I learned something important the moment the monster retreated.
Survival didn't feel like victory.
It felt like debt.
My lungs burned as if they were filled with fire. Every breath scraped my chest raw. I collapsed onto my hands, the forest floor cold and damp beneath my palms. My vision swam, the edges darkening, as if the world itself was trying to shut me down.
[Warning: Physical and Mental Fatigue Detected]
[Adaptive Combat Temporarily Stabilized]
[Note: Survival does not equal safety.]
I laughed weakly.
"Then what does?" I whispered.
The system didn't answer.
Around me, the clearing slowly came back to life. Leaves rustled. Birds screamed as they fled deeper into the forest. The trainees—no, my peers—stood frozen, staring at me as if I were something they didn't recognize anymore.
Moments ago, I was Aric Veyra, the weakest of all.
Now, no one dared speak my name.
A tall figure stepped forward. Guild armor. Polished steel. Authority.
Instructor Halrek.
His eyes lingered on the torn ground, the claw marks, the shattered tree trunk where the monster had struck. Then they settled on me. Sharp. Measuring.
"So," he said calmly, "you survived."
That single sentence carried weight. Not praise. Not relief. Just fact.
I pushed myself upright, legs shaking. "Barely."
Something flickered behind his eyes. Interest? Suspicion?
"Luck," someone muttered from the back.
I turned. A trainee with broad shoulders and a sneer carved into his face. Strong. Talented. Everything I wasn't supposed to be.
"Luck doesn't dodge a Rifthound's killing strike," Halrek replied coldly.
Rifthound.
So that's what it was.
The name echoed in my head—and the system reacted.
[Entity Identified: Rifthound (Juvenile)]
Threat Level: Lethal
Assessment: Survival Probability (Prior to Activation): 3%
My stomach twisted.
Three percent.
I should have died.
The system interface shimmered faintly at the edge of my vision—translucent, subtle, as if it existed half inside my thoughts. I focused on it instinctively.
[Survival Codex – Active]
Status: Initiate
Condition: Alive (For Now)
"…For now?" I muttered.
Pain surged suddenly, sharp and unforgiving. I gasped, nearly falling again.
[Delayed Cost Triggered]
Adaptive Combat Side Effect: Neural Strain]
Recommendation: Rest or suffer permanent degradation]
Permanent.
That word hit harder than any claw.
This system wasn't generous.
It was honest.
The instructors dismissed the trial quickly after that. Too quickly. The trainees were ordered back, their whispers following me like knives.
"He moved differently…"
"That glow—did you see it?"
"No way he did that alone."
I ignored them.
Because the system wasn't done with me.
That night, I lay on a narrow cot in the barracks, staring at the ceiling as pain pulsed through my body in slow, rhythmic waves. Sleep refused to come. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the Rifthound's glowing stare.
Then the air shifted.
Cold.
Heavy.
[Hidden Evaluation Commencing]
My heart slammed against my ribs.
"What?" I whispered.
The world dimmed. Not darkness—distance. As if everything pulled away from me at once.
[Survival Codex – Phase One Complete]
Primary Assessment: Passed]
Secondary Assessment: Pending]
Text scrolled slowly, deliberately.
[You survived when death was certain.]
[You adapted without guidance.]
[You chose action over surrender.]
My breath caught.
[Reward Unlocked: Survivor's Insight]
Type: Passive]
Effect: Increased perception during lethal situations.]
And then—
[Warning]
This path is irreversible.]
I sat up sharply.
"Irreversible how?"
Silence.
Then the final line appeared, colder than the rest.
[The Codex does not save the weak.]
[It consumes them.]
The system faded.
I sat there long after, hands clenched, heart racing—not with fear, but with clarity.
This wasn't a second chance.
This was a test that never ended.
Somewhere beyond the barracks walls, beyond the guild, beyond the forest, the world waited. Zones I hadn't seen. Monsters that didn't hesitate. Powers that twisted minds and broke souls.
And now… I was part of it.
I lay back down, staring into the dark.
"If survival has a price," I whispered,
"then I'll pay it."
Outside, far beyond the reach of the guild's protection, something ancient stirred—as if it had heard me.
And smiled.