Moments later, the orders were finalized. Robert was commanded to seek intelligence on the village hidden within this unknown land and return immediately. It was a high-priority scouting mission. The penalty for desertion? Immediate execution.
As a scout, Robert knew his survival depended on blending into the shadows and avoiding any unwanted attention.
'How did I even get dragged into this?' Robert thought bitterly to himself.
Moving through the dense wilderness, he pushed thick branches aside with his hands, careful to avoid the jagged thorns. The last thing he needed was an infection out here. He laughed quietly, a hollow, humorless sound. He had almost died today. Again and again.
The forest around him was alive with the unsettling noises of strange animals, creatures that felt unnaturally massive as they watched him from the brush. The only thing keeping him moving was the vague promise of a promotion—an opportunity to finally rise into the higher ranks.
But hell, the whole thing just felt hectic. Deep down, a voice whispered that he didn't deserve it. Every time he thought he saw a metaphorical fireplace in the distance—a glimmer of hope—it was snatched away. Or maybe it was never a real opportunity to begin with. Over time, the constant disappointment had dampened Robert's emotions, numbing him to the core. But he was still human. He still felt the sting.
'Ha! If you were only worth something, maybe a certain someone wouldn't have died!'
Shut up, Robert told his own thoughts.
'Do YOU even remember?'
Of course I do... Robert closed his eyes for a fraction of a second. He remembered the face. He remembered those eyes, staring blankly at him, as if he were someone who was always...
Who am I even talking to right now? Robert shook his head, trying to clear the phantom memories.
In his mind, they smiled. Their cheeks lifted, their eyebrows curved gently, and their mouth formed a beautiful, genuine grin. They had remembered his birthday. They remembered everything about him. But the irises of those remembered eyes lacked that glassy "twinkle" or reflection. The pupils didn't dilate with excitement; they remained entirely flat.
And with that memory, reality crashed back in. He realized that sometimes, you have to look deeper into what feels unreal to see that it was actually genuine.
Who am I talking to? Robert groaned silently. He needed to stop monologuing to himself. He needed to stop fantasizing about things that would never be true. It was too late for that. Humans always crave a beautiful fantasy, only to be utterly crushed when reality fails to match it.
Suddenly, a blood-curdling shout shattered the silence of the woods. It was a human cry of pure agony and distress—the sound of someone encountering an absolute abomination.
Fear and dread spiked through Robert's veins. Before his brain could even process the urge to run away, his hand acted on pure instinct. His sword slid from its sheath, the blade pointed directly toward the source of the scream.
He hesitated. He wanted to turn back. But then he remembered the soldier who had saved him before. How cowardly would it be to just ignore this? How ignorant? Ugh, these damn emotions are impeding me.
A memory flashed unbidden in his mind:
"With you, my knight," a girl in a red and white robe said, offering a warm smile. Nearby, a yellow-haired boy and a freckled girl clapped, tossing dandelions into the air where the seeds spiraled upward like a galaxy of stars.
"The strongest there will ever be!" the black-haired boy smirked, followed by a chorus of shared laughter.
'I'm not good enough,' Robert thought, a wave of self-loathing washing over him. 'I hate this.'
...
Breaking into a sprint, Robert pushed past the final layer of brush and burst into the clearing.
A massive monster was actively tearing into a man.
"Hey!!! DUCK!" Robert roared.
The victim, Byeon, looked up through tears of terror. Seeing a savior, he wept openly, utterly helpless and crying like a frightened child. "Help me!"
Robert possessed no magical aura, nor any extraordinary power, but he had his wits. Reaching into his belt, he grabbed a throwing knife and hurled it with all his might. The blade whipped through the air, drawing the monster's attention. With a casual swipe of its heavy limb, the beast batted the knife away, releasing its grip on its prey.
Instantly, Byeon scrambled forward and grabbed onto Robert, gripping him in a panic. "Save me!"
Robert was in pure distress, completely overwhelmed by the stranger's suffocating grip. "What are you doing?! Let go of me and run!"
"Help me! I'm dying out here, I'm bitten, I'm bleeding!!"
Byeon shrieked back, "What do you mean run?! And meet more monsters like that?!"
For a fleeting second, Robert genuinely considered ditching the man to save his own skin. He could die here.
The creature stood nearly twice his height. Its forelimbs were thicker than tree trunks, ending in massive claws that dug deep, jagged grooves into the earth. The crocodilian jaws alone were large enough to bite a man's torso completely in half.
Robert felt his stomach sink into his boots.
Think... think... think...
Analytical thoughts raced through his mind at a frantic pace: The monster has the anatomical proportions of a near-man, meaning it likely possesses a basic, predatory intelligence. It has reptilian scales—a kind I've never seen before. Looking at the texture, it's probably as hard as solid rock.
Adrenaline surged violently through Robert's veins. Shoving Byeon out of harm's way, he let out an erratic, battle-ready scream. He raised his weapon, shifting his weight, and brought his sword into a striking position.
His eyes locked onto the monster's massive neck. It was a huge target—and its only visible weak spot.
