Emisarry Of Time And Space-Chapter 195 - 196: Scout.

Orion turned back toward the forest—and stopped.

They were all there.

Every one of them.

His classmates stood scattered across the clearing's edge, some half-hidden among trees,

others fully exposed, all staring straight at him. No one spoke at first. No one moved. The air

was still, heavy with the aftermath of what they'd just witnessed.

Orion frowned slightly.

So focused.

He hadn't registered their presence at all.

That was… careless.

He noted it immediately, filed it away. In the future, he couldn't afford that kind of tunnel

vision—not even against something like that. Especially not against something like that.

He Aether Stepped once and appeared in front of them.

Up close, their expressions were clearer. Awe. Confusion. Suspicion. A little fear. Not of him—of

what he'd just fought.

He opened his mouth to ask why they were all here, then stopped himself.

He already knew.

He'd said five minutes.

It had been far longer than that.

It would have been unreasonable to expect them not to worry.

Silence stretched.

Then Caelum spoke.

"What was that?"

The question landed heavier than expected.

Orion paused.

What was that?

He realized, with faint irritation, that he didn't have an answer. He hadn't read of any monster

like it. Not in academy records. Not in restricted archives. Not even in fragmented intelligence

briefings.

It hadn't just been dangerous.

It had been wrong.

Structurally. Functionally. Conceptually.

An abomination stitched together by systems rather than instinct.

He'd been too focused on killing it to properly categorize it.

"I don't know," Orion said honestly. "But it wasn't native. Not fully."

That only deepened their expressions.

Before anyone could ask a follow-up, Orion stiffened.

Something else brushed the edge of his perception.

Not mana-dense.

Not spatially unstable.

Not temporal in the way monsters were.

It was… thin.

Present, but trying very hard not to be.

Orion vanished.

No warning.

No explanation. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The presence reacted instantly, panic flaring like a candle in the dark. It turned and ran.

Bad idea.

Orion reappeared several meters ahead of it, cutting off its escape path without effort. The

thing skidded to a halt, frozen mid-step.

Up close, it was clearer.

Green skin.

Lean, almost underfed build.

Roughly his height—maybe five foot seven.

Its ears were long, oddly shaped, tapering back at sharp angles rather than drooping or

standing upright. Its eyes were a vivid, unnatural green, wide with fear and reflecting the light

far too clearly.

It wore rags.

Not ceremonial clothing.

Not armor.

Just layered scraps of fabric, patched together and stained with dirt and sap.

Its chest rose and fell rapidly.

Alive.

Sentient.

Terrified.

Orion didn't move.

He didn't release pressure either.

The creature stared at him like prey staring at an apex predator it knew it couldn't outrun.

Slowly, Orion let his mana settle.

The air relaxed slightly.

The creature didn't.

He'd already identified it.

Sylgrid.

So this was them.

The jade forest dwellers.

The miners.

The ones tied to this land in ways the academy reports never fully explained.

Up close, it was obvious they weren't monsters.

But they weren't human either.

There was something… different about the way it existed. Its mana presence wasn't centralized

the way humans' were. It spread thinly through its body, faint but constant, almost like

resonance rather than storage.

Interesting.

Orion tilted his head slightly.

"You were watching," he said.

It wasn't a question.

The Sylgrid swallowed.

Its lips parted slightly, then closed again. It hesitated, eyes flicking to the forest, then back to

Orion.

"…Yes," it said finally.

Its voice was rough, accented strangely, like it wasn't used to speaking common tongue often.

Orion nodded once.

That explained the earlier anomaly. The faint glow. The feeling of being observed.

"You saw the monster," Orion continued.

The Sylgrid's fingers twitched.

"…Yes."

"How long?"

"A long time."

That answer made Orion's eyes narrow slightly.

Long enough to know when to run.

Long enough to survive.

Long enough to watch that thing hunt Mabites.

That changed things.

Orion considered it for a moment, then asked, "Did you know what it was?"

The Sylgrid shook its head immediately.

"No. Not like that. We knew it was wrong. It didn't belong. It came from deeper. From below."

Below.

Orion exhaled quietly.

So it hadn't been unique.

Or at least, not isolated.

"That thing killed Mabites," Orion said. "Groups of them."

The Sylgrid nodded again, more vigorously this time.

"Yes. It hunted anything that wandered too close. We avoided this area."

Smart.

"And you were still here because?" Orion asked.

The Sylgrid hesitated again, then lowered its gaze.

"I was sent to watch. To see if it moved. To warn the others if it did."

So they had scouts too.

That was… reassuring, in a way.

Orion straightened.

"Relax," he said. "I'm not going to kill you."

The Sylgrid didn't relax at all.

Orion sighed internally.

Fair.

He turned and Aether Stepped back to his group, reappearing with the Sylgrid in tow—gently

displaced, not dragged.

The reaction was immediate.

Hands moved toward weapons.

Mana flared.

"What the hell is that?" Daenys muttered.

"Sylgrid," Orion said calmly. "The mining race. Forest natives."

That drew immediate attention.

So the rumors were true.

The Sylgrid froze again, clearly aware it was surrounded now. Its fear spiked, but it didn't bolt.

Good.

Orion turned back to it.

"You're coming with us," he said. "For now."

The Sylgrid's eyes widened.

"To… where?"

"Somewhere safer than where you were standing," Orion replied. "And somewhere we can

talk."

A pause.

Then, cautiously, the Sylgrid nodded.

"…Okay."

They didn't move far.

Orion chose the location deliberately—a shallow rise where the forest thinned just enough to

allow visibility without exposure. Thick roots formed natural barriers, and the canopy above

was dense enough to dampen sound and mana fluctuations. It wasn't perfect, but it was safe

enough for a temporary stop.

The moment they settled, Orion sat down and closed his eyes.

He wasn't exhausted physically. His breathing was steady, his mana stable enough despite the

drain. But mentally, there was weight pressing down on him. The fight hadn't gone the way it

should have. Not in outcome—he'd won—but in process.

That mattered more.