The groan sounded weak. Strained. Human, though.
Alvian moved toward the collapsed tunnel with predatory silence, every sense alert. The Crystalvein Mines should only have magical constructs. Another person here, deep in a certified death zone...dangerous variable. Trap, maybe. Or opportunity.
He reached the rockfall. Part of the tunnel ceiling had given way. Stone and earth formed a formidable barrier. Through a small gap, he saw him: elderly man, white hair in disarray, professorial spectacles. A massive slab of rock pinned him down. His leg trapped at an unnatural angle. A faint, sickly green aura pulsed from the wound. Golem's mana-draining curse.
The man was an NPC. Alvian recognized the intricate embroidery on his robes...scholar of some importance. No ordinary miner.
Alvian's mind assessed the situation immediately, cold and calculating. He could leave. Safest option, ignoring the NPC. But his instincts, sharpened by three years of apocalyptic survival, whispered differently. High-risk, unscripted encounters like this? They often led to the greatest rewards. He'd built his new life exploiting exactly these hidden opportunities.
He stepped into the open. "Are you alright?"
The scholar's head jerked up, eyes wide. Fear mixed with surprise. "A student? By the Founders, how did you get in here? Don't come any closer! The constructs are rampant!"
"They're not a problem anymore."
He approached the rockfall, examining the slab. Several tons, easily. With his 14 Strength, he couldn't even dream of lifting it. Brute force was out. He needed a tool.
His eyes swept the area. The shattered remains of a Crystal-Infused Golem caught his attention. An idea sparked...born from deep understanding of the game's mechanics. He walked over to the rubble pile and retrieved the golem's core. Brilliant blue crystal, still thrumming with volatile, unstable energy.
"What are you doing?" Alarm laced the scholar's voice.
Alvian didn't answer. He placed the crystal into a large crack in the rock slab. Took a smaller, sharper stone shard. Positioned himself at a safe distance. "Cover your head."
With a flick of his wrist, he threw the sharp shard. It struck the golem core with a sharp *tink*. For a second, nothing. Then the blue crystal flared violently, unleashing its stored energy in a contained, concussive blast.
BOOM!
The explosion wasn't large. Focused, though. Didn't pulverize the slab...fractured it along stress lines. The massive rock cracked, groaned, split into several manageable pieces. Released the scholar's leg.
The old man stared, utterly dumbfounded. First at his freed leg, then at Alvian, who was already walking toward him. "Incredible... You used a destabilized mana core as a precise blasting charge... The ingenuity... ahem!" He coughed, wincing as he clutched his wounded leg.
Alvian knelt, examining the green, pulsing wound. "Golem Curse. Draining your life force."
"Indeed." The scholar's voice strained. "I am Solaka Mika, researcher from the Academy's Department of Ancient Runes. I was studying the unique energy signatures of this mine when a Golem Patriarch ambushed me. I require an Alpha Dire Wolf's fang. Its natural energy can neutralize the curse."
A golden quest notification materialized in Alvian's vision.
┏━━━━[ Hidden Quest Acquired ]━━━━┓
│ Quest: The Scholar's Plight
│ Rank: A-Tier
│
│ Objective: Retrieve an [Alpha Dire Wolf's Fang] for Professor Solaka Mika.
│
│ Description: Professor Solaka is gravely injured. Slay the Alpha Dire Wolf that roams
│ the forests outside this mine and bring him its fang before the curse consumes him.
│
│ Rewards:
│ - Substantial Examination Points.
│ - [Professor Solaka's Gratitude] (High-value reputation item).
│ - ???
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
"I'll get it for you," Alvian said, accepting the quest. The path was clear in his mind...Alpha's den on the far side of the forest, near the cliffs.
"Be careful, young man," Solaka warned. "The Alpha is a fearsome beast. A true pack leader. You shouldn't face it alone."
Alvian simply nodded and turned to leave. He had no intention of facing it alone. He intended to kill it before its pack could even react. Time was a resource. He was spending it perfectly.
He strode out of the Crystalvein Mines into pale morning light, his form cloaked in the shadows of trees. He moved with his newfound speed, a blur darting through undergrowth. As he neared the region where he knew the dire wolves roamed, sounds of battle reached him. Clash of steel, desperate shouts of command, savage snarls of wolves.
He crested a small hill and looked down. Valeria and her party. Surrounded. A pack of ten Level 9 Dire Wolves, their eyes glowing with predatory red light, circling them, launching coordinated attacks.
Jax held the line, his tower shield scarred with deep claw marks, but he was being pushed back. Kael's daggers flashed...for every wolf he wounded, two more lunged at him. Lia's fireballs kept the beasts at bay, but her mana was clearly running low. Face pale with exertion.
And at the center, Valeria. She was a whirlwind of silver and steel. Her claymore a blur as she parried, dodged, cleaved. Magnificent. Truly gifted fighter. But overwhelmed. The pack was too numerous, their attacks too relentless. Only a matter of time before their formation broke completely.
This was the scene Alvian stumbled upon. He watched for a moment from the shadows, his expression unreadable. Helping them was a waste of time. He needed to get to the Alpha. But they were directly in his path. The pack was an obstacle. Efficiency dictated the obstacle be removed.
Just as a wolf broke past Jax's guard and lunged for Lia, Alvian moved.
He didn't activate [Shadow Weave], still on cooldown. Didn't need it.
He exploded from the treeline.
To Valeria and her party, it was as if a ghost had materialized on the battlefield. One moment, on the brink of being overrun. The next, a figure in tattered starter gear was in the midst of the wolf pack.
Valeria's eyes widened in sheer, uncomprehending shock. It was him. The Level 1 "slacker." But the aura he projected? Entirely different. Cold, sharp, lethally dangerous. And above his head, the number displayed was no longer a '1'.
It was a stark, terrifying '11'.
Before anyone could process this impossible leap in power, Alvian struck. A wolf lunged at him, jaws snapping. Alvian didn't meet the attack. He took a single, fluid sidestep...movement so impossibly fast it looked like he'd teleported. The wolf's fangs closed on empty air. As it shot past him, Alvian's hand, clutching the sharp golem crystal, jabbed sideways.
He didn't aim for the wolf's tough hide. Struck the soft, vulnerable spot just behind its ear. The crystal shard, empowered by his Strength, sank deep. The wolf let out a choked yelp and collapsed, limbs twitching.
Perfect, one-hit kill.
"What the..." Jax began, but the word died in his throat.
Alvian was already moving. He became a phantom of brutal efficiency. He didn't fight the wolves...dismantled them. Used his knowledge of their attack patterns, a grim encyclopedia written in the blood of his past life. Knew every lunge, every feint, every pounce.
He ducked under a swipe that would have decapitated another player. His hand shot out to slam into the wolf's knee, breaking its leg, sending it tumbling. Weaved between two wolves attacking in concert...their jaws snapped shut on each other in their haste. He was a blur of motion. Untouchable. His cheap cloth tunic a stark contrast to his god-like movements. A master duelist in a novice's body.
Less than thirty seconds. The entire pack of ten Dire Wolves lay dead or dying. Each one dispatched with a single, precise blow—brutally efficient.
The clearing fell silent. Ragged, panting breaths from Valeria's exhausted party. They stared, weapons held loosely. Faces like masks of stunned awe.
Alvian stood in the center of the carnage. Not a single scratch. He brushed a speck of dust from his sleeve...calm, methodical and turned his gaze toward the deeper woods.
Valeria finally found her voice. Choked whisper. "How...?"