The village was silent as dawn painted the sky in muted gray.
Arata stood at the edge of the settlement, a small satchel slung over his shoulder. Inside were a few scraps of dried meat, a waterskin, and the crude shard of wood he still carried as a weapon. The villagers had given him nothing more—not food, not blessings, not farewells.
They watched from behind shuttered windows as the cultivators prepared to leave.
Three horses stood waiting. Two were saddled for the envoys. For Arata, there was nothing.
The tall leader—the one who had crushed him with aura the day before—swung into his saddle effortlessly. His silver-threaded robes shimmered in the early light. He glanced down at Arata, lips curling faintly.
"You walk."
Arata gritted his teeth. "Fine."
The second cultivator, a younger woman with sharp eyes, smirked. "If he collapses, the beasts will eat him before we bother to look back."
The third, an older man with a calm demeanor, said nothing. He only adjusted the sword at his hip and nodded toward the road.
And so they began.
The world beyond the village was worse than Arata imagined.
The dirt path wound through dead fields where blackened stalks of corn swayed in the wind. The forest beyond was dark, its trees twisted unnaturally, their branches like claws scratching the sky.
The silence was heavy. No birds, no insects. Only the crunch of hooves and Arata's weary footsteps.
He forced his breathing steady. His muscles still carried the soreness of yesterday's battles, but the System had made him stronger. He could endure.
For a time.
Hours passed. His throat burned. His feet blistered. But the cultivators pressed on, tireless, their gazes scanning the shadows.
Arata felt it too—eyes watching from the forest. The sense of being hunted never left.
Then, the System spoke.
[New Mission: Survive the ambush.] [Objective: Endure until the cultivators intervene. Bonus Reward for active participation.]
Arata froze. "…Ambush?"
The ground beneath them shuddered.
With a roar, creatures burst from the treeline. Wolves—but not wolves. Their bodies were skeletal, skin stretched thin over bone, eyes glowing red. Venom dripped from their fangs as they lunged.
The horses reared. The cultivators drew their swords in unison, their movements precise, fluid.
Arata staggered back, clutching his wooden shard. One of the skeletal wolves broke off from the pack, leaping straight at him.
Time slowed.
His instincts screamed to run. But the System's words echoed: Bonus Reward for active participation.
He raised the shard.
The wolf slammed into him, its weight knocking him to the ground. Its jaws snapped inches from his face, hot venom dripping onto his cheek. Arata shoved the shard upward, stabbing into its throat.
Black ichor splattered. The beast howled, thrashing. Arata kicked with all his Strength, throwing it off. He scrambled to his feet, chest heaving.
The cultivators moved like storms. The younger woman's blade flashed, severing three wolves in a single sweep. The older man's calm strikes cut with surgical precision, each slash fatal. The leader unleashed a wave of fiery qi, incinerating half the pack.
Arata could only stare. Their power was godlike.
Yet another wolf charged him. His shard cracked against its skull, barely staggering it. Its claws raked his arm, burning with venom. Pain seared, but Arata gritted his teeth, refusing to fall.
He stabbed again and again, until at last the wolf collapsed.
[Bonus Objective Complete. Stat Point +1.]
Arata collapsed to his knees, panting, blood running down his arm.
The cultivators stood among the ashes of the beasts, their robes unsullied. The young woman flicked blood from her blade and glanced at him.
"Still alive. Impressive—for a mortal."
The leader dismounted, walking toward Arata. His gaze lingered on the wooden shard in Arata's hand.
"…A weapon that should have snapped long ago. Yet it endures." He smirked faintly. "Like you."
Arata clenched the shard tighter, even as his vision swam from blood loss.
The System chimed again:
[Mission Complete. Reward: +2 Stat Points.] [Hidden Condition Unlocked: Venom Resistance (Low).]
A new strength pulsed faintly in his veins, dulling the burning pain in his wound.
The leader studied him for a long moment. Then, finally, he said:
"Perhaps bringing you was not a mistake after all."