Chapter 7 - The dark forest

The forest had gone silent.

Kael stood alone among the broken trees, his hand resting on the hilt of his Darven katana.

The Crimson Bloodfang Alpha was gone.

He had survived the encounter, but the result had made one thing painfully clear.

He was too weak.

Level 2.

The Alpha had been Level 15 — Boss Grade.

The difference between them had been enormous.

Kael opened his System.

[STATUS]

Name: Kael Darven

Age: 11

Level: 2

Rank: F-Rank — Initiate

Mana: 18

Strength: 9

Agility: 11

Vitality: 9

Intelligence: 12

Metal Control: 41

Skills:

Basic Mana Manipulation — Intermediate

Metal Control — Intermediate

Basic Swordsmanship — Beginner

Basic Weapon Forging — Intermediate

Mana-Infused Weapon Creation — Beginner

Metal Reinforcement — Beginner

Metal Arsenal — Beginner

Kael stared at the numbers.

Then he looked toward the deeper forest.

“I need more experience.”

But he wasn't going to rush blindly into danger.

His father had left him enough knowledge to understand one important principle.

Power without control was useless.

Kael turned back toward his camp.

Preparing for the Next Hunt

Kael spent the next several days recovering.

But he didn't stop training.

He changed his routine.

In the morning, he trained his physical body.

He ran through the forest.

He climbed trees.

He carried heavy pieces of metal.

He practiced with the Darven katana.

In the afternoon, he trained his Metal Control.

At night, he studied.

But now he had another goal.

He needed to understand monsters.

Kael opened one of his father's books.

Field Guide to Magical Beasts.

He turned the pages.

The book divided monsters into several classifications.

Feral.

Common.

Elite.

Boss.

Commander.

Lord.

Overlord.

Calamity.

Ancient.

Legendary.

Mythic.

Primordial.

Divine.

And finally—

Unknown.

Kael's expression became serious.

He remembered the three beasts inside the pocket world.

The Shadow Lion.

The Verdant Serpent.

The Bone Sovereign.

His father had called them Legendary Beasts.

But now Kael understood what that actually meant.

They weren't simply powerful monsters.

They were creatures at a level he couldn't even begin to challenge.

He continued reading.

A monster's strength depended on more than its current level.

Species potential mattered.

Evolution mattered.

Bloodlines mattered.

Mutations mattered.

A young monster could possess an incredibly powerful species potential and become terrifying later in its life.

Kael closed the book.

“So those three aren't enemies I should fight right now.”

He remembered the final warning from his father.

Survive.

Not conquer.

Not dominate.

Survive.

Kael nodded.

“I understand.”

The Unknown Presence

Three days later, Kael noticed something strange.

The forest had changed.

There were fewer ordinary monsters.

Even the smaller creatures had disappeared.

Kael crouched beside a tree.

He examined the ground.

Footprints.

Huge ones.

Much larger than the Bloodfang Wolves.

Kael touched one.

The soil was still slightly warm.

His expression became serious.

“Something passed through here recently.”

He activated the System.

[Scanning...]

[No valid identification.]

Kael's eyes narrowed.

The System could identify most creatures he had encountered.

Why couldn't it identify this one?

He followed the tracks.

The deeper he went, the darker the forest became.

The trees were enormous.

Some were so thick that several adults would have needed to join hands to surround them.

Strange blue plants grew between their roots.

Kael approached one cautiously.

[Unknown Magical Plant.]

He didn't touch it.

He continued forward.

Several hours passed.

Then he heard something.

A heartbeat.

Not his.

Boom.

Kael froze.

Boom.

The sound came again.

The trees shook slightly.

Kael immediately reached for his katana.

Another heartbeat.

BOOM.

This time the ground trembled.

Kael's instincts screamed at him.

Danger.

He didn't move.

A shadow passed between the trees.

Kael held his breath.

Then—

Nothing.

The presence disappeared.

Kael waited for several minutes.

Only then did he slowly relax.

“What was that?”

He checked the System again.

Nothing.

No creature.

No level.

No rank.

Nothing.

Kael decided not to pursue it.

For once, curiosity wasn't stronger than survival instinct.

He turned around.

Then stopped.

A small object lay on the ground.

A fragment of black metal.

Kael approached it.

His Metal Control reacted immediately.

