Akira glanced back. It lasted no more than a split second, but in that heartbeat, he saw something that churned his stomach in ways hunger never could.

  A horde of larva trampling over each other, their bloated bodies jostling in a frenzy, every one of them snapping vicious, scythe-like fangs, each driven by a single purpose, to rip him apart and feast on his corpse.

  But that wasn’t what froze his blood. Towering above the horde, a shadowed figure loomed. A monstrous, grotesque creature, larger than anything he’d seen yet.

  Its skin was the same dark, sickly blue as the larvae, but it emitted a faint, almost ethereal glow, as if a soft light pulsed beneath its flesh like a starless night sky.

  This creature, though, had more than just the chubby, unsteady legs and simple features of its kin.

  Every part of it was amplified, a horror magnified. Its hulking body was bloated and glistening with an unholy sheen, the thick, fleshy antennae twitching as it homed in on him with an unsettling precision.

  Beneath the beast’s head, or what he guessed was a head, was a maw full of dagger-like teeth, curved and sharp, much more frightening than its offspring’s, and the cavernous void of its eyes, dark and endless, conveyed a hunger that ran deeper than survival.

  What unnerved Akira most, though, were the bulbous growths jutting from either side of its face, something its ‘children’ didn’t have. They looked almost synthetic, unnatural mounds that bulged slightly, ending in circular openings.

  He couldn’t understand their purpose, but an instinctive sense of dread gnawed at him just by looking at them.

  The split second passed, and he snapped out of his trance, tearing his gaze from the beast. His feet hit the ground with renewed desperation as he ran, his own whisper barely audible against the deafening roar of his pulse. Move! Move! Move!

  The air grew colder as he ran, and the sensation felt almost like a shock to his senses, invigorating him even as his muscles screamed with exhaustion.

  He rounded a corner, and there it was, a brilliant opening, light spilling through, almost blinding compared to the darkness that had swallowed him.

  Whatever was on the other side had to be better than this nightmare, or at least that’s what he thought at that moment. He sprinted toward it, the brightened edges of the light illuminating the stone walls around him in an otherworldly glow.

  But the creature wasn’t far behind. Akira could feel it, a massive, looming presence that made the ground shudder under its weight with each step. It was like the tremor before a devastating storm, and every instinct in his body screamed for him to move faster.

  Yet, curiosity, or perhaps sheer stupidity, gripped him, and he risked another glance.

  In that instant, he saw the bulbous growths on either side of the monster’s face begin to swell and pulse, as if something inside was coming to life.

  Without warning, the growths convulsed, and from them, a thick, viscous liquid shot toward him, a stream of inky darkness weaving through the air. It glistened like liquid shadow, and Akira’s heart skipped a beat as he realized it was coming straight at him.

  Instincts took over.

  Akira threw himself to the right, just barely dodging as the stream splattered onto the ground beside him, coating the cavern floor with a sticky, shimmering layer.

  He scrambled to his feet, now facing towards the nightmarish monster, his pulse racing, when a new horror dawned on him.

  The substance was changing, hardening, taking on a yellowish hue that he recognized immediately. It was the same silk-like material he’d awoken trapped in, thick and fibrous, emitting that faintly rancid smell he’d hoped never to encounter again.

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  He staggered back, horrified as the realization struck him like a physical blow. It was you. He thought, panic clawing at his mind. This thing… this creature is what trapped me in there. The truth was a brutal revelation.

  This monster wasn’t just another horror lurking in the shadows. It was his captor.

  His mind spun as he connected the pieces.

  Was this creature not only responsible for imprisoning him but also for putting him through this ‘Selection Trial’? What even was the Selection Trial to begin with?

  However, he didn’t have the luxury to ponder it further.

  The creature let out a guttural screech, the sound reverberating through the cavern like the roar of something ancient and insatiable, its prey was escaping and it didn’t like it.

  It was like a wake up call for the thin boy, who was lost in his thoughts.

  Akira turned and bolted for the exit, his every step fueled by the voices in his head screaming at him to run faster, yet his legs didn’t allow him to.

