The Blood Root Forest was no place for humans.
A twisted expanse of ancient trees, thick with mana, home to beasts that defied logic and predators that feasted on the careless. Few ever reached its heart and fewer returned. But Yuuya had made it… barely.
His breath came in ragged gasps as he limped through the moss-covered path, the deep gash across his ribs burning with every step. Blood had long dried across his side, his cloak torn and muddied, but he couldn't stop. Not now.
Then he saw it.
Nestled in the deepest part of the forest, ruins.
"What…?" he breathed, frozen in place.
Blackened stone walls jutted from the earth like jagged bones. Cracks ran through them like veins, and ivy clung to every surface. Moss carpeted the floors, and shattered columns lay half-buried beneath layers of dirt and time.
It didn't make sense.
These ruins… shouldn't exist here.
This was the heart of one of the most dangerous locations in the known world. How could a manmade structure, clearly ancient, have stood here for what looked like centuries?
A faint pulse stirred in the air.
He felt it in his chest… like something calling him.
Curiosity stirred within him, but instinct screamed louder. He was still wounded. Weak. Exploring this place in his state was reckless. He turned away.
But the forest didn't let him leave.
A sudden gush of wind slammed against his back. Leaves whipped past his face as the gale pressed into him like an invisible wall. It wasn't a natural wind… it moved with purpose.
Yuuya stumbled, squinting through the rush of air.
"…You've got to be kidding me," he muttered, raising an arm to shield his face.
The wind didn't hurt him. It didn't push him down. But it refused to let him walk away.
His boots scraped the earth as he tried to push forward, teeth clenched, body straining against the unseen force. But no matter how hard he fought it, it was like pressing against a living will.
"…Fine."
Reluctantly, he turned toward the ruins.
The wind eased instantly… calming, gentle now, almost like a sigh of relief.
Yuuya's grip tightened around the hilt of his sword. He didn't trust this. But he stepped forward anyway.
Inside, silence ruled.
The ruined halls stretched inward, barely lit by the cracks in the stone ceiling where thin beams of sunlight broke through. Dust lingered in the air, undisturbed for what must have been centuries.
He moved cautiously, senses alert. If there were traps… or worse, if something lived in here, he had no strength to fight.
Yet the ruins offered nothing.
No monsters. No sound at all.
Eventually, he reached a dead end. A stone wall sealed the passage, solid and unremarkable—until his eyes caught something.
Etched into the wall was a mural.
Faded, worn by time, but still clear enough to make out: a single figure standing tall, surrounded by six small glowing beings, arranged like stars around him. Behind them, the shapes of legendary races. a dragon, an elf, a dwarf, and even a demon, stood together.
They all faced a towering humanoid monster, featureless and cloaked in darkness.
Yuuya stepped closer.
"What… is this?" he whispered.
A forgotten story? A prophecy? A warning?
The mural stirred something in him. A strange sense of recognition. Or maybe déjà vu.
But no answers came. Only more questions.
"…Was this what the wind wanted me to see?" he murmured.
After a long pause, he turned away. The ruins remained quiet. The path behind him, once blocked by wind, was now open.
The forest didn't wait.
The moment he stepped back into the wild, the air felt different… charged.
Yuuya pressed on, but each breath became harder. His body began to tremble. His heart raced out of rhythm.
The mana in the air was too thick, too pure.
He'd heard of this phenomenon. Mages called it Mana Overload. When the environment became so saturated with magic that it overwhelmed the natural flow of a human's body.
At first, he simply felt dizzy.
Then the hallucinations started.
A flower bloomed beside him, then grew legs and walked away.
"…What the…"
Laughter echoed through the trees.
He turned sharply, Dia's voice. But when he spun around, there was no one.
Then he saw her… Dia, standing ahead, her back turned. She didn't speak. She just walked into the mist and vanished.
Next came Regis. Then Flora. Then, his parents, their faces warm, eyes filled with pride… fading like smoke.
His knees buckled.
He couldn't tell what was real anymore.
His vision warped. His body collapsed.
"…Damn it…"
Then, a breeze.
Soft. Gentle.
A wind wrapped around him like a protective cocoon. A tiny wind spirit, barely the size of a squirrel, hovered near his cheek. Its body shimmered like morning mist, and it whispered in a tongue he didn't understand.
A barrier of wind formed around him.
And then, blackness.
Time passed.
When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the forest.
The pain was gone. The pressure of the thick mana, the suffocating weight on his chest, gone.
Instead, there was silence.
The white void welcomed him once again. An endless stretch of light without sun, sky, or shadow. Still. Soundless. Empty.
"…You again?" Yuuya muttered, blinking as he slowly sat up. His voice echoed in the nothingness, soft but present, like it didn't belong.
He turned around, already expecting it.
The white human figure stood a few paces behind him, the glow around its body faint, pulsing like a heartbeat. It had no clear face, no features, just a humanoid outline made of soft white light. Yet something about its presence always felt... familiar.
