Elena was special, but she wasn’t a warrior.
Her physical strength was second to none, but she had no confidence in a real fight.
The reason was simple—she had never been in one.
Despite her power, she had always silently endured the taunts and isolation.
The villagers had ostracized her, but they had never resorted to direct violence.
Once, as a child, she was hit by a stone.
When she ran home crying, her parents flew into a rage at the sight of the gash on her forehead.
They stormed out to confront the other children’s parents.
“How could your child throw a stone at someone?!” her mother had screamed.
“Kids don’t know any better,” one of the parents retorted, fully aware of what their child had done.
“Not knowing any better is an excuse to do anything?
You should have taught him not to!
She could have been seriously hurt!”
“I’m just saying, kids make mistakes!”
“This wasn’t a mistake!”
“My son said it was!”
“Everyone, please, calm down…”
“How can I be calm?
Look at my daughter’s forehead!
This wound!”
“Well, maybe if you hadn’t adopted such a strange child…” another parent muttered.
As the argument escalated, the blame shifted from the perpetrator to Elena herself.
“Tsk, bringing a weird kid into the village just sours the mood.”
“That’s right.
If they hadn’t taken that thing in, our children wouldn’t be so scared.” The other parents nodded in agreement.
“Have you all said your piece?” her mother’s voice was dangerously low.
“What?
Did we say something untrue?”
“Why did you pick up that monster anyway!”
In this village, Elena’s very existence was a sin.
She was terrified, the hostility in the air a heavy weight pressing down on her.
She just wanted her mother to stop fighting, to go home and be with the only people who loved her.
She hated the adults’ savage glares.
Even the children who had thrown the stones were now staring at her, blaming her for the commotion.
The collective weight of their accusation was a sharp, painful blow.
She couldn’t bring herself to call out, only clutching her mother’s dress.
Her mother shielded her with her body.
“I told you not to speak like that!
Elena is just a child!
How many times do I have to say it for you to understand?”
“A newborn baby, found perfectly fine at the village entrance?
That makes no sense!
The fact that she wasn’t eaten by monsters is all the proof we need!”
‘Disgusting.
Monster.’ Contemptuous glares rained down on her from all sides.
“Don’t you dare look at my child like that,” her mother snarled.
“And don’t change the subject.
Your children threw the stones.
They are the ones at fault!”
“Like I said, that’s just what happens when kids play…”
“When they play?’ Is throwing stones a normal part of playing?
Perhaps I should get rough, too?”
At the threat, the villagers’ expressions hardened.
Everyone knew the couple who ran the general store possessed formidable strength.
Those who had been trying to brush it off now became defensive.
“Aren’t you being a little sensitive over a squabble between children?”
“It’s something that can be overlooked.”
“Oh my, so inflexible.”
“Aren’t you going too far?
Are you threatening your fellow villagers?”
Elena’s mother had known they were narrow-minded, but their utter lack of remorse was infuriating.
“What am I doing?
My family is moving out!
You can all have your precious little town to yourselves!
Honey, go pack our things!”
Her father, who had been watching silently, turned without a word and headed for the store.
Seeing them actually prepare to leave, a wave of panic rippled through the crowd.
The villagers relied on the couple for goods from the outside.
They also depended on them to sell their hunting spoils, saving them the dangerous trip to other towns.
If Elena’s family left, that burden—and that danger—would fall on them.
They didn’t need Elena, but they desperately needed her parents.
A flurry of subtle glances passed between them.
“Ahem.
Now, you seem a bit too worked up.”
“Why would you move out over a little thing like this?”
“Yes!
We’re moving over a ‘little thing like this’!
I will not live in a village where I have to fear for my child’s safety!”
As she spun around, a village elder finally stepped in to mediate.
“I will personally ensure the children are taught never to throw stones again.
You all won’t do it again, will you?” he added, his tone stern.
The children, hiding behind their parents, mumbled their assent.
“Yes.”
“We won’t do it again.”
But a half-hearted promise wasn’t enough for her mother.
“And?”
“What else is needed?” the elder asked.
“An apology!
If you hurt someone, you apologize!”
“Ahem.
Right, children.
You must apologize.”
The children shuffled their feet, glancing at the adults before mumbling their sorries.
“Sorry.”
“Sorry for throwing the stone.”
“It was my fault.”
But the boy who had thrown the first stone, the one who had actually cut her forehead, remained silent.
Prodded by the villagers’ glares, his father finally stepped forward.
“I apologize.
My son is a bit timid and overreacted.”
It was a reluctant apology wrapped in an excuse, blaming Elena for scaring his son.
‘What tiresome people.’ Her mother was well aware of their selfish nature, but it was infuriating to see it on full display.
Despite her strong words, her mother had no real intention of leaving.
As long as Elena couldn’t control her strength, the same thing would happen wherever they went.
‘It’s better for Elena to avoid crowded places.’ Her parents had no choice but to accept the hollow apology.