  The cavern walls echoed with the furious, hungry cries of the larva and the monstrous bellows of their leader, each step taking him closer to the unknown outside world and further from the nightmarish prison that still clawed for him in the dark.

  He clutched the crimson crystal tightly to his chest, its faint glow his sole comfort, while the mantis claw bounced heavily against his back as he ran for his life, his only way of protecting himself.

  He surged forward, lungs heaving, each ragged breath burning in his chest, and every muscle in his body straining under the brutal demands of his escape. “Please. Please be a way out of here!”

  With a final, desperate lunge, he stumbled forward and broke free of the cavern's shadowed maw.

  He emerged into a sprawling landscape, a world alive with vibrant colors and open air.

  He blinked, eyes adjusting slowly to the faint warmth of daylight as it filtered through the dense canopy above.

  Before him stretched a jungle so vast it felt endless.

  Towering trees with ancient, gnarled trunks stretched so high they grazed the heavens, their upper branches entwined to form a lush, green ceiling that swayed gently in the breeze.

  Shafts of sunlight pierced through gaps in the leaves, illuminating patches of earth and casting dappled shadows across the jungle floor, making everything seem otherworldly.

  Akira staggered forward a few steps, dazed and entranced by the sight before him.

  His silver eyes darted around, drinking in the unfamiliar scenery, an untamed wild beauty that was almost overwhelming after the claustrophobic darkness of the cavern. “...Beautiful.”

  But instinct kicked in, and he forced himself to turn back to the hole he had emerged from, gripping the mantis claw tightly for support.

  He planted it in the ground like a post to keep himself upright, his body too drained to fully hold his weight.

  Now that he was finally out, a sense of cautious relief washed over him, tempered by exhaustion and the lingering fear of what lay behind.

  The entrance to the cavern loomed larger than he remembered.

  Jagged and raw, the dark opening was like the gaping maw of a beast, still echoing with faint, distant screeches and the shifting movements of the monsters below.

  It was a reminder of the nightmare he’d narrowly escaped, the relentless creatures still prowling in the darkness, hidden but never far enough away.

  Akira’s mind flashed back to the frantic run, the disorienting path through twisted tunnels. He realized now that the ground had sloped upward, yet in his adrenaline-fueled frenzy, he hadn’t felt the incline, his senses overridden by the raw need to survive.

  Now, outside that hellish nest, he felt the weight of his exhaustion fully settle over him, his limbs trembling as he leaned against the mantis claw.

  Akira’s breaths came in slow, labored puffs as he stood rooted before the jungle, unable to shake off the image of the monstrous creature lurking just beyond the cavern entrance.

  The beast was watching him, its dark, empty eyes glowing faintly as though taunting him from within its lair, the twisted nest it had seemingly crafted to imprison him.

  For the moment, it appeared bound by some unseen tether, unwilling to step beyond the shadowed threshold into the daylight.

  Akira didn’t know whether it was bound by instinct, fear, or some other reason he couldn’t fathom, but he took whatever small mercy he could find.

  His gaze lingered on the cavern’s entrance for a while.

  He took a shuddering breath, half-expecting the creature to break through whatever thoughts held it at bay.

  But as moments passed, the beast and its many offspring remained in the shadows, glaring from within the darkness. Akira felt its eyes drilling into him, each blinkless stare felt as if it was devouring him within its mind.

  Relief was fleeting, he knew he couldn’t stand here forever.

  He had no idea what lay ahead, only that it was a chance, a slim, uncertain chance to survive.

  Pushing off the mantis claw, Akira steadied himself. His stand was shaky, his body still reeling from the excruciating moments of terror and desperation. “I better leave before that thing decides I’m too appetizing to let go of.”

  He squinted up at the sky, a patchy expanse barely visible between the towering branches and broad leaves, each shaft of light a reminder of the endless unknown beyond.

  With a sigh he started adventuring away, not wanting to stay any longer and risk the monster deciding to come out of its lair.