Chapter 4 – The Path Beyond Velmoria
It had been four years since the day I opened my eyes in Velmoria, the forest that devoured the careless and punished the weak. Four years since I was reborn into the body of a child, violet hair trailing down my back, eyes too bright for the shadows I lived in. Four years since Noctis became my only voice, my only companion.
And now, I was eleven. My body had grown, my hands no longer so small, though they still bore scars from claws, teeth, and countless desperate battles. I had learned to move like a predator, to stalk, to fight, and to kill. Beasts that once terrified me now fell beneath my blade—or beneath Devour, when I dared to use it.
Velmoria had hardened me. And yet, every night, when the wind whispered through the endless trees, I still asked the same question.
"Noctis," I said, pushing through the brush, a bloodied fang clutched in my hand like a trophy. "The destination we're at… is it clear at the end of the forest? Is there really a way out?"
The voice stirred in my mind, calm as ever.
[No. But I believe there will be an easier path waiting.]
I frowned, wiping sweat from my brow. "Easy path? Nothing here has been easy."
[And yet you survived. That proves the path exists.]
I opened my mouth to argue, but then—
[Extra Skill acquired: World Map.]
I stumbled, clutching my chest as a strange warmth pulsed through me. "World… Map?"
[World Map: Allows the wielder to view their surroundings in a mapped form, no matter where they are.]
My breath caught. A vision spread across my mind's eye—a translucent layout of Velmoria itself. Trees, rivers, ridges, all drawn in glowing lines of violet light. I could see where I stood, a faint flicker pulsing at the center. For the first time in four years, the endless forest had shape.
And then, before the awe faded—
[Extra Skill acquired: All Seeing Eye.]
I gasped again as my sight shifted. The world sharpened, every leaf, every insect, every distant ripple of movement revealed in piercing detail. I blinked hard, and my eyes seemed to pierce through the distance, glimpsing far beyond the thickest canopy.
[All Seeing Eye: Allows the wielder to perceive things at great distance, breaking through obstacles of sight.]
I laughed, a raw, almost hysterical sound. "So this… this is how I'll finally get out."
[Yes. You were bound to Velmoria by blindness. Now, you see.]
And it was true. With the World Map guiding me and the All Seeing Eye cutting through the forest's endless veil, the path was finally visible. I traced the glowing lines in my mind, following rivers, gaps in the ridges, leading toward a thinning at the farthest edge.
Hope. For the first time, true hope.
I walked for hours, following the faint pull of the map, when Noctis spoke again.
[Haruto. It is time you understand the nature of skills.]
I slowed, leaning against a tree. "The nature?"
[Yes. Skills grow as you do, but their rank defines their potential. Hear this.]
The voice spoke clearly, almost solemnly, as if reciting truth etched into the fabric of the world itself.
[Skill. Extra Skill. Unique Skill. Mythic Skill. Legendary Skill. Divine Skill. Immortal Skill. Beyond these… there are two more. Unknown.]
I repeated the words slowly, letting them sink in. "So Devour… World Map… All Seeing Eye… these are just Extra Skills?"
[Correct. With growth, they may transcend. Skills evolve, like you.]
"Then Devour… it could become Unique. Mythic. Even… Immortal?"
[Yes. If you survive long enough. If you do not let it consume you.]
I clenched my fists, fire stirring in my chest. For years, I had clawed and bled just to last another day. To hear now that the skills I wielded could grow with me—it lit something inside me. Not just survival. Ambition.
"And those last two ranks…?" I asked. "The unknown ones?"
[Even I cannot name them. They are beyond my memory, beyond twilight.]
I swallowed hard. If even Noctis didn't know, then they must be something terrifying, something sacred. A mystery I wasn't ready to touch.
The World Map pulsed again in my mind, urging me forward. I adjusted the strap of my crude pack, tightened my grip on the fang blade, and pushed ahead. My body was tired, my stomach hollow, but my steps carried new purpose.
Each beast I passed, each snarl I heard in the shadows, no longer filled me with dread. I knew where I was going. For the first time since waking as a child in this cursed forest, the horizon wasn't just endless green.
It was freedom.
"Noctis," I whispered, violet hair whipping across my face as I walked. "Four years… and we're finally close."
[Yes. But remember, Haruto. Velmoria never releases its prey without a final test.]
My chest tightened. I knew he was right. Forests like this didn't end quietly. Something would wait for me at its edge. Something meant to decide if I was worthy to leave.
I glanced down at my small hands, rough with calluses, and smiled bitterly. "Then let it come. I'm not the same helpless child I was."
The map stretched endlessly before me, and the eye within me pierced the shadows. Somewhere beyond, light waited.
And if Velmoria demanded blood before letting me leave…
I would give it.