The cold morning air bit against Kaoshi's skin as she left the stone house to check on the cubs. The tribe was already stirring—hunters preparing their weapons, females carrying baskets, children running about under the watchful eyes of elders. It was almost peaceful, almost ordinary.
Then the familiar chime rang in her head.
> Ding-dong!
New Mission: Defend against the invasion of the Rak'hor.
Difficulty: Five Stars.
Objective: Play a crucial role in the defeat of the invading beastmen.
Note: The cubs must be the ones to accomplish this mission. You may guide them and assist mildly, but the final victory must come through them.
Rewards:
System Mall Unlock – Access to the System Mall, allowing the exchange of mission points for powerful tools, items, and resources.
One-of-a-Kind Power Stone for Chao Lie – A crystalline core infused with shadow-serpent essence. When absorbed, it awakens the ability Shadow Serpent's Veil:
At first, concealment in dim light or darkness and venomous strikes that weaken enemies.
As strength grows, stealth will eventually function in any lighting, impossible to detect unless the enemy is at least two tiers higher. The venom will cripple foes up to two tiers stronger and instantly kill those one tier weaker or below.
Blessed Betrothal Bracelet (for that special someone) – A bracelet that will appear directly in the hands of the one closest to your heart. Upon contact, he will know its meaning: a betrothal offering. Should you accept it, the union will be blessed.
Failure Penalty: None beyond the natural cost of defeat.
Kaoshi's breath caught in her throat. Her hand pressed against her chest as if to steady her racing heart. A five-star mission. The highest difficulty she had yet faced. And the system had made it clear—the tribe's survival depended on her children.
She looked back at the stone house, where Chow Chow, Chaoang, and Chao Lie were still curled in their animal skins, unaware of the weight about to fall upon them.
The Rak'hor are coming.
Her mind spun. She couldn't reveal the system. She couldn't explain why she knew what she knew. But if she said nothing, the tribe would be unprepared, and they would all die.
Kaoshi drew in a sharp breath, squared her shoulders, and turned toward the center of the settlement.
---
The gathering square was already bustling when she arrived. Hunters weighed their prey. Females laid out hides to be tanned. Smoke curled from cooking fires. Elders sat in a semi-circle, watching with the heavy-eyed calm of those who had seen much and trusted little.
"Elder Fu," Kaoshi called, her voice steady though her hands trembled at her sides. "Everyone. You need to listen."
Dozens of eyes turned toward her. Some wary, some openly hostile. She was still an exile in their eyes, even if she had saved lives and contributed more than many.
Jin Ling stepped forward, golden eyes narrowing at the tension building. "What is it, Shishi?"
Kaoshi forced her voice not to crack. "The Rak'hor are coming. A warband. They will be here soon."
A murmur rippled through the crowd. Shock, disbelief, then outright laughter from some corners.
"More of her nonsense," sneered Lin Na, folding her arms. "First she stumbles into our tribe, then she claims her cub can heal, now this? Always with stories, always stirring trouble."
Another hunter spat into the snow. "If the Rak'hor were truly coming, we'd have seen them by now. Scouts, tracks—something. There's nothing. She just wants attention."
Kaoshi's fists clenched. "I'm telling you the truth."
"Prove it!" someone shouted.
Her mouth opened, but no words came. She couldn't say the system told me. She couldn't explain how she knew. Every reason she might give would only deepen their suspicion.
Then, a smaller voice cut through the noise.
"Mother wouldn't lie."
Chao Lie had slithered forward in his half-beast form, crimson eyes gleaming coldly. His small forked tongue flicked in and out as he surveyed the crowd. "I can smell them already. Far. Too far for your dull senses. But close enough."
The murmur shifted, unease replacing derision. A few hunters frowned, recognizing the truth in his words.
Elder Fu's brows knit. He had grown to trust the snake child's instincts. "If the little one says he smells something, then we must not ignore it. Better to prepare and be wrong than to do nothing and be slaughtered."
Still, doubt lingered. Beastmen whispered among themselves, weighing the risk of believing an exile and her strange cub.
Jin Ling stepped into the center, his presence radiating authority. "I'll say this once. I trust her. If you don't, then fine—stay behind when the fighting comes. But if you ignore her warning, you risk not only your own lives but the entire tribe. Is that what you want?"
The golden tiger's voice cut like a blade. Silence followed. Reluctant silence, but silence nonetheless.
Finally, Elder Fu nodded. "We prepare. Quietly, swiftly. If she is wrong, then no harm done. If she is right…" His eyes lingered on Kaoshi, searching her face. "…then she may have saved us all."
Kaoshi exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. The first step was done. But the real storm had yet to break.
---
The square emptied faster than Kaoshi had ever seen before. Doubt still lingered, whispered like smoke through the air, but the urgency in Elder Fu's voice and the quiet authority of Jin Ling had lit a fire under the tribe.
