One and a half weeks had passed since the fall of the Royal Sanctuary.
The tiny newborn who had once done nothing but cry...
...had changed beyond recognition.
Kaizen now looked like a human boy of around ten years old.
His body had grown taller, shedding the round softness of infancy in mere days.
His muscles had become lean and firm, possessing a dense strength that defied his small frame. Small, crimson scales had begun to form a protective layer along his forearms and the sides of his legs.
His crimson hair had grown just enough to reach his ears, messy and untamed, while his golden eyes shone with curiosity and a deep, calculating confidence. Two small black horns now protruded visibly from his forehead, curving slightly backward.
Every day...
He trained relentlessly with the Moonfang Pack under the dappled sunlight of the forest canopy.
He learned how to move silently through the dense forest, pressing his feet against roots and stones instead of dry leaves.
How to track prey by reading the broken twigs and the faint scents carried on the wind.
How to dodge the sudden, snapping jaws of wild beasts.
How to react and shift his weight before an attack even landed.
Even though his current physical strength couldn't match the raw power of the adult wolves yet...
He had already become stronger, faster, and far more lethal than most ordinary children or even seasoned human soldiers.
At that moment...
A young wolf pup lunged toward him from the tall grass, his paws completely leaving the ground.
"Big Brother! Catch me!"
Kaizen smiled, his golden eyes tracking the pup's trajectory with absolute ease.
"You're too slow."
He simply stepped to the side, shifting his shoulders just enough to clear the path.
The pup rolled straight past him, missing entirely, and landed face-first on the soft grass with a muffled thud.
"Ouch..."
The other pups watching from the edge of the clearing burst into joyful, barking laughter.
Kaizen walked over and gently helped the dusty pup back onto his paws, patting his head.
"Again."
The pup nodded excitedly, shaking the dirt from his silver fur.
This time...
Three wolf pups decided to coordinate and attacked together, fanning out across the clearing.
One from the front, charging head-on with a playful growl.
One from the left, attempting to circle around his blind spot.
One from behind, waiting for the perfect moment to strike his legs.
Kaizen calmly observed their movements, his mind processing the mock battle through the lens of his unique skills.
"The one behind is the fastest, but his footing is unstable..."
"The left one always jumps a fraction of a second too early..."
"The front one leaves his guard entirely open when he charges..."
Within seconds...
He moved.
One precise step backward to avoid the front attack.
A slight turn of his hips to let the left pup sail harmlessly past his chest.
A gentle push with his palm against the back of the third pup who had leaped from behind.
The resulting momentum caused all three pups to crash violently into one another in a tangled pile of limbs, fur, and tails.
"Owww!"
Kaizen couldn't help laughing, a bright, clear sound that echoed through the trees.
"You guys need a lot more training before you can take me down."
A deep, rumbling voice came from the shadows behind him.
"They're still pups. They fight with instinct, not strategy."
Kaizen turned around.
Vargan, the enormous Alpha of the Moonfang Pack, walked toward him.
His massive silver body cast a long, imposing shadow across the sunlit clearing. Every step he took radiated power and absolute authority.
"You've improved again. Your movements are wasting less energy."
Kaizen scratched the back of his head, looking up at the giant beast.
"I guess. I'm just trying to keep up with everyone."
Vargan stopped a few feet away and looked him up and down, his gaze piercing.
His golden eyes narrowed as he studied the boy's completely transformed physique.
"I've been wondering..."
Kaizen tilted his head, dropping his hands to his sides.
"What is it?"
"You've only been here..."
"...for a week and a half."
"You've grown from a helpless, squalling newborn..."
"...to a ten-year-old child capable of dropping three of my pups without breaking a sweat."
He paused for a moment, the heavy silence hanging between them.
"Do Dragonutes normally grow this quickly? Is this the nature of your kind?"
Kaizen blinked, genuinely caught off guard by the question.
"I..."
"I don't think so. I really don't know."
To be honest...
He had been wondering the exact same thing for the past few days. His old human knowledge told him this was completely impossible, and even in a world of magic, this level of acceleration felt unnatural.
