The roar came again, deeper this time, and the snow on the branches shook loose in thin sheets.
ART's ink ribbon tightened in the air like it could feel danger too. NEO's grip shifted on her staff. KODA's hand went to his chalk automatically, already looking for a surface.
None of them ran.
But all of them moved.
ART followed the sound first, staying light on his feet, weaving through pines. He told himself it was curiosity, but his pulse said otherwise. He'd already pushed to Level 6 today, and the forest had started giving him better drops—Frost Wolf Fangs, Low Beast Leather, even one small Synth Crystal shard that made his eyes widen when it hit his inventory.
He wasn't leaving without more.
A shadow moved ahead.
Not a wolf.
Bigger.
It burst through the trees into a small clearing—an oversized boar plated with frost-hard hide, tusks thick as arms, breath steaming like smoke from an engine.
Frost-Tusk Boar
Level: 9
ART's eyes widened slightly. "Okay… that's not beginner-friendly."
The boar charged.
ART flicked his brush and snapped an ink whip forward to pull it off-line.
The whip cracked across the boar's snout—barely slowed it.
The boar slammed into a tree, bark exploding, then turned with a furious squeal.
ART's Synth dipped from the quick shaping and he felt it immediately. Not painful—just a reminder.
His ink moved because his reserve allowed it.
The boar charged again.
A thin layer of ice dust rose from the ground as it ran.
Then a spark hit its shoulder.
NEO stepped out from behind a pine, eyes calm, and cast again—Frost Thread, clean and precise. The thread caught the boar's front leg for half a second.
Not enough to stop it.
Enough to ruin its rhythm.
The boar stumbled, and ART used the opening to snap his ink into a blade and slash across its flank.
A shallow cut. But it bled.
NEO's interface pinged quietly.
XP Gained: +60
She didn't look at it. She never did mid-fight.
KODA arrived a heartbeat later, sliding into the clearing behind a fallen log. He drew fast on the wood—Protection Rune—and fed Synth into it with steady breath.
The rune shimmered.
The boar turned and charged toward NEO.
KODA shoved the protected wood up like a shield wall.
The tusks hit it with a brutal impact.
The protection shimmer held—but KODA's arms shook from the force.
"Move!" he snapped, voice tight.
NEO stepped sideways and fired Spark into the boar's eye-line again.
The boar squealed and backed off half a step.
ART didn't waste the moment. He pulled out one paper and slapped it against a stone, drawing fast—Spearman.
Ink peeled off the page and formed a stick soldier, spear lowered.
"Pierce!" ART shouted.
The spearman lunged.
The spear struck between plates on the boar's shoulder.
The construct flickered under the strain.
ART's Synth dropped sharply.
But the hit mattered.
The boar staggered.
KODA took chalk to snow in one smooth motion and drew Bind.
The moment the boar stepped into it, the rune flashed and tugged the leg sideways like a chain yanking from under the earth.
The boar's charge collapsed into a stumble.
NEO's voice was calm. "Now."
Spark.
Then another.
Clean timing. No wasted casting.
The boar thrashed, tried to break free, then finally collapsed into the snow with a heavy shudder.
A system notice popped up for all three of them almost at once.
Boss-Marked Beast Defeated: Frost-Tusk Boar
XP Gained: +280
Loot: Frost-Tusk x1, Beast Leather x4, Low Synth Crystal x1
ART's level bar surged.
Level Up!
Level 6 → 8
NEO's bar jumped too.
Level Up!
Level 5 → 7
KODA's interface flashed.
Level Up!
Level 5 → 7
The three of them stood there for a second, breathing in the aftermath, snow drifting down through broken branches.
ART stared at the other two like he'd just realized he wasn't alone in being weirdly competent.
NEO looked at ART's floating ink blade, then at the paper soldier still standing by his side. "Artist class."
ART grinned. "ART."
KODA looked at the chalk runes still glowing faintly on the ground. "Runesmith."
NEO tilted her head. "NEO."
KODA nodded once. "KODA."
There was a brief silence where all three measured each other.
Not hostility.
Assessment.
Then ART laughed lightly, like the tension had been ridiculous. "So we just… teamed up?"
NEO's expression barely changed. "It worked."
KODA wiped chalk dust off his fingers. "Efficiency."
ART pointed at him. "You talk like a tutorial NPC."
KODA looked at him. "You fight with drawings."
ART opened his mouth, then laughed again. "Fair."
They didn't form a party officially right away, but they moved together after that, because the forest got worse the deeper they went. More beasts. Smarter packs. A couple of aggressive player groups too, sniffing around for easy kills.
But three was harder to bully than one.
And the strange thing was—they fit.
ART's ink constructs created openings.
NEO's spells controlled pace and punished mistakes.
KODA's runes turned bad terrain into advantage.
They fought through the night cycle, resting only once under a pine cluster while their stamina recovered. Every time they moved, their levels climbed steadily.
Wolf pack ambush.
XP +90
Boar hunt.
XP +110
Mid-tier frost lynx.
XP +140
And by the time the dawn light started filtering through the trees again, all three saw it.
Level 10.
Not far.
ART pushed hardest. He was too excited to slow down. By mid-morning, he hit it.
Level Up!
Level 9 → 10
He didn't cheer. He just stared at the number like it was a promise.
NEO followed not long after.
Level Up!
Level 9 → 10
KODA hit it last out of the three, but when he did, he looked the most satisfied.
Level Up!
Level 9 → 10
They kept going.
One more hour.
One more set of fights.
And then, one by one, they crossed into the next line.
Level Up!
ART: Level 10 → 11
NEO: Level 10 → 11
KODA: Level 10 → 11
They left the forest together the same way they entered it—quiet, tired, and sharper than before.
At the edge of the tree line, the village road came back into view.
Frostvale.
The beginner noise in the distance.
ART exhaled like he'd just come back from a different world.
NEO adjusted her gloves. "We should split?"
KODA shook his head slightly. "Not yet."
ART looked down at his interface, then at the messages tab he'd been ignoring for hours.
Nyx.
He remembered her warning.
People hunt talent.
And now he understood why.
He typed fast.
ART:
Nyx. Where are you right now? Which village/city?
The reply came a little later than he wanted.
But when it came, it hit like a direction arrow through his chest.
Nyx:
Stone Dragon City.
Stone Dragon Empire.
ART stared at the words.
North.
So far north it wasn't beginner territory anymore.
NEO noticed his face. "You know someone."
ART looked up, grin returning. "Yeah. She's… family."
KODA's eyes narrowed slightly. "High level?"
ART nodded. "Very."
NEO didn't smile, but her eyes sharpened with interest. "Then we're traveling."
ART laughed. "You're invited?"
NEO looked at him like it was obvious. "We leveled together. That wasn't an accident."
KODA nodded once. "Efficiency."
ART rolled his eyes. "Bro, stop saying efficiency like it's a spell."
KODA didn't respond.
But he didn't disagree either.
ART tucked his papers back into his pouch, brush in hand, ink vial secured, and looked toward the northern road like it had suddenly become the most important thing in the world.
Stone Dragon City.
Nyx.
And somewhere beyond that… Aurora.
He didn't say it out loud yet.
But the thought was already there.
If his cousin was with them…
then whatever was forming in the north was going to change everything.