The forest had changed again. The trees here were taller than any Ray had seen, their roots twisted in unnatural ways, rising like claws from the ground to trip or trap the careless.
It was beautiful, eerie, and wrong. But Ray had learned by now that the unnatural places often held the oldest truths—and the worst dangers.
He moved silently, boots brushing the undergrowth with practised care, eyes constantly scanning. He'd been tracking signs of an old boundary marker—something etched into the land before the collapse. Instead, he found something else.
Screaming.
It was faint at first—hoarse, strained, nearly lost in the wind. A human voice, somewhere close. Ray stopped moving instantly.
His senses sharpened, and his body lowered into a crouch without thought. The system's presence flared subtly, not with an alert but with a familiar hum: one that signalled opportunity—and risk.
Another scream, louder this time. A male voice.
Ray's eyes narrowed. He wasn't the kind to charge into every cry for help. This world was full of traps, illusions, and bait lures used by intelligent predators.
But something about the sound—raw, terrified, and unplanned—told him it was real. The system pulsed softly behind his vision, like it, too, had heard.
He moved.
Slipping between trees, using every trick he'd practised over the past weeks, Ray approached the sound's origin. As he neared a slight hill, he saw the source: a young man—maybe in his early twenties—backed against a fallen log, his face pale with fear, clutching a wooden staff with trembling hands.
Three creatures circled him. They looked like wolves—but longer, leaner, and unnaturally still. Their fur shimmered in patches like broken mirrors, and their eyes glowed with a sickly green light.
Ray's system activated silently.
---
[Entities Identified: Mirrorfang Stalkers – Pack Class]
Threat Level: Moderate (Per Unit)
Behaviour: Coordinated | Reflection Mimicry | Weak to Fire
Pack Instinct: Triggers frenzy upon injury of alpha
Number Present: 3
Alpha Identified – Rear Left
---
Ray noted all of it in seconds. The beasts hadn't noticed him yet. The boy—cloaked in traveller's rags—wasn't wearing armour, and the staff wasn't enchanted. A normal person. Maybe a lost traveller. Maybe worse. Either way, he'd die in the next thirty seconds without help.
Ray exhaled once and acted.
He moved sideways, flanking around a tree, and pulled a shard of obsidian from his belt. With a twist, he used a fire-starting spark stone to heat its edge. Then he ran.
His body didn't feel like his own anymore. Every motion was precise. Controlled. The system didn't possess him—but it guided him, enhancing everything.
He struck the alpha first.
One clean blow to the base of its skull, a wet crunch, then a flare of heat as the obsidian blade burned into its fur. The creature collapsed instantly, convulsing once before going still. The other two hissed—more like snakes than wolves—and turned.
Ray let them.
He grabbed the boy by the shoulder and shoved him toward the tree line. "Run."
To his credit, the young man didn't freeze. He bolted, nearly stumbling, but obeying.
Ray turned back just as the two remaining Mirrorfangs lunged. He didn't dodge.
He flowed.
The first swipe came in low, aiming for his leg. Ray pivoted, slashing diagonally. The second beast jumped at his neck, but Ray ducked under its arc, rolling onto one knee, and drove the blade up. It met flesh.
The creature shrieked, its reflection magic flickering out for half a second before it burst into blue flame.
The last stalker hesitated—instinct finally overriding pack rage. Ray met its eyes and stepped forward, blood-soaked shard still glowing in his grip.
The beast ran.
---
The system chimed once, quietly.
[Predation Successful – Mirrorfang Alpha Traits Absorbed (1/3)]
Trait Unlocked: Mirage Veil (Passive) – Brief illusion trail after high-speed movement
Status: Echo simulation available in downtime
---
Ray ignored it for now.
He turned and followed the boy's panicked trail. The youth hadn't made it far—he had collapsed beneath a thick root, panting, his staff discarded beside him. Ray knelt beside him and offered water. The boy took it with shaking hands.
"T-thank you," he gasped. "I thought I was… I thought…"
"You almost were," Ray said flatly. "What are you doing out here? This isn't safe land."
The boy winced. "I… I didn't have a choice. My village sent me west to find help. We're dying—sickness or something worse. Our healer left a week ago and never returned."
Ray studied him. The boy had blue eyes, messy black hair, and calloused hands. Not a noble. Just a labourer. But brave enough to travel alone.
"What village?" Ray asked.
"Thornmere," the boy said. "It's east of here. A day's walk… if you know the way."
Ray nodded slowly. The name meant nothing to him—but the desperation was real.
"Monsters?" he asked.
"No," the boy said. "Not at first. It started with the crops. Then the wells turned black. Now people are losing their minds. They scream at night. Bleed from their eyes. The elders say it's a curse." Ray frowned.
That didn't sound like a curse. It sounded like contamination.
Or worse—system residue.
He didn't say that.
Instead, he said, "You're lucky I found you."
"I know," the boy whispered. "My name's Elric. What's yours?"
Ray paused.
Then answered, "Call me Ray."
---
They made camp together in a safer grove. Ray set up the perimeter with tripwires made of vine and hidden noise traps. Elric watched, wide-eyed.
"You're a hunter?" he asked.
"Something like that."
Elric didn't press. He was too exhausted.
Ray gave him dried meat and boiled roots. Watched him eat like a starved animal. The boy had real courage—but he was untrained. Ray remembered being helpless once, too. But now… now the world had given him something different.
When Elric slept, Ray moved a little farther from camp and activated the Echo simulation of the Mirrorfang Alpha. He fought it again and again, learning its movement and perfecting the timing. By the time dawn came, he could kill it in three strikes every time.
As the fire crackled behind him and birds began to sing again, Ray sat on a fallen log, looking out over the dark woods.
He had found someone worth saving. Someone normal. It reminded him of the weight of the power he carried—and the danger he brought with it.
He couldn't stay with Elric for long.
But he could help.
He would go to Thornmere.
And he would see for himself what the world was hiding next.
---