Ashen
I've seen too many forests in too many lives.
But none like Blackwood.
The trees here are older than memory — bark charred as if they'd once survived a divine fire. They drink mana straight from the soil, and in return, they keep the beasts... twisted.
And somewhere deep inside these roots, I'll either awaken my Core—
—or die before Vale even remembers me.
I travel light.
A bone-handled knife, a mana-reactive flint, and two Core Fragments I stole from the village's shrine when no one was watching.
It's not enough.
But it'll have to be.
The Nine Samsara Curse didn't promise convenience — only time.
I reach the edge of the inner ring — where the trees grow so thick they choke the light — when I hear it:
"Don't take another step."
A voice. Calm, but sharp.
I freeze, hand sliding to my blade.
Then I see him.
Slouched against a boulder, cradling a crooked wooden staff, is a man in ragged armor. Maybe thirty. A thin scar crosses his jaw, and his left eye is glassy. His cloak is muddy and too short, like he borrowed it from a drunk priest.
And yet—
He doesn't look afraid.
Not of me. Not of this cursed forest.
"You're going to awaken your Core," he says, gesturing lazily to the deeper woods. "Bad idea."
I say nothing.
"Let me guess," he continues. "You've got a chip on your shoulder, some shadow in your past, and you think throwing yourself at a Feral beast will make you stronger. Right?"
"...You're not wrong."
He chuckles. "Didn't think so. I used to think that too."
Used to?
"You a hunter?" I ask.
He shakes his head.
"No. Just another idiot who survived one too many near-deaths. Name's Gaius."
But here, now… he's just a man with tired eyes and a crooked smile.
"And you are?" he asks.
"Ashen."
"Fitting."
He watches me for a while. Then, without asking, tosses something at my feet — a leather pouch.
"Bone dust," he says. "Rub it on your arms before you fight. Dulls the beast's mana sense."
"Why help me?"
"You'll die either way," he shrugs. "Might as well make it interesting."
That should've been the clue.
Normal men don't talk like that. Not in this world.
"You awakened here?" I ask.
He doesn't answer right away.
Then: "Once."
"And?"
"It cost me everything I had."
His tone shifts — just for a second.
Like he's remembering something burnt and buried. Like a king speaking through a beggar's teeth.
"And did you win?"
"No one wins," he says. "We just survive long enough to burn better."
He stands, slowly.
And though he limps, I can feel it now — the coiled weight in his stance. Like a blade hidden in cloth.
He nods to me.
"Go. Your beast is waiting. And if you live—"
He pauses.
"—remember that not every wolf in the forest has fur."
And just like that, he vanishes between the trees.
I don't know why those words chill me more than the beasts.
But they do.
[SYSTEM] Core Pressure Building...
Location: Inner Blackwood Ring
Threat Level: Moderate-High
I press forward.
It's time.