Year 994, First Month of the New Year

Victor and Eleanor—my parents—gave me their blessing to train under Leander, a friend of Brandt—my first mentor.

Brandt was the one who introduced me to swordsmanship, teaching me the fundamentals. Thanks to him, I wasn’t a total amateur swinging a stick around. And honestly? I was looking forward to the day he came back so I could properly thank him.

But for now—this was the next step.

I had already packed. Said my goodbyes. When the sun rose tomorrow, we’d be leaving.

Yes—we.

Because, unexpectedly, Leander had also invited Rhea to come along.

Not just to tag along—but to train.

Except, she wouldn’t be training under Leander.

She’d be training under someone else.

An acquaintance of his.

When the sun rose, I said my final goodbyes.

Clarisse even gave me a gift—a cloak. I was grateful, really, but the moment I held it in my hands, reality hit me.

This was really happening.

This was the first time I’d be going so far away from them.

Victor and Eleanor—my parents—were clearly worried. My mother even shed tears as I said goodbye. And, honestly? That stung a little.

But we all knew—this day was always going to come.

And now? It was here.

Leander finished his preparations, and at first, I thought he’d be coming with us.

But he didn’t. He said he will follow though.

Instead, he did something completely unexpected.

No—more like completely insane.

Right before our eyes, he pulled out a small red circle-shaped material—then threw it on the ground.

And just like that, a portal opened up.

A teleportation portal.

I blinked. Then blinked again.

This was the first time I’d ever seen something like this.

I glanced down at my medium-sized bag—it had a pouch of coins, some clothing, books, basic supplies, and strapped to my back was my wooden sword.

Rhea stood beside me, carrying a small satchel of her own.

And with that—we stepped forward, entering the dark portal. According to Leander, it would take us straight to the Kingdom of Varethane.

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The Kingdom of Varethane—a land known for its scholars, seekers of knowledge, and monks who spent their lives chasing enlightenment.

At least, that’s what I’d heard.

Like any other kingdom, though, it still had a hierarchy—nobles, a reigning king, the usual politics.

But right now, that didn’t matter.

Right now, Rhea and I were stepping into a freaking teleportation portal.

The moment we entered, I felt it—a suffocating pressure, a strange dizziness.

The world around us was nothing like I expected.

Darkness. Endless, stretching darkness, dotted with countless glowing lights. It felt like we were being sucked into a galaxy—floating among the stars.

"Woaaaa…"

That was Rhea, clearly in awe.

To be fair, so was I.

Based on my very scientific calculations, the whole teleportation process lasted about a minute.

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And then—

Light.

The sound of birds chirping.

The warm touch of sunlight on my skin.

The air was fresh. So fresh, in fact, that I immediately noticed how different this place felt.

Yeah. This was Varethane.

At least… that’s what I thought.

But when I finally opened my eyes completely—

No towering buildings. No bustling scholars. No people. Just trees. A lot of trees. Like, endless, nothing-but-green, deep-into-the-wilderness trees.

A forest.

I blinked. Then I blinked again.

Did that bastard Leander just scam us?!

What the heck?!

"Where are we?" Rhea asked, sounding just as lost as I felt.

"Beats me. But at least we’re in a forest… I think." I glanced around, trying to convince myself.

Yeah, this was definitely a forest—trees all around, tall enough to make me feel insignificant, but not so tall that they blocked out the sky. Not that it mattered. The real problem was the road in front of us. Or rather, the thing that vaguely resembled a road. It was uneven, like it had been stomped on by an army of angry trolls, and something about it felt… off. Like it wasn’t just any road, but one that had been used for transportation.

I clicked my tongue. "Leander. That insane bastard." I kicked a rock, sending it skittering across the ground. Not that it made me feel any better.

Rhea suddenly stopped. Which meant I had to stop too, because if I kept walking and she didn’t, there was a good chance I’d bump into her. She was staring at the road—eyes narrowed, face practically kissing the dirt.

"Let’s take this path," she said, pointing left.

I raised an eyebrow. "Do elves normally have tracking skills like that?"

"Yup." She nodded enthusiastically. Then, as if remembering something, she added, "Actually, no. We’re just taught this kind of thing when we’re kids."

"So that’s why," I said, nodding like I totally understood.

"Mm-hmm," Rhea responded, nodding right back. Then, out of nowhere, she hit me with, "Why do you want to learn it?"

Huh. Wasn’t expecting that.

Learn it? Good question. I wasn’t entirely sure myself. I mean, it sounded useful, but it wasn’t like I had some grand reason. Still, I figured nodding was the safest answer.

"You’re not messing with me, right?" I asked, just to be sure.

"Nope." She grinned. "You’ve done a lot already, so consider this my way of giving back. A small token of gratitude, if you will."

Well, I wasn’t about to argue with free lessons. And just like that, my training began—right there on the road, with Rhea teaching me as we walked.

First up: environmental awareness. Basically, the idea that nature has a memory. Footsteps leave traces, paths get disturbed, and even the way animals act can tell you something’s up.

Then came track identification. She showed me how to recognize human presence—like how earlier, she’d figured out that there was a recent carriage that cross the road. I learned also that when animals suddenly go quiet, it’s usually a bad sign. Could mean a predator is nearby. Or worse… people.

And here I thought silence was supposed to be peaceful.

I let out a long sigh. "That was actually pretty fun."

"Yeah, it was," Rhea agreed. "But make sure you practice. It takes a lifetime to truly master."

A lifetime, huh? Probably true. What she taught me was just the basics—stuff she had down to muscle memory. But even that was enough to get me thinking. I was learning at a ridiculous pace, way faster than I expected. And honestly? That was the plan. I didn’t want to just stick to my first passion—painting. I wanted to expand my skills, become more than just a guy with a brush.

