The wind howled like a wounded beast, tearing through branches and scattering black ash over the thick forest ground.
Zern Forest… the farthest edge of a remote kingdom on the border of the Eastern Continent, where no law existed except survival, and power ruled above all.
The sky was cracked, the clouds twisted like dark serpents, and thunder roared in the distance as if announcing a new war.
Deep inside the forest, on a muddy path, a fierce battle raged between a large trade convoy and a group of armed bandits.
The neighing of horses, the shouts of men, and the clash of steel created a chaotic symphony.
Blood mixed with rain, and the air was heavy with the smell of iron, sweat, and death.
"Protect the wagons! Don't let them get close!"
The convoy leader shouted as he swung his wide sword, forcing his way through the mud.
On the other side, the bandit leader laughed wildly, his wet hair covering half his face.
"Seems your goods are worth more than I thought!"
But before anyone could move again, everything changed.
The sky opened… no sound, no wind, no movement.
Everyone on the battlefield lifted their heads instinctively.
Above, a red light slowly spread, like a crack tearing through the heavens, leaking a glow that looked like boiling blood inside the clouds.
Then...
The scream of the wind exploded.
Something fell from the sky like a living meteor.
The explosion that followed erased everything in front of it.
The forest shook, the trees trembled, a wave of heat and dust burned the skin.
Everyone fell to the ground, silent, hearing only a ringing in their ears and seeing red dust swirling around a massive crater that spewed steam like hell itself.
And through the smoke, something stood.
Not an object… a person.
A young man, with crimson hair scattered like black flame, and red eyes glowing like shards of bloodstained glass.
His clothes were torn, but his body was completely unharmed, not a single wound — as if the ground had broken beneath him out of respect, not impact.
He stood slowly amid the wreckage, dust sliding off his shoulders, his eyes filled with a stillness deeper than death.
Both soldiers and bandits froze in place.
The air grew heavy, as if the forest itself had stopped breathing.
His cold gaze alone was enough to silence everyone.
No swords raised, no words spoken — only the sound of rain hitting metal and mud.
One soldier whispered, voice trembling,
"Is... is that a human?"
No one answered.
Even the commander didn't dare move.
The convoy leader bit his lip, tension choking his chest, but his mind worked fast.
His instincts told him that the one before him could be their salvation — or their doom.
His reason told him he needed to play his cards carefully, or he might get burned.
As for the bandit leader, his thoughts were a maze no one could read.
Minutes passed.
No one moved.
The forest boiled in deadly silence — a silence so heavy it felt like time itself had stopped to watch the boy standing in the crater.
His eyes, devoid of any human emotion, froze the blood of everyone who met them.
Dozens of meters away, among the muddy wagons and trembling guards, stood Rodan, commander of the trade convoy.
He gritted his teeth, tense.
He had seen many things in his life — men who could cut through mountains, mercenaries who killed beasts with their eyes —
but this boy who fell from the sky was unlike any of them.
There was something in his eyes… something beyond strength or age.
A coldness like the moment before death, and a stillness as if he didn't see humans as living beings at all.
One guard behind him whispered carefully,
"Sir Rodan… should we attack him?"
Rodan turned sharply,
"Do I look insane to you? We don't know who he is or who sent him!"
But the guard didn't back down. He stepped closer and lowered his voice.
"Think logically, sir… people like that don't fall from the sky for no reason.
He could be a child of one of the great clans, maybe lost during training or spatial travel.
If so, he might have sealed skills or rare spiritual tools on him.
Even a small trace of his clan could make us rich for years."
Rodan gave him a cold look.
"Did you forget what happened to the Shadow Traders three years ago?
They kidnapped a strange youth they thought was weak — and by morning, they were ashes!
Some people aren't prey… they're traps of death."
The guard laughed faintly and said in a sly tone,
"And what, do we live just to run from death?
Everything in this world is built on risk, sir.
Those who fear traps die poor; those who devour them become rulers.
We can lure him in with a little kindness — shelter, food, soft words — and wait for the right moment.
If he's too strong, we let him go.
But if he's just a cocky kid... when he sleeps, we'll see what he's hiding in his blood."
"Come on, sir. He's just a Blood Apprentice. Even if things go wrong, he can't possibly take us all on."
Rodan frowned. "Then how do you explain the destruction he caused without a single scratch on him?"
"Ha, sir, you really think a boy at the first stage did all that? I bet he had a treasure protecting him.
Noble children never travel without safety measures."
Rodan fell silent, face tight with both fear and anger.
