"It turned and walked away." I blinked, caught off guard by Krent's words. "…It didn't attack?" He shook his head slowly, his expression weary but firm. "Not a scratch. And that's not all. Every time it struck, it never harmed a child younger than six." I went quiet, my thoughts stirring uneasily. Why?
Beasts had no sense of morality. Hunger didn't discriminate between a newborn and a grown man. If desperate enough, even the smallest creature would devour anything it could sink its teeth into. Yet here was a beast sparing children as though bound by some invisible rule. "That… doesn't make sense," I muttered under my breath. Krent's jaw tightened. "It gets worse. A party of B-rank adventurers took the request. They fought hard, managed to bring the beast down in the end." His voice dropped a little, almost hesitant. "But then… two S-rank beasts appeared."
I clenched my teeth. "S-rank?" His hands curled into fists. "They didn't fight. They slaughtered. The adventurers didn't stand a chance—it was over in seconds. And yet, even those beasts didn't touch the children."
The ground seemed to tilt beneath me as I listened. My mind drifted back to Syler Forest, to the nightmarish moment when I'd been separated from my family. A forest filled with roars, shadows, and the unknown.
An A-rank beast behaving unnaturally. S-rank beasts appearing. And none of them harming the youngest. Something about it felt wrong, deeply wrong. And then I felt it again—the faint pressure of a presence at the edge of my awareness. Distant, but watching. The same one I had sensed on the road here. It wasn't beast. It wasn't human. It was something else. I turned sharply, scanning the broken village. Hollow-eyed villagers shuffled through ruins, the air thick with smoke and the stench of rot. But there was nothing out of place. Nothing to see.
Just as suddenly, the presence vanished. I let out a steady breath and smoothed my expression. "You okay, kid?" Krent asked, his voice cutting through my thoughts. I nodded lightly, masking my unease. "Yeah… just thinking." He studied me for a long second, then sighed. "Beasts don't act like this. This isn't natural." My gaze met his. "Could they be controlled by someone?" He stiffened, the question striking him like a blow. "…Controlled?" His voice lowered to almost a whisper. "Is that even possible?"
I didn't answer aloud. But I knew it was.
There were ancient spells, long buried and forbidden, capable of twisting the minds of beasts. With enough power, they could be bound, commanded—turned into weapons. If someone had uncovered such knowledge, then this was no simple beast hunt. I rose, flicking another coin into his palm. "That's all I needed. Thanks." He caught it but hesitated. "You're not seriously going, are you?" I smirked faintly. "Of course I am."
"Damn reckless kid," he muttered under his breath. I tilted my head, studying him. "You used to be an adventurer, didn't you?" His lips curved into a humorless grin. "Sharp one. Yeah. B-rank. Gave it up two years back." I folded my arms. "Then why didn't you fight?"His grin faltered, replaced by bitterness. "I did." I frowned. "What do you mean?" His eyes hardened as he spoke. "Who do you think kept this village standing for the last month?"
Realization struck me. "You… you've been fighting the A-rank beast alone?" He nodded once. "Until the S-rank ones showed up. That was as far as I could go." I stared at him, weighing his words. Weeks of fighting, alone. Protecting people who had already surrendered to despair. "You should come with me," I said quietly. His eyes snapped up. "What?"
"I'm going to kill those beasts. You in?" He let out a short laugh, more tired than mocking. "Kid, that's suicide." I let my smirk sharpen. "I'm stronger than I look." He scoffed, but the sound cut off when I let my Aura flare for just a moment. The air thickened, pressing down like a heavy cloak, charged with raw energy.
His breath caught, his eyes widening. "W-what the…?" I held his gaze. "So? You in or not?" For a moment, silence stretched between us. His hands trembled—not with fear, but with something else. Resolve. The kind that only came when someone glimpsed a spark of hope in the darkness. "I'll go," he said at last, his voice rough. "I can't let this happen again."
His fists tightened until his knuckles whitened. "That beast… it took my wife. Right in front of me." The words cracked, heavy with grief he had carried too long. I said nothing. I didn't need to. Some things were understood without words. A minute later, he stepped into a small house and returned in full gear—armor worn but serviceable, a greatsword strapped across his back. His eyes were steadier now.
I handed him a strip of dried meat from my storage mark. He accepted it without question, chewing as we walked. We left the ruined village side by side, our steps falling in rhythm on the dirt path leading toward Syler Forest. At the treeline, I pulled my hood down, revealing my face. "Ray Leon. Adventurer." He exhaled and nodded. "Krent." I smirked. "Try to keep up." He chuckled lightly. "Shouldn't I be the one saying that?"
Without another word, we sprinted forward—toward the forest.