Season 1. Chapter 57: The crew!

Chapter: Clash at Ruby Dawn

Zack Erebus had seen many Travelers—most of them unaware, unprepared, or unlucky.

But as he phased to the edge of the next clearing beneath the dim pre-dawn sky, something caught him off-pattern.

A small group had gathered ahead… and they were not hiding.

They stood bold, backs to the mist, just beyond the treeline. The air shimmered faintly with heat—foxfire—and piles of gleaming rubies lay stashed in open satchels like casual treasure.

And they were new.

Not just in face.

In presence.

In energy.

Zack stood silently in the shadows, watching them.

Aurelia Dawnmere — sharp-eyed and sharp-tongued, with shoulder-length blonde hair, clad in a black and white knitted sweater over sleek black pants. Her calm, casual posture didn't match the faint glint of battle-readiness in her stance.

Garrick Ironhart — young, messy blonde hair, half-human, half-dwarf hybrid, strong-armed and clearly the one doing the heavy lifting. His arms were slung with bags bursting with rubies, as though they'd hoarded an entire region's worth.

Nico Finnikin Faelwyn — the foxkin scout in his humanoid form, with orange hair and flickering fire licking his gloved fingertips, crouched near a bush with one eye scanning the treetops, his fox ears flicking with every motion.

Zack stepped forward from the dark without hesitation, the silent distortion of his void walk shimmering as he emerged.

Aurelia's eyes instantly flicked to him.

"Hmm?" she asked casually. "You don't look like a Traveler."

Zack said nothing. His face was unreadable.

She tilted her head. "Seen a guy named Oliver? Wears nervous energy like cologne. And a Druid girl named Fern? Kinda emotionless."

Still nothing.

Zack took a slow step forward—then, without a word, drew both daggers. The metal didn't shine. It absorbed.

> "Drop the Rubies."

The temperature dropped like a blade across the throat of the moment.

Garrick froze, halfway adjusting his shoulder bag. "Uh—hey now, maybe we can talk this through—"

But Aurelia?

She just grinned wide.

And drew her sword in a swift, fluid pull that sent a shimmer through the clearing. The blade was silver-edged with a radiant blue glow pulsing near the hilt.

She stepped forward, fearless.

Click. Click. Click.

Boots in perfect rhythm.

"You're that Zack guy, aren't you?" she said cheerfully. "The ghost-killer. The Ruby menace."

She spun the sword once in her hand. "I was really hoping to run into you."

Garrick hissed, "Auri, don't. You don't know what he—"

"Hush, Garrick," she said, never looking back. "This one's mine."

The Rubies glowed in the misty light.

Zack lowered into a ready stance.

Aurelia grinned, sword raised.

Two apex players.

Two styles.

Void.

Flare.

And neither of them… intended to back down.

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Chapter: Flickers in the Dark

Zack Erebus had made one mistake—he slightly underestimated Aurelia Dawnmere.

At first, it was subtle. He expected a hothead, a showy sword-waver.

But the moment her iron broadsword clashed against his left dagger with a clean, practiced arc—he blinked.

She wasn't showy.

She was efficient.

She didn't overextend. She didn't blink under pressure. And most dangerously—she thought while fighting.

Aurelia wasn't just swinging.

She was feeling the air.

Wind currents shifted unnaturally around her, guided by her subtle use of vita pressure control, manipulating the airflow so she could sense micro-disruptions—movements Zack thought were invisible.

She didn't need to see him.

She needed to feel where the wind broke.

But Zack had darkness—and it was the ultimate counter.

As she lunged again, wind whispering her target, Zack let himself bend with it—void-phasing mid-step, appearing beside her rather than in front.

A flick of his hand—and it was over.

Nonexistent threads surged up from the ground, like shadows stitched from nothing. They wrapped tight around Aurelia's ankles, lifting her a few inches off the floor and pulling her into a hover-snare.

"Wha—?" she gasped, twisting. Her sword flashed down—

Nothing.

The threads didn't cut.

They didn't bleed.

They didn't even exist.

They were absence incarnate.

Aurelia grumbled, frustrated. "This is cheap…"

She glared up at Zack, her hair slightly ruffled, still held midair.

Zack landed lightly in front of her, both daggers humming, his left blade now at her neck.

His expression unreadable. Cold.

Behind him, Garrick and Nico stood paralyzed.

"Nico," Garrick muttered, panicking. "What do we—what do we do?! She'll get—!"

Before he could finish, Zack tilted his head, eyes shifting to Garrick's ruby-filled satchels.

"Drop them," he said flatly.

Garrick's mouth tightened. He looked at Aurelia—still caught, still defiant.

"…Fine!"

He yanked the satchels off and threw them toward Zack's feet.

Rubies clattered across the stone.

But—

"Return to ash!"

Zack's eyes flinched one half-second too late.

Nico had already leapt into the air, his cloak burning off in a snap of foxfire as he hurled a blazing fireball down from above.

It exploded across Zack's upper body, flames spiraling outward in a shockwave, illuminating the clearing in full orange bloom.

BOOM.

The smoke thickened. The heat sizzled.

The rubies shimmered beneath the flames.

Aurelia was thrown slightly sideways in her thread-bind, blinking against the heat.

Garrick shielded his eyes. "Nico, you did it—!"

But Fern's earlier words rang true again.

> [Darkness Element: -80% Damage from Natural Elemental Types]

The smoke drifted.

And Zack… was still standing.

His coat was singed. His sleeves lightly smoldered. But otherwise—he looked bored.

Small burn trails ran along his right shoulder—but nothing critical.

He exhaled once.

Then looked up at Nico, still in the air, cloakless and wide-eyed.

Zack took one step forward, dragging his blade slightly through the ash.

Aurelia, still suspended, coughed once—and smirked.

"You're still not getting the real Rubies," she said.

Zack didn't respond.

But the temperature dropped around them again.

Round 2.5 was far from over.

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