"You're awake," it said gently, voice calm as a whisper carried by the wind.
Yuuya looked down at his hands.
No blood. No trembling. No pain.
Just a dull ache, buried beneath layers of numb exhaustion.
"…What happened?" he asked.
"You collapsed," the figure replied. "The forest's mana overwhelmed your body. It was too dense, too wild for you to withstand in your current state."
Yuuya narrowed his eyes. "But I was fine until I reached the deeper parts…"
"The Blood Root Forest doesn't reveal its true face until it chooses to," the figure said. "You passed its test. That alone is rare."
Yuuya opened his mouth to question that, but paused. Another thought burned brighter.
"…The wind," he said. "That wind spirit! was it real?"
"It was."
"It saved me?"
"Yes."
He clenched his fists slightly, eyes sharpening with intensity. "Can I make a contract with it? Is it part of the Spirit Realm? Can I learn ancient spirit magic?"
The white figure blinked, confused, almost caught off guard by the barrage of questions.
"…It's not time yet," it said quietly. "It's better you don't seek those answers right now."
Yuuya frowned but didn't push further.
A moment passed.
The figure took a step closer, then another, until it stood directly in front of him. Slowly, it raised one glowing hand.
"I can't heal your wounds," it said. "That's not what I am. But I can calm your mind. Ease your fatigue."
Yuuya hesitated.
Then gave a small nod.
The figure touched his forehead with two fingers.
Warmth poured into him, not just physical, but emotional. A kind of comforting stillness, like sunlight breaking through storm clouds, or the feeling of a warm blanket on a cold night. His limbs relaxed. His heart slowed.
His thoughts quieted.
"I don't understand you," Yuuya whispered. "You help me, but you don't say why. You watch me. Guide me. Even now... why?" Yuuya asked softly.
"…It's not time yet."
The void around them began to shift… light cracking like glass across an infinite surface.
"I'll see you again soon, Yuuya."
The voice was calm. Kind. But final.
"Wait…!" he tried to reach forward, but the world was already breaking apart, light folding in on itself like falling paper.
The figure vanished.
And then…
blackness.
Yuuya awoke on the forest floor, the wind barrier gone. The spirit that been protect him already gone right after he woke up
The air was still.
No beasts. No noise.
"…I wasn't attacked?" he muttered in disbelief.
He sat up slowly, looking around.
"…Thank you."
Days passed.
The forest didn't let him go easily.
Yuuya battled countless magic beasts… Owlbear, Stampede Mammoth, Forest Drake. Creatures that could crush a house or tear through steel. Each encounter pushed him to the edge, testing his will, his strength, and his resolve.
His body bore fresh wounds every day. Cuts reopened. Bruises deepened. His limbs screamed with every movement. Yet he pressed forward.
He rested only when his legs gave out, and even then, only long enough to recover a sliver of strength.
Every breath was a struggle. Every step, earned through blood and fire.
But—he survived.
And then... finally...
The forest began to change.
The trees no longer towered over him like ancient sentinels. The oppressive mana in the air thinned. He could hear birdsong again. The wind became gentle instead of heavy and still.
He didn't smile, but his eyes flickered with the faintest hint of relief.
He'd made it.
The outer part of the Blood Root Forest.
As the sun dipped behind the horizon, painting the sky in fading gold and purple, Yuuya found a quiet clearing beside a small stream. The grass here was soft, untouched by monster claws. The air didn't choke his lungs. He lit a fire using dried twigs and flint, the warmth instantly cutting through the chill.
He sat with his back against a tree, bones aching, muscles heavy with exhaustion.
From his satchel, he pulled out a piece of bread… dry and stiff, but still edible. He chewed slowly, barely tasting it.
For the first time in days, he relaxed, even if just barely.
But his hand remained close to the hilt of his sword.
He never truly let his guard down.
His eyes scanned the darkened woods. The fire crackled softly beside him. The sound of the stream filled the quiet. A peaceful night… almost too peaceful.
Then…
A rustle.
His instincts flared.
He dropped the bread, immediately on his feet, sword drawn.
He moved without thought, muscle memory taking over, smooth and silent.
The bushes ahead trembled. Something was coming.
A shape moved behind the foliage… slender, cautious, but fast.
He raised his blade, eyes narrowed.
Then the leaves parted.
A shadow stepped into the firelight.
Yuuya froze.
It was… a girl.
Young, around his age, maybe younger. Dirt smudged her face and arms. Her cloth was torn at the edges, and her boots were caked in mud. Her breathing was uneven, chest rising and falling in quick gasps.
She stared at him, eyes wide with shock.
He stared back.
Neither spoke.
For a moment, the only sound was the crackling fire and the quiet whisper of the stream.
"…A girl?" Yuuya finally said, tilting his head slightly, not lowering his sword.
The girl's lips trembled, but she didn't speak.
Instead, her knees buckled… and she collapsed to the ground.