“This is your final warning,” her mother said, her voice like ice.
“If our child is harmed again, we will not hold back.”
“Understood,” the elder promised.
“We give you our word.”
After that day, the children never hurt Elena again.
“It’s Elena.”
“Don’t play with her.”
“Hey, guys…”
“Let’s go!”
Instead, they simply and openly avoided her.
For a long, long time.
‘Being different is quite lonesome.’ So Elena had decided to become ordinary.
She had desperately worked to control her strength, to suppress it so she could fit in.
Over the years, a deep chasm had formed between her true abilities and what she allowed herself to use.
In other words, there was a disconnect between her instincts and her conscious perception.
That was why she hadn’t noticed Jayden in her garden until she nearly tripped over him and why she hadn’t sensed his family’s arrival until they were standing before her.
Therefore, she also hadn’t detected the demonic beast until it was practically on top of her now.
Her instincts had screamed that an enemy was approaching, but her conscious mind only registered the threat when she saw it with her own eyes.
Her heart pounded at the sight of the creature.
‘Krrrrr.’
Now she understood why they were called ‘demonic’ beasts.
The thing was shrouded in an unnerving, shimmering blackness, utterly different from a common monster.
If not for its vividly colored golden eyes, she might not have believed it was alive at all because of its bizarre and grotesque form.
It was watching her, its gaze intense, as if studying a curious new specimen.
It didn’t seem poised to attack immediately.
‘It probably thinks I’m easy prey.’
Elena moved slowly, deliberately, not wanting to provoke it.
The yellow eyes tracked her every motion.
‘Grrrrrr.’
As it observed her, she observed it.
It stood about three meters tall—not a full-grown adult, just as she’d guessed from the tracks.
With only its eyes visible, its expression was unreadable.
Then, its vertically slit pupils narrowed.
The black hide below its eyes split open, revealing a maw of razor-sharp teeth.
‘KRAAAAA!’
The corners of its mouth curled upward in what looked chillingly like a predator’s joyful grin.
Its assessment was complete.
In the next instant, it charged.
Watching it rush toward her, Elena’s heart hammered against her ribs.
Fear, cold and sharp, rose in her throat.
But then, a strange calm descended.
The world seemed to move in slow motion.
‘Thump.
Thump.
Thump.’
Her own heartbeat slowed to a heavy, deliberate rhythm.
It was bizarre.
The danger was imminent, the beast’s ferocious aura washing over her, promising to tear her to shreds.
And yet, she felt no fear.
Through her dreams, she had witnessed the lives of countless others.
Among them was a man who people called a hero.
Heroes weren’t born; they were forged in endless trials, fighting again and again until they emerged victorious.
Elena had seen every one of his battles.
She had seen an age of despair, when demonic beasts swarmed the land and humanity was nothing but prey.
The hero had slain countless beasts to protect the innocent.
Having lived that life through her dreams, Elena knew their weaknesses.
And her own gifted body could, to some extent, replicate the hero’s techniques.
She drew a dagger from her belt.
‘GRAAAH!’
The beast closed the distance, swinging a long, powerful arm.
The air whooshed with the force of the blow.
‘But I can dodge this.’
Elena pushed off the balls of her feet, taking a single step back.
‘CRASH!’
The beast’s fist slammed into the ground where she had just stood, leaving a deep crater.
‘And I can counterattack.’ Elena moved without thinking, her body following the phantom instructions in her mind.
She vaulted onto the beast’s outstretched arm and ran up it.
‘Grrr?’
Its prey having vanished from sight, the beast tilted its head back, searching for her.
At that exact moment, Elena dropped from above, putting her entire body weight behind the strike, aiming for a single point.
‘POW!’
Her dagger plunged into the luminous yellow eye.
She twisted the blade for good measure before leaping back.
As Elena landed lightly on her feet, the beast’s massive body crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
Silence returned to the forest, and her sense of time snapped back to normal.
She flicked her dagger, shaking off the dark blood.
Her first demonic beast hunt had been surprisingly easy.
There was no time to process it.
Though the fight was quick, the noise might have attracted others.
‘My parents’ trail!’
She had to find it before another beast appeared.
Elena resumed her search, her eyes darting everywhere.
She stopped.
Caught on an unnaturally broken branch was another piece of blue cloth.
It was small, only the size of two finger joints, and easy to miss.
Upon closer inspection, it was clearly another piece of the cloth Mister Paul had brought.
Without a doubt, he had left it there on purpose, expecting that a search would be conducted soon.
Her theory from earlier solidified more and more.
Her parents were taking a treacherous route to hide their tracks, but they were intentionally leaving a trail of clues.
This could only mean one thing.
‘Are my parents being chased?’
Elena trusted them, believed they could handle almost anything.
But if someone was hunting them—someone who posed a threat to them—then they were facing a formidable enemy.
‘Why didn’t I start looking sooner?’ She was flooded with regret for her complacency.
With renewed urgency, Elena began to follow the trail earnestly.