Dawn broke cold.
The sky was still pale, the sun nowhere to be seen.
The goblin village lay wrapped in silence, broken only by the faint, ragged shouts of training echoing from afar.
Rion rose.
He drew the sharp, icy air deep into his lungs.
Noa's voice still rang inside his skull—raw, trembling, impossible to forget.
> "I don't need this life… Leave me—or kill me!"
His fists clenched until the knuckles went white.
"Noa… I'll protect you until the day you stand again."
*But when will that day come?*
He strode to the training ground.
The goblins were lined up, yet their movements were sluggish, their eyes filled only with fear and obedience.
Rion's jaw tightened.
> *None of them have fire in their hearts. Beasts—all of them.*
> *If they stay this weak, how can they ever protect Noa?*
He barked, voice like a whip.
"From this day forward, there are no mere 'fighters' here!
You defend this village—this is your home!
Anyone with a coward's heart, step forward and leave right now!"
No one moved.
Rion's voice dropped, colder than the morning frost.
"Then every single one of you has a heart. Good.
Training does not end until sunset.
If enemies came right now—could you protect what is yours?"
A goblin stepped forward, trembling.
"S-sir… we're giving everything we have."
Rion studied him with faint interest.
> *This one's different. Wiser than the rest.*
"Everything you have?" Rion murmured.
"If you truly were, you'd already be at the fourth beginner rank."
He raised his voice until it thundered.
"Listen well! This place is our home!
No one will ever look down on us again!
No one will steal our lives!
They will learn to fear us!
More hunts! Wider lands! Better food—better mates!
Everything depends on your strength!"
The goblins roared.
"Women! Food! We'll fight!"
"Our chief is the strongest!"
Their cries rose higher, and for the first time Rion heard something new among them—belief.
> *That's it. I'll keep this flame alive.*
> *Noa… until you return, I will make this village unbreakable.*
---
Inside the hut, Noa lay staring at the ceiling.
Rion's distant voice drifted in like smoke.
> "All of this… what is it even for?"
His heart was raw, his thoughts hollow.
> "I let them bind my arms again… So maybe, somewhere deep, I haven't completely given up…"
The door creaked.
A young goblin entered, carrying a steaming bowl.
Noa's blind gaze turned icy.
"Who are you?"
"G-Gobuta," the goblin stammered. "The chief… sent food for you."
Noa let out a bitter laugh.
"Rion, huh? Tell him to get lost. Completely lost."
Gobuta bowed, set the bowl on the floor, and slipped out silently.
Noa stared at the bowl for a long, long time.
> "He still believes in me…"
For one fleeting moment, the ache in his chest eased.
> "Maybe… I'm not finished yet."
Then the emptiness flooded back, heavier than before.
> "But still… everything feels meaningless.
> Even sleep refuses to come."
---
The sun climbed high.
Rion stood atop a boulder, watching the goblins train.
Sunlight flashed in his eyes; the faintest smile touched his lips.
"Come back, Noa…" he whispered.
"I'm waiting."
---
The next morning
Dawn had not yet fully broken.
Pale colors bled behind the mountains; dew glittered on the grass while cold wind swept through.
The air smelled of fresh earth—alive, sharp.
Rion opened his eyes.
The goblins were still curled up in their huts, shivering in sleep.
Beyond the village, mist drifted between the stones.
He rose, clasped his hands behind his back, and stared at the horizon.
> "Today is for the hunt…"
He hadn't slept. Noa's face haunted him—the line between loss and salvation had never felt so thin.
> "Not now," he muttered. "Today I am Rion the hunter. Nothing else."
Ten goblins waited behind him—mostly young, unblooded.
He spun on his heel.
"Move without sound," he ordered. "We hunt at the foot of the mountain. No mistakes."
They nodded and followed him into the mist.
---
At the foothills
Rion knelt, pressing his fingers into the damp soil.
Fresh tracks—still wet.
"This way," he whispered. "It passed recently."
The forest stirred: birdsong, sunlight flickering through leaves.
Rion felt it—the stillness before danger.
They found it: a young deer drinking at a stream.
One goblin—Garu—drew his bow, trembling with excitement.
He loosed the arrow.
It grazed the deer's leg. The animal bolted into the trees.
Rion hissed, "Idiot! I said silence!"
A deep, guttural growl rolled through the forest.
Rion froze.
> "No… that wasn't the deer."
From the shadows stepped a massive bear, blood dripping from its maw.
It had missed the deer.
Now it had found new prey.
Rion raised a hand for absolute silence, but one goblin stumbled backward, snapping a branch.
The crack echoed like thunder.
The bear roared—and charged.
---
The fight erupted.
Arrows flew, useless against thick fur.
Rion stood motionless, watching, waiting.
This was their test.
But he was ready.
The bear seized a goblin, crushed him mid-scream.
The forest went dead silent.
Rion closed his eyes.
> "Enough."
He lifted his hand.
A shockwave exploded outward—wind and golden mana collided, hurling the bear backward.
Rion's body shuddered. Crimson scales rippled across his skin.
A scarlet tail unfurled. Steam hissed from his flesh.
Half-transformed.
He slammed the ground. The earth quaked.
The bear staggered.
In the next heartbeat Rion was on it—single strike, neck snapped.
Blood soaked the soil.
He knelt beside the beast.
> "You fought to live too…"
He gently closed its eyes.
> "Thank you… for feeding us."
The remaining goblins gathered, silent, reverent.
One of their own lay dead.
Rion spoke, low and firm:
"We lost a brother today. Let this forest remind you—power is not the hunt itself.
Power is the responsibility that comes with it."
They caught two boars and a handful of rabbits on the way back.
They carried the fallen goblin home beneath a setting sun.
Rion walked at the front, the weight of death heavy on his shoulders.
> "I chose this path… Every death is on me."
---
Night fell.
Stars glittered coldly.
Rion laid the body on the ground and whispered:
> "Every star… so beautiful.
> But this road… will never be bright."
The wind stirred the leaves—as if the forest itself were listening.
---
That night
Rion returned to Noa's hut.
Noa still lay there—pale, silent, lost.
Rion handed the body to the clan and said only:
"Let his strength live on through you."
The goblins began to eat the fallen with reverence.
A new whisper spread among them:
> "Rion brought the body himself and ordered us to eat it so his strength stays with us.
> Our chief wishes us no harm."
Rion stood apart, staring into the dark trees.
> "That bear, two boars, a few rabbits… only the beginning.
> Tomorrow we hunt again.
> Today we came home—but tomorrow… we might not."
Inside the hut, Noa stirred in restless sleep, chased by voices that weren't there.
> "No sleep for you tonight either, Noa…"
---
Hey readers!
What do you think will happen next?
Noa's path has only just begun, and Rion's fire is still burning…
Drop your thoughts in the comments, smash that Power Stone, add to Library!
The more love you show, the faster the next chapter drops!
Discord :