As he was more actively exploring the deeper parts of the forest to find a way out of this place…
"I'm so bored!" Yelled Einalee and stormed outside of her room to find her mother.
Einalee marched through the hallways of her family's estate, her boots clicking loudly against the marble floor.
Her hair was still damp from washing after sword practice, and her muscles pleasantly ached from the day's training.
"Mother!" she called, peeking into various rooms. The servants she passed wisely stepped out of her way, recognizing the determined gleam in her eyes.
She finally found her mother in her father's study room reviewing documents.
Lady Celeste looked up, her expression immediately shifting from concentration to mild exasperation upon seeing her daughter's restless demeanor.
"Let me guess," Celeste said, setting down her quill. "You're here about the Chaotic Dungeon again."
"I'm wasting away here!" Einalee flopped dramatically onto a cushioned chair.
"I've mastered three new fire spells since last week, and Master Lowell says my swordplay is advancing beyond his expectations. What's the point of all this training if I can't apply it?"
"Your safety, dear daughter, is the most important thing. The summit will conclude soon, and your father will return. Then, with proper supervision, you may venture to the dungeon."
"Who knows when he'll come back!" Einalee groaned, slumping further into the chair.
"I'm not weak and I can take care of the monsters in lower leves of the dungeon. Why can't I go alone? I want to awaken before going to the Academy."
Einalee straightened, a new idea forming. "What about the Dark Forest? I don't even need the dungeon!"
Her mother's expression hardened. "Absolutely not."
"But mother—"
"The Dark Forest is no place to gain experience." Celeste's voice carried the weight of finality.
"While there are indeed some lower-level creatures, the forest is primarily home to monsters far beyond your capabilities. It's a place where even seasoned adventurers don't enter carelessly."
"I'd stay near the edges! Just enough to find some Water Hares or maybe a lesser Earth Boar."
"No!" Her mother stood, her silken robes rustling.
"Einalee, listen carefully. The summit is concluding, which means the Elder Black Dragon will soon return to his domain—which includes the Dark Forest."
Einalee felt her argument crumble. The Elder Black Dragon was not a creature to be taken lightly, even by the strongest of adventurers. In fact, he is one of the most powerful beings in the entire world.
"While lord Obsidian permits humans to enter his forest under normal circumstances, his return triggers chaos among the monsters. They become frenzied with fear—attacking anything in sight." Her mother's eyes softened slightly.
"Even if you avoided the dragon himself, you'd face countless panicked beasts driven mad by his presence."
Einalee crossed her arms. "I could handle a few scared rabbits."
"It's not merely rabbits, Einalee. Even the highest-level creatures flee when the dragon moves. Imagine yourself caught in a stampede of terrified monsters. In fact, his presence would make you frozen in fear." Celeste returned to her chair.
"The answer is no. Why would you even suggest Dark Forest? You heard the stories and should know how dangerous it is."
Einalee knew deep down that her mother was right. She kept her head lowered, slightly ashamed of what she suggested.
"If you truly want to gain more experience, why not hunt monsters in the nerby forests?" her mother proposed.
"It's fine. I'll wait for father," Einalee answered dejectedly.
'Regular monsters there are no challenge for me. And the alpha monsters? They are way too strong,' she continued inside her head.
Silence fell between them, broken only by the soft ticking of the ornate clock on the mantle.
Celeste sighed, setting her documents aside. "I understand your frustration. Truly, I do. But your safety is the priority."
Einalee stared out the window, watching a pair of small birds chase each other through the garden.
The setting sun cast long shadows across the immaculate lawns, and beyond them, several days away, the Dark Forest loomed—dark and mysterious.
"Three more days," her mother said suddenly.
Einalee turned. "What?"
"Your father sent word this morning. The summit concludes in two days, and he'll return the day after." Celeste's expression softened.
"He's bringing lord Thalion with him."
Einalee's eyes widened. "The Royal Battlemage?"
Her mother nodded. "Your father has arranged for him to assess your abilities. If he thinks you are ready, you'll have permission to enter the Chaotic Dungeon—with proper escort, of course."
"Lord Thalion?" Einalee nearly bounced in her seat.
The Royal Battlemage was legendary, having attained one of the rarest classes in the kingdom. "You weren't going to tell me this?"
"I had planned to tell you at dinner, but you've forced my hand with your impatience." Her mother's lips curved in a small smile.
"Perhaps you might use these next three days for preparation instead of rebellion?"
Einalee leapt from her chair and embraced her mother, nearly knocking over an inkwell in her excitement.
"I'll be ready! I'll review all my spellwork and… and… "
"Perhaps begin with a proper bath? Washing yourself with a cloth is not enough for a young noble lady." Celeste suggested, wrinkling her nose.
"You still smell of the training grounds."
Einalee laughed and rushed toward the door, her previous frustration forgotten. She paused, looking back at her mother.
"Three days," she confirmed.
Her mother nodded. "Three days. Try not to destroy our home before then."
As Einalee hurried back to her chambers, her mind raced with possibilities.
The Royal Battlemage's approval would mean more than just access to the dungeon—it could open doors to specialized training, rare spellbooks and more.
When she entered her room, she check her System information.
