Ten Years Later
The forge still smelled the same—hot iron, burnt leather, smoke—but everything else had changed.
I'm taller now. Stronger. Years of weapon drills have broadened my shoulders. Winters hardened my hands. They're calloused from blades, from splinters, from survival.
Hiccup stood beside me—leaner, sharper, no longer the boy who flinched at every shout. His eyes were calm now. Focused. He still moved quietly, deliberately—but with confidence, not fear.
He'd built something strange the night before. Again. A rotating blade contraption he swore could cut rope mid-air. I didn't get it.
Gobber did. He always did.
"You two are a nightmare," Gobber muttered that morning, handing us each a whetstone. "Train too much, think too much, sleep far too little. It's unnatural."
"We're preparing," I said, inspecting the edge of my sword.
"For what?" he asked.
We didn't answer.
We didn't need to.
The village sees us differently now—some with pride, some with fear.
Stoick rarely says much anymore, but his silences have grown louder. He watches us like a man bracing for a storm he knows he can't stop. I think he knows we carved our own path long ago—and that he can't drag us back from it.
Especially not me.
Especially not us.
That evening, we stood at the cliffside. Our place.
The wind was stronger now. Saltier. Heavier.
Hiccup raised a spyglass to his eye, scanning the horizon.
"Expecting a ship?" I asked.
He shook his head. "No. Something bigger."
"Dragon bigger?"
"Maybe."
He lowered the glass slowly.
"Do you ever think we trained too hard?" he asked.
I laughed—dry, low. "No. I think the world's just slow to catch up."
He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.
I looked at him—really looked—and for a flicker, I saw that scared five-year-old again.
But only for a moment.
We didn't say it, but we both knew.
Something was coming.
Something big enough to make ten years of training matter.
And this time?
We wouldn't be watching from the sidelines.
We'd be the ones to change everything.
Later, I headed into the forest to train.
I always did my best thinking there. I spent more time among the trees than in my own home. The forest was honest. The wind didn't lie. The trees didn't judge. And every creature had only one question for me:
"Are you prey, or predator?"
Tonight, I was predator.
The air was sharp, rich with pine and tension. I moved low, silent, senses open. I set traps earlier—simple snares, triplines, a firetrap hidden beneath fallen leaves. Just in case.
A rustle.
A blur of fur.
Three wolves lunged from the underbrush, hungry and bold.
I pivoted sideways, drew my shortblade, and dropped the first one with a strike to the throat. Fast, clean. The second one grazed my leg before I turned into its charge and slammed it with my shoulder, driving a dagger into its side.
The third snapped at my arm—teeth scraping metal. I let it take a bite of leather and punched the pommel of my blade into its eye. It yelped, and I kicked it off. A firetrap went off behind me—light and heat searing the dark as the snare caught its hind leg.
I stood breathing hard, blood dripping from my knuckles. I'd taken a hit—but I was still standing.
Years ago, I would've run.
Now I track, strike, bleed, survive.
Farther north, deeper into the wood, I found bear tracks—fresh, heavy. I followed them on instinct.
A stupid idea.
But sometimes, you need to know what's still stronger than you.
The bear was massive. Scarred. One eye white. It saw me before I wanted it to. Charged.
I sidestepped the first swipe, barely. Its claws caught my coat. I used that momentum, ducked low, and slashed across its ribs. It roared—pain, not fear.
That was bad.
It reared up.
I rolled behind a fallen log as it slammed down, cracking bark and shaking the ground. I reached for a smoke pouch—blinded it—then darted in and stabbed its thigh. It turned, quicker than I thought, and caught me with a backhanded swipe.
Pain bloomed across my ribs. I tasted blood.
I didn't fall.
I didn't scream.
I calculated.
"Battle Trance," I whispered.
Power surged. Limbs steadied. Time slowed.
I leapt onto its back, dug both blades deep into the muscle behind its shoulder. It bucked, roared—but I held on. Drove the knives deeper until the beast finally staggered, crashed, and stilled.
I stood over it, chest heaving, muscles trembling.
I didn't kill for pride. I didn't fight for fun.
I had to.
Because I knew—out there, beyond the trees and cliffs, something worse than wolves or bears was waiting.
And when it came?
I wouldn't hesitate.
Erik Haddock – Status Sheet
Age: 15
Race: Human
Titles
Protector (Passive): "+5 Defense when defending others."
Relentless (Passive): "Consecutive attacks restore 1% stamina per hit (stacks up to 5)."
Tactician (Passive): "+10% effectiveness using traps, terrain, or strategy."
Dragon-Sighted (Passive): "Enhances Identify and reaction time in dragon encounters."
Ironblood Trainee (Passive): "Minor resistance to bleeding and stun effects from beast-class enemies."
Beastwalker (Passive): "+5% movement speed and +10% stealth against animal-type enemies in natural environments."
Lone Fang (Passive): "+5% damage and +5 Defense vs. beast-class enemies when fighting solo."
Woundforged (Passive): "+2 Strength and +1 Dexterity when below 50% HP."
Forest Reaper (Passive): "+5% critical hit chance against creatures that have previously wounded you or your allies."
Stats
Strength: 13
Defense: 14
Dexterity: 11
Stamina: 16
Intelligence: 20
Passive Skills
Pain Resistance (Lv. 18/50)
Beast Slayer (Lv. 10/50)
Tactical Analysis (Lv. 7/50)
Environmental Combat (Lv. 8/50)( gained from fighting in the woods)
Crafting (Lv. 12/50)
Identify (Lv. 10/50)
Genius (Lv. 1/1): "Grants exceptional problem-solving ability; +15% effectiveness in strategy, crafting, and tactical planning."
Accelerated Thinking (Lv. 1/1): "Reaction time and decision-making speed drastically improved in combat and crisis scenarios; reduces hesitation delay and boosts response efficiency."Weapon Genius (Lv. 1/1): when training with a weapon, increase proficiency gained.Versatile Arsenal (Lv. 10/50): Proficient in any weapon(gained from learning to use +10 types of weapons.)
Active Skills
Battle Trance (Lv. 6/50):
"Temporarily boosts all physical stats by +2 for 12 seconds."
Cooldown: 55 seconds.