---
Kelvin only grinned. "Trouble? Nah… just a warm-up."
"Ummmnm Sil I think I'm having second thoughts, I don't think I can take them all, so let's just go somewhere else," Kelvin pleaded, tightening his grip on his sword. His eyes darted between the snarling shapes ahead. But Silvia didn't answer—she simply stood there, her gaze fixed on the horde, clutching a weathered leather-bound tome. Her lips moved quickly, mumbling an incantation in an old tongue.
The air shifted.
A faint blue light shimmered around her hands, growing brighter with each syllable. The temperature dropped sharply, frost crawling along the ground.
"Blizzard," she whispered.
The sky seemed to shatter open, unleashing a storm of jagged ice spears. They rained down in a relentless assault, each strike sending monsters screeching in agony. For twenty minutes straight, the battlefield was a frozen nightmare—cracks of ice splitting flesh, shards embedding deep, and the snow turning dark with blood.
When the storm eased, most of the horde lay broken and still. But four figures still stood, their eyes burning with predatory malice.
The first was the Verdant Horror, an unnerving amalgamation of plant and predator. It resembled a twisted tree-vine, its bark a deep red wine color, scattered with pulsating black spots that seemed almost alive. Every time it shifted, tendrils writhed like serpents eager to strike.
The second was the Swordreaver—a humanoid nightmare with two gleaming blades for arms and a single, unblinking eye that glared at its prey. It never blinked. Ever. Every twitch of its body radiated lethal swiftness.
The third was the Slime Skin Wolf, a hulking predator whose fur dripped with a thick, glistening mucus. The slime coated its muscles, acting as armor, slowing down any blade that dared strike it. Its growl was low and almost… wet.
And finally, the most unsettling of the four—the Undying Baby Skeleton. It stood barely to Kelvin's waist, its bones charred black and its eye sockets glowing faintly with violet flame. Despite its fragile appearance, it was infamous for its mastery over binding magic, able to restrict opponents with invisible chains.
All four radiated the power of Basic Tier Rank 3 beasts.
Kelvin's eyes locked on the Swordreaver. "Wait… is that a Swordreaver? That's just what I need to level up!" His grin widened. "My Aurora's almost full—if I take that thing down, I'll break through to the next level. That sword servant guy gave me way too many Aurora points already."
He pointed his blade at it. "Sil, distract it for me."
Silvia's head snapped toward him, disbelief etched across her face. "Uh, Kelvin, you do realize there are three other monsters here, right? And one of them—" she pointed at the Baby Skeleton—"can bind you in place before you even swing?"
Kelvin shrugged. "Don't worry. I'll concentrate my Qi long enough to blitz in, kill the Swordreaver, and get out before they even know what hit them. Just cover me." His blade began to glow, a brilliant gold light flooding the area.
Silvia sighed, muttering something about reckless idiots, then extended her hands. Snow began to swirl at her palms. "Fine. I'll try my best."
The Swordreaver moved first, vanishing in a blur. Kelvin was already moving, a streak of gold across the snow.
The Slime Skin Wolf lunged to intercept him, but Silvia hurled a volley of razor-sharp ice shards into its flank. The creature howled, its slime freezing into brittle crystal.
Chains of violet light shot from the Undying Baby Skeleton, whipping toward Kelvin's legs. He twisted in midair, flipping over the magical bindings, his sword arcing downward in a blinding slash.
"DEATH BLADE!"
The dark purple arc cleaved through the Swordreaver in one clean strike. For a moment, the creature stood frozen in place—then its upper half slid away, dissolving into black ash. Kelvin landed in a crouch, panting but grinning.
The other beasts roared in fury. The Slime Skin Wolf charged again, but this time Silvia froze the ground beneath it, sending it skidding wildly. Kelvin darted in, severing its head before it could recover.
The Baby Skeleton was trickier—its bindings lashed out in every direction, forcing Kelvin to weave through a deadly web. Finally, he tossed his sword high into the air, feinted left, then lunged forward barehanded, grabbing the creature's skull and crushing it into powder.
That left only the Verdant Horror.
It didn't run—not immediately. It stood perfectly still, tendrils coiling tighter, as though thinking. Then, without warning, it lashed out, striking the ground with such force that splinters of earth and root exploded upward.
Kelvin shielded his face. "That's… new."
"Kelvin, it's retreating!" Silvia shouted.
Sure enough, the monster pulled back, slithering away into the shadows of the forest with unsettling speed.
Kelvin exhaled, lowering his sword. "Coward!!" He screamed at it as it disappeared into the shadow.
He scanned the battlefield. "Oh, hey—we got a rune stone." He stooped to pick it up, turning it over in his hand. The smooth surface glowed faintly with runic inscriptions.
"I'm a mage," Silvia reminded him dryly, crossing her arms. "I don't use rune stones."
"Then I'll keep it," he said with a shrug, pocketing the stone along with a few other trinkets.
Silvia gave him a look. "You're impossible."
"Yup. And now…" He stepped toward the looming ruin entrance ahead, its colossal stone doors etched with faded glyphs that pulsed faintly under the moonlight. Vines crawled over the ancient structure, and the air smelled of dust and forgotten magic.
"Into the ruins we go!" Kelvin declared, placing both hands on the heavy door.
The stone felt cold, almost… alive. The glyphs flared brighter as he pushed. With a deep rumble, the doors began to part, releasing a breath of stale, ancient air.
A low, echoing howl came from within.
Kelvin grinned again. "Now this… this is where the real fun starts."
---