It happened faster than he expected. The ambush wasn't even subtle.
Ten bandits, armored lightly and moving with the confidence of wolves surrounding a wounded deer, had been waiting.
Kael knew the moment his boot crunched on the wrong patch of dirt that something was off.
He turned just in time to see a blade flying toward his head.
He ducked, letting the steel sing past his ear, and kicked off the ground.
~ Dash!
His body blurred.
The world twisted around him in a wash of speed.
To anyone else, it would look like he teleported, vanishing and reappearing a few feet ahead.
Most adventurers used the Dash skill once to reposition or flee. Kael used it like an art form.
His first dash was a leap over a bandit's strike.
The second sent him behind the man, and the third—timed perfectly after the cooldown blinked out—launched him upward, giving him a moment to breathe.
He landed light as a feather and swept the back of his blade across the nearest attacker's neck.
A loud crack echoed. The bandit dropped like a sack of grain.
unconscious.
Kael didn't kill.
Murder, even of criminals, was still illegal without just cause.
But leaving them unconscious?
That was fair game.
Another lunged from the side, dagger gleaming. Kael sidestepped, twisted, and slammed the hilt of his sword into the man's temple.
Thud.
Two down.
But they were strong. Kael estimated them all to be in their 50s.
He was nowhere near that. His level still had barely broken past the 30s. If he fought with raw power, he'd lose.
So he didn't.
He fought with precision.
Bandits swarmed him, but Kael danced through them like a wraith.
Dash after Dash, using terrain, footwork, and perfect timing. He would sweep legs, disarm blades, and knock heads. But never fatal.
The last one dropped after Kael used a backflip to avoid a slash and let gravity bring his elbow down hard on the man's collarbone.
The guy slumped over.
Kael exhaled deeply, sweat trickling down his jawline. His muscles trembled with fatigue.
"Almost got me there," He muttered.
He turned around, but something was off. One of the men he had struck down earlier was no longer on the ground.
Kael turned just as the bandit rushed him from behind.
~ Tch—Dash!
Too slow.
The man's dagger scraped across Kael's shoulder, slicing cloth and skin alike.
But Kael twisted, let his momentum carry him, and slammed a boot right into the bandit's face.
He collapsed.
Kael held his shoulder, blood seeping through his shirt. He didn't cry out. He didn't even flinch.
"Woah..Almost died there." He muttered to himself, laughing dryly.
"Should've seen that coming."
He sheathed his blade and began walking toward the path.
His legs felt heavy now. His breaths came in bursts.
But his mind was... oddly light.
"This month was madness." He muttered.
He'd watched both of his childhood friends die.
That day haunted him. The sight of their faces twisted in fear, in pain. The hopelessness of it. The blood that stained the ground.
Then, the strangest thing—he woke up with a skill. One he didn't know how he earned. It hadn't been in the logs. There was no record of how it was acquired.
It just... appeared.
A skill he couldn't fully understand yet. Something beyond a regular adventurer.
And then came Lunara.
She wasn't strong. Level 20.
Weak by all means. But she was... determined. Curious. And mysterious.
Kael remembered something else he noticed about her during their last fight. She had used a skill. Not a common one. Not even a rare one, really. It was legendary.
Life Steal.
He hadn't brought it up yet. He wasn't sure if she even knew the full potential of what she held.
A skill that allowed her to regain health proportional to the damage she inflicted.
The kind of skill that, in the right hands, could make someone nearly unkillable in sustained battle. If she honed it, trained it... she could become a legend.
Kael reached home long past sunset. The streets of Arvendale were quiet, lanterns glowing dimly in iron sconces.
He walked past the bakery, the guild, and the fountain he used to play in as a child.
And then, the familiar house. Cozy, with ivy creeping up one wall and a garden that was always slightly overgrown.
The door opened before he even knocked.
His mother.
Brown hair tied back in a messy bun, apron dusted with flour, eyes wide with relief.
"Kael? Where have you—"
Before she could finish, she pulled him into a hug.
"You're bleeding! Gods, your shoulder—"
His father stepped into the frame next. A man of few words, eyes stern but gentle.
"You've been gone a lot, son."
Kael smiled tiredly. "Had a rough few days."
They ushered him inside, sat him down, and patched up his wound while he told a heavily edited version of his recent adventures.
He left out the bandits, the near-death experiences, the strange skill.
But even without the full truth, his parents noticed.
The change.
His mother was the first to bring it up.
"You're... different. Less mopey. Less curled up in your blankets all day watching those dumb shows."
Kael blinked. "I liked those shows."
She raised an eyebrow. "You rewatched the same season of Mage Idol Alpha six times, and they don't even speak our language too."
"Dub over sub anyday" He pouted.
His father chuckled under his breath.
"You smile more now," His mother said, more gently this time. "Even if it's just a little."
Kael scratched his neck.
"Well... I've been out more."
"Is it a girl?" His father asked, deadpan.
Kael nearly choked.
"What?! No—I mean, yes. I mean—not like that. She's a party member."
His parents exchanged a look. That look that said Mhm, sure.
"Her name's Lunara," Kael admitted.
"She joined my party. We've only known each other a couple days. That's it."
But even as he said it, he felt something shift inside. He remembered her laughter when she touched snow for the first time on the mountaintop. The way she looked confused when he explained loot drops.
The small smile she gave him when he handed her her first health potion.
Only two days.
But something was forming.
His mother smiled knowingly. "You like her."
Kael groaned and leaned back into the couch. "Why do moms always know?"
His father stood, stretching.
"You've been through hell, Kael. Maybe it's time you found something... someone... that gives you peace."
He left the room with a pat on his son's shoulder.
Kael sat there for a while, staring at the fireplace. The embers glowed softly.
Eventually, he went to his room. Same posters on the wall, same mess of books on the desk, but it all felt... smaller now.
He lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
What was happening to his life?
His best friends gone. A strange skill. Bandits after him. Lunara.
She was powerful in a different way. Not because of her level, but because of the potential.
Because of the rawness of her emotion. She felt real in a world where everything else was starting to feel scripted.
And he was changing.
Growing.
Healing, maybe.
He sighed, pulling the blanket over his shoulder.
"At this rate... even I can't tell what'll happen in the future."
His eyes closed.
Outside, the night air stirred gently, and the stars twinkled in a sky that held a hundred fates.
And one of them now belonged to Kael.
[ Vol.1 End ].