It was a cool spring morning. The snow hadn’t completely melted yet, leaving muddy patches at the base of the trees. On a branch of one of the tallest trees, several meters above the ground, a boy was doing pull-ups. Despite being only 12 years old, he was much larger than his peers. To an outsider, he might have seemed incredibly strong compared to the kids who appeared tiny beside him. Yet, Vulren Ravanan, this boy, had never once managed to defeat even his younger sister, who was two years younger than him.
Ever since Vulren discovered his skill, he would come to the forest every day with books he borrowed from the library and train around this big, ancient tree. His magical power and skill were quite weak, so he had nothing to rely on other than his muscles and mind. Vulren initially planned to learn how to properly use his teeth by fighting and biting the monsters in the forest. However, that plan didn’t go as expected. To bite a monster, he first had to get close to them, but since monsters could bite back—and far more effectively—it was nearly impossible. He had a bit of luck a few times, managing to attack stealthily by exploiting his low magical power, but he couldn’t inflict any lethal damage. Worst of all, biting monsters was utterly disgusting.
Still, Vulren didn’t give up on the potential of his teeth and continued to strengthen his jaw through training. He was certain that one day his teeth would prove invaluable. As the sun set, Vulren finished his training, swung himself onto the branch with one hand, grabbed the books stored in a hollow, and climbed down. He had already moved into his new home. And next week, he would finally open his own restaurant, just as his father had promised. He had worked hard for this moment, spending countless hours mastering everything from main courses to soups and desserts.
Once he reached the ground, he put his shirt back on, grabbed his bag from under the tree, and started walking. Having spent most of his life in this forest, Vulren knew the safest routes. Since he was sweaty from training, he headed toward a beautiful, calm stream where he always bathed. He left his clothes on the riverbank and stepped into the icy water. His body was covered in cuts, bruises, and scars. After thoroughly cleaning himself, Vulren climbed out, got dressed, and dried his hair with a towel from his bag. He resumed his journey, silently and cautiously, keeping an eye out for monsters until he reached the village’s fences.
The village’s fences were lined with crystals that detected magic. If someone tried to sneak in or out, the guards would be alerted immediately. As a child, Vulren had no trouble with the crystals, but as he grew older, his magical power began to increase slightly too. This led to more frequent encounters with monsters and issues with the crystals. Normally, one couldn’t hide their magical power without enchanted items. However, using enchanted items required some magic, which Vulren lacked.
Determined to find a way to suppress his magical power without using magic, Vulren spent months in the library researching ancient spells. He eventually came across one that intrigued him. It was described as being similar to squeezing a piece of fabric tightly to shrink it. This ancient spell was once used by dwarves who lived in mountain peaks to avoid attracting the attention of dragons. However, the technique fell into obscurity due to the rise of enchanted items and the extreme physical endurance it required.
The book offered little information about the spell but advised: "Imagine trying to use all the muscles in your body to prevent the magic from spreading beyond your skin." Vulren was confused—he had no idea how muscles could hold magic. For two months, he meditated on the tallest branch of the tree, tensing his muscles for hours daily. But when no progress was made, he started looking for alternative methods. The book mentioned that the technique was very difficult and time-consuming, but Vulren didn’t have the luxury of time. He was on the verge of losing his secrecy.
Then an idea struck him. If it was too difficult to stop magic from spreading throughout his body, wouldn’t it be easier to contain it in a smaller area? He decided to try suppressing the magic at its core before it could spread. To his surprise, this was much easier. After two months of failing to contain the magic across his entire body, this approach felt simple. Since his magical power was already very low, it leaked out from the core much more slowly compared to others. It was almost like compressing his core with his abdominal muscles. Compared to using all his muscles, it was relatively comfortable.
After practicing this method for a while, Vulren was able to suppress his power even while moving quickly. This allowed him to easily slip through the weaker sections of the crystals on the village wall every morning. With a swift leap over the wall, he landed in the village’s fields. Passing through the wheat and vegetable fields, he arrived at his small hut.
