The carriage rattled gently along the rocky path as the sun above cast its warm, soothing light over the landscape. But inside the carriage, the atmosphere was anything but calm.
Vesha sat in the back, tending to Jorvan, waiting for him to wake, hoping to draw even a fragment of information from the boy.
After the rank 4 Spark that had devastated her kingdom and then the Dawn Raven, this latest incident settled over her like a dark cloud. Her homeland was facing threat after threat, crumbling a little more each day—and it felt like there was nothing she could do.
Or was there?
Her eyes drifted forward to Adyr. He sat tall at the front, reins in hand, gaze fixed ahead, steady as if the world behind him didn't exist.
The worn, mismatched pajamas clinging to him were dusty and impractical, but they couldn't hide the natural grace in his posture. There was no tension in the way he held himself—only balance, stillness, and a calm authority that felt earned rather than performed.
His short, jet-black hair stirred faintly in the wind, lending a subtle elegance to a presence that asked for nothing, yet felt strangely central to everything around him.
Are all practitioners like him? Vesha wondered.
She had grown up hearing their stories, even though she'd only seen them a few times from afar, always finding comfort in simply knowing they existed. But spending time beside someone like him, observing how he moved, how he thought, and how he stayed composed in every moment, was something else entirely.
And now, with him so close, she couldn't help but feel that all her worries were nothing more than small details.
Maybe defeating a rank 4 Spark was beyond him right now, but it didn't feel like something he would fail at forever.
While Vesha was lost in her thoughts and drifting between hopes and possibilities, the carriage began to slow. Moments later, she heard Adyr's voice.
"We're here."
She took one last look at Jorvan. Seeing that he was safe and sleeping peacefully, she moved forward and joined Adyr, her eyes turning toward the village.
"No…" It was the only word she could manage as tears slipped down her cheeks.
The village was hauntingly silent, not even the sound of a bird.
No one was in sight. At least, no one was whole.
The ground was soaked in crimson. Scattered across the streets were torn limbs—feet, hands, arms, and heads. Everywhere she looked, there was only blood and pieces of what had once been people.
For Vesha, it was a cruel, nightmarish scene—like stepping into the pages of a grim, dark-themed novel.
But for Adyr…
The crimson blood looked like paint, spilled by something primal. The severed limbs were brushstrokes, each placed with care, forming a violent, deliberate masterpiece.
"There might still be survivors," Adyr said as he stepped down from the carriage.
"Are you sure?" Vesha asked, wiping her tears, a flicker of light in her voice.
Adyr nodded. "All the bodies are men. No women, no children."
He could see the story beneath the horror—the desperate stand. The men had fought with whatever they could find: rakes, shovels, farming tools. They had tried to hold the line, to buy time, to protect those they cared about.
"Then we have to find them," Vesha said, moving to climb down after him, but Adyr stopped her with a raised hand.
"Stay with the boy," he said. Then, quieter, "If he wakes up and sees this… it'll be a kind of trauma he'll never recover from."
Vesha looked at him silently. She didn't want to stay behind, but she accepted it without protest.
Adyr moved quietly through the carnage, calm and focused, eyes scanning everything, reading the scene like a story written in blood.
But something felt off. Something was missing.
He needed more.
Without hesitation, he opened his character panel and added one point to [Sense], leaving himself with only a single free stat point.
[Name]: Adyr
[Race]: Human
[Path]: Primora
[Evolution Step]: 0
[Physique]: 10
[Will]: 4
[Resilience]: 4
[Sense]: 4
[Energy]: 15.6 / 22
[Registered Talents]: 3/5
[Sparks]: Complete your first evolution to unlock.
[Sanctuary]: Complete your first evolution to unlock.
[Free Stat Points]: 1
And in that moment, something clicked. A faint clarity settled over him, like the missing piece had finally fallen into place.
In his mind's eye, time began to rewind.
The torn limbs reattached, shredded flesh knitted back together, and blood returned to the bodies it had spilled from. Screams faded into silence. What had been a massacre slowly unraveled.
Then came the wolves.
Twelve of them. Enormous—each at least twice the size of a normal wolf. In real time, they had torn through the villagers without mercy. But in Adyr's reversed vision playing in his mind, they now retreated. Muscles drawn tight, jaws still wet with blood, they pulled back from the people they had just slaughtered.
His eyes shifted from the beasts to one man in the crowd. He stood with a pickaxe gripped tightly in both hands. A massive wolf leapt away from him, its claws retreating from the man's chest in a blur of reversed motion.
The man didn't flinch. He couldn't.
Adyr saw why.
Just behind him stood a small boy. Jorvan.
"So this is what happened," Adyr muttered, his brow lowering.
Just as he had suspected, Jorvan's father had died shielding him. And in that final act, he had bought his son the time he needed to flee.
[Talent Recognition: "Observer (Lv3)" confirmed.]
- Talent has been identified based on further demonstrated behavior.
- Proceed with registration to the Status Panel?
- Cost: 100 Energy
- Reward: 20 Free Stat Points
The green messages appeared before him once again, acknowledging his talent for observation. Adyr gave it a brief glance and ignored it for now. The energy it required was far too much for him in his current state.
He shifted his focus to the other hurried footprints. They traced a path through the village, leading toward an old mill, then stopped just before the entrance.
His eyes narrowed, shifting toward a dense patch of overgrown brush nearby. He moved closer.
Hidden beneath the thick foliage, he found a heavy wooden hatch. A shelter. Likely where the women and children had taken refuge.
He reached for the hatch but paused. His hand stopped midair, then slowly pulled back. Without a word, he turned and walked away, back toward the carriage where Vesha waited.
"Did you find them?" She asked the moment she saw him return. Jorvan was awake now, silently crying in her arms.
"Yes," Adyr said as he sat down and took the reins. Moments later, they arrived near the old mill.
"Where are they?" Vesha asked, stepping down from the carriage with Jorvan. Thankfully, this part of the village had seen no combat. There were no bodies here, only silence.
"They're inside," Adyr said, pointing toward the concealed hatch buried in the brush.
Vesha hesitated. For a brief moment, she wondered why he hadn't opened it already, why he had come to fetch her instead of bringing the survivors out himself. The answer came before she could ask.
"They're inside… and in a state of panic. They don't know that every man who stood to protect them has already fallen."
He paused, watching her expression shift—grief giving way to quiet understanding.
"They'll need someone to guide them. To give them comfort. And as a noble of this kingdom, as the daughter of a lord, they are your people. You should be the one to greet them."
He let the words settle for a moment, then added, "Are you ready for that?"