The fragment moved toward his hand.

The moment he touched it—

His bloodline activated.

[Unknown metal detected.]

Kael's eyes widened.

The metal felt strange.

It wasn't iron.

It wasn't mithril.

It wasn't adamantite.

He couldn't even sense its structure properly.

He carefully placed it inside his storage ring.

“I'll study this later.”

A New Target

On the way back, Kael encountered another monster.

This time, the System responded immediately.

A creature emerged from the bushes.

It resembled a wolf, but its body was covered in dark red scales.

[Species: Bloodfang Wolf]

[Level: 4]

[Grade: Common]

Kael smiled.

Compared with the Alpha, this creature was weak.

But he didn't underestimate it.

He drew his katana.

The wolf charged.

Kael stepped aside.

One slash.

The wolf fell.

[Bloodfang Wolf defeated.]

[Experience acquired.]

Kael waited.

The System didn't announce a level-up.

He nodded.

“So defeating weaker creatures won't instantly make me stronger.”

That made sense.

As his level increased, he would require more experience.

He couldn't simply slaughter weak monsters forever.

He needed stronger opponents.

But not opponents so powerful that they could kill him instantly.

Kael looked deeper into the forest.

“I need to find the middle ground.”

Building His Arsenal

Back at camp, Kael removed his weapons from storage.

His pistol.

His MP5-inspired submachine gun.

His AK-47-inspired assault rifle.

His AWM-inspired sniper rifle.

His M249-inspired machine gun.

And his RPG-type magical launcher.

He examined each one.

The System displayed their information.

Darven M-01

Type: Pistol

Grade: 3 — Mana

Condition: Good

Darven MP-01

Type: Submachine Gun

Grade: 3 — Mana

Condition: Good

Darven AR-01

Type: Assault Rifle

Grade: 3 — Mana

Condition: Good

Darven SR-01

Type: Sniper Rifle

Grade: 4 — Spirit

Condition: Good

Darven MG-01

Type: Machine Gun

Grade: 3 — Mana

Condition: Good

Darven HW-01

Type: Heavy Weapon

Grade: 4 — Spirit

Condition: Good

Kael smiled.

He had started with ordinary iron.

Now several of his weapons had reached the Mana and Spirit grades.

But he knew these were still low-grade weapons compared with the artifacts and legendary equipment described in his father's books.

That only made him more curious.

“How strong can a Grade 7 weapon really be?”

He imagined the possibilities.

Then he shook his head.

“One step at a time.”

A New Experiment

Kael selected his sniper rifle.

Instead of using it normally, he tried something new.

He placed his hand against the barrel.

Mana entered the weapon.

Then he activated Metal Reinforcement.

The metal changed.

The weapon's entire structure became stronger.

The System appeared.

[Metal Reinforcement proficiency increased.]

[Weapon enhancement successful.]

[Darven SR-01 has temporarily reached Grade 5 — Rare.]

Kael's eyes widened.

“Temporary?”

The System responded.

[Enhanced state duration: Limited.]

Kael smiled.

That meant he could temporarily push his weapons beyond their original grades.

But doing so consumed mana.

A lot of mana.

He immediately understood the limitation.

“I can't keep doing this forever.”

Still—

It was another weapon technique.

Another card he could use when necessary.

Kael placed the sniper rifle back into storage.

Then he looked at the enormous forest beyond his camp.

He had spent weeks here.

His level had barely reached two.

But his abilities were already changing.

His weapons were becoming stronger.

His Metal Control was evolving.

And he had only explored a tiny portion of the forest.

Kael picked up his katana.

Tomorrow, he would go farther.

Not toward the unknown presence.

Not toward the Legendary Beasts.

He would find creatures he could actually fight.

Creatures strong enough to help him grow.

But not strong enough to end his journey.

Kael looked toward the moonless sky.

“One day…”

His eyes became cold.

“I'll reach them.”

He didn't know whether he meant the people who destroyed the Darven family—

Or the legendary beings sleeping inside the pocket world.

Perhaps both.

For now, however, there was only one objective.

Become stronger.

And somewhere deep within the forest—

A creature watched Kael's camp from the darkness.

Its eyes were not crimson.

They were golden.

And unlike the Bloodfang Wolves…

It did not see Kael as prey.

It was studying him.