The Emperor stood by the window and watched snow fall over the palace gardens until it covered them in white. Behind him, Duke Aldric had not moved in minutes. His face was tense. On the floor, the royal knight still knelt, breathing hard after running to deliver his report.
"The prisoner escaped into the Ancient Forest," he said again, as if saying it twice would make it easier to believe.
The Emperor said nothing for a long time. The room felt cold, but not from the weather. It was the silence that made it feel that way. Finally he opened his eyes. "Seal every road around Frostfang Forest."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The knight bowed his head.
Duke Aldric stepped forward. "Should I send the elite hunters?"
The Emperor shook his head slowly. "No hunter will survive the Ancient Forest." His voice stayed calm, but something heavy sat underneath it.
"Then what do we do?" Aldric asked.
The Emperor looked toward the distant mountains. "Watch the Seventh Prince closely."
Aldric’s eyes went wide. "Theon?"
The Emperor did not answer. He did not need to. His silence was answer enough.
Theon woke to the sound of marching boots and shouting, armor clanging against armor, orders being called out across the courtyard. He was up and at the balcony before he even understood what he was hearing.
Below him, the palace grounds were full of guards. Royal knights moved in groups. Mages cast detection spells along the outer walls. Overnight, the palace had turned into a fortress.
"What happened?" he said quietly, just as his maid rushed into the room.
"Young Master! A very dangerous criminal escaped from the underground prison."
His heart jumped. "The underground prison?"
"Yes. The guards say he is extremely powerful. The whole palace is on the lookout for him." She lowered her voice. "They say he could become a great threat to the empire."
"Where did he go?"
She swallowed hard. "Frostfang Forest. No, deeper than that. He went into the Ancient Forest."
Theon’s eyes narrowed. "The Ancient Forest..."
"No one can follow him there," the maid said, shivering. "SSS Class beasts live inside. Even strong adventurers stay away. People say anyone who goes in never comes back."
A cold feeling settled in Theon’s chest. So the warning from the World Archive had not just been in his head. Someone had really escaped, and somehow the Archive had known before anyone told him.
That was when he noticed the raven.
It sat on the balcony railing, dark eyes fixed on him, not moving at all. Something about it felt wrong, not like any normal bird. The maid noticed it too and shivered again. "What a strange raven."
Theon kept staring at it, and the raven did not blink even once. He walked across the room and pulled open the balcony door. Cold air rushed in. The raven stayed still for one more second, then it disappeared. It did not fly away. It just vanished, as if it had never been there.
He stepped outside and looked around. No feathers. No shadow. Nothing at all.
He was watching us. The escaped man had to be connected to the raven somehow. Theon’s hand curled into a fist. If this man could spy on the palace like this, he was more dangerous than anyone thought.
"What could he want?" he asked the empty air. No answer came, and after a moment he let the question go. You won’t know until you try.
But another thought followed right behind it. If he was going to face someone this dangerous, he needed to get stronger first.
He turned back into the room. "I won’t be eating this morning. Tell my teachers I won’t attend today either."
"Y yes, Young Master," the maid stammered, clearly caught off guard, but he was already walking out the door. This time he did not head for the courtyard. He walked toward the oldest part of the palace, toward the Imperial Archive.
The Archive was silent. Dust drifted through the light coming in from the tall windows. Rows of old books stretched back into the dark. Theon walked past the sections everyone knew and into the one almost nobody visited, until he stood in front of a heavy stone bookshelf.
He pressed his palm against a mark carved into its side.
Click.
The shelf shook and a narrow passage opened behind it. Cold air drifted out from the dark below. "So there really was a secret room," he said quietly, and he stepped through before he could think twice. The passage closed behind him.
The staircase went down for a long time, and the air grew colder with every step. Faint blue crystals were set into the walls, just enough light to see by. Eventually the stairs opened into a chamber much bigger than he expected. Old magic circles covered the floor. Old runes climbed the walls, and the ceiling rose up so high he could not see the top of it.
"It’s perfect," he whispered. No guards, no servants, no teachers. No one to see what he was about to do.
He walked to the center and opened his status.
Dark Affinity
Shadow Magic Lv.1
"Let’s change that," he said, and he gathered his mana. Dark energy spread beneath his feet like smoke.
"Shadow Leap."
He vanished and reappeared several meters away, then did it again and again, until the chamber was flickering with shadow after almost half an hour of practice, sweat running down his face. Then a notification appeared.
Shadow Leap has leveled up. Lv.1 to Lv.2. Maximum Range: 6 meters.
His eyes lit up. He tried it once more. This time the distance was clearly longer. "Much better."
Next he raised his hand and gathered dark mana in his palm. "Shadow Strike." A black dagger took shape, then another, then a spear, then a short sword. The blade shook but held together. He swung it through the air and it cut clean through a stone pillar, splitting it in half with a loud crack.
Shadow Strike has leveled up. Lv.1 to Lv.2. Can now create multiple shadow weapons at the same time.
"So control really does get better with practice," he said, catching his breath, and that was when the system started ringing again and again, faster than he could read.
Fen had been busy.
Fen has defeated a Frost Bull. Plus 12,500 EXP
Fen has defeated an Ice Fang Tiger. Plus 9,800 EXP
Fen has defeated a Crystal Bear. Plus 11,200 EXP
Fen has defeated a Snow Serpent. Plus 8,600 EXP
Fen has defeated a Frozen Rhino. Plus 13,400 EXP
Fen has defeated a Glacier Panther. Plus 10,700 EXP
Fen has defeated a Storm Wolf. Plus 9,300 EXP
Fen has defeated a White Mammoth. Plus 14,600 EXP
Fen has defeated a Frost Drake. Plus 15,200 EXP
Fen has defeated an Ice Titan Ape. Plus 14,700 EXP
Total EXP Gained: 120,000
Theon laughed without meaning to. "Fen, you’re working harder than I am."
