Humans fear many things. Darkness, insects, animals, the depths of the ocean… Death, hunger, disease. But in this age, what people feared most could be summarized in a single word: Monsters.
The festival lights enveloped the stone streets of Safe Haven like a golden net. Pumpkin lanterns hung from ropes, their flickering candlelights dancing with the wind. Children ran around with sweets in their hands, and people spent time in the streets overflowing with bargaining, laughter, and the voices of fortune tellers.
Eren, with his newly acquired sword Lunar, walked around with its scabbard attached to his belt, looking at what he could buy. He couldn't demand more than the 50 lukats he was given, but no one could say anything if he used all of it. 20 lukats had gone to Lunar, and now he had a few more things to get. Smoke and sound bombs for distraction, and although he didn't quite understand such things, he had to find Rowan and get single-use magic crystals from a place Rowan recommended. He didn't need armor because truly protective armor was too expensive and heavy, and wearing or not wearing light ones didn't make much difference to the monsters. As he walked, he passed a weaponsmith, and as he did, a face caught his attention. Dean was there, asking the seller for the price of a meteor hammer.
Dean: "I wouldn't give 15 lukats for this, for example. I asked you for a chained meteor hammer, this doesn't even have a rope grip."
Seller: "As I said, 15 lukats. I can't sell it for less than 15 lukats, I won't make a profit if I lower it by a single lukat."
Dean noticed the chain hanging from an old chest in the corner.
Dean: "Then what's in that chest?"
Seller: "Are you sure you want to buy it? It's a meteor hammer, yes, but they say it's cursed."
Dean, with a confident demeanor:
Dean: "I'll take it."
Eren and Dean began to walk side by side. Eren was examining the meteor hammer Dean had bought.
Eren: "Wow, it looks very high quality. You're really lucky to have gotten it for only 10 lukats. What about that cursed business?"
Dean: "I doubt it. If it were cursed, that man would have been dead by now. Thanks to his ignorance, I got a quality piece of equipment for much less than its price. What did you do?"
Eren: "I also bought myself a sword."
Dean: "Good. Are you going to buy anything else?"
Eren: "I want to get some smoke and sound bombs, and although I don't understand much about magic, I'll get single-use crystals for casting spells. Of course, I need to find Rowan for that."
Dean: "No, actually, you don't need to find Rowan. I know where all of them are."
Eren: "Where are they?"
Dean: "Inside the big red tent in front of us, we can find magic-related trinkets and various equipment. I was going in anyway. Come, let's go together."
Eren: "Sure, let's go."
The two of them headed towards the tent's entrance. The thick red fabric had golden thread embroideries along its edges, fluttering with the wind. As they stepped inside, a completely different world greeted them. Even the smell of the air had changed; sharp herbal scents mixed with burnt incense lightly stung their throats.
On the stalls, sparkling crystals of various colors, small parchments adorned with mysterious symbols, and oddly shaped bottles were displayed. In the back, a tall female seller, draped in veils, surveyed the customers with a dark glint in her eyes.
Eren headed straight for the crystals. Small, palm-sized stones of different colors were strung together like beads on a string. The seller pointed with her hand:
Seller: "These are single-use crystals. The moment you break them, the magic within is released. Red ones allow you to cast fire magic, blue ones water, light green ones wind, and dark green ones plant magic. Their prices vary according to their power."
Eren looked carefully, turning a few with his fingertips. One, in particular, glowing red, caught his interest.
Eren: "Give me two of these."
The seller nodded, pulled out a small pouch, and put the crystals inside.
Meanwhile, Dean had started wandering inside the tent. He gently touched an old helmet with his fingertips, then looked at a rusty map on the corner of a table. But the distraction on his face wasn't real; his gaze was drifting much further, to the dark corners of the tent.
As Eren was handling the payment, Dean's eyes caught a fleeting movement among the shadows. A human-like silhouette, but almost like mist, had appeared behind a curtain, as if only he could see it.
Dean's ordinary indifference froze for a moment. His eyebrows furrowed slightly. A faint smile curled at the corner of his lips.
Dean: "Seriously, we're even meeting now, huh."
After getting his stones and bombs, Eren had started walking towards Dean.
Eren: "Who were you talking to, crazy?"
Dean turned his head towards Eren. There was an inexplicable contemptuous look on his face.
