Aerin tightened the strap of his worn leather pack and stepped into the guild hall.
The smell hit him first—ale, iron, sweat, and old parchment.
Then came the noise.
Steel mugs clinked against wooden tables. Laughter burst out in rough waves. Sparks of magic flickered above spellcasters' fingers as they casually showed off small tricks meant to draw attention.
Adventurers crowded the quest board, arguing loudly over rewards and rankings.
No one looked at him.
That was normal.
Aerin moved through the hall without hurry, past the Gold-rank veterans seated near the center. Their armor glowed faintly with layered enchantments, polished by years of wealth and survival. Some bore scars openly. Others hid them behind confidence and steel.
Those people belonged here.
Aerin did not.
He stopped at the very bottom of the quest board.
**Copper-rank quests.**
Gather herbs.
Clear rats from tunnels.
Escort merchants who couldn't afford real protection.
Work no one remembered.
Aerin let out a quiet breath.
"Figures."
He had been Copper-rank for a year.
Not because he was lazy.
Not because he lacked effort.
But because no matter how hard he trained, no matter how many times he tried to awaken his mana, it never responded the way it should.
Spells fizzled.
Enhancements failed.
Power slipped through his grasp like water.
He reached out and took a single request from the board.
**Investigate strange noises in the Lurden Forest.**
Low pay. Low danger.
At least, that's what it claimed.
Behind him, laughter cut through the hall.
"Why does he even bother?" one Iron-rank adventurer muttered.
"Yeah," another replied. "Guy's been Copper forever. No talent for magic. No strength either."
Aerin didn't turn.
He had learned long ago that reacting only made it worse.
He folded the quest parchment carefully and walked out of the guild.
The air outside was colder.
Stone towers rose overhead, carved with old runes meant to protect the city from monsters and magic alike. As Aerin passed beneath the archway, the wind shifted strangely, brushing against him as if alive.
For a brief moment, the runes embedded in the stone walls glowed softly.
Aerin didn't notice.
No one did.
The glow faded, dismissed as old magic settling into stone.
Far beyond the city walls lay the **Lurden Forest**.
Once, it had been a place of trade routes and hunting grounds.
That was centuries ago.
Now, it was avoided.
The trees grew too close together. Light rarely touched the forest floor. Monsters that lived within were seldom seen—but those who entered often failed to return.
Adventurers called it cursed.
The guild marked it as *low priority*.
Deep beneath the forest, under roots older than kingdoms, something stirred.
It had slept while empires rose and fell.
It had waited while magic systems formed and shattered.
The faint glow from the city had reached it—like a distant echo.
Its awareness returned slowly.
Curiously.
And for the first time in centuries, it turned its attention outward.
Toward a Copper-rank adventurer who believed himself weak.