Level Up: 12 to 17. Total Stat Points Earned: 25.
He put the points in without much thought. Strength plus 7, Agility plus 6, Intelligence plus 6, Speed plus 6. He felt warmth spread through his body, his muscles tightening, his senses sharpening, even the mana in the air feeling clearer than before. "So this is what leveling up feels like," he said, and closed the screen.
"Fen, return."
A magic circle appeared on the floor and cold air burst out as the giant white wolf stepped through, bigger now than Theon remembered. He opened Fen’s status.
Fen
Race: Primordial Frost Fenrir
Rank: SS+
Level: 50
New Skill Acquired: Telepathy
Theon froze. "Telepathy?"
Master. The voice came straight into his mind, calm and steady. He stared at the wolf. "You can talk?"
"Not with my mouth," Fen said, the words forming in his thoughts instead of the air. "With my mind."
Theon blinked, then smiled slowly. "This is incredible."
Fen’s tail moved slightly. "It will make talking easier."
Theon’s face turned serious. "Fen, do you know anything about the Ancient Forest?"
Fen went quiet, and for the first time Theon saw something like hesitation in the wolf’s eyes. "The reason humans fear that place is not only the SSS Class beasts," he said at last.
"Then what is it?"
"The ruler of the forest. The Primordial Frost Dragon."
Theon’s heart jumped. "The dragon is real?"
"Yes. It existed before the empire, before most races. It has lived since the earliest age of the world."
"What rank is it?"
Fen looked at him directly. "Humans call it SSSS+."
A chill went through Theon. "What kind of power does it have?"
"One breath from the Primordial Frost Dragon could freeze an entire continent," Fen said. "If it truly wanted to, it could destroy most of the world. But it has slept in the Ancient Forest for countless years."
Theon let out a slow breath. "Then why would that escaped man go somewhere like that?"
"Because he knew no human would follow him."
Theon thought of the raven. "And the beasts, why didn’t they attack him?"
"He may have used a transformation spell, or something to hide his scent," Fen said. "If the beasts cannot tell he is human, many of them will just ignore him."
It all connected in Theon’s mind at once. The raven. The disappearance. The warning. The escape. "He planned this from the start," Theon said.
"Yes."
He looked up, toward the world above them. "Then he’s not running away. He’s waiting for something."
Neither of them said anything for a while after that.
By the time Theon left the secret room, the sky outside had already turned orange. He walked back through the quiet halls, thinking over everything he had learned, the dragon, the forest, the escaped man, the raven on his balcony. None of it felt like a coincidence anymore.
He was still turning it over in his head when he reached the hallway to his room and stopped himself. If that man really is hiding in the Ancient Forest, I can’t just ignore it. If he becomes a threat to Lyra, or to the palace, I need to know before it’s too late.
"I’ll go tonight," he said quietly, and had just started walking again when a knock came at the door.
"Come in."
Lyra stepped inside, and the moment he saw her his face softened. She was pale, her silver hair messy, her hands shaking. She walked over quickly and grabbed his sleeve.
"Theon. I’m scared."
He turned serious right away. "What happened?"
"Ever since I heard about the man who escaped, I haven’t been able to rest." She paused. "I keep hearing voices."
"Voices?"
"They call me." She pointed toward the window. "Toward Frostfang Forest."
The room went still. "I don’t understand," Theon said.
"Neither do I." She wrapped her arms around herself. "When I’m alone, I feel like I should walk toward the forest. A few minutes ago I almost left my room without even realizing it. One of the maids stopped me."
Theon’s jaw tightened. The escaped man. The raven. And now this. He no longer believed these were separate things.
Lyra’s grip on his sleeve got tighter. "What’s happening to me?"
He did not really have an answer, but he put a hand on her shoulder anyway. "Listen to me. You’re not alone. As long as you’re with me, I won’t let anything happen to you."
Her shaking eased a little, and she nodded.
He had planned to go into the forest alone. But after hearing this, there was no way he would leave her behind. If the voices were real, the palace might not be any safer than the forest.
"Lyra."
"Yes?"
"I need to go somewhere tonight. Frostfang Forest."
Her eyes went wide. "The forest?"
"I need to find out what’s happening before it gets worse." He paused. "Will you come with me?"
She looked down at her hands and said nothing for a few seconds. Then she nodded. "I’ll come."
A small smile crossed his face. "Good."
He checked his status one last time. Level 17. Shadow Magic Lv.2. Fen at Level 50. He closed the screen. It would have to be enough.
"Stay close to me," he told her.
"I will."
He summoned Fen, and the wolf stepped through the cold circle of light without a sound. Lyra’s eyes widened at the sight of him, but she did not step back.
Fen bowed his head. "Master."
"We’re going to Frostfang Forest."
Fen was quiet for a moment, then nodded. "I understand."
Night had fully fallen by the time the three of them slipped out through a side gate. The moon hung high over trees heavy with snow. Cold wind bit at their faces. Ahead, the forest waited, dark, silent, watching.
Deep within that same forest, the escaped man sat inside a hidden cave, a pool of dark water rippling in front of him. On its surface, he watched Theon, Lyra, and Fen step into Frostfang Forest.
A slow smile appeared across his face. "Good..."
His golden eyes gleamed in the dark. "Bring her to me." The smile faded, and his voice turned cold as he stared into the water as if he were staring straight at Theon himself.
"And when you do, you will finally face your doom, Seventh Prince."