Dean: "Someone you wouldn't know."
Eren: "After that look, he's not someone I want to know anymore either."
Dean: "I'm sure your jaw will drop the moment you see him, Mr. Second."
Eren: "Alright, we get it. Come on, since we've got our equipment, let's go to the square, we were supposed to meet there anyway."
As Eren took the stones and bombs and put them in his pocket, familiar silhouettes began to appear from the crowd at the tent's entrance. Mira, smiling slightly, waved her hands; broken, damaged, but functional small devices were visible inside the basket next to her. Rowan, meanwhile, held a short, polished staff in his hand; a tiny capsule of river stone seemed to be fixed in its body. Dean came from behind, the chained meteor hammer slung over his shoulder, that cold expression on his face; seeing him gave confidence to those around him.
Mira approached Eren, speaking quickly:
"I got them, but I can't carry all of them with me. It would be too heavy, so I gave some to the exam official. The basic parts of the trap are with me — smoke capsules, small hooks, and sound bomb capsules. If necessary, I'll arrange the setup."
Eren nodded, and just as he was about to answer, Rowan interrupted, pointing to his staff:
"I also got an apprentice staff. It has a small mana stone inside; not enough for long-term magic, but more than useful for one or two attacks. I also got a few more single-use crystals; one for wind, the other for a small protective shield."
Dean listened to them with a brief nod, then glanced at the meteor hammer in his hand:
"Good choices. If everyone knows their role, the exam will be easier. Remember; they will come after us because we are strong. We have to be prepared."
When Rowan finished his words, showing his short staff, the noise of the square suddenly changed. First, a faint hum was heard from afar, among the stone streets. Then the air temperature dropped slightly. People shivered and looked up at the sky.
The lights of the street lamps and pumpkin lanterns dimmed slightly. A gray-white blanket rising from the ground slowly wrapped around their ankles. At first, no one noticed; but within a few seconds, the fog had risen to their knees.
Whispers rose from the crowd:
"The first fog… The first fog has settled…"
"It will bring good luck, for everyone who is outside tonight…"
Children hugged each other with joy, and elders bowed their heads, murmuring prayers. Some sellers placed small amulets in front of their stalls, as if to catch the good fortune of the fog.
Eren took a deep breath, watching the gray smoke swirling around his feet. The fog was not sharp or unpleasant; on the contrary, it brought an almost sweet coolness. Rowan whispered with a faint smile on his lips:
"Seeing this… it really means good luck."
Dean crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze lost in the fog. "Luck, or a warning…" he murmured, his voice too low for the others to hear.
But in the square, for everyone, this moment was accepted as an auspicious sign. The first fog had settled over Safe Haven.
Just then, a hum spread towards the center of the crowd; people raised their heads and looked at the sky. As the moon seeped through the clouds, its light took on a paler, colder tone. For a moment, everything seemed silent; the moonlight left a different kind of coldness on the stone streets. A shiver, unlike anything he had felt before, ran through Eren.
The first sound to break the silence of the night was a low laugh from afar — it wasn't a child's laugh; it had a deep, echoing, and alien tone. People looked at each other; whispers rose. On the bright surface of the moon, a slightly sunken, shadowy shape appeared. At first, they thought it was just a smudge; then it slowly elongated, its edges rippled, and a silhouette resembling human figures, but with something moving within, formed on the surface of the sky.
The crowd began to part in panic. Some were laughing, some were trembling with fear, most were silent. Dean squinted at the shadow, the smile on his face froze for a moment, then disappeared. Then a familiar serious voice came from behind.
Kael: "Children! Come to me immediately."
They all looked at Kael at once. Eren felt himself being pulled by his collar. Dean was the first to start running. Then Eren, Mira, and finally Rowan started running. As Dean moved to Kael's left, Eren also threw himself to Kael's left, while the other two stood behind.
Kael: "The situation is quite serious. The most logical thing we can do right now is to observe the surroundings until something happens. I have something to do here. Stay here."
Everyone was trying to get over the shock of the event. The best thing to do was to follow Kael's advice because no one else had any ideas. After the fog settled, they shouldn't have been this unlucky. Just then, that blood-curdling laugh was heard again, as if time had slowed down for a moment. At that moment, Dean slowly turned around; he had sensed something, but nothing was visible there.