The hut was in poor condition compared to his old home, but it was his own. It was far from the village center, but the restaurant he had planned with his father wasn’t located centrally either. The place was small, more like a stand. Behind the single-room restaurant, there was a tiny kitchen equipped with a refrigerator powered, a stove, an oven, all powered by magic crystals. Pots, and other tools were hanging on the walls, along with cabinets filled with ingredients. Vulren would prepare meals here and serve them over the counter that separated the kitchen from the customer area. Customers could then sit at one of four tables to eat.
Vulren was confident in his cooking skills, but he wasn’t sure how much people would trust a 12-year-old as a chef. But he didn’t need much money.
After entering his hut, he placed his bag by the door and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Water flowed from the small metal pipe powered by a water crystal, filling a pot. Vulren lit the stove and cleaned the fish he had caught earlier in the forest stream. He chopped vegetables into the pot, covered it, and let the water boil. While waiting, he prepared the fish with oil and spices and placed it in the oven. The kitchen tools were of much lower quality compared to his old home, but he was still grateful to have a kitchen at all.
After the fish was cooked, he took it out of the oven and drained the vegetables in the pot. Then he combined the fish and vegetables in the same pot. Taking the pot and a fork and spoon, he sat at the small, round wooden table in the kitchen and ate directly from the pot. As usual, it had been a tiring day. He went to the bedroom and grabbed a notebook from the mostly empty bookshelf. This notebook was The Folre Forest Guide he had recently started writing. He planned to fill it with detailed maps of certain areas of the forest, regions with high and low concentrations of monsters, water source locations, cave entrances, and various other useful information. After jotting down a few notes, he closed the notebook, returned it to the shelf, and lay down to sleep.
When the sun was just beginning to rise, Vulren was already awake, preparing breakfast. In two days, he would open the restaurant. He had started getting to know the people in the area where he lived. One of them was an old woman who lived on a farm near his house. Nearly every morning before heading to the forest, he would stop by her place and help with small tasks. In return, the old woman taught him the recipes she knew.
After changing and getting ready, he left his house and started walking toward the old woman's farm. Upon arriving, he saw her milking the cows using magic. "Good morning, Ms. Malonne," said Vulren. Malonne turned her head toward him and said, "Good morning, kid. How's it going?" She was a tough and stern woman. When they first met, Malonne had been quite grumpy, speaking curtly and often dismissing him. But as days went by, she warmed up to him. Because of her difficult nature, none of her neighbors except Vulren spoke with her. "Is there anything I can help with?" Vulren asked. Malonne pointed toward the chicken coop with her finger. Vulren left his bag by the fence and walked over to the coop. Being old, Malonne had trouble controlling her magic, often breaking delicate things like eggs. Vulren picked up the basket by the entrance and began filling it with eggs from inside the coop. Some of the chickens weren’t happy about this, but Vulren didn’t mind. He exited the coop with the basket full of eggs and brought it over to Malonne, setting it down beside her chair. "Anything else I can do?" he asked. Malonne replied, "You’ve done plenty already, kid. You should take a break once in a while." She then took a few eggs from the basket and handed them to him. Vulren carefully placed the eggs in his bag, thanked her, and headed for the forest. That day, he planned to wander the forest and map out the area while observing and recording the traits of a few monsters in his notebook. After hopping over the fences, he quickly disappeared among the trees. The area he was heading toward was filled with monsters, so he needed to stay extra alert. As he moved through the trees, he heard a voice. Climbing into the dense branches of a tree, he began observing his surroundings. Two adults and three children, wearing the village emblem, were moving carefully through the forest. Vulren immediately recognized the golden-haired girl confidently leading the group. It was Kavrala Umethana, the village chief's daughter and a Level 1 skill user. Normally, hunts were held on specific days of the month, and today wasn’t one of those days. One of the adults pulled out a scroll marked with the village magic school’s emblem. These two adults were from the school. Oddly, their magic-concealing cloaks were of low quality, leaking large amounts of energy into the surroundings. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they encountered a monster, which Vulren suspected was exactly what they wanted. After watching for a while, Vulren decided not to take any risks and remained hidden, waiting for them to pass. Once the group moved away, he silently climbed down and disappeared in the bushes.
