The forest thinned as Evan descended.
Not abruptly, but with the patient grace of something that had been deciding this shape long before he arrived. Pines gave way to lower, broader trees, their leaves dark and waxed as if polished by constant mist. The air cooled. Each breath carried the mineral scent of running water and old stone.
Whispering Vale earned its name honestly.
It was not voices, not quite. It was the sound of leaves brushing when there was no wind, of water speaking to itself as it curved around rocks smoothed by centuries. The kind of place where sound traveled strangely and distance lied with confidence.
Evan moved carefully, sword low, boots finding purchase among roots and wet earth. His stamina crept upward as he slowed, the system rewarding restraint.
Stamina: 49 / 100
A shallow stream cut through the vale, clear enough to reveal pale stones and darting shadows beneath the surface. Sunlight filtered down in fractured beams, catching on drifting motes that might have been pollen or something less benign.
He knelt, cupped water in his hands, and drank.
Cold. Clean. Real.
No debuffs appeared. No poison warnings. A small relief, but he banked it anyway. The system had taught him one thing already—silence did not mean safety.
He followed the stream, keeping it to his left. Water was a guide and an escape route both. Predators preferred predictable paths. He intended to be neither predictable nor easy.
A flicker of motion froze him mid-step.
Not a wolf.
Smaller. Leaner. A shape clinging to the trunk of a tree ahead, its skin the color of bark and shadow. Too still.
ANALYZE (PASSIVE)
Entity Detected: Mosslurker
Level: 2
Disposition: Ambush Predator
Evan exhaled through his nose.
"Of course you are."
The Mosslurker did not move, waiting for him to make the mistake of passing beneath it. Patience was its weapon. He recognized the tactic because it was already becoming his own.
He edged backward, slow, then veered wide, forcing it to choose between exposure and starvation.
The creature hissed softly, displeased, but did not give chase.
No experience gained. No victory chime.
Survival counted anyway.
As the vale deepened, the light dimmed. Stone rose on either side, not cliffs, but the suggestion of them—walls shaped by erosion rather than intent. The stream widened into a pool where the water slowed and deepened, its surface dark as glass.
Something lay half-submerged near the bank.
Evan approached cautiously. Not a body. A structure.
Stone blocks, squared and fitted, worn nearly smooth. The remnants of a bridge or shrine, long claimed by the vale. Moss coated the edges. Vines traced patient patterns over ruined intent.
RUINED WAYPOINT DISCOVERED
Name: Stonebound Crossing
Function: INACTIVE
Rest Bonus: UNAVAILABLE
He rested anyway, sitting with his back to cold stone, eyes scanning the treeline. The system did not object. It simply refused to help.
Minutes passed. Then more.
His breathing slowed. The constant tension eased by a fraction. Enough to think.
He had been a hero once, or at least believed himself capable of becoming one. That version of Evan had imagined quests and banners and clean victories. The system had stripped that fantasy away with its first error message.
This world did not care what he intended to be.
Only what he became.
A ripple crossed the pool.
Evan stood immediately, sword raised.
From the water emerged a figure—humanoid, but wrong in the way reflections were wrong. Its form wavered, edges dissolving and reforming, eyes like polished stone set in a face of flowing shadow.
Riverbound Shade – Level 4
Threat Assessment: HIGH
The mark at the back of his awareness flared, sharp and unmistakable.
It had found him.
Evan did not charge. Did not shout. He took one measured step back, calculating distance, terrain, options.
HP: 64 / 100
Stamina: 62 / 100
Odds: Bad
He felt something settle in his chest then—not courage, not fear.
Resolve.
If this world wanted a hero, it had chosen poorly.
If it wanted a survivor, it had chosen well.
Evan shifted his stance, blade angled, eyes locked on the rising shade as the water stilled around it.
"Alright," he said softly to the vale. "Let's see what you cost."