Suddenly, the fog moved. Dean took a step back and touched Eren's shoulder.
Eren silently:
Eren: "What happened?"
Dean, also raising his voice slightly so that the others could hear him:
Dean: "Eren, get your pistol ready, there's something in that fog. We might have to fight. And you two, get behind us."
The four of them began to examine the fog carefully. Then there was another movement, and Eren flinched. The fog slowly formed into a ball and began to rise. It grew larger and larger, and finally, a scream was heard. It definitely came from inside the forming fog cloud. Suddenly, a horizontal line appeared at the top of the fog, and above the line, two holes, one on the right and one on the left, formed as the fog took on a human shape. Suddenly, Rowan was thrown backward. Then the others realized that an extension formed from the fog had hit Rowan.
Dean suddenly started shouting:
Dean: "All civilians, get indoors! Call the Hunter's Guild! There's a creature here!"
As he said that, he grabbed the meteor hammer by its chain, swung it, and threw it at the creature. The tip of the meteor hammer merely passed through the creature. While Dean was busy pulling the hammer back, Eren began to shoot at the creature. He fired all 6 bullets from his father's old revolver one after another. It was clear that the creature was bothered by this, but they hadn't done much damage. At that moment, Dean had fully pulled back the chain of the hammer, and with a loud voice:
Dean: "Eren, let's circle around the creature. We can minimize the damage until someone arrives."
Eren nodded, and the two of them began to run around the creature in opposite directions. As Eren reached halfway, the fog creature attacked him. Eren jumped forward to escape the extension coming from above. As Eren lay on the ground, the creature raised its extension for a second attack.
Dean: "Eren!"
The ominous silence of the fog slowly covering the square settled over the crowd like a heavy weight. The shadow appearing on the moon's surface was still there, as if its laughter echoed in the sky. Fear and curiosity mingled in people's eyes.
Rowan stepped forward, clutching his staff tightly. His face was tense, but a momentary determination shone in his eyes. He extended his staff forward, his voice rising like an echo piercing the silence of the square. Rowan: "Great spirits that wander the river, grant me power to destroy the creature before me! Water Ball!"
The mana concentrated at the tip of the staff vibrated, then a spherical ball of water, as if torn from a gushing river, shot out. It exploded upon hitting the shadowy creature within the mist, filling the surroundings with cool droplets. The crowd held its breath for a moment, filled with hope.
But the creature… had not suffered the slightest damage. It reappeared from within the mist, its eyes holding a suffocating emptiness. Its scream squeezed the hearts of the people in the square.
Just then, a sound resembling the harsh clang of metal was heard from among the shadows. Kael, whose silhouette appeared on the rooftop, leaped to the ground with heavy steps. Moonlight struck the edges of his armor, sharpening the cold expression on his face even further. He fixed his gaze on the creature, his voice like both a command and a curse:
Kael: "Sleep, chain of the night, allow me to summon the Iron Maiden!"
The air tensed instantly. In front of Kael, a colossal Iron Maiden – a torture device-like sealed dungeon – surrounded by black smoke, slowly appeared. Its inner surface was covered with spikes, and when it opened, it cast a shadow that darkened the entire square. People recoiled in fear.
The creature tried to escape, but Kael's chains, as if woven from the night itself, shot out from within the mist. The chains wrapped around the creature's arms and legs, dragging it and trapping it inside the Iron Maiden. The iron doors slammed shut with a clang, the metallic scream filling the entire square. A muffled groan came from inside, followed by a deep silence…
The crowd held its breath. Then the shape of the Iron Maiden slowly disappeared, leaving behind only Kael's cold presence.
Eren, Rowan, and Dean, looked at each other, unable to say anything from what they had witnessed. The fact that Rowan's magic had been useless, and Kael had sealed the creature in a single move, hit them like a slap in the face.
Kael turned his eyes from the crowd to them. There was neither anger nor softness in his voice; only a sharp truth.
Kael: "All of you were invited to the academy after showing some success. But you haven't even seen 1% of what can happen. A mist creature is not considered a high-level monster. I hope you understand from what I've said how dangerous this world is. You are not special. You are not prepared for what can happen."
The shadow on the moon was still not silent. It was as if the echo of the laughter heard a moment ago still lingered in the square.
And Safe Haven, that night, remembered once again that shadows should be feared.