We traveled deeper into the forest. The further west we walked, the less it resembled anything natural. The trees towered like skeletal titans, bark slick with moss, their leaves pulsing with slow, subtle shifts in color like breath. The air had a weight to it—dense, humid, alive. Every step felt like it was being watched.
Lina didn't say a word. She walked several paces ahead, her staff cutting through the thick underbrush with swift, practiced motions. Her long silver-gray hair was tied back, swaying behind her like a banner. Every now and then, her head would turn slightly, just enough to scan the trees, but not enough to look back at me.
I was grateful for the silence. I could barely focus.
Something was happening inside me.
It started as a thrum beneath my ribs. A pressure. Not pain, not exactly—but something dense, coiled, and ancient. Like a heartbeat that wasn't mine. Like something inside me was waking up, piece by piece.
Then the system pinged.
[System Alert – Hostile Entities Nearby]
Species: Verdant Stalker Pack
Count: 6
Average Level: 3
Leader Detected – Level 5
Threat Classification: Ambush Predators
Warning: Pack behavior confirmed. Proceed with extreme caution.
"Lina," I said, slowing. "Something's coming."
She didn't stop walking.
"I know," she replied flatly. "They've been shadowing us for ten minutes."
My pulse spiked. "What? And you didn't say anything?"
"They haven't attacked. No point in wasting breath."
Before I could respond, the woods grew quieter—eerily so. Even the wind stilled.
That's when I heard it: a low hiss, like wind threading through blades of grass. But it was too steady. Too deliberate. A pattern.
Then it stepped out between the trees.
The first stalker.
It was massive—panther-shaped but wrong. Its body was woven from vines, bark, and dark green leaves. Bioluminescent veins pulsed beneath the surface. Its mouth peeled open too wide, and inside were rows of jagged black teeth that looked more like thorned branches than bone.
Five more melted out from the forest around it—moving low and fast, their forms shifting like the underbrush itself. Silent, stalking, patient.
Then the Alpha arrived.
It stepped forward, nearly the size of a bull, with thicker vines coiled like armor across its shoulders. Its chest glowed with green fire beneath its ribs, and its mossy eyes flickered like twin lanterns.
The system updated.
[Stat Scan – Comparative Analysis]
You – Level 1
STR: 14 | AGI: 13 | VIT: 12 | INT: 11 | WILL: 18
Verdant Stalkers (Lv3): STR 9–11 | AGI 10 | VIT 10
Alpha (Lv5): STR 14 | AGI 13 | VIT 13
Note: You match the Alpha—but are untrained and untested.
The pressure in my chest surged. My fingers twitched. I wasn't scared—not exactly. Something else had taken root. Something cold, focused… and hungry.
"I need to fight them," I said, almost surprised by the words.
Lina stopped and turned toward me slowly. Her gray eyes narrowed. "Are you insane?"
"I can match the Alpha. And the others are weaker." I swallowed. "There's… something inside me. It's telling me to do this. I have to."
She studied me for a moment. Her expression didn't change. But her grip on the staff loosened.
"If you die, then it's not on me."
That was all I needed.
I didn't respond. I just steeled myself—and let the gauntlets form with a hiss of metal and violet light.
The pack moved first. They split in two flanking lanes. Their leader prowled in the rear—weathered, patient, calculating every breath.
I charged the nearest. My fist connected with a crunch, but the impact slammed my arm too, sending shock through my bones. I cried out, staggered to the side, barely holding on before another stalker lunged.
One sent me flying after ramming into me. I hit the ground with a crack, branches cutting my cheeks as I was flying, I tasted dirt and sap. As I was fighting to get up, bark like teeth clung around my ankle. A panic surge took over—delirium masked me—and I grabbed the creature's head and pulled it into the dirt, smashing it like a mallet. It stopped moving in a wet splatter of brown-green gore.
My leg burned where it had been bitten . I felt the lines of pain stitch themselves into the muscle. I clenched the gauntlets and rose.
The other stalkers pressed in, but bleeding and hunger slowed them. I ducked and swung upward at a flank, knocking one back with cleaved bark flying. Roots and leaves fell off him like wilted robes.
Then the Alpha attacked. It bit me hard—shoulder through bone, planting me against a moss-covered stone slab. I gasped, breath gone, vision swimming.
I came back with a brute-force shove that staggered it. I didn't pause—I punched again and again, feeling bruises, cracks, but not stopping.
It hit back. Steel-hard vines whipped across my chest, tearing deep. I coughed blood. And was sent Stumbling .
The dragon in me flickered alive. Not a flaring storm, but a spark—a warming thread of power.
In that moment, I didn't think. I acted. I drove both fists into the Alpha's chest, an ear-splitting crunch echoing as vines and bark splintered.
