Loid sat in the grass, staring at Selvara's stat screen, the faintly glowing letters hanging in the air.
[ Selvara – Strength: 1 | Endurance: 2 | Agility: 5 | Spirit: 1 ]
The numbers glowed like a promise. His chest swelled. For once in his miserable life, he wasn't powerless.
But the feeling didn't last long. The forest stretched around them in all directions, endless and quiet. Civilization or whatever counted for it here was nowhere in sight. His grin faded.
Loid pushed himself up, dusting off his pants. "Alright, Selvara. We can't just sit here forever. If this is… I don't even know, another world or whatever, there's gotta be people somewhere." He scanned the trees, trying to pick a direction. "Best plan's probably to find a road. Roads mean people. People mean food. Shelter. Maybe answers."
Selvara tilted her head. Her silver eyes reflected the shafts of light cutting through the canopy. She said nothing, only gave the smallest of nods.
Loid scratched the back of his neck. "Right. Not much of a talker, huh?"
"Fine. Silent partner it is." He forced a laugh, grabbed his grocery bags instinctively then realized how useless they were. Cleaning supplies. He dropped them with a sigh. "Alright. Let's go."
---
They walked for hours beneath the green canopy. The forest was beautiful but oppressive, the same pattern of trees repeating over and over, with only the occasional stream or patch of wildflowers breaking the monotony.
Loid's stomach grumbled. He hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday if instant ramen at work counted as lunch.
"Figures," he muttered, "isekai'd into some fantasy world, and I don't even get the courtesy of a tutorial meal."
Selvara glanced at him from the corner of her eye. Still silent. She didn't complain about hunger or thirst. She didn't seem to need to. Her movements were precise, efficient, every step light, like the forest barely noticed her passing.
Loid envied it. His feet hurt. His shoulders ached. And yet, being beside her gave him a weird sense of security. Like if something jumped out, she'd handle it.
He didn't have to wait long to test that theory.
---
The underbrush cracked ahead. Birds scattered into the sky, shrieking. A low rumble rolled through the forest floor.
Loid froze. "What was that?"
Selvara's head turned sharply. Her hand drifted to the hilt of her sword. Her silver eyes gleamed.
The thing burst from the treeline. A boar but not like any Loid had ever seen.
It was massive, easily the size of a small car, its muscles bulging beneath bristling brown fur. Its tusks glowed faintly, lines of molten gold pulsing like veins. Its eyes locked onto Loid, and the rumble became a roar.
"Oh, hell no---"
The beast charged.
Selvara moved.
---
She didn't shout. She didn't warn him. She simply exploded forward, her body blurring, the air cracking with the force of her movement. One moment she was beside him, the next she was already halfway across the clearing, intercepting the beast's charge.
Her sword flashed a quick, surgical strike at the boar's flank. The blade cut shallow, slicing fur and skin but not stopping the momentum. Blood sprayed in a thin line across the grass.
The boar bellowed, furious but not slowed. It twisted, swinging its tusks, but Selvara was already gone, slipping past like a phantom. She reappeared at its rear, her blade biting again this time into the hamstring. The cut was deep, precise.
The beast stumbled, but its strength was overwhelming. It kicked back, nearly catching her with a hoof. She ducked low, her movement so fast Loid barely tracked it. The hoof missed her skull by inches, cracking a tree trunk instead.
Loid's heart hammered in his throat. "Jesus Christ…"
Selvara's expression never changed. Calm. Cold. Almost… amused.
She circled the beast in a blur, her blade flickering out again and again. Not heavy blows she didn't have the strength for that but surgical ones. She carved lines into its flesh: the tendon behind its leg, the muscle near its ribs, the soft tissue of its belly.
The boar shrieked, thrashing wildly, trying to catch her in its frenzy. But it was too slow. She was always a step ahead, a blur of motion, silver eyes gleaming as blood sprayed in arcs.
Her sword flicked across its snout, splitting flesh near the eye. The boar roared in pain, blinded on one side, blood gushing hot. It spun wildly, but Selvara was already gone, crouched low and slicing across its underbelly again, opening another line.
Loid shuddered. She's enjoying this.
The forest floor turned red. The boar staggered, its breaths ragged, its body crisscrossed with dozens of shallow but crippling cuts. Its strength was failing. Every step left a bloody smear.
Selvara tilted her head, almost curiously, as if watching how long it could last. Her blade hung loose in her grip, the tip dripping crimson.
Then, with a blur, she finished it.
She darted in close, ducked beneath a desperate swing of tusks, and drove her sword into its throat. The cut was precise, severing deep. Blood sprayed in a violent jet, painting the grass. The beast convulsed, choking on its own blood, before collapsing in a heavy crash that shook the ground.
Silence fell.
Selvara wiped her blade on the beast's fur. Her silver eyes glinted faintly as she turned to him. She didn't speak. She didn't need to.
---
Loid swallowed hard. "That was… That was brutal."
Selvara tilted her head, expression unreadable.
He stepped closer, cautiously eyeing the corpse. The golden tusks glowed faintly still, like molten metal trapped inside. "What the hell is that…?"
Curiosity burned. He glanced at Selvara. "Uh… mind if I borrow your sword for a sec?"
She blinked once, then extended the weapon. Her hand was steady, offering it without hesitation.
Loid gripped the hilt awkwardly. The blade was slick with blood. He grimaced, set the tip against the base of the tusk, and started sawing. It was harder than he expected, the bone was dense, stubborn but eventually, with a crack, it snapped free. He almost fell backward with it in his hands.
The tusk was heavy, warm to the touch. Its faint glow pulsed like a heartbeat.
Loid stared at it, wide-eyed. "This… this is definitely valuable. I don't know what it's for, but glowing tusks don't just happen."
He wiped sweat from his brow, then carefully tucked it under his arm. "Alright. Treasure secured. Let's move before something else shows up."
Selvara took her sword back wordlessly, sliding it into her scabbard. Her expression didn't change, but he caught the faintest curl at the corner of her lips.
---
They pressed on through the forest, Loid keeping the tusk close. His nerves were frayed. Every rustle made him jump. Every shadow felt alive.
Selvara, by contrast, was calm. Predatory. She moved like she owned the forest, unhurried, her silver eyes scanning the underbrush. Loid realized she didn't just fight like a predator, she was one. Silent. Patient. Unstoppable once she struck.
Hours later, as the sun dipped lower, Loid spotted something that made his heart leap.
"Smoke!" he shouted, pointing.
In the distance, thin trails of gray curled into the sky. Not wildfire smoke but controlled. Cookfires. Civilization.
"Finally!" Loid grinned. "Let's go!"
She gave a slight nod, and together they followed the smell and haze through the trees.
---
The forest thinned, giving way to fields. And there it was a village.
It was larger than Loid expected, maybe hundreds to a thousand homes with a few being big buildings, all wooden and stone, clustered around dirt roads. Smoke rose from chimneys, and he could hear faint laughter, the sound of livestock, the clatter of work.
There were a wooden walls. Just a tall wooden wooden circling the outskirts, more to keep animals out than armies.
Loid stared, clutching the tusk under his arm. "A village... a real village." He laughed breathlessly.
Selvara stood beside him, silent, her eyes sweeping the settlement like a wolf eyeing prey.
Loid felt a surge of hope. Whatever this world was, he wasn't going to face it alone anymore.
Beside him, the Scarlet Gale waited in silence, her sword at her side, silver eyes gleaming with the promise of blood.
The story was just beginning.