(POV Ren)
A few minutes ago…
The dust and smoke slowly faded. The hunters' bodies lay scattered, burned, and destroyed.
Only one remained—their leader, the one who had mocked the loudest earlier. I glanced at the spot where he should have been… empty.
"Ran away, huh?"
The corner of my lips lifted.
"Ck, weak," I muttered softly. Tilting my head, I closed my eyes for a moment.
The sound of panicked footsteps and ragged breathing reached my ears clearly, echoing through the forest for hundreds of meters. Every branch he stepped on sounded like a war drum to me.
"So your survival instinct is sharp. But…" I slowly opened my eyes.
"Let me show you the meaning of true power."
My hand reached up to my blindfold. I pulled the cloth down from my face.
The moment it came off, my crystal-blue eyes opened, and the world became sharper, clearer… slower.
Flashes of light, streams of energy, even the heartbeat of a small bird hiding on a branch—everything became visible and audible to me.
I took a deep breath, then assumed the stance of the first breathing technique.
[Thunder Breathing: Third Form]
[Speed ×60!]
𝘋𝘖𝘖𝘔𝘔—!!
Blue lightning struck the ground. In a flash, I dashed toward the last hunter, tearing through the forest.
'Do you really think you can escape me by running?' I chuckled softly.
'Too bad. To my eyes, there's nowhere to hide.'
With each step, the forest split apart. Trees collapsed, burned and exploded, the earth cracked, the air scorched by lightning's heat.
I shot forward, closer… closer to my trembling prey.
"Prepare yourself," I whispered, drawing my silver katana. Starlight gleamed in my eyes. "I'm coming for you."
The air itself split as I moved, wind scattering away from my path. Dust and splinters followed the trail of lightning on the ground.
Through the bushes, I saw him—his eyes wide, breath short, hands trembling as he clutched a black orb.
He froze when he realized the path ahead was blocked by the wreckage of my strike. There was no way to escape.
I stepped forward like a sudden storm. My glowing eyes locked onto him like a hawk's gaze. Then I spoke to the system.
'System, show me his status.'
[Acknowledged, Host.]
======= STATUS =======
Name: Petrik
Race: Human
Age: 35
Level: 45
Mana Core: Orange
Blessing: None
Techniques: Shadow Arts (LV.6), Dagger (LV.5)
Skill: Vanish for 1 second (LV.3)
Stats:
Strength: 50
Endurance: 64
Agility: 40
Intelligence: 51
Stamina: 46
Luck: 20
Mana: 500
Charm: 7
Status: Terrified of you.
======================
I studied his status. Not bad—especially the Vanish skill. It could be his trump card. But its weakness was fatal: it only worked against those weaker or equal in strength.
Against someone like me, it was useless.
I shifted my gaze back to him, kneeling before me.
"That's enough," I said coldly. "Who sent you?"
His trembling hands dropped the black orb. He swallowed hard, trying to gather courage, but his voice came out hoarse and weak.
"I-I truly cannot tell you, my lord…!"
I frowned. "Why?"
"Because of the contract!" he stammered.
I stared at him for a long moment. He shook violently under my gaze.
"Do you want to live?" I asked.
"Y-yes! I want—!" His words were cut short.
"Then go," I said flatly.
His eyes widened in shock. Before he could respond, my voice returned—this time with a smile.
"But first… I'll kick your balls."
His mouth dropped open. Before he even understood, my foot connected.
𝘒𝘳𝘢𝘢𝘬𝘩—!
"Arghhh!" he screamed, saliva spilling from his mouth. Watching him curl up in pain, I chuckled.
"Hehehe~! Does it hurt? Did your future eggs crack?" I asked, feigning curiosity.
He kept writhing, tears streaming, foam at his mouth—until he finally passed out.
I sighed, crouching before him. Extending my hand, I let mana flow to my fingertip and pressed it against the back of his neck.
A small black mark appeared where I touched him. A tracer, a teleportation beacon—wherever it was, I could appear.
I stood. "Go back to your master. I'll come to him directly," I muttered coldly, turning away.
'A chick will always return to its mother if it doesn't meet another hen and die along the way.'
I let him live—not out of mercy, but strategy. A living witness carries fear back to their master.
I bent down, picking up the black orb. It was cold in my hand. Its glow had faded, but faint echoes of a voice lingered, like a conversation recently severed.
The lightning on my blade slowly died down. I pulled the blindfold back over my eyes—sealing half my mana and hiding their dangerous glow.
The cloth wrapped around once again, locking my power away, just as always.
I stood among the scorched, fallen trees. The forest grew quiet, sunlight breaking through above.
"It's not over," I whispered. "This is only the beginning."
I walked away, leaving the unconscious hunter behind.
Why didn't I teleport home? Simple—I wanted to explore this world with my own steps. That's what a fantasy world is: fighting, adventuring, and completing quests.
…
After several minutes of walking…
I reached the path from before. The hunters' corpses still littered the ground, but I left them. They'd be found eventually—or eaten by monsters. The stench of burnt flesh still hung in the air.
I sighed, continuing toward my home. Along the way, I encountered several fang-wolves. They didn't attack at first.
But it seemed they were eager to die. I chuckled softly, shaking my head.
'Strange, isn't it? The same kind of wolves that once tried to kill me when I was helpless in the river… now fall like nothing before me.'
My steps slowed for a moment.
"Hm? Looks like he's awake already…" I murmured, resuming my walk.
"Let's see where your master is."
---
(POV Petrik)
My body was still trembling. The pain in my groin stabbed up into my brain, making me want to vomit. My breath was ragged, but when I opened my eyes—I was still alive.
'He… spared me?' I thought, disbelief overwhelming me.
Cold sweat streamed down my face. My body felt both weightless and crushed, as if I'd been run over by a carriage. At the back of my neck, something itched, like a mosquito bite.
I swallowed. Whatever he had done, one thing was certain: I was just prey, left alive for the predator's game.
Slowly, I forced myself to stand. My knees shook like broken machinery as I clutched my aching groin with one hand. The pain was unbearable—maybe one of my eggs had cracked.
Tears welled in my eyes. They had sent me to slay a monster in human skin. Just thinking about it made me shiver.
I quickly shook the thought away and staggered toward the dense forest behind me. My legs trembled violently, making me stumble again and again.
'I don't know why he spared me, but I must report back to my superior,' I told myself.
Step by step, I stumbled, one hand gripping my injury, the other dragging along trees to keep from collapsing.
"Damn monster…" I muttered again. "No wonder they call him the White Devil."
---
(POV Ren)
I felt him moving farther away and chuckled to myself. "That must hurt. I did kick him a little harder than usual," I said, walking along the forest path.
Soon, an open plain spread before me. Green grass swayed in the wind.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? I'll never get tired of this scenery."
I couldn't deny it—this world was breathtaking.
As I walked, savoring the view, I spotted a carriage in the distance—surrounded by ten guards.