For a long moment after the Ironfang Wolf fell, no one moved.
The forest seemed to exhale slowly, as if the tension that had gripped the clearing had finally been released.
Takemi lowered the stone he had been holding.
"…Well," he said, brushing dirt from his hands. "That escalated quickly."
One of the students behind him finally stepped forward, eyes wide as he stared at the massive body of the monster lying across the forest floor.
"That was a mid-tier monster…"
His voice carried disbelief.
Rauk rested the flat of his sword against his shoulder again, as if the fight had required little effort.
"Not anymore."
Takemi chuckled quietly.
A few moments later, the supervising instructor stepped out from between the trees.
He had clearly been watching the entire encounter.
His eyes moved between Takemi and Rauk.
"…You handled that better than expected."
The students straightened instinctively.
"However," the instructor continued, "you were instructed to observe, not engage."
Takemi rubbed the back of his head.
"In our defense… it attacked first."
The instructor stared at the broken earth where the wolf had lunged.
Then he sighed.
"…Fair enough."
He crouched beside the creature and examined the wounds.
The strike to the eye.
The deep slash across the neck.
When he stood again, his expression had changed slightly.
"Still… defeating an Ironfang Wolf this early in your training is unusual."
His gaze shifted briefly toward Takemi.
Then to Rauk.
"Make note of the encounter in your field journals."
The other students quickly began writing.
Takemi crouched beside the creature for a moment.
The fur felt coarse beneath his fingers.
Dense.
Almost like armor.
"Monster ecology…" he murmured.
Rauk glanced down at him.
"You're thinking again."
Takemi grinned.
"Always."
The instructor guided them through the next steps.
"Whenever a monster is killed in the wild," he explained, "certain materials can be harvested."
He pointed toward the wolf's claws.
"Fangs, claws, and certain organs contain mana-rich properties."
The students gathered carefully around the body.
One girl knelt beside the creature, her dark hair tied into a long braid that hung over her shoulder.
Unlike the others, she looked calm.
Focused.
She examined the wolf's claw with a small knife.
"Mana density is higher than average," she said quietly.
Takemi tilted his head.
"You can tell just by looking?"
She glanced up briefly.
"For someone who threw rocks at a monster… you ask surprisingly basic questions."
Takemi blinked.
Then laughed.
"Fair."
Rauk smirked faintly.
The girl carefully removed one of the claws and placed it inside a leather pouch.
"My name is Lira Valen," she said without looking up. "Alchemy specialization."
Takemi nodded.
"Takemi."
"I know."
Her tone was flat.
"You shattered a spear during the entrance exams."
Takemi scratched his cheek.
"Word travels fast."
"Not when people are loud about it."
For the first time, she allowed a faint smile.
Once the materials were secured, the instructor motioned for the group to continue.
"We still have several observation points along this route."
The group resumed their walk through the Emerald Verge.
The deeper they went, the denser the forest became.
Massive roots twisted across the ground like natural barriers. Moss-covered stones marked areas where small streams cut through the earth.
Occasionally they spotted magical creatures in the distance.
Mana Hares.
A shimmering bird perched high in the branches.
A tiny reptile with glowing stripes that vanished into the undergrowth.
Takemi watched everything carefully.
The way animals moved.
How they reacted to human presence.
How certain areas of the forest seemed quieter than others.
Patterns.
He liked patterns.
By mid-afternoon the group stopped near a shallow stream.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, reflecting off the water in scattered fragments of light.
Students sat along the rocks to drink and rest.
Takemi skipped a small pebble across the surface of the stream.
Five skips.
Then it sank.
"Still got it," he muttered.
Rauk sat nearby sharpening his blade with a whetstone.
The scraping sound carried softly across the clearing.
Lira sat on a fallen log, examining the Ironfang claw she had collected earlier.
She glanced toward Takemi.
"You're not worried?"
He blinked.
"About what?"
"You fought a mid-tier monster with stones."
Takemi shrugged.
"It worked."
"That's not the point."
He grinned.
"Then what is?"
She studied him for a moment.
"…You don't fight like someone who learned magic or swordsmanship."
Takemi picked up another pebble.
"You're right."
He flicked it across the stream again.
Six skips this time.
"I learned something else."
Rauk spoke without looking up.
"Throwing."
Takemi laughed.
"Exactly."
As the group prepared to move again, the instructor paused suddenly.
His eyes moved slowly across the surrounding forest.
"…Stay close," he said quietly.
The students immediately grew alert.
Takemi noticed it too now.
That feeling again.
The faint prickling at the back of his neck.
Like unseen eyes observing them.
But when he looked into the trees…
there was nothing.
Just wind moving through the leaves.
Still…
something felt different.
Far deeper in the forest, hidden within a grove where sunlight rarely reached the ground…
a tall figure stood among the shadows.
Its form barely visible between ancient tree trunks.
It had watched the students since the battle.
Watched the boy who threw stones with impossible precision.
For a long time, the figure remained perfectly still.
Then it slowly turned its head toward the deeper wilderness.
"…Interesting," it whispered.
And vanished into the dark forest.