It staggered, bark dust in the air. Then grabbed ahold of me again from the side—death and victory pressing around me like fog.
I tasted something hot—anger. Survival. Power.
My arms glowed—no special effects, just heat, weight, resilience. My muscles responded like they were forged in starlight.
I attacked again with my battered fists into its ribs, drove a knee into its side, and unleashed everything left in me: raw, clawing, bone-crunching assault. It reared, teeth raking my ribs as it backed away, but I anchored grabbed ahold of its head , pivoted, and smashed its head into a stone.
It collapsed. The forest held its breath.
I sank to one knee. My lungs burned. Blood dripped from steel fingertips. The world spun.
A system chime echoed quietly—
[Quest Complete: Trial by Verdant Stalkers]
EXP Gained: 400
Level Up: 1 → 3
Skill Acquired: Dragon Enhancement
Bloodline Sync: 1%
Inventory Slot +1
Lina stepped toward me through the clearing. Her staff cast a forage of warded lines across broken leaves. She knelt and gently touched my arm, feeling the wounds and sap-stained skin.
"You're raw," she said softly. "No finesse, no training—just pure, brutal will. But you didn't fold."
I sagged. "Is… is that good?"
A small smile tugged her lips. "It… is." She rose and motioned with her staff. "We leave now . Follow me If you can walk."
I tried. And almost fell.
She offered her arm. "Lean on me."
Grinning weakly, I accepted.
We left the broken stalkers behind. I carried more than wounds—I carried proof. The dragon inside me had stirred…and survived.
We didn't speak for a long while after the fight.
Lina led us deeper into the trees, taking turns without hesitation, like the woods whispered directions only she could hear. My legs were heavy. Every step sent a bolt of pain up through my side. I wasn't bleeding anymore—not much—but the dull throb in my shoulder and leg reminded me I'd come too close.
Eventually, she raised a hand and stopped beneath the low-hanging branches of a twisted ironbark tree. Its trunk split near the base, forming a natural alcove big enough for two people to sit without being easily seen from the path.
"We'll rest here," she said.
I didn't argue.
I sat with a grunt, back against the cool bark. The forest was quiet again, but it wasn't peaceful. There was something thick in the air, like the land itself was waiting for something to happen. Or someone to die.
Lina lit a small fire without a word, her fingers moving with quiet efficiency. She didn't offer me food, but I noticed she split a dried ration into halves and tossed one on a flat stone between us.
"Eat."
I picked it up, biting down. It tasted like smoked dirt and old bark. Still better than dying.
After a while, she spoke, not looking at me. "You shouldn't have rushed in like that."
I swallowed. "I figured if I didn't go first, they would."
"They were watching. Not attacking. You moved before you had to. That forced their hand."
I didn't answer right away. My jaw clenched. "I felt like I had to."
"You felt wrong."
Her words hit harder than they should have. Maybe because she was right. Maybe because part of me wanted to hear anything else.
"I've never fought anything like that before," I said quietly. "Not even close. I panicked, yeah. But I also… something inside me told me to move. To fight. It wasn't just fear."
She stirred the fire with a stick. "That's your bloodline."
I looked at her. "You can tell?"
She nodded, still focused on the flame. "I've seen enough to know when someone's carrying something old. Something dangerous. It pulls you forward whether you're ready or not."
"So what should I have done?"
"Waited. Watched. Let them commit first. Even predators hesitate when they're unsure."
I laughed bitterly. "That's not how it felt. It was like… like I needed to prove something. To myself. To whatever's inside me."
She looked up at that. Her gray eyes were tired, but sharp. "That's exactly the problem. You fought to prove something, not to survive."
We sat in silence again.
I wanted to argue, but I couldn't. She was right.
"I thought I was stronger," I admitted.
"You are strong," she said.
I blinked. "I am?"
She stood, brushing ash from her cloak. "Strong for a newly awakened."
That one landed. Deep.
She walked a few steps away, leaning against another tree, arms crossed. Her voice was quieter now. "You're lucky. You're fast. You hit hard. But raw strength only gets you so far. You need to think when you fight. You need patience. Discipline."
I nodded slowly, looking at my hands. The gauntlets had faded again—just rough skin now, scraped and blistered.
"I'll get better," I said.
"You'd better," she replied without turning.
The fire cracked softly between us. Night was creeping in.
Lina tossed me a small flask without looking. "Clean that shoulder. You won't heal properly if the bite festers."
"Thanks," I muttered.
"Don't thank me. Just don't die."
She turned away again, keeping watch while I tended my wounds.
The dragon inside me stirred. Not a roar this time—just a ripple. A nudge. Like it had seen the fight… and was waiting to see what I'd do next.