The forest east of Nairn was quiet that morning — too quiet.
The wind didn't move through the trees. Even the birds had gone silent.
Rebecca didn't notice it right away; she was too busy kneading dough and calling to her siblings to get ready for market day. Lencar, however, felt the silence instantly.
He paused mid-task, eyes narrowing. A subtle vibration rippled through the mana flow around the village — irregular, heavy, predatory.
Something was moving through the outer forest.
"Can you carry that basket, Lencar?" Rebecca asked, pointing to the flour sack beside him.
He nodded silently and lifted it onto his shoulder. Her siblings, Milly and Luka, trailed behind with smaller baskets of bread.
"You don't talk much, huh?" Luka said, squinting at him. "Most grown-ups at least say something."
"I say things when they matter," Lencar replied.
Milly giggled. "You sound like a knight from a storybook!"
Rebecca sighed, smiling despite herself. "He's more helpful than a storybook knight, Milly. He actually works."
They stepped onto the dirt path leading to the market square, passing through the small farms that ringed Nairn Village. Everything seemed peaceful — at least for now.
Halfway there, Lencar's steps slowed. The vibration underfoot — faint but distinct — was back.
He scanned the treeline to the east.
Mana distortion… no, not human.
Animal. But amplified.
Rebecca noticed his change in pace. "What's wrong?"
"Something's moving near the eastern field," he said flatly. "Big. Too big."
She frowned. "Probably a wild boar. They come near the crops sometimes."
Lencar shook his head. "Boars don't carry mana signatures."
Her expression turned uneasy. "Mana? You mean—"
"Stay close," he said, lowering the flour sack to the ground.
The wind shifted. A branch snapped in the distance.
Then, from the forest's edge, a shape emerged — half-shadow, half-light. A creature made of matted fur, stone plates, and burning red eyes. A Lesser Mana Beast. Normally drawn to mana springs, but this one had wandered too close to human territory.
Luka gasped. "Is that—?!"
"Inside!" Rebecca shouted, pushing her siblings behind her. "Lencar, we have to—"
But he was already gone.
Lencar sprinted toward the beast, cloak flaring behind him. The mana field around his body shifted — subtle, precise, and utterly silent. His eyes glowed faintly as he activated [Magic Skin], a reinforcement layer tuned for physical impact.
The beast roared, charging straight at him.
He sidestepped, grabbed a broken fence post, and jammed it upward into the creature's jaw. The impact sent splinters flying, but the beast didn't fall. It howled and swung its claws, shattering the wood.
Lencar jumped back, assessing.
Its outer shell is mineralized — earth-type fusion. Too dense for blunt strikes.
He opened his grimoire, flipping to a page lined with silver runes. "[Wind Magic: Pressure Wave]."
He released a compressed burst of air from his palm. The invisible shockwave slammed into the creature's side, sending it skidding several meters through the dirt.
Rebecca and the children watched from behind a wooden cart. The sight was terrifying — but also mesmerizing. The man who barely spoke now moved like a weapon forged for battle.
Rebecca's mind raced. "He's using wind magic…? But he didn't have a grimoire when he came here."
Milly clutched her sleeve. "Sis, he's gonna be okay, right?"
Rebecca hesitated. "I… think so."
Lencar stood between them and the beast, breathing steady. His expression never changed. He looked calm — calculating. Like someone not fighting for glory, but for efficiency.
The beast rose again, growling. Its claws glowed faintly — earth mana gathering for a counterstrike. Lencar's eyes flickered.
"Not good," he murmured.
He slammed his grimoire open again, shifting runes midair. "[Spatial Magic: Fold]."
A sharp ripple distorted the air in front of him. The beast lunged—and vanished.
For two seconds, nothing happened. Then, twenty meters away, the creature reappeared and crashed headfirst into the side of a cliff, leaving a smoking crater in the rock.
Lencar exhaled quietly and closed his grimoire. The portal flickered and collapsed.
He approached cautiously, inspecting the motionless beast. Its body twitched once, then went still. The mana signature faded away.
"Dead," he muttered. "Residual core intact. Must've been displaced from the forest barrier."
Rebecca hurried over, still shaking. "You—how—what did you just do?"
"Spatial displacement," he said simply. "Short-range. Its body couldn't survive the pressure difference."
"That's—" she stopped, realizing how casual his tone was. "You sound like you've done this before."
"I've seen worse," he said, wiping dirt from his cloak.
She stared at him. "You saved us."
He didn't answer. He just looked at the collapsed beast and muttered, almost to himself, "Saving wasn't the goal. Containment was."
Later that evening, the Magic Knights stationed two villages over came investigating. A patrol led by a junior officer named Ren halted at the bakery door.
"Miss Scarlet?" he asked politely. "We heard reports of a mana disturbance nearby."
Rebecca froze. "A… disturbance?"
"Yes. Something strong enough to register at the outer post. Possibly a wild mana creature. You didn't see anything?"
Lencar stood beside her, his expression unreadable.
Rebecca hesitated, then shook her head. "We saw smoke near the field, but nothing dangerous. Maybe lightning struck."
Ren nodded, unconvinced but unwilling to argue. "Understood. Please report anything unusual if it happens again."
As they left, Rebecca shut the door and turned to Lencar. "They felt that. Your spell."
"I minimized output," he said calmly. "Still leaked through the residual field."
"You're saying you fought that thing and still hid your power?"
"Not well enough," he said, sitting down. "They'll narrow the source next time."
Rebecca crossed her arms. "Then you'll have to be more careful."
He looked up at her, almost surprised. "You're not asking me to leave?"
She shook her head. "You saved my family. I'm not throwing you out for that. But if staying means bringing danger here—"
"I'll leave before that happens," he finished.
Rebecca sighed. "You're stubborn, you know that?"
He almost smiled. "So I've been told."
That night, Rebecca couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the creature — the raw force of it — and the way Lencar had faced it without hesitation.
She thought about his silence, his strange precision, the flicker of weariness in his eyes afterward. He wasn't just strong — he was measured. As if every spell he cast carried a cost he couldn't afford to pay twice.
She whispered softly to the empty room, "Who are you, really?"
Upstairs, Lencar sat beside his window, staring into the dark forest. His grimoire floated open before him, pages glowing faintly as he took notes on the battle.
> Beast analysis: fusion type (Earth/Wind). Mana density—stable. Transfer test successful. Displacement error margin: 0.43%.
He paused, tapping his pen.
> Rebecca's trust increasing. Risk level rising accordingly.
He closed the grimoire. The moonlight glinted off the cover — black leather with no clover emblem, only a faint silver line down the center.
He whispered, "Still just a blank book… but it remembers everything."
The silence stretched. Outside, the wind returned to the forest, and the night was calm again.
For now.