Moon and Frey arrived at Shardfall Cliffs.

The eastern edge of the island was falling apart. Piece by piece, section by section, the land was crumbling away into the sky below. It had been doing so for as long as anyone could remember, and yet the island still stood tall above the clouds. As if the collapse was merely a little wound that would never quite kill it.

The cliff face was adorned with lines of soft crystal running through the rocks. When the sunlight hit them, the entire surface glittered like broken glass, scattering light in every direction. It was beautiful in the way that dangerous things often were.

Every few minutes, a crack would echo across the flatland behind them as another section of ground would shear free from the edge and tumble away, falling silently into the open sky below.

Moon walked to the edge and peered over.

Just like last time, only white, endless clouds greeted his vision.

The air tasted like dust, almost metallic, coating the back of his throat with every breath.

Narrow paths ran along the cliff top, worn into the stone by creatures or people long gone. They twisted and branched across the terrain in patterns that must have once connected to something. But each path ended abruptly with severed trails that led to nothing but open air.

Nobody built anything on the cliff. Whatever you constructed today could be gone tomorrow, swallowed by the next collapse.

With no hunters in sight, Moon decided to ask a question that had been on his mind since he first looked over the edge.

"Why doesn’t anyone try to bring a parachute and glide down to the ground below?"

Frey responded with a tired look. The revelations from earlier were still weighing on him, dragging his expression down, as if stones were tied to his face.

"Because they already tried. And they failed. There are powerful flying beasts that roam the sky beneath the floating island. They kill anyone who dares to enter their territory."

"How strong are we talking?" Moon glanced over the edge again. "And why don’t they come up here?"

"Based on how easily they killed the people who attempted the descent, at least Two Star. And there are many of them. We’re talking tens, maybe more." Frey rubbed the back of his neck. "As for why they don’t come up, you’d need to ask them. But the most prominent theory is the wind currents around the island. They’re incredibly violent."

He paused, choosing his next words carefully.

"The people who jumped and survived long enough to report back said the same thing. The moment they left the island’s edge, they felt like they were being shredded.

The wind currents spiraling around the island act like a barrier. The only reason the jumpers survived at all was because they followed the downward current rather than fighting against it.

If they had tried to move laterally or climb back up, they would have been torn apart."

Moon looked out at the clouds below. Somewhere beneath that white expanse, flying beasts circled in the dark, waiting for anything foolish enough to fall into their domain. And between the island and those beasts, a wall of wind sharp enough to cut flesh.

"So even if you survive the wind, the beasts are waiting at the bottom."

"Exactly." Frey nodded. "The only way off this island is through the pavilion. There is no shortcut."

Moon nodded.

There was no shortcut, but he wasn’t planning to take one anyway.

Conquering the pavilion came with its own rewards, and if he wanted to be ready for the tournament in a few days, he needed to push through this place.

Running wasn’t an option, it never had been.

The two of them waited in silence behind a cluster of boulders near the cliff’s edge.

An hour passed. Then two.

Moon began to grow impatient. He could have spent this time hunting, filling his second acupoint, building his reserves. Sitting here doing nothing felt like burning money.

"Where ar—" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Before he could finish, Frey’s arm shot up. He pointed toward the far side of the flatland and opened his mouth.

"There they ar—"

Before he could finish, Moon’s hand closed around his throat.

The other hand clamped over his mouth, sealing the words inside before they could travel. Moon pulled Frey close, their faces inches apart. His eyes were colder than anything Frey had seen from him yet.

"If you dare to make that much noise once more," Moon’s voice was barely a whisper, "I will kill you. Do you understand?"

Frey’s body trembled, his eyes bulged above Moon’s fingers as he managed a frantic nod. ’Fuck! Please hear it! I can’t do anymore...I will really die!’ He thought internally, hoping his plan worked.

Moon released his throat.

Then he struck the back of Frey’s head with the heel of his palm.

Frey’s eyes rolled back and his body went limp. Moon caught him before he hit the ground and lowered him gently behind the boulder, propping him against the rock where he wouldn’t be visible.

Moon turned back toward the direction Frey had pointed and peered over the boulder’s edge.

"Hey, did you hear that? I could’ve sworn I heard someone shout something." One of the hunters stopped walking, his head turning as he scanned the cliff.

His teammate chuckled and waved a dismissive hand. "Who would be out here at this hour? It’s probably just the wind. It’s really strong today for some reason."

"Yeah but it sounded like a voice."

"Everything sounds like a voice up here. Last week you thought a rock falling was someone calling your name."

"That was different."

"It really wasn’t."

The first hunter frowned but let it go. The group continued forward along one of the worn paths, their weapons drawn and their formation loose. Moon counted them from behind the boulder.

"A total of six Evolvers, they appear to be at the peak of 0-Star too...they should be good.’ Moon smiled, as he summoned Mirage.

"Stay next to him, just in case he wakes up." He whispered to Mirage that neighed softly.

<Yes...>