But deep inside, he couldn't deny the man's logic.
In this world, mercy wasn't a virtue — it was a disease.
Cunning was the only real weapon.
Even allies couldn't be trusted… so how could a stranger?
He closed his eyes for a moment, then said quietly,
"Maybe you're right… but we'll act carefully.
Keep an eye on him. Send someone to speak with him first.
We need to know if he even remembers his name."
The guard smiled, eyes gleaming like a hunter who smelled new prey.
"Leave it to me. I'll make the boy think we're his saviors."
Across the field…
The bandit leader, Dark, sat on a mud-covered rock, wiping his long sword with a blood-soaked cloth.
His broad face was like stone, showing no fear or worry,
but his eyes were locked on the boy in the crater — like a wolf watching new prey.
His lieutenant, Filen, a thin man with a long mustache and a scar cutting half his face, leaned closer.
He spoke quietly, his tone dripping with venom.
"Boss, you saw it yourself... a fall like that isn't something we can understand.
But look at him — he's just a young boy, maybe fifteen, and his strength seems only at the first level.
You know what that means? It means he hasn't mastered what he has yet.
Any beast still growing can be tamed… before it's slaughtered."
Dark didn't answer. He kept polishing his blade until it gleamed despite the blood and rain.
After a moment, he said,
"Do you think he's from the nobles?"
Filen smiled crookedly.
"Maybe. But even nobles bleed like everyone else when you cut them.
I say we lure him in, pretend we saved him from those traders, make him trust us.
A small boy needs protection — and we're good at playing protectors."
"And then?" Dark asked coldly.
"Then we wait for the right time.
If he has something valuable, we take it.
If not... his blood might be a treasure on its own.
Did you see how he fell? That red light — it was like the sky spat him out!
Maybe his blood holds some kind of power or rare lineage.
Even a few drops could be worth a fortune."
Dark finally laughed, a low, growling sound.
"You're worse than demons, Filen... but I like that about you."
He stood up, stabbed his sword into the ground, and said seriously,
"We'll do as you say. But remember — if we fail, or if this kid is more dangerous than he looks, everything we've built will vanish in an instant."
Filen smiled confidently.
"Big risks bring big rewards.
Let me handle him first... I know how to talk to prey."
While both sides plotted, Ashen stood motionless in the crater.
His eyes moved slowly between them, as if reading their hearts instead of their thoughts.
The beastly instinct inside him sensed hostility — raw, primal hostility —
like an animal that could smell death before it struck.
He could feel it, like a bloody mist rising from anyone who meant him harm.
His eyes shifted between the traders and the bandits.
To him, they looked the same —
two sides of the same coin.
The only difference was in their clothes and words... the filth was the same.
He raised his head toward the sky for a moment, raindrops hitting his face without making him blink.
The calm in his eyes was terrifying.
Then he looked down again and took a single step forward.
It wasn't just a step.
It was a declaration.
The ground trembled under his feet, the air shifted, as if the forest itself shrank back to make way for him.
One of the convoy soldiers shouted unconsciously,
"He's moving!"
Everyone froze again.
Ashen kept walking slowly toward the space between both sides, rain sliding down his body like a curtain of blood.
Rodan quickly raised his hand toward his guard.
"Stop him, but don't attack. Talk to him first!"
At the same time, Dark gestured to his lieutenant.
"Go to him. Don't speak until you understand who he is."
From both sides, two men stepped forward —
From the convoy: the cunning guard, smiling falsely with his hands raised as if in peace.
From the bandits: Filen, his smile split by the scar on his face, moving lightly as if his feet barely touched the ground.
They both approached, each thinking he was the smartest and most cunning.
But Ashen saw something entirely different.
Behind their smiles, he saw dark red shadows — symbols of their true intent... greed and betrayal.
He stopped, eyes moving slowly between them,
then lifted his right hand slightly, fingers trembling as if feeling the air.
At that instant, both men felt something wrong —
a sudden, heavy coldness pressing down on their chests.
The air around the boy thickened, becoming an invisible weight.
No one understood what was happening.
Everyone waited for the first word.
Everyone held their breath.
Inside Ashen's mind, only one thought echoed like a heartbeat:
> "This world... isn't any different from the last forest.
Same smell... same hungry eyes.
Looks like I won't need long to adapt."
A faint look crossed his face —
a look that froze the blood of everyone watching,
because it wasn't human.
It was the look of a creature that enjoyed watching corpses before they fell.
Then, with one more step forward, he moved closer…
and the game began.