Hunters sharpened spears and repaired bows. Females who normally wove baskets or dried meat carried stones to fortify the wooden palisade. Even children too young to fight were tasked with gathering snow and piling it near the entrances to the tribe, where it could later be packed into ice-block barricades.
Kaoshi stood at the edge of the square, her heart tight. She had wanted them to believe her, to trust her, but instead it was fear and caution that drove them. Still, that would have to be enough.
"Mother."
She turned to see Chaoang, his young face stern, his fox ears flicking as though listening to sounds others could not hear.
"I can already feel them," he said quietly, his tone more steady than it should have been for a child. "They're far, but moving. My mind shows their places—like stars in the dark. Too many stars." His fists clenched. "More than I thought."
Kaoshi laid a hand on his shoulder, fighting down the dread that twisted in her stomach. "Your gift will guide us. The tribe needs your eyes more than ever now."
He swallowed hard, but nodded.
Next came Chow Chow, small hands tugging at her mother's sleeve. Her blue eyes were wide, but not with fear—at least not entirely.
"Mama… I'll heal them, won't I?" she asked, voice trembling. "If they get hurt, I'll make them better."
Kaoshi knelt, brushing a strand of hair from her daughter's cheek. "Yes, little one. Your gift is hope itself. But remember—healing is not only for wounds. It is for courage, too. Sometimes, just knowing you are there gives others the strength to keep fighting."
Chow Chow nodded solemnly, clutching her small hands to her chest.
Last came Chao Lie, quiet and coiled in his snake form at her feet. His red eyes gleamed in the snowlight.
"I'll find the cracks," he said softly. "The shadows where they think no one sees. They won't escape me."
His words sent a chill through Kaoshi, but also a spark of pride. Even so small, even so young, he bore the calm deadliness of his lineage.
"Together," she said, looking at each of them. "The three of you will shine brighter than any star on Chaoang's map. You will not stand alone. Not ever."
---
Later that afternoon, preparations buzzed across the tribe like the hum of a beehive.
Lin Mu oversaw the strengthening of the outer wall, ordering hunters to lash extra timbers and stack sharpened stakes behind weak points. Lin An drilled small patrols, making sure eyes remained on every approach. And Elder Fu moved from fire to fire, murmuring quiet prayers for strength.
Yet everywhere Kaoshi went, she felt their eyes on her. Distrust. Suspicion. Unease.
"They'll blame me if this goes wrong," she muttered under her breath.
Jin Ling's shadow fell across her. He had approached without her noticing, his golden eyes softened now that they were alone.
"They'll thank you if it goes right," he said simply.
"And if it doesn't?" she whispered.
His jaw tightened. "Then I will stand between you and their blame. Always."
Kaoshi looked at him, her chest tightening with something she didn't want to name. She turned away, watching the cubs helping—Chaoang standing still with closed eyes as if mapping the world beyond the walls, Chow Chow handing out strips of cloth she had blessed with a faint glow of her healing gift, and Chao Lie vanishing into snow shadows only to reappear near her feet without sound.
"They're children," she whispered.
"They're more than that," Jin Ling said, his voice low with certainty.
---
By evening, smoke rose from the cooking fires, carrying the smell of roasted meat and herbs. The tribe gathered to eat, though the usual laughter and chatter were absent. Tonight the meal was a ritual of endurance, fuel for the unknown.
As Kaoshi sat with her cubs, she felt a tug on her sleeve.
It was Mi Lan, the white cat female she had grown closest to. Her green eyes held both worry and curiosity.
"Is it true?" Mi Lan asked softly. "That the Rak'hor really are coming?"
Kaoshi hesitated. She wanted to say yes with certainty, but fear of the weight her words carried held her tongue.
"They are coming," Chao Lie said instead, his voice so cold and sure that Mi Lan flinched.
Kaoshi placed a hand on his small shoulder, gentling his tone. "We prepare for the worst, and hope it does not come. That is all we can do."
Mi Lan nodded slowly, though her expression said she wasn't convinced. She moved away, whispering to others, and Kaoshi felt another ripple of unease spread.
---
Night fell. The cubs slept at last, curled together for warmth, but Kaoshi lay awake. The weight of the system's mission pressed against her like an iron brand. She turned it over and over in her mind:
The cubs must accomplish the victory.
Her children. Her responsibility.
A cold wind rattled the wooden shutters, carrying with it the faintest scent of smoke. She sat up sharply, heart pounding, until she realized it was only the fires outside, burning lower now.
Still, her unease did not fade.
Outside, a horn blew once—low, short, a signal from the outer patrols.
Kaoshi froze.
Another horn, this one longer. The alarm.