Still, no matter how much I tried to focus, one name kept bouncing around in my head.

Leander.

That lunatic really just up and teleported us into a forest. No explanation, no warning—just poof, and here we were. If I had to guess, this was probably some kind of test. For both of us.

At least, that’s what I told myself as we followed the faint signs of a carriage trail, hoping it would lead us somewhere that wasn’t more trees.

We had been traveling way farther than I ever expected. But somehow, it still felt like we were on the same road, the same path, the same endless forest.

At least, until we stumbled across something new.

A cave.

Not just any cave, though. Something about it felt… familiar. It was big—way bigger than your average hole-in-the-wall dungeon. And right in front of it?

A carriage.

Rhea’s eyes immediately locked onto it. "This is the one," she said firmly.

"The one?" I asked.

She nodded. "Same wheel pattern as the tracks on the road. No doubt about it."

I took a closer look. The carriage wasn’t empty—it had supplies scattered around it. Water, some unfinished food… very poorly eaten unfinished food, actually. Seriously, whoever ate this must’ve been part baby with how much they left behind.

"Huh," I muttered. "Probably belongs to some adventurers or something."

"That’s possible," Rhea agreed. "They might be inside that cave." She pointed toward the entrance.

I crossed my arms, thinking. "Alright, so what’s the plan? Do we just keep going and follow the road? Or do we wait here for them to come out and maybe—just maybe—convince them to give the two of us a free ride?"

"Or we could just go inside and see what they’re doing," Rhea suggested.

I looked at her. "That… sounds like a great way to die."

Not the worst idea I’d ever heard, but definitely up there on the risk scale. See, I was familiar with caves like this. We had one back in my hometown, and guess what? Monsters lived in it. If this was anything similar, there was a good chance it was a dungeon—which meant adventurers inside were either completing a quest or fighting for their lives.

Neither situation sounded particularly inviting.

"That’d be risky," I said, crossing my arms.

The conversation stalled after that, and for a moment, the only thing we heard was silence.

The unsettling kind.

Then—

"WAAAAAAAAAH!"

A scream. Loud. Panicked. Echoing from inside the cave.

And then more followed.

Rhea and I stood frozen, eyes locked.

"…That’s not a good sign," I muttered.

Common sense told me that, as two not-very-skilled kids, we should absolutely not get involved. Best-case scenario? We wait it out, see what happens. Worst case? We go in and get eaten by whatever was making people scream like that.

So we waited.

Minutes dragged on. Almost half an hour passed before we saw someone.

A figure stumbled out of the cave—limping, barely holding herself up. She was covered in blood, her arms riddled with cuts, her body swaying with every step.

I locked eyes with her just as she reached forward, fingers trembling.

"Help… them…" she croaked, before collapsing—right near Rhea, who looked utterly horrified.

…Well.

This just got a whole lot worse.

I thought it over. Then I thought it over again.

No matter how I looked at it, this was a bad idea.

I mean, an adventurer barely crawled out alive from this place. That alone screamed dangerous dungeon. If I went in, I could be walking straight into something way out of my league.

But even knowing that…

"Hey," I said, glancing at Rhea. "Can you stay here? You can tend to her. There’s a medical kit in the carriage—I saw it earlier. Use that."

Rhea blinked, hesitating for a moment before nodding.

Meanwhile, I let out a slow breath.

Damn it, this is crazy.

But even as the thought crossed my mind, my feet had already started moving—toward the dungeon, toward whatever the hell was waiting inside.

No hesitation. No second-guessing.

Leander was right, I thought bitterly. I really might be reckless.

As I stepped into the cave’s entrance, I stole one last glance over my shoulder. Rhea was kneeling beside the injured woman, her hands moving quickly to tend to her wounds. But even then, she still looked up at me—her expression full of worry.

I turned back toward the dark tunnel ahead and reached for the training sword strapped to my back.

Not that it would do much good. Let’s be real—a wooden practice sword wasn’t exactly the weapon of choice for surviving a dungeon.

What I needed was a real weapon.

And just as that thought crossed my mind, I spotted something—

A medium-sized sword, lying on the ground, covered in bloody fingerprints.

I crouched down, picking it up. The weight felt right. The grip was sturdy. Judging by the blood, it probably belonged to that woman outside—she must have dropped it out of sheer exhaustion.

"WAAAAAAAH!"

More screams. Louder this time. Closer.

I had expected the inside of the cave to be pitch black, damp, and suffocating. But surprisingly, it wasn’t.

There were lights.

Not torches, not lanterns—just an eerie glow that seemed to seep from the cave walls themselves. It wasn’t exactly comforting, though. If anything, it made the place feel even more mysterious… and suspicious.

I moved carefully, stepping over jagged rock formations that jutted out from the ground. One wrong move and I’d faceplant right onto stone. Thankfully, the dim light helped me avoid tripping over every obstacle in my path.

But the deeper I went, the worse it got.

The screams…

The sounds of flesh being torn apart.

The unmistakable, gut-wrenching cries of people dying.

It wasn’t just noise anymore. It was a horrible, sickening reality unraveling in real time.

My hands started to shake.

My body screamed at me to turn back.

But my heart? My heart told me to keep moving. To see for myself. Maybe—just maybe—there was still someone left to save.

And then…

I saw it.

Two bodies.

On the ground. Motionless.

And headless.

A cold shiver ran down my spine. My legs locked up, refusing to move.

This was the first time—the first time in my life—that I had ever seen a dead body. Not just dead—brutally, mercilessly slaughtered.

My stomach twisted.

My chest tightened.

And before I knew it, I was on my knees, retching onto the cold stone floor.

A wave of weakness crashed over me—not just physical, but something deeper. A weakness that only comes when you stare at true, unfiltered death for the first time.

This was real.

And I wasn’t ready for it.