The forests beyond Redgrove were forbidden after dark.
The elders warned of prowling beasts and wild magic that twisted animals into monsters. No one — not even the bravest hunters — dared step into the woods at night without backup.
Kaelen stepped into the shadows alone.
The moon was little more than a ghost behind thick clouds. The air was sharp with the scent of pine and damp earth.
In his hand, he carried a battered iron sword — old, nicked, and barely balanced — a hand-me-down from his late grandfather. It shook slightly as he walked.
[Quest Active: Defeat a Monster Alone.]
[Warning: Death is Permanent.]
Kaelen swallowed hard, his mouth dry.
"No turning back," he told himself. "No one believes in me. If I don't fight… if I don't win… I'll stay nothing forever."
The System pulsed faintly in the back of his mind, steady and cold — a guiding star he hadn't even known existed until tonight.
The trees thinned slightly ahead.
Kaelen crouched low, ears straining.
There — by a fallen log, its fur blending into the gray stone and moss — a Stone Wolf prowled, sniffing the air.
It was larger than a regular wolf, its body crisscrossed with jagged gray plates of hardened skin, like living rock. Sharp teeth glinted even in the weak moonlight.
Kaelen's heart thudded against his ribs.
[Stone Wolf — Rank: F+ Monster]
[HP: 320/320]
It growled — low and vicious — sensing an intruder.
Kaelen tightened his grip on the sword.
"Think," he whispered. "You can't beat it head-on. You don't have the strength."
He scanned the area — a low-hanging branch, a patch of loose soil, the broken edge of a tree stump. His mind raced.
He had one advantage: his mind.
The Stone Wolf lunged.
Kaelen dodged sideways, stumbling but staying upright. He baited the wolf, backing toward the loose soil.
The creature snarled, following.
When it lunged again, Kaelen threw himself sideways — and the wolf's heavy paws slammed into the loose patch, its footing slipping.
Now!
Kaelen roared, more from fear than courage, and drove the rusty sword downward — aiming for the exposed seam between the wolf's rocky plates near its shoulder.
The blade sank in with a sickening crunch.
The wolf howled, thrashing wildly, but Kaelen hung on, dragging the blade deeper, twisting with every ounce of strength he had.
The beast bucked — and Kaelen was thrown hard onto the ground.
Pain flared up his side, but he gritted his teeth and rolled as the Stone Wolf snapped its jaws where he had just been.
Kaelen grabbed a broken branch from the ground and — with a desperate shout — jammed it into the wolf's open mouth.
The creature gagged, stunned for a heartbeat.
Kaelen didn't waste it.
He scrambled to his sword, yanked it free, and slashed in a savage arc across the wolf's throat.
The beast shuddered once — and fell.
Dead.
[Quest Complete: First Solo Kill Achieved.]
[Reward: Talent Upgrade — Rank E-Class Unlocked.]
[Skill Learned: Basic Warrior Technique — Heavy Strike.]
[Jack of All Trades - System Level 1: Activated.]
A flood of warmth filled Kaelen's body, like the rush of a thousand fires racing through his veins.
He gasped, staggering.
Then he grinned — wild, exhilarated.
He had done it.
Not because of noble blood.
Not because of a golden talent.
But because he refused to quit.
Kaelen wiped the blood from his sword, breathing hard.
In the distance, the first hints of dawn colored the sky with faint silver.
A new day.
A new beginning.
And for the first time in his life, Kaelen Drayce truly believed:
"I will walk every path. I will carve my destiny."
No one would stop him.