She leapt to her feet, shaking the cubs awake. "It's time."
The horns echoed through the cold night air, shaking the tribe awake. Doors slammed open, footsteps pounded against frozen earth, and voices called out as families gathered their children and moved toward the center square.
Kaoshi gripped the small hands of Chow Chow and Chao Lie, while Chaoang strode beside her, his face taut with concentration. His fox ears twitched constantly, eyes closed as though following invisible threads.
"They're close now," he said quietly. "So many… too many. But they haven't reached the walls yet."
Jin Ling joined them at the edge of the square, his towering form already tense with the promise of battle. He gave a sharp nod to Kaoshi. "Stay near me. The elder wants everyone armed and ready at the wall."
Kaoshi swallowed hard but nodded.
---
The tribe gathered along the wooden palisade that ringed their home. Torches burned brightly, their flames flickering against sharpened stakes. Hunters stood in lines with spears, bows, and slings. Females carried stones, water buckets, and makeshift shields. Even the youngest who could walk had been given tasks—fetching arrows, tending fire, carrying messages.
Kaoshi noticed how pale many looked, how their hands trembled, but still they came. Even if they doubted her, they were ready to defend their own.
Elder Fu raised his staff, his voice carrying across the crowd. "The Rak'hor may come tonight. We will not falter. Remember—together we are stronger than any horde. Trust your tribe. Trust your walls. Trust yourselves."
His words steadied the air somewhat, but Kaoshi felt the tremor of fear beneath them.
---
"Where do you want us?" Kaoshi asked.
Jin Ling's golden eyes swept over her and the cubs. "Here, with me. The wall's weakest point is near the southern gate. If they come from there, I'll need your children's gifts."
Kaoshi's heart lurched. "They're just cubs."
"They are more," Jin Ling said firmly. "You know it. And they know it too."
Chaoang lifted his chin, his fox ears twitching. "I'll tell you where they move. You'll never be blind."
Chow Chow's little hands glowed faintly with soft light as she whispered, "I'll keep them alive."
Chao Lie shifted, scales glinting faintly in the torchlight. "And I'll find the ones who hide where no one else can see."
Kaoshi looked at each of them, pride and dread twisting her insides. "Stay together. Don't act without telling me first. Promise me."
They nodded, even Chao Lie, though his red eyes gleamed with an unsettling calm.
---
The night stretched thin.
Snow fell softly, dusting torches and shoulders alike. The hunters whispered to one another, straining their ears for sounds beyond the crackle of flame. Kaoshi's heart pounded with every moment of silence.
Then—
Chaoang's eyes flew open. "They're here."
His voice wasn't loud, but every head nearby turned toward him.
"How many?" Jin Ling asked.
"Hundreds," Chaoang whispered. His small hands clenched at his sides. "Too many to count exactly. They spread out, circling." He closed his eyes again, sweat beading on his brow. "They're slow… steady. Like they think we can't see them."
Murmurs swept through the tribe. Some pale faces turned toward Kaoshi with a mixture of fear and accusation. She ignored them, keeping her focus on her son.
"They're still out of sight?" Elder Fu asked.
"Yes," Chaoang said, his voice tightening. "But not for long."
---
Kaoshi gripped the top of the palisade, her knuckles white. She tried to pierce the darkness beyond the torchlight, but only shifting shadows met her gaze.
Then, faintly, movement. A darker line against the snow.
Her breath caught.
Figures emerged from the treeline—hulking shapes, moving in eerie unison. Armor glinted faintly beneath the moonlight, weapons raised at the ready. Behind them, more and more followed, until the forest itself seemed to vomit forth a tide of bodies.
The Rak'hor had come.
Gasps and curses rippled along the wall. Some beastmen gripped their spears so tightly the wood cracked under their fingers.
Elder Fu's voice rang out again, calm but stern. "Hold your ground! Do not break formation. They have not struck yet. We watch, and we wait."
---
Kaoshi could hardly breathe. Her cubs pressed close against her—Chaoang trembling as he tracked the moving stars in his mind, Chow Chow clutching her glowing hands to her chest, and Chao Lie watching the shadows with unblinking red eyes.
She lowered her head to them. "Remember. This is what you were born for. The tribe will need you. But for now—wait."
Jin Ling stood tall beside her, his golden eyes locked on the approaching horde. "They want us afraid," he murmured. "But we will not give them that satisfaction."
The Rak'hor stopped just beyond the range of the torches. Their ranks stretched across the snow like a living wall. Silence fell heavy, broken only by the crunch of ice under boots and the distant howl of wind.
Kaoshi's heart thundered. This was it. The storm they had all felt building, now looming just beyond the firelight.
No attack came yet. Only the sight of the enemy—proof that the system's warning had been real.
She tightened her grip on her children's hands. "It begins."