Later that evening...
After the hunting parties had returned and everyone had gone to sleep inside the warm, crowded dens...
Kaizen sat alone outside, resting against a large boulder beneath the bright, moonlit sky.
The cool night breeze gently brushed against his face, carrying the scent of pine and distant rain.
He closed his eyes, focusing his mind inward.
"Soul Record."
Immediately...
The familiar calm, emotionless voice answered directly inside his head.
""Awaiting inquiry.""
Kaizen looked down at his hands, watching his fingers flex and close into fists. He asked the question that had been bothering him all day.
"Why am I growing so fast?"
"Is this how all Dragonutes grow?"
A brief silence followed, as if the mysterious system was calculating the optimal way to deliver the truth.
Then...
""Negative.""
""The host is an exceptional case. Normal Dragonute maturation requires several decades to reach this stage.""
Kaizen frowned, his eyebrows drawing together.
"Exceptional?"
""Confirmed.""
""The host's accelerated physical growth is the direct result of multiple overlapping authorities and environmental necessities.""
Glowing lines of information appeared before him in the darkness, hovering like spectral text.
""Factors detected:""
""Unique Skill: Origin""
""Voice of All Things""
""Blessings of the Ten Dragon Gods""
""World Changer Mark""
Kaizen quietly read each line, analyzing the heavy titles.
"So..."
"All of them are affecting my growth?"
""Partially correct.""
""The primary cause is the World Changer Mark resonating with the adaptive nature of Origin.""
""The host has been chosen by the overarching laws of reality to alter the course of the world.""
""Current environmental and political circumstances require the host to reach physical maturity in the shortest possible time.""
Kaizen looked up toward the endless sea of stars, feeling incredibly small despite his rapid growth.
"So..."
"I'm growing because..."
"...the world needs me? Or because the world is trying to kill me?"
The Soul Record replied in its usual cold, emotionless tone, completely devoid of comfort.
""Affirmative.""
""Without accelerated growth, the probability of the host surviving future world events is critically low. The threats ahead far exceed your current capabilities.""
""To fulfill the designated role of the World Changer...""
""The host must be physically and mentally capable of standing on the battlefield.""
Silence filled the deep forest, broken only by the chirping of crickets.
Kaizen slowly lowered his head, resting his chin on his knees.
For the first time since arriving in this strange, violent world...
He truly understood the weight of his existence.
His rapid growth...
Wasn't a convenient blessing meant to make his new life easier or more fun.
It was the world's brutal way of preparing him...
For the countless, blood-soaked trials that lay ahead. The universe was forcing him to grow up because childhood was a luxury he simply could not afford.
Three weeks passed.
The tiny child who had once fit comfortably in Rira's soft paws...
...was now entirely gone.
Standing in his place was a handsome young Dragonute who looked no older than seventeen.
His crimson hair swayed gently in the forest breeze, now long enough to tie back.
Two small black horns curved slightly from his forehead, sharp and polished like obsidian.
His golden eyes sparkled with intense confidence and a deep, predatory awareness.
His body was lean yet perfectly built, a flawless weapon shaped by weeks of relentless physical training, heavy gravity, and the ancient blessings constantly flowing through his veins.
Even though he looked exactly like a healthy seventeen-year-old...
His actual age in this world...
Was only twenty-one days.
The Ultimate Forest of Venara echoed with loud, echoing laughter.
"Hurry up, old wolf!"
Kaizen shouted with a massive grin, jumping over a fallen redwood tree.
Far behind him, tearing through the thick underbrush...
A massive black wolf burst through the bushes, his jaws snapping at the empty air.
"Who are you calling old?!"
Rok growled, his deep voice vibrating through the trees.
"I'll show you who's old, you scaled brat!"
The two shot through the dense forest like loose arrows, completely ignoring the lack of clear paths.
Branches snapped loudly behind them as they pushed their physical limits.
Neither of them slowed down for a single second.
Kaizen leaped high into the air, his powerful legs propelling him onto a thick tree branch.
Without stopping to find his balance...
He instantly jumped to another branch higher up.
