Days bled into weeks. Weeks into a month. The Misleading Woods stretched endlessly, roots twisting like veins, shadows pooling like ink. They got lost more times than they could count, ran in circles, faced monsters, sometimes fought, sometimes fled. Sometimes hunger tore at them like teeth through muscle. Exhaustion carved into their bones until even moving felt like bleeding. Some nights, they almost let the dark win, almost let themselves sink into nothing. But something sharper than despair lived in their chests, something cruel, stubborn, unbroken. It drove them to rise, to fight, to claw through the endless shadow. It kept them alive.
And just like this one month had passed.
Arin's panel flickered faintly as he checked his coins.
Lord Coins: 143
Close. Just seven short of Raul's next upgrade, Flowstep. But monsters had grown scarce. Weak ones fled at the scent of blood. Strong ones? They ran from those. Survival first, glory later.
Until that day.
Raul froze mid-step, his voice a whisper sharp as steel. "Shhh. Don't make a sound."
Victor stiffened, hammer gripped tight. "Another captain?"
Raul shook his head slowly. "No. Not a captain. But stronger than soldiers. Stronger than the shaman. Peak soldier, on the verge of becoming a captain."
Arin's breath caught. "Where?"
Raul tilted his chin toward the clearing ahead.
They peeked through the undergrowth, and saw it.
A beast basked in a shaft of sunlight that pierced the canopy. A tiger, massive and black as midnight, its body rippling with muscle, white stripes slashing across its hide like scars. One eye was blind, a milky orb gleaming faintly. The other burned like molten gold.
Obsidian Tiger.
It lay sprawled on the moss, tail flicking lazily, claws glinting like polished obsidian.
Arin's voice was low, steady. "No need to engage. We move."
They turned to leave.
And then—crack.
Victor's boot snapped a branch.
The sound was soft. But in the silence of the Misleading Woods, it was thunder.
The tiger's head snapped up. Its golden eye locked on them. Muscles coiled. Air thickened.
Raul hissed, "Run—"
Too late.
The beast moved like a shadow, silent, sudden, savage. One leap, and the ground shook as claws carved trenches into the earth where Arin had stood a heartbeat ago.
"Guardian's Stance!" Victor roared, shield snapping up as the tiger lunged again.
The impact was like a hammer striking iron. The beast slammed into Victor's shield with a roar that shook the trees. Sparks danced across steel. Victor gritted his teeth, muscles screaming, but he held. His stance locked, immovable, a wall carved from stone.
"Move!" he barked.
Raul exploded into motion, daggers snapping into the open. Nimble Steps hurled him low and fast, straight into the monster's blind spot. He tore into its flank, and black blood fountained out, hot enough to smoke on the moss.
The tiger roared and whirled, its bulk moving with obscene speed. Claws tore through empty space, carving furrows into the soil where Raul had stood a heartbeat before. He flowed aside as Combat Sense ignited, body bending with the strike, daggers sinking deep once more.
Arin flanked, sword flashing.
The beast lunged. He moved at the instant its weight committed, Timed Step slipping him just beyond its reach.
His blade drove into the joint of its foreleg, cutting through sinew. The tiger shrieked, twisting with murderous speed.
Its tail lashed out.
Arin rolled with the blow, letting it glance off his shoulder instead of taking him full-on. The impact jarred him, rattled bone and breath, but he stayed upright, feet already shifting, sword still in line.
Victor roared, hammer swinging in a brutal arc. It smashed into the tiger's ribs with a sound like breaking stone. The beast staggered, but didn't fall. Its claws raked Victor's shield, sparks flying, steel screeching.
"Hit harder!" Raul snarled, daggers flashing as he carved a dozen shallow cuts across the beast's back. Blood sprayed, but the tiger moved like a storm, fast, furious, relentless.
It lunged at Raul, jaws snapping. He twisted, sliding under its belly, daggers biting deep. The beast roared, tail whipping, claws slashing, but Raul was gone, a blur of motion, his blades carving again and again.
Arin struck at its hind leg, Timed Step carrying him into perfect rhythm. His sword bit deep, severing tendons. The tiger staggered, its roar shaking the canopy.
Victor saw his chance.
"NOW!" he bellowed, Guardian's Stance locking him like iron. The beast lunged, he met it head-on, shield raised, hammer swinging in a brutal, bone-shattering arc.
The impact was thunder.
The hammer smashed into the tiger's skull with a sound like breaking mountains. Bone cracked. Blood sprayed. The beast staggered, snarled, and Victor swung again, roaring like a god of war.
The second strike crushed its head.
Silence fell.
The Obsidian Tiger collapsed, its body twitching once, twice, then still.
Victor stood over the corpse, chest heaving, sweat dripping, shield dented, hammer slick with blood. His eyes burned steady, noble, unshakable.
Raul wiped his daggers clean, breathing hard, burns crawling across his arms, muscles screaming. His grin was sharp, wild. "That… was fun."
Arin exhaled slowly, chest heavy, arms trembling. His panel flickered.
Your subordinate killed a Peak Soldier-rank Obsidian Tiger, +30 Lord Coins.
Current Lord Coins: 173.
Arin stared at the number, breath catching. Finally
Victor dropped onto a log and just sat there, staring at his hands.
"…I felt that through the shield."
Raul didn't look up. He was still wiping black gore off his blades. "That's usually how being hit works."
Victor flexed his fingers again, slower this time. "No, I mean spiritually."
Arin snorted despite himself, scraping blood from his sword. "You let it wind up."
"I didn't let it do anything," Victor snapped. "It was already swinging."
Raul finally glanced at the corpse. "Big cat hits hard. Shocking revelation."
Victor leaned back, exhaling. "Next time I see stripes, I'm pretending I didn't."
Arin sheathed his sword. "Next time we see stripes, we're already running."
Raul shrugged. "Fine. But I'm running first."
Victor looked at him. "Of course you are."