, one to the side.

The beast shrieked.

Kaela threw another totem. “Sever Pulse!”

A burst of magic hit the spider’s eye—it staggered, dazed.

Riku climbed its side in three fast steps and buried his dagger in its skull.

[Fangmaw Spider – Defeated – LV 27]
XP + 390 (Sync Battle + Ambush Bonus)]
[LEVEL UP → LV 26]
Companion Sync Unlocked – Kaela: 1.0 / 5.0]
New Trait: Predator’s Chorus – +10% evasion and crit chance when fighting with Kaela in forest terrain]

Riku yanked his blade free.

Kaela stood by his side, chest heaving.

“I’ve been waiting to kill one of those for months,” she muttered.

“You had backup,” he said, brushing off blood. “Use it.”

Selene smirked faintly from the edge of the clearing. “Not bad for a stray.”

Kaela shot her a glare. “You’re just mad he can touch me.”

Later, around the fire again, Kaela sat cross-legged, idly polishing a claw-shaped dagger.

“You keep moving like that,” she said, “I might stick around.”

Riku met her gaze.

“You already did.”

[SYSTEM NOTICE: Companion Slot Filled (2/4)]
Kaela – Spirit Scout (Beastkin)]
Skill Tree: Spirit Channeling, Ambush Arts, Echo Senses]