Then another, moving through the canopy like a phantom.
Rok followed closely below on the ground, his powerful, muscular legs launching him across the uneven forest floor, dodging boulders and ravines with practiced ease.
"You won't escape me up there!"
Kaizen laughed, the wind rushing past his ears.
"I'm not trying to!"
He suddenly kicked off the final branch with explosive force, using the tree trunk as a springboard.
Instead of running further away...
He flipped backward in mid-air and landed directly in front of Rok, his boots digging deep into the dirt.
The black wolf skidded to a complete stop, his claws tearing deep trenches into the earth to avoid running the boy over.
"So..."
Kaizen smirked, crossing his arms over his chest without even breathing hard.
"Did I pass today's lesson?"
Rok snorted, a cloud of hot breath rising into the cool air.
"You've been passing every single lesson for the last week."
He looked at the young Dragonute for a long, silent moment before shaking his massive head in disbelief.
"I honestly don't know whether you're a once-in-a-generation genius..."
"...or an absolute monster wearing a boy's skin."
Kaizen rubbed the back of his head, dropping his arrogant posture.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Rok couldn't help laughing, a rough, barking sound.
"When the Alpha first brought you here, wrapped in that bloody cloth..."
"I thought you would bring disaster to the pack. I thought you were nothing but dead weight."
He looked up toward the patches of sky visible through the leaves.
"I was completely wrong."
Kaizen smiled, feeling a genuine warmth in his chest.
"Thank you, Rok."
Rok continued walking forward, pacing slowly around the clearing.
"For the past two weeks..."
"I've taught you absolutely everything I know about surviving in the wild."
"How to track prey across solid rock."
"How to hide your scent from creatures that hunt by smell."
"How to move your body weight without making a single sound on dry leaves."
"How to observe your enemy's breathing before launching an attack."
Kaizen nodded, acknowledging the teachings.
"And I learned a lot from you. You're a great teacher."
Rok stopped pacing.
He looked directly into Kaizen's golden eyes.
"No."
"You didn't just learn. You mastered everything."
"Learning and mastering are two completely different things, kid."
Kaizen remained silent, unable to argue.
Even he couldn't deny the terrifying efficiency of his own existence.
Thanks to the power of Origin...
Every movement he saw...
Every lesson he was given...
Every painful mistake he made...
Was perfectly recorded, analyzed, and understood on a cellular level.
If he made the exact same mistake twice...
It wasn't because he forgot the lesson.
It was only because he actively chose to test a new variable.
Rok sighed, sitting back on his haunches.
"I've trained countless young wolves over the years."
"Some were incredibly talented."
"Some worked hard every single day."
"But you..."
He chuckled, shaking his head again.
"You're simply unfair to the rest of the world."
Kaizen laughed awkwardly, feeling a bit guilty about his literal cheat skills.
"I guess I have a few hidden advantages."
"A few?"
Rok barked with loud, booming laughter.
"You fought a fully grown Fang Serpent completely barehanded when you looked like a child."
"You currently outrun half the adult wolves in the pack without using magic."
"And yesterday..."
"You caught a highly elusive Silverhorn Deer before I even found the first set of its tracks."
He shook his head, looking at Kaizen with a mixture of pride and awe.
"If I didn't watch you grow from a squalling infant with my own two eyes..."
"I would've thought you were some ancient, battle-hardened warrior pretending to be young."
Kaizen's easy smile froze for just a fraction of a second.
"If only you knew..." he murmured softly.
Just then...
A long, desperate howl echoed violently through the peaceful forest.
Awooooo!
Rok's expression immediately became dead serious, the playful mentor vanishing instantly.
"That's the Alpha."
"He's calling everyone back to the dens immediately. It's an emergency."
Kaizen looked toward the distant valley, his heightened senses trying to pick up any smell of blood or fire.
"I wonder what's happened. The tone sounds wrong."
The two exchanged a quick, worried glance.
Then...
Without another word...
They raced back toward the Moonfang territory at full speed.
Neither of them knew...
That this would be the day...
Kaizen would finally leave the family that had raised him.