"Alright… time to get some practice in." Wallace muttered nervously, his eyes fixed on the armored men steadily closing in on him.
He quickly counted—one, three, five… six. There were six soldiers in total, but he knew there were more nearby. This might be his only chance to slip away before the rest showed up and trapped him completely.
One of the soldiers, a burly man with a broad axe and a scar across his face, sneered.
"Give it up, boy. There's no way out. Either come willingly, or die like a dog."
The intensity of the man's glare made Wallace's body tremble. He was terrified—of course he was. Six armed men against one defenseless kid. Still, even as fear gripped his chest, a nervous smile tugged at his lips. Admittedly, he was excited too. The thrill of trying to avoid death—it was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.
He knew charging headfirst was a stupid idea. He knew that. But with a cliff at his back, there was no other option. He wasn't about to jump, so with a deep breath, Wallace sprinted straight at the soldiers, catching them off guard.
The burly soldier roared, raising his axe high overhead.
"You damned fool! Fine, then—die like the scavenging rat you are!"
The massive blade came crashing down in a wide arc, and Wallace's eyes widened. He didn't have the luxury of dodging normally—if he moved the wrong way, another soldier would strike him instead. He had one gamble left.
The [Evade] skill.
Wallace prayed it would work. He focused with everything he had, desperate.
Evade. Evade. Evade!
The axe slammed into the ground with a thunderous boom, sending cracks spiderwebbing through the earth. The burly soldier smirked at the dust cloud, scoffing at Wallace's foolish charge.
But when the dust cleared, there was no blood, no body—no boy at all.
"What…?!" the soldier barked, looking around wildly.
Another soldier suddenly pointed upward, eyes wide.
"There! Up in the tree!"
And sure enough, Wallace clung to a thick branch, chest heaving, eyes wide in shock.
"How the hell…?" one of the soldiers muttered.
"Could it be magic?" another guessed.
The burly man scowled.
"Tch. The brat's got [Evade]. Coward's skill—makes him slippery, but it won't save him forever."
Meanwhile, Wallace was silently thanking his luck. He had actually activated it. He really thought he was dead back there.
In Nexus Of The Future Heir, Evade wasn't special or rare—every character technically had it. But no one bothered using it when parrying, shields, or powerful magic were far superior. Warriors could brute-force through attacks, mages could nullify them entirely. Evade was slow, awkward, and practically useless.
Dean Mayfest, however, was different. Dean had no magic. No swordsmanship. No stats worth bragging about. Nothing—except Evade.
But what most players never realized—what made Dean so notorious—was how Evade actually worked. Unlike other skills, it wasn't just a button press. It demanded precision: reaction timing, directional control, momentum shifts. Players had to master the mechanics to make Dean viable, and most never bothered. Which was why Dean became the infamous "trash character."
Yet there was one hidden detail about Evade Wallace remembered. It didn't just dodge—it manipulated Inertia itself. Speed, direction, momentum—Dean could twist them unnaturally mid-motion.
That's how Wallace ended up clinging to a tree branch. When the axe had come down, he'd activated [Evade] at full sprint. Time had slowed for an instant, letting him twist his momentum upward instead of forward, carrying him right over the enemy and up into the tree. He hadn't meant to go that high, but he also hadn't figured out how to cancel the skill smoothly yet.
Hanging there, Wallace grimaced. "God, it was so much easier with a keyboard and mouse. Now I'm gonna throw up just trying to use this thing…"
But he didn't have long to dwell. Below, two soldiers raised their bows.
"FIRE!" the burly soldier roared.
Arrows whistled past him. Wallace's eyes widened as one came straight for his face. He dropped from the branch just in time, but another arrow was on course to impale him mid-fall.
"[Evade!]"
His body twisted unnaturally, inertia redirecting his descent. He shot sideways, slammed into the trunk of another tree, and used the rebound to launch himself into a bush. Rolling out with scraped arms but intact bones, he bolted without hesitation.
The soldiers shouted in confusion, the burly one especially. How the hell had the kid dodged arrows in mid-air? He didn't have time to puzzle it out, though.
"Don't let him escape! After him!"
—-
Some time passed. Wallace's legs ached, his lungs burned, but he didn't dare stop. He had only one Evade charge left before the skill went on cooldown.
Thankfully, he recognized this forest path. Dean's prologue had a scripted route here—an unstable path that let players outrun the soldiers.
But—
Of course, it wouldn't be easy. Tutorials never were.
Wallace skidded to a halt. Ahead, in the shadows beneath the trees, gleaming red eyes stared back at him.
A cold sweat broke across his skin. His lips curled into a nervous grin. "…Of course. I knew I'd run into you eventually."
The beast stepped forward—massive, fur bristling silver and gray, jagged teeth gleaming, eyes glowing crimson with a strange sapphire tint. It radiated hunger and bloodlust.
A [Great Dire Wolf].
Seeing it through a monitor was one thing. Facing it in person was something else entirely.
This was the boss of Dean's tutorial—the forced lesson. Players couldn't escape without mastering Evade. Worse, you had to pull off Perfect Evades: timing, angle, and control so precise that the skill triggered a counterattack window. The world slowed for three seconds, enemy weak points exposed, letting Dean strike back.
But Wallace only had one use of Evade left. And no weapon.
He was completely screwed.
Still, this was Dean's path. This fight was inevitable.
The Dire Wolf snarled and lunged, faster than Wallace had anticipated. Its claws carved through the air, and he barely managed to duck and roll away. The tree behind him split cleanly in half with a single strike.
Wallace's heart pounded. "It cut through that like paper! If that hit me, I'd be in pieces—!"
He didn't wait. He ran, the beast crashing through the forest after him, its breath hot on his neck.
"…Shit! This is such bullshit!" Wallace shouted, sprinting for dear life.
Every instinct told him to collapse, to give in—but he couldn't stop. Not here. Not now.
No. He had one option left.
He had to find a way to kill the [Great Dire Wolf]… before it killed him.