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He continued on, gathering berries and mushrooms along the way, eventually reaching a part of the forest rarely visited. These areas were teeming with monsters. As he progressed, he carefully mapped the area while staying alert. After taking a break to eat the berries he had found, he began reviewing his notebook. Suddenly, from the bushes right next to him, a large, two-tailed black fox leapt out, locking eyes with him. The creature had jet-black fur, two bushy tails, razor-sharp teeth, and two pairs of silvery eyes, one under each ear. Vulren had read about this type of fox in books; it was called a Nightfoot. These foxes blended into the darkness and used dream magic to disorient their prey. It was an incredibly dangerous opponent, but escaping wasn’t an option. Since the sun was still up and the monster didn't seem fully grown yet, he had a small chance. Springing to his feet, Vulren tried to put some distance between himself and the fox. But it was too fast, lunging at him before he could retreat and sinking its teeth into his arm. Without the iron vambraces under his shirt, it could have easily shattered his arm. As its teeth began to pierce the metal and reach his flesh, Vulren punched the eye beneath the fox’s ear with his free hand. It wasn’t enough to cause serious damage, but it was enough to make the fox release him. Vulren stumbled back, creating some distance. He started to think for a plan. Nightfoots weren’t particularly strong but relied on ambush tactics and illusions to catch their prey off guard. He thought of using his injured arm as bait and trying to snap the creature’s neck or choke it. However, approaching such an agile enemy, especially one capable of basic-level magic, would be no small feat. He had a knife in his bag, but the bag was now far out of reach.
The creature began summoning its illusions, creating several identical copies of itself around him. However, in daylight, the fakes were noticeably less convincing. While contemplating his next move, an idea struck him. Vulren sprinted toward one of the fake Nightfoots at full speed. He was certain that as soon as he attacked the fake, the real one would leap at him from behind.
As he neared the illusion, he spotted the real Nightfoot emerging from the bushes, preparing to strike. Just as Vulren appeared about to attack the fake, he abruptly stopped and turned. The creature pounced, but Vulren caught it mid-air by the neck with his uninjured arm. The Nightfoot thrashed violently, biting and scratching him with its claws. Despite the pain, Vulren held on and grabbed one of its hind legs with his free hand. Then, he bit down on the creature’s leg with all his strength. The Nightfoot let out a guttural growl of pain, thrashing wildly, but Vulren only bit harder, his teeth sinking deeper. He was on the verge of severing the creature’s leg when a deafening explosion echoed nearby. The shockwave forced him to release the Nightfoot, which limped away, whimpering. Vulren’s clothes were in tatters, his body covered in cuts and bruises. His mouth and chin were smeared with a mixture of blood and dark fur. Ignoring the awful taste in his mouth, he turned toward the source of the explosion, curiosity eating away at him despite the danger. When he arrived at the scene, his eyes widened in disbelief. Hundreds of blood hyenas had surrounded a golden-haired girl. He knew blood hyenas moved in packs, but he had never seen so many gathered in one place. He immediately recognized the girl—it was Kavrala, the village chief’s daughter, from the hunting team he had seen earlier. The other members of the group were nowhere in sight.
He wondered if this was some sort of test, but there was no one else around, and Kavrala’s magic was rapidly fading. If no one came to save her in the next few minutes, the hyenas would tear her apart. Vulren hesitated, watching from a distance as her magic dimmed further, unable to take down the remaining hyenas.
He didn’t want to see her die, but there was nothing he could do. Hoping this was indeed some sort of trial, he stayed hidden, waiting for help to arrive. However, no one came. Kavrala looked ready to collapse from exhaustion.
Realizing he could no longer stand by, Vulren tore off the sleeve of his ruined shirt and fashioned a crude mask to cover his face. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself and plunged into the chaos.
The blood hyenas were entirely focused on Kavrala. A few turned to snap at Vulren as he passed, but they paid him little mind. Dodging explosions of magic and weaving through the mass of snarling beasts, he made his way toward her.
