Chapter 3 – Guidebound: The Arrival of Elyria
A soft chime, like the distant ringing of a bell across still water, drifted through the air and cut through the quiet hum of the forest. The sound was not quite a thing of this world—or at least, not of this glade. It was an echo from somewhere else, something not meant to be here. It arrived like a forgotten memory, a vague and fleeting impression that clawed at the edges of recognition, yet slipped away the moment one tried to grasp it.
Axel's muscles went taut, his senses sharpening instinctively. The chime wasn't just a sound—it resonated within him, deep and unsettling, tugging at something inside. The same strange pulse that had responded to the system window earlier.
But the interface had vanished, fading like mist before the first light of dawn.
Still, its message clung to him like damp fabric on skin. He was a cook.
The notion sat heavy in his mind, foreign and out of place. He had spent his life walking the razor's edge—chasing coin, hunting monsters, staring death in the face on more occasions than he cared to count. Cooking? That was the last thing he expected.
It would've been laughable if it didn't come on the heels of his very death.
Axel's exhalation was slow, deliberate, trying to ground himself in the present moment. The trees around him glowed softly, as though alive with a faint, internal light. The earth beneath his boots felt warm, soft—real. And the black blade, his constant companion, hung across his back. It was heavy. Familiar. Tangible. The one thing in this world that felt certain.
Then, without warning, the air ahead of him rippled.
Not gently. Not with the delicate flutter of a breeze.
It began with a flash—a brilliant, silver-white burst of light so intense that Axel instinctively shielded his eyes. The brilliance spiraled, twisting like liquid light caught in a whirlpool. It pulled inward, as if tearing a rift between dimensions, a hole that reached into somewhere else.
From within the shimmering vortex, a figure began to materialize.
She was… not quite human.
Tall, elegant, her very presence bending the light around her. The radiance of her form was nearly blinding, but as she fully emerged, the glow seemed to draw inward, revealing the shape beneath. Her hair shimmered like molten silver, flowing and shifting, catching the glade's light in a thousand dazzling reflections. Her tunic, a simple, sleeveless garment the color of a winter's dawn, seemed to float as if weightless, billowing around her with the grace of a slow dance.
Barefoot, her toes barely brushed the moss beneath her. It was as though even the laws of gravity hesitated to touch her.
Then the brilliance dimmed, and she stood before him. The light dissipated, leaving only her—solid, real, and impossibly beautiful.
But what struck Axel the most were her eyes.
Purple. Not just any shade, but a deep, layered violet, as if they held galaxies within them—like the space between dusk and nightfall, just before the stars begin to reveal themselves. Those eyes held sorrow, wisdom, and a quiet sadness that seemed ancient.
She gazed at him with a look that made his chest tighten. It was as though she knew him, had known him long before they ever crossed paths.
"Axel," she said, her voice carrying through the air like the soft hum of wind chimes. Low. Melodic. Not quite of this world.
Axel's heart skipped. His fingers twitched toward the hilt of his sword, but he resisted the impulse. His body screamed caution, but something in the air, something in her presence, felt too… inevitable.
She was here, and whatever reason she had for coming, it had been set in motion long before his death.
"I am Elyria," she continued, her gaze never leaving his.
She extended a slender hand, her fingers graceful and deliberate. On her wrist, etched in glowing light, was a symbol—an intricate, geometric flame encircled by a ring, pulsing gently with the same rhythm as the chime that had summoned her.
Axel's fingers twitched once more, but the sword remained where it was. He wasn't sure if he wanted to kill her or just understand her. Maybe both.
"What are you?" Axel's voice was gruff, raw from the long silence and the strange weight pressing in his chest.
Elyria a smiled—smaa ll, but her expression was laced with something that could've been pity or perhaps fondness. "I am bound to you. Your energy signature has anchored me to this realm. When you accepted your system, it created a link—a tether." Her lips quirked slightly, almost like she found his confusion amusing. "Think of me as your guide. Your companion. Your echo."
She looked out into the forest, as though seeking strength from the ancient trees that surrounded them. "I am part of this world's response. A measure of balance."
"Balance?" Axel echoed, not entirely sure what she meant.
"Against what?" he pressed, the suspicion that always lingered in his gut beginning to stir once more.
Her gaze sharpened, and there was a flicker of something dark behind her violet eyes. "A system is not simply a gift. It is a declaratia on. A ripple in the fabric of the world. Unique systems like yours are both power and provocation. They alter destinies. They disrupt."
Axel's fingers tightened around the sheath of his sword. His grip was a reminder of the life he had left behind.
"And this realm doestheir kneeslike disruption?" he asked, his voice a little colder now.
"It doesn't like unchecked imbalance," she replied. Her tone was unyielding. "So it provides an anchor. A tether. Me."
Elyria took a step closer, her movements fluid, graceful—each one like a dance step woven into the very fabric of the air. She exuded an elegance that felt almost otherworldly.
"Your system," she continued, "the Sovereign Cooking System, is rare. And it is feared."
Axel blinked. "Feared? It makes soup."
She didn't smile this time. "It does more than that."
The way she said it sent a shiver down his spine.
"It influences life," she explained, her voice soft but heavy with meaning. "It alters relationships between man and beast. It creates bonds deeper than magic, deeper than contracts or runes. That… unsettles people."
Axel frowned, not understanding. "I still don't get it. Why fear a cook?"
Elyria's eyes grew darker, tinged with something older, something fierce. "It's not you they fear, Axel. It's what your system represents. In this world, beast taming is a violent art—domination through force, through pain, through runes and bindings. What you carry is the opposite. You offer freedom. You offer choice."
Axel opened his mouth to respond, but Elyria raised her hand again. A small shimmer appeared between them, like a glimmering window in the air. It flickered with a gentle pulse, almost like a floating scroll.
[STARTER PACK ACQUIRED]
[Basic Coin: 100]
[System Knowledge: Beast Taming History]
[Map Fragment: Whispering Woods]
"A foundation," she said, letting the screen dissipate as the words faded from view. "Nothing more. But you'll need it."
Axel stared at the place where the window had been. Then his gaze shifted to the items in his hand—warm coin, a rolled parchment, and an overwhelming surge of knowledge.
The knowledge.
It wasn't just information—it was a flood, an avalanche. Images, feelings, experiences. Chains clinking. The screech of a beast forced into submission. Mage-tamers, their faces obscured by cloaks of bone, dragging mangled creatures behind them like trophies.
Axel staggered, his knees threatening to buckle under the weight of it all. These memories were not his own, but they felt as if they were crashing into his mind with the force of a tidal wave.
Before he could collapse, Elyria was there—her hand steadying him, her touch like a quiet calm against the storm of his thoughts.
"Easy," she said, her voice a soothing balm. "The System Knowledge imprint can overwhelm first-timers."
Axel's chest heaved as he struggled to find his balance. "So… that's how they do it here? Beast taming through cruelty."
She nodded. "Fear. Pain. Subjugation. But your method—it is different. It's communion, Axel. Not control. You offer nourishment. A bridge between man and beast."
His head spun as he processed the implications. "This system makes me a target, doesn't it?"
Her eyes met his without hesitation. "Yes. It challenges centuries of control. Some will seek to eliminate that threat before it has a chance to take root."
There was a pause, heavy and pregnant with unspoken words.
"But you won't be alone," she said, her voice softening, offering something like reassurance. "I am here. Bound to your essence, until you master this path. Until you understand the full depth of what you've been given."
Axel stood still, letting the quiet of the forest wash over him, the distant calls of unseen creatures filling the air. The weight of his sword on his back. The strangeness of this world. The ache of what