The sudden emergence of a wooden castle—rising eerily from the heart of a shattered stone courtyard—drew attention like moths to a flame.
Dozens of meters away, shadows shifted as a pack of monsters approached the edge of the clearing, their glowing eyes gleaming through the thick canopy of mist. They had been drawn by the mana fluctuations and the unnatural architecture, their primal instincts telling them that something powerful had taken root here.
Each of them had already broken through to Stage 1, their bodies thrumming with raw, untamed power. Though the group numbered no more than ten, their presence carried a weight far beyond their size. The weakest among them could likely tear an ordinary beast limb from limb—and the strongest… was a creature that made even the surrounding trees lean away in unease.