The monster paused. Its cold, emotionless, reptilian eyes shifted slowly, dropping from Robert's face to lock onto the sharp glint of his drawn sword.
'I am overwhelmed with fear,' Robert's mind screamed, a cold sweat breaking across his skin. 'Everything feels numb. I'm going to die.'
The creature stared.
Robert stared back.
Neither moved.
Despite the weapon heavy in his hands, Robert felt entirely powerless. 'I feel like I've accomplished nothing,' he thought bleakly. Behind him, Byeon's endless, pathetic crying grated against the suffocating silence.
I see fear. The primal instinct seemed to radiate directly from his psychotic thoughts, a palpable, heavy aura pressing down on the clearing.
Fighting through the paralyzing terror, Robert forced his voice to remain slow, steady, and terrifyingly calm. "Make a fire."
Without breaking eye contact with the monster, he dropped his flint and steel. The tools clattered into the dirt at Byeon's trembling feet.
"What do you expect me to do with this?!"
...
The Law of the Order... Flesh Monsters weakmess was always a fire, an enourmous fire.
Byeon wailed, fumbling blindly with the metal and stone, completely clueless as to how it even worked.
The monster analyzed Robert. Robert analyzed the monster. Every muscle in the soldier's body was coiled tight. He was desperate to survive, calculating every micro-movement to see if the beast would launch a fatal strike.
I feel FEAR.
Robert's mind began to fracture under the immense pressure. Psychotic hallucinations crept into the edges of his vision, distorting the creature's already horrifying proportions into something shifting and nightmarish. Testing its boundaries, the massive beast stalked a few paces forward, closing the distance just to see if the two humans would finally break and run.
They didn't. Robert merely tightened his grip, leveling his blade.
"Make. A. fire," Robert commanded again through gritted teeth.
"What else do you see?" a fractured voice whispered in his own mind—a hallucination born of sheer, maddening panic.
Suddenly, the beast charged.
Robert braced his footing, preparing to deliver a desperate, life-or-death strike to its thick neck. But just as quickly, the monster halted, backing away with a sudden, eerie intelligence.
Its golden eyes drifted past Robert to the weeping Byeon. That one was definitely prey. But this one standing in front?
The creature tilted its massive head, studying Robert. Is it prey? Its body was covered in medium-leather armor, starkly different from the skinny, lanky human cowering in the dirt. The armored one lacked the large maw and tearing fangs of an apex predator... but it held that showy dangerous, gleaming thing. It hurts....
The beast paced laterally, a low rumble vibrating deep in its chest.
This person didn't run. This person understood the danger, felt the sheer weight of the monster's presence, yet refused to yield the ground.
Beneath the pungent scent of human terror, the monster sensed something else radiating from the small, armored creature—a jagged, unbending aura, it is not alone…As if there were a group of people over this man
He is not alone…
"No matter what happens, we will be together forever! Promise me!"
A girl lay on the bed in the deep darkness. The night felt heavy. The windows, covered in straw, were damp with moss; the house itself seemed to be melting through time.
Staring dazedly, the girl looked right through the wall with emotionless eyes. Yet, a faint smile tugged at her lips—a pale, slight expression that was barely noticeable on a face so profoundly weakened.
One of her hands was wrapped tightly in cloth, as if to hide the stench of necrosis. Her body was already as stiff as stone.
"Thank you for everything... and I couldn't even give you anything in return." The boy grit his teeth, sobbing endlessly beside her. She was as stark white as a corpse, and as thin as a winter branch. "What am I supposed to do? I'm not a knight, nor am I a healer... What am I supposed to do?"
Outside, the murmurs of the crowd drifted in. Some people were crying, some were shouting, and others were already planning for war.
The girl stared right through him with vacant eyes. Everything was quiet, save for the chirping of the crickets.
Quiet. Just as it always had been—people just never realized it.
"Don't touch me..."
There was an old legend: Never touch a sick person, or you will die with them.
Robert began to walk away, but not before looking back at her one last time. Her lips moved, whispering something completely inaudible.
He didn't know if she had cursed him... or thanked him.
(Now)
No matter what. No matter how long it takes... I will become better. No matter what happens, as long as I keep moving forward... I won't give up.
I will make you proud of me!!
Robert felt a sudden surge of encouragement and energy. It was a fuel of determination, as if a soul of someone were attached to him.
A sudden, cold breeze swept through the dense canopy above, rustling the leaves with a hollow sound. As the wind died down, the ancient forest felt overwhelmingly quiet—an eerie, breathless stillness that seemed to swallow them whole.
The monster lingered for one final, agonizing heartbeat. Its reptilian eyes flicked from the sharp edge of Robert's trembling blade back to his unwavering gaze.
It didn't run. It simply retreated with a slow with a semi bipedal and animalistic walk. The heavy thud of its long limbs grew fainter and fainter as it padded away, its towering silhouette melting seamlessly back into the dark, tangled depths of the woods.
The monster was gone.
But it is nearby...
Robert huffs tiredly... His sword still sheath out of his sword holder.
"I am alone"