When he got close, a hyena clamped its jaws around his leg. Panic surged through him as he kicked frantically, forcing it to release him. More hyenas began to close in. Realizing he couldn’t linger, Vulren took another deep breath, calmed his racing mind, and sprinted.
Moments later, he was towering over Kavrala. Blood dripped from his chin, his clothes hung in shreds, and his body was riddled with wounds. Kavrala’s eyes widened in shock as she froze, unable to process what she was seeing. Vulren picked her up onto his shoulder and charged toward a less crowded part of the pack. Kavrala remained limp in his grasp, as though she had fainted from shock. Vulren dodged teeth and claws as he ran, his body screaming in protest. When he finally reached the treeline, he glanced back and shivered at the sight of dozens of blood hyenas giving chase. There was a hidden cave nearby filled with a lot of magic crystals. If they reached it, the hyenas wouldn’t be able to track Kavrala’s magic power. His wounds forgotten in his desperation, Vulren sprinted at full speed. At last, he managed to leave the hyenas behind, slipping into the narrow entrance of the cave. Inside, he pushed through the tight spaces until he emerged into a large chamber filled with glowing blue-purple crystals. Gently, he set Kavrala down before his knees gave out, and he collapsed. Exhaustion and blood loss began to take their toll as his vision blurred. When Vulren woke, every inch of his body ached. Moving was agony. He dragged himself to a nearby crystal and leaned against it. Memories of what had happened came flooding back, and his eyes darted around, searching for Kavrala, but she was nowhere to be found. Unable to sense anything through the overwhelming magic emanating from the crystals, his heart sank. Without his bag, he couldn’t stop his bleeding and would likely die. Then, he noticed a shadow moving behind the crystals on the far side of the chamber. His first thought was that the hyenas had found them, but then a bloodied, golden-haired girl emerged. Kavrala stared at him with curiosity, clearly not recognizing him. She stepped closer. “Thank you for saving me,” she said cautiously. Vulren winced, speaking hurt too much. “Don't worry about it.” he managed to reply.
Kavrala hesitated before asking, “May I know your name?” “Vulren. Vulren Ravanan,” he said. Her expression shifted to one of surprise. “You’re the tall boy from the skill test. I didn’t recognize you with all the blood and... well, everything.” Vulren was too drained to respond. Thirst and hunger threatened to overwhelm him. Kavrala continued, “If I can regain a bit of my magic, I should be able to heal you. Just hold on for half a day. I’ll go gather supplies and come back.” Her words barely registered as his consciousness began to fade once more.
When Vulren opened his eyes, he found Kavrala examining a brown mushroom with black stripes. He felt much better compared to before, stood up, and pointed at the mushroom. "Just so you know, that mushroom could kill you with a single bite," he said. Kavrala immediately dropped the mushroom and turned to Vulren. "I used a bit of healing magic on you while you were asleep. How are you feeling?" she asked. Vulren replied simply, "Good enough."
He walked over to the pile of fruits and mushrooms Kavrala had gathered, sat down, and began sorting the edible ones. As he worked, he asked, "What were you even doing out there? Blood hyenas aren’t exactly picnic companions." Kavrala, her tone slightly irritated, replied, "The school was taking its most talented students into the forest for training, but we got separated because of the hyenas."
As Vulren ate some of the fruits and mushrooms with visible appetite, he asked again, "Any idea what happened to the others?" Kavrala's expression was blank as she responded, "Maybe they’re dead, but I doubt it."
After gathering some strength, Vulren peeked outside the cave. Night had already fallen. "We can’t go back at this hour. We’ll have to spend the night here," he said. Kavrala hesitated before asking, "Are you sure it’s safe? I’m certain I heard strange noises coming from deeper in the cave." Vulren shrugged and replied, "Don’t worry, it’s just a giant black widow’s nest further in. Why do you think no other monsters come into this cave? But spiders don’t usually come to this side. Still, keep one eye open while you sleep." Kavrala was clearly disgusted, and she hoped he was joking but she was much more exhausted to ask further questions.