The forest stood still.
A thick, unnatural silence pressed in. The surviving bandits stood in a daze, bloodied and shaking. Sweat mixed with dirt on their faces, their eyes wide and chests heaving.
Then, a sharp crack of splintering wood tore through the silence as the monster returned, barreling through the dark. It burst from the shadows, a towering mass of blood and muscle. Its fangs were still wet, and strips of torn flesh clung to its claws. Its eyes, glowing faintly in the gloom, locked onto them with a hunger that made the air feel colder.
The bandit leader gripped his sword, though his hand trembled. Beside him, one of the others whispered, "We can't defeat that monster."
"I know," the leader hissed. His voice cracked, but his eyes didn't waver. "But I'll take her to my grave."
He turned, blade rising.
The monster roared, a raw blast that slammed into their bones. Before the leader could move, the creature charged. The first swipe tore two men apart in a single, brutal motion. Blood sprayed high, a red arc catching the light before falling like rain.
The leader barely managed a step before a claw cut across his chest. He gasped, more from shock than pain, and crumpled backward, his sword falling from a limp hand.
The monster raised its head and howled.
Vibrating through the ground, pulsing in her ears. She curled into herself, hands pressed to her head, but the sound was already inside her. Then came the footsteps, slow and heavy, each thudding impact feeling final. The earth shook with each one, the tremors rolling up her arms from where they touched the ground. Her limbs wouldn't move. Her body cemented.
The shadow of the beast fell over her. A claw rose above, massive, jagged, and soaked in red.
She looked up, with no energy left to scream. She didn't fight it.
She closed her eyes.
Crack!
A thunderous impact hit the ground in front of her.
She blinked. The monster's claw had stopped braced against someone. A man stood where the claw should have fallen, his stance wide and arms raised. A shattered wooden sword lay at his feet, broken into splinters.
"Damn it," Leo muttered, his voice tight with effort. His fingers dug into the beast's claw, boots skidding as he held firm, refusing to back down. The ground beneath him cracked under the strain.
Another pulse of power rippled through him. An unseen weight pressed against him, the crimson light pulsing at the back of his hand bathing the already bloodied monster. His muscles burned more than they should as his body fought for every scrap of strength, and he clenched his jaw against the effort.
"Are you alright?" a voice asked gently.
She turned. Ai stood beside her, calm and composed. Two cats flanked her, now rigid and alert, their eyes tracking the monster. But Ai's were on her.
Beyond them, Leo stood firm. Muscles drawn taut, his grip locked onto the beast's massive claw. His tied black hair whipped with each gust of wind, yet he didn't flinch. The Arcanite couldn't look away. He stood like no one she'd ever seen before, his back to her, facing death not because he had to, but because he chose to.
"Could you get me a sword?" Leo called.
A glow appeared at his waist. He reached for it and stared at it in disbelief.
"Another wooden sword?" he asked, exasperated.
Ai gave a small shrug, almost teasing. "Next available sword unlocks at level twenty."
With a grunt of frustration, Leo shoved one of the monster's claws aside, creating a momentary opening. He swung the new wooden sword at the second descending claw, putting all his strength into the blow. It shattered on impact, the flimsy weapon disintegrating into uselessness.
Desperate, he roared, Meteor Slash!
[ System Notification ] A sword-type weapon is required to activate Meteor Slash.
The skill failed. The monster pressed its advantage, forcing Leo to resort to his bare hands again, grabbing both massive claws. Every vein in his arms stood out as tremors of exertion ran through his body. His feet sank deeper into the ground. The creature snarled, straining to break free, but Leo didn't move. He was a wall the monster couldn't pass, a wall that was cracking under its own strain.
The Arcanite watched everything about him. The way he stood, the way he fought without a weapon, even with the curse dragging at him. It hit her with a force she didn't expect.
She remembered them. The adventurers who once approached her, bright eyed and confident, offering promises they could never keep. They wanted power. They wanted her not for who she was, but for what she could become: a weapon, an Arcanite, a relic of a time long passed.
She'd been born for greatness. Skin faintly glowing, hair like light itself, eyes a sky born blue. But her power never activated.
Nothing.
They called her broken. So she stopped trying. Hidden beneath robes, always alone. Hunted, avoided, forgotten. Until Brokrun, until the cave, until the bandits dragged her from the dark and into this very moment.
Leo grunted, shifting his stance as the monster bucked again. The impact sent deeper gouges into the ground out from his feet.
The Arcanite stared as something deep within her stirred. She remembered the way he looked at her, not with the awe, greed, or expectation she was so used to, but with a simple, unwavering concern.
For the first time, a feeling rose up in her that wasn't born from the familiar sting of fear or the cold weight of shame. It was different, a quiet but powerful shift deep in her soul. It was… something else.
And she couldn't look away.