Chapter 121: Invitation
Adyr’s cold demeanor and heartless tactics made everyone a little uncomfortable—but that was it. No one questioned him. No one called him a monster. No one told him to show restraint.
Because they all understood one thing.
Survival came first.
As long as he helped them escape, he was free to treat human life however he wanted. And in truth, his personality wasn’t a flaw—it was the exact mindset needed to handle a place like this.
From the moment the first humans stepped onto the earth, it was never compassion that kept them alive. It was calculation. It was cold, unflinching pragmatism. The same traits modern society labels as psychopathy had once been necessary for survival.
Attacking beasts many times their size out of hunger. Sleeping exposed in freezing storms with no shelter, no warmth, no protection. Ignoring pain, fear, and grief. Prioritizing the kill. Prioritizing the tribe. Prioritizing themselves.
Their minds had been wired for one thing: adapt, endure, overcome. Humanity’s earliest survivors weren’t gentle or noble. They were predators with the faces of men.
Adyr understood this, not just in theory, but by instinct.
He wasn’t broken. He wasn’t unnatural. He was aligned with something ancient—something older than morality.
In another time, he would’ve been a hunter dragging fire through the dark, bones pierced through his skin, eyes void of hesitation. There was no glory in it. No pride.
Just the simple fact that he was still breathing.