Kentro woke to strange noises echoing outside the cabin.
He slowly sat up from the broken wooden bed, his crimson eyes drifting across the silent room.
No servants.
No family.
No warmth.
Only silence.
And then—
The memories returned all at once.
The royal hall.
The crystal ritual.
The disgust in their eyes.
And his father’s voice…
Ordering his banishment.
A sharp pain tightened around his chest as though something inside him was being torn apart piece by piece.
Kentro lowered his gaze toward the wooden floor beneath him.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then slowly—
He clenched his fist.
“I will survive…”
The words escaped his lips like a vow.
“…no matter what.”
He stood up quickly and stepped outside the cabin, forcing himself to think clearly.
If he wanted to live inside this forest…
He needed food.
After several moments of hesitation, Kentro finally decided to enter the forest and search for anything edible.
Fruits.
Plants.
Even medicinal herbs.
Anything.
Not long after—
He began walking deeper into the Dark Forest with extreme caution.
The head servant’s warning echoed clearly inside his mind:
“Never go too deep into the forest… there are things you should never see.”
Every step felt heavier than the last.
As though the forest itself were swallowing him whole.
Eventually, Kentro spotted several unfamiliar plants growing beneath the roots of a dead tree.
After carefully inspecting them, he wrapped them inside an old scarf from the cabin and carried them over his shoulder.
Then—
He froze.
Several creatures stood motionless between the trees.
At first glance, they resembled rabbits.
But there was nothing harmless about them.
Their fangs looked sharp enough to rip flesh apart.
Long claws scraped against the rocks beneath them.
Their starving eyes remained fixed on him.
Kentro ran.
Without thinking.
He sprinted desperately through the forest while the creatures chased him at terrifying speed.
One of them suddenly lunged forward.
Its claws tore across his shoulder and arm, throwing him violently against the ground.
Pain exploded through his body.
The gathered plants scattered across the mud.
Kentro struggled backward desperately, his breathing shaking uncontrollably—
Then suddenly—
A monstrous roar shook the forest.
Everything stopped.
The creatures froze instantly.
And without hesitation—
They fled.
As though something far worse had awakened nearby.
Kentro forced himself back onto his feet and ran blindly toward the cabin, his heart pounding so violently he thought it might burst.
He slammed the cabin door shut behind him and collapsed against it, gasping for air.
Only then did he notice the blood covering his hands.
His clothes.
The floor beneath him.
With trembling fingers, he tore a piece of old cloth and wrapped it around his wounds.
But the pain was unbearable for a child his age.
Eventually, exhaustion consumed him.
And he fell asleep.
The next morning…
Kentro slowly opened his eyes.
Then immediately froze.
His wounds were gone.
No blood.
No torn flesh.
No scars.
Nothing.
He stared at his arm in complete disbelief before whispering quietly:
“…What happened to me?”
No answer came.
And eventually, with no way to understand it, he forced himself to ignore it.
The days that followed were merciless.
A single week inside the forest felt longer than an entire year.
Kentro learned quickly that survival was cruel.
There was no safety.
No comfort.
Only instinct.
By the second week, he had already learned where to hide when monsters hunted nearby.
After a month…
He understood which plants could keep him alive.
And which ones could kill him painfully.
The months passed slowly.
And with every fall…
Kentro rose again a little stronger.
After six months, the frightened child who once cried himself to sleep had already begun to disappear.
The forest was changing him.
One full year passed.
Every day became another battle against hunger, monsters, and the merciless cruelty of nature itself.
Kentro learned the territories of dangerous beasts.
He learned how to track prey.
How to remain unseen.
How to survive alone.
By the second year…
The forest no longer felt like a prison.
It had become the only world he knew.
Crying no longer helped him.
Silence became his companion.
And pain became his teacher.
Years passed beneath the endless darkness of the forest.
Scars slowly covered his body.
His gaze became colder.
Sharper.
Yet despite everything—
The fire inside his crimson eyes never disappeared.
Four years passed like a storm.
His body grew stronger from endless hunting and fighting, while his presence became far older than his true age.
Then—
Five full years passed since his banishment.
Five years of blood.
Hunger.
Pain.
And impossible survival.
Yet somehow…
Kentro remained alive.
One day, while hunting one of the monstrous rabbits, he suddenly noticed three human men walking through the forest.
He immediately hid among the trees and silently observed them.
“So,” one of them said nervously, “how exactly are we supposed to hunt that thing?”
“You mean the Armored Boar?” another replied.
The third man lowered his voice.
“We should be careful.
I heard it’s stronger than every other monster in this forest.”
Kentro narrowed his eyes.
The Armored Boar…
Could it be the source of that terrifying roar he sometimes heard echoing through the forest at night?
After a moment of thought, he quietly retreated and returned to the cabin.
That night…
Kentro sat alone outside the cabin beneath the rain.
For the first time in years, memories of the palace returned to him.
Warm meals.
Soft beds.
His mother’s voice.
Something painful tightened inside his chest again.
But this time—
He did not allow himself to break.
Instead, he slowly clenched his fist.
“If sorrow keeps chasing me…”
His eyes hardened.
“…then I’ll turn it into strength.”
And from that day onward—
Kentro trained like a madman.
He trained his speed.
His reflexes.
His physical strength.
His close combat skills.
Because without magic…
His body itself would become his weapon.
But while Kentro struggled to survive inside the forest…
Others had already begun moving behind the scenes.
Inside the great Human Church, two men dressed in priest robes spoke quietly beneath dim candlelight.
“So… how do we take advantage of the demon heir’s banishment?”
One of them smirked.
“The High Cleric already has a plan.”
At that moment—
The massive doors opened.
The High Cleric himself entered the chamber, dressed in white robes decorated with gold.
A cold smile rested across his face.
“It seems fate,” he said calmly,
“…has finally opened the door for us.”
Back inside the Dark Forest…
Kentro had now reached the age of ten.
He moved swiftly between the trees, chasing one of the monstrous rabbits at terrifying speed.
Then suddenly—
He leapt forward.
Several rapid strikes pierced through the creature before it even managed to react.
Moments later, Kentro stood victorious, holding the creature upside down with a rare smile across his face.
A genuine smile.
Perhaps the first in years.
Then—
That same monstrous roar echoed through the forest once again.
But this time…
Kentro did not run.
Instead, he looked toward the darkness ahead and smiled faintly.
“One day…”
His grip tightened around the creature.
“…we’ll meet.”
That night, he cooked proper meat for the first time in years.
As he ate silently inside the cabin, tears quietly formed in his eyes.
His training had long since surpassed ordinary hardship.
It had become torture.
And somewhere deep within the endless darkness of the forest…
Something watched him from the shadows.
As Kentro continued growing stronger, the monsters he faced became deadlier.
Eventually, he found himself battling shadow wolves capable of tearing ordinary hunters apart.
One rainy evening, after surviving another brutal fight, Kentro slowly entered the cabin covered in wounds.
He placed his prey aside before sitting quietly in silence.
Then he noticed it again.
Every injury.
Every cut.
Every wound…
Would completely disappear after a deep sleep.
Kentro slowly stared down at his trembling hands.
And for the first time—
Fear crept into his heart.
“…What am I becoming?”
To be continued…