That evening, we held a feast in the town plaza. Lanterns floated above us, glowing with enchanted light. Tables overflowed with food. Music played on my imported instruments—guitars, ukulele, and even a drum set someone figured out how to use.I sat on my manor’s balcony, surrounded by the people who made all this happen—Silvarya by my side, Elvie and Ella laughing over some inside joke, and Kael silently sipping tea while watching everyone like a hawk.And me?I just breathed. For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t thinking about the next enemy. I was thinking about the next project. The next upgrade. The next quest.But first… some damn rest.So when the stars were high, I slipped into my study, closed the door, and sank into the chair by the fireplace.Home.And this time, I wasn’t alone.*****After dinner in the manor, I sat down at my desk to go over the reports when a familiar golden screen flickered into view.The moment I pressed “YES,” a shiver ran through the air—like

A thick fog clung to the water like a curse, and not even Flare’s heat could burn it off completely. It was unnaturally cold, unnaturally still. The kind of silence that made warriors check their blades twice.Our convoy parked near the southern dock. Trucks. Mana bikes. Artillery drones perched like vultures on the high ridge, sensors primed. My squad—twenty elite men led by Felix—were suited up in enchanted armour, machine guns mounted with mana-etched rounds. Even the new prototype boomstick I'd ordered from the System gleamed in the morning light."Positions," I ordered.They moved without hesitation. I stood beside the shimmering lake as the morning mist clung to the surface like a silk veil hiding a monster beneath. My boots crunched on wet gravel. Behind me, Felix and his squad of elite rangers stood in formation—dressed in dark fatigues, gear strapped to their backs, and modern rifles gleaming under the morning sun. We had machine guns, high-yield grenades, flashbangs, and mos

The next morning, it was snowing again—light flakes that danced like ash in slow motion.I stood at the window, sipping hot cocoa, watching people pass by in thick coats and mittens. Despite the cold, laughter echoed through the square. But beneath that warmth… I still felt it.A pulse.A tug.The map to the Dark Forest was sitting in my vault that I purchased a few weeks ago. And with each passing week, the land around it grew more corrupted.It was time.*****War Room — Strategic PlanningWe gathered around the large round table in the war room, deep inside the manor’s basement level. The fire crackled in the corner. Ella handed the men coffee and cookies that butler Raymond had baked earlier.A map of the region was pinned to the wall, with glowing runes marking known locations—our town, the lake, trade routes, and now, the ominous “Grove of Whispers.”I unrolled the quest map, its surface shimmering with faint blue glyphs.Felix leaned over it, brow furrowed. “We’ve confirmed mov

We left the ruined plaza of the golem behind.The deeper we pushed, the more the air thickened with ancient mana, as if the forest itself were exhaling decay. Our boots sank into moss that pulsed faintly beneath our feet. The trees grew twisted and bone-pale, their bark like old flesh, and their branches clawed at the sky. All sound was muffled—only the low, constant hum of buried power echoed through the grove.That was when the ambush began.It started with a snap—a twig. Then a hiss. A low, bubbling sound, like oil boiling over bone.“Contacts—twelve o'clock!” Kael shouted, his mana-enhanced blade snapping to life with blue arcs of electricity. They crawled from the mist.“Naive mortal,” one of the creatures sneered, the amusement in his tone cutting deeper than any blade.Creatures, dozens of them—twisted serpents with molten mouths, misted ghouls with tongues of smoke, and four-legged horrors with no heads, only writhing stalks that spat acid. Then came the obsidian-armoured gole

That night, I stood atop the northern watchtower, looking over the snowy roofs of my town. The plaza glowed warmly below, people sipping hot drinks around the central hearthstone, kids skating on the frozen fountain, laughter echoing under winter stars.But my eyes drifted to the horizon—where the dark forest loomed like a wound that never healed.Silvarya joined me quietly, wrapping a warm scarf around my shoulders. “You don’t have to carry it alone,” she whispered.I didn’t answer. Because something was coming. And deep down, I knew this peace wouldn’t last.*****It was snowing again the night Karl and Kael left. The light flakes drifted down in silence, dusting the rooftops of Robinson Town in gentle white. I stood on the battlements, watching their silhouettes vanish into the dark edge of the forest—just two shadows swallowed by a deeper one.“Find them,” I whispered. “Before they find us.”I had no illusions about what I was asking. The cult—or whatever ancient force was manipul