[System information
Name: Einalee de Nalstie
Race: Human
Age: 15
Level: 8
Affinity: Fire-Wind
Class: Not Available (Reach level 10 to awaken a class.)
Skills: Not Available (Becomes available after awakening.)
Abilities: Not Available (Becomes available after awakening.)]
Looking at her information, three days suddenly seemed both an eternity and not nearly enough time.
* * *
Scias crouched behind a fallen log, examining the dead Water Hare at his feet. The creature had never seen him coming—one clean shot of earth magic had pierced its head before it registered his presence.
Unlike his first encounter with such a beast, this kill had been almost disappointingly simple.
"So easy when you ambush them," he murmured, extracting the brilliant blue mana core from the creature's chest.
He tucked the core into his makeshift leather pouch.
No message like last time informing him about increased level. However, Scias didn't care about it at this moment.
He'd finally found what he'd been searching for, a path.
Not some game trail or temporary clearing, but an actual worn path that curved around the northeastern mountain range before branching southward. Signs of civilization, or at least travel.
Scias knelt, fingers tracing indentations in the hard-packed earth.
The path looked unused with weed growing all over it.
'Why would anyone make a path here and not use it?' he pondered.
'Either way, it should lead me somewhere, hopefully out of this forest.'
The last few days had tested his survival skills to their limits. Twice he'd nearly blundered into territorial beasts that would have torn him apart.
Once, a massive spider creature had pursued him relentlessly through the undergrowth for nearly an hour.
Only by retreating to the forest edge had Scias managed to escape. The beast halted at the boundary between the deeper forest and the lighter woods, watching him with eyes that glittered with malice.
It paced the invisible line, hissing in evident frustration before finally turning back into the darker forest.
"Strange," Scias muttered to himself. "A territorial boundary? Or something... else?"
He shook away the memory. Questions for another time.
Now, he needed to return to his cave, gather his supplies, and finally leave this isolated existence behind. With one last glance at the promising path, he turned back toward his temporary home.
Then, the sun vanished.
Scias froze, an instinctive dread washing over him. Not clouds—something massive had blocked the light.
The air pressure changed, compressing around him as a vast shadow enveloped the forest floor.
Slowly, he lifted his gaze skyward.
Words failed him. Thoughts scattered like dry leaves before a hurricane.
A dragon soared overhead, its obsidian scales absorbing sunlight. Each wing stretched wider than the tallest trees in the forest. Its serpentine neck curved gracefully as it surveyed the territory below, ancient eyes missing nothing.
Scias couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. A primal fear unlike anything he'd ever experienced locked his muscles and froze his mind.
This wasn't just terror; it was the instinctive recognition of being in the presence of something beyond comprehension.
The dragon flew directly toward his cave.
Some distant part of Scias's mind registered this fact with numbing clarity. The great beast wasn't just passing through—it was heading to the very place he'd called home for months. Where all his possessions lay.
He remained paralyzed until the dragon passed beyond view, the pressure of its presence gradually lifting. Air rushed back into his lungs in a gasping breath as the spell of terror loosened enough for thought to return.
No sooner had feeling returned to his limbs than a thunderous impact shook the forest. Birds erupted from distant trees, filling the air with panicked calls. The ground trembled beneath his feet.
The dragon had landed.
In the clearing in front of his cave.
Scias forced himself to move, each step requiring conscious effort to overcome the lingering paralysis of fear. He crept forward, staying low, using every technique of stealth he'd developed since arriving in this world.
Even though he was very far, still in the deeper parts of the forest, he could see the massive dragon.
The sight stole what little breath he'd managed to recover.
The dragon was even more magnificent—and terrifying—on the ground. Its obsidian scales caught the sunlight in hypnotic patterns, creating a sheen that shifted between deepest black and hints of midnight blue. Massive claws dug into the earth as it settled its weight, each one longer than Scias's arm.
It faced directly toward his cave entrance, its long tail curled around its massive form. Steam occasionally escaped from its nostrils as it breathed, carrying the faint scent of brimstone.
This was no mindless beast.
The dragon surveyed the clearing with purpose, its gaze lingering on certain features—the freshly disturbed earth where he'd buried the skeletons, the smoke-blackened rocks outside his cave entrance, the stacked firewood he'd collected.
The dragon knew someone had been living here.
As this realization struck him, the massive creature let out a deafening roar. For one heart-stopping moment, he was certain he'd been detected.
Then the beast spoke, its voice rumbling like distant thunder yet perfectly clear.
"Venal kareth'ta doshen sai-dravel?!" The dragon's massive head started to look around, finding nothing. After a while, the dragon turned its head toward the cave's entrance, sensing fading presence of the intruder.
The fallen silence was deafening.
Scias remained frozen, not knowing what to do. He understood nothing.
What the dragon said was "Who dares to defile my home?!"
Receiving no answer, the dragon unleashed its fiery breath, incinerating most everything in its path, melting stone and permanently blocking the cave.
Eventually, the dragon calmned down.
Scias missed his opportunity to come forth. Thus, he decided to remain still until the sun set.
Had he shown himself, he would surely die.
Under the cover of night, Scias started to slowly and silently move deeper into the forest, heading south away from the dragon.
Finding a relatively safe place, Scias fell into light sleep.