The sun had not yet chased away the cold of dawn when Ji Ao woke to the sound of a small wooden drum being beaten rhythmically outside the window. It was Ruby. She didn't need to say anything—she simply raised her finger, pointing behind the tavern.
Ji Ao no longer trembled as before. His fingers, once clumsy, now tied his boots with firmness. As he stepped outside, he was met by Lobraw, the burly figure with a calm smile, waiting with a waterskin and a rustic root-bread.
"Gonna eat before you faint today, or faint first?" joked the lobhuma, handing him a small strip of smoked meat as well.
Ji Ao laughed, accepting it. "Depends… are you still gonna make me run through the hills after sword training?"
"Not today. Today… hunting," said the lobhuma, his tone serious. "Ruby suggested you face your fear. You're going into the Karmins' clearing."
Ji Ao swallowed hard. The Karmins were small, fast, and fierce—like squirrels with birdlike claws and red eyes. They attacked in groups when threatened. Not deadly, but never harmless.
Lobraw noticed Ji Ao's glance at the necklace on his chest and nodded. "Remember what I told you. Green for speed, red for health, blue for strength. Use it. But it only works if you stay steady."
Ji Ao looked at him, impressed by his seriousness. "And you? You've got one or two percent, like Ruby? I mean… of what she passed to me."
The lobhuma let out a deep laugh. "Kid, I don't even have half a percent of her. And I'm already trouble for others." He winked. "Now imagine her at a hundred percent…"
Ji Ao looked down, thoughtful. A chill crept down his spine every time he thought of what Ruby could really do if she wanted—and even more, what she chose not to say.
The following days blurred together in a haze of calculated effort. Ruby trained with him each morning, alternating sword, bow, and evasion, forcing the one-to-two percent of ability to settle into his muscles. In the afternoons, he went alone into the forest with the short sword Lobraw had given him. He tracked, hid, failed.
On the fifth day of the hunt, a Karmin scratched his arm and escaped. On the sixth, he brought down two—not killing, only subduing them with precise pommel strikes. It was something.
The village children, who once mocked him, now watched silently as he passed. The little fox-girl approached as he wiped sweat from his brow after archery practice and whispered, "You're getting cool."
He smiled, still breathless.
By the eighth morning, Ji Ao's body felt heavy but responsive. His clothes clung with sweat, and the CCF pendant already seemed part of him. The red pulsed faintly, the blue vibrated with each precise strike, and the green seemed to activate on its own when he dodged Ruby's attacks. She fought him seriously, even in training. When he landed a near hit, she merely stepped back and said, "Don't be stupid," before striking harder—as if to say: improving is only the beginning. Stay constant.
By dusk, Ji Ao returned from the forest with two unconscious Karmins bound in rough rope. He hadn't killed them. He'd learned something: you don't kill for glory. You fight for survival—and wisdom.
Lobraw was waiting for him, as always, sitting on the tavern's step with a cup of dark-leaf tea.
"Survived?"
"And brought back proof," Ji Ao said proudly.
"So… what did you learn?" the lobhuma asked, smiling.
Ji Ao looked at the sky, thoughtful. "I learned that having the stone isn't everything. That one percent means nothing if you don't try. And that… maybe Ruby's hundred percent—she doesn't even know what it is."
Lobraw nodded. "Now you're ready to follow her. Still weak, but not dead weight anymore. Keep this up… and you might become something."
Ji Ao tightened his grip on the two necklaces around his neck, feeling the three warm stones and the cold violet one against his chest. "That's what I want. To become something… for me. And for her."
Later, the sun over the White Forest was already high when Lobraw approached the training hall, his expression darker than usual. He saw Ruby sitting in the back veranda of the tavern, watching Ji Ao repeat his bow drills. The boy was sweating, focused; each arrow landing closer to the target's center. The children who once laughed now watched in silence, admiration in their eyes.
Lobraw sat beside Ruby, folding his arms.
"Mind telling me why you're training this boy so intensely?" His voice was low, but heavy with rare gravity.
Ruby didn't hesitate.
"In ten days, the portal will open again—whether we want it or not."
Lobraw studied her carefully. She continued,
"Four crossed to the other side the wrong way. If they stay there too long… they'll destabilize the portal. Mess with the human world. I need to bring them back—or stop them."
"Four?" Lobraw frowned. "Who are they?"
Ruby drew a slow breath, recalling.
"One was massive—thick skin, heavy horns, small but sharp eyes. He seemed slow, but… dangerous."
Lobraw sighed.
"Probably Block Sock. A rhino-man. Rare. Volatile temperament. Without guidance—destructive."
"Another had grayish skin and wide drooping ears. Huge. Sad eyes, but… deep. Like he carried the weight of the world."
Lobraw closed his eyes briefly.
"That must be Tru Fante. An anthropomorphic elephant. Strongest of them all, they say. Disappeared years ago. If it's him…"
"There was another," Ruby went on, "looked normal enough. Always smiling, joking, teasing the others. Seemed harmless."
"That sounds like Dray Kee. I know little about him, almost nothing. But if he's there… he's the most unpredictable. Takes everything as a joke—until he doesn't. If he ever gets serious… he's the worst of all. Whatever happens, Ruby, never face him head-on. My instincts as a guardian tell me he isn't someone. He's something… an unstoppable force of nature."
Ruby hesitated.
"And the last one… I didn't see clearly. Wore a dark cloak. But I felt something in him. Something old. Very old. Intelligent. More than anyone else there."
Lobraw's eyes widened for an instant. The name escaped as a whisper: "Janckal…"
He was silent for a while, then muttered,
"Let's hope it's not him. If it is… you'll be in danger. Especially as weak as you are now."
She lowered her head for a moment.
"My strength… it's nearly gone. On this side of the portal, I'm a shadow of what I was. But Ji Ao… he's from there. If it works—if he absorbs what I can pass—he'll be stronger than a normal human. Not much, but enough to help. Maybe."
At that moment, Ji Ao passed nearby, wiping sweat from his forehead. He caught part of the conversation—enough to leave his heart uneasy. He waited for Ruby to leave, then approached Lobraw.
"Hey… who are those guys? A rhino-man? An elephant-man? And that Dray Kee? And the last one… Janckal?" he asked in a whisper.
Lobraw looked at him gravely.
"Any one of them could crush you with one hand. Ruby fought them once, but she's weakened now. And you… you're still nothing. Still learning to lift a sword."
Ji Ao swallowed hard. He glanced toward Ruby's direction, remembering the tale of the twelve hunters.
Then Lobraw pulled something from a chest behind the tavern's counter. Not a necklace, but three small amber-like objects, crafted with precision.
"Here. They're yours. Enhancement Casings."
Ji Ao took them, puzzled. They were light, fitting perfectly over the three stones of his CCF pendant.
"What…"
"They'll cover your stones," explained Lobraw, as if handing something priceless. "The red will boost your health and recovery. The blue will raise your strength by a tiny percentage. The green will grant agility, and though your speed won't increase, it'll last longer."
Lobraw lowered his voice.
"They prepare the stones. Protect them—and ready them for… well, the next step. But remember," he said, serious now, "they'll only keep working if you keep training. Stop… and the casings dissolve. The stones sleep."