A black carriage rolled softly along the dirt path, its mana wheels humming just above a whisper.
Then it stopped.
The door creaked open, and Kael stepped down—now dressed in mismatched leather armor.
Not by choice.
His size wasn't available in anything iron-clad.
It seemed Kaelion had never gone on 'adventures.'
Selene followed, her boots clicking sharply against the ground.
Her battle outfit was... efficient, with a few too many stylish flourishes to be practical.
She clearly knew exactly how much skin to show to distract a mage mid-casting.
Kael didn't bring guards.
He considered this a "training arc" in his new life, and hiring help felt like cheating.
He turned back to the driver and opened his mouth.
"Oh—you can head ba—"
But the driver was already gone.
The carriage turned without hesitation, wheels shrieking faintly as it peeled off down the path like it owed someone money.
Kael stared after it.
Selene stared at him.
Awkward silence.
The wind made a small, judgmental noise through the trees.
Kael sighed and muttered,
"I really need to improve my status in the house."
Selene chuckled softly.
"After winning the duel, maybe you can."
He nodded.
Encouraged.
For a moment, it felt like she was genuinely on his side.
Then she added, with a sly smile,
"And with your rise in status… mine rises too."
Kael blinked.
Speechless.
His slave had just openly admitted to power-climbing through him.
He looked at her, fully intending to say something sharp—but then his brain short-circuited halfway through the sentence.
Because she was standing there in her battle gear—tight, tactical, and entirely too flattering for something called "combat-appropriate."
He zoned out for a second, eyes trailing where they shouldn't.
Selene caught the stare, cheeks reddening.
"Where exactly are you looking?" she snapped.
Kael flinched.
"Why are you even wearing that?!"
His tone came out more jealous than intended.
He, after all, was sweating inside a musty set of borrowed leather armor that smelled like boiled goat.
Selene raised an eyebrow.
"This is enchanted," she said.
"My defense spell handles the rest.
Style is just a perk."
Kael squinted at her suspiciously.
Then his eyes lit up with sudden greed.
"Wait. Defense spell? How many Rank 1 spells do you know?"
She held up three fingers.
"Three.
One's Moonblade.
Another's basically the same—different name, slightly wider arc.
And the third…" she smirked, "Enhances body parts with mana."
Kael "coughed".
"Body parts?"
"Arms. Legs. Reflexes," she said, 'entirely too innocently'.
He tried not to think about that too hard.
"Alright," he said, regaining focus.
"Teach me that last one."
Some time later, a soft chime echoed in Kael's mind.
[Congratulations]
[You have mastered a Rank 1 spell: Amplification]
[Spell Slot Used: 2/7]
"Perfect," Kael muttered, satisfied.
Selene was still staring at him, wide-eyed.
"That's the second time," she whispered.
"Your aptitude really is… heaven-defying."
Kael grinned.
"I am the protagonist, baby."
She rolled her eyes.
"Don't get smug.
It's always easy to learn spells of the same rank as your current level.
The challenge is learning anything above that."
"Yeah, yeah," Kael said, waving her off.
"Let me enjoy the moment."
They continued their trek.
Eventually, they reached the foot of Mount Veilspire.
Kael slowed, glancing around.
Since the carriage had unceremoniously dumped them in that nameless little village hours ago, they hadn't passed a single house.
Not even a shed.
Just trees.
More trees.
And ominous silence.
He looked up at the mountain.
The base was draped in lush green forest.
But higher up, the green gave way to jagged gray cliffs, and above that—ice.
Bleached white and unnervingly still.
It looked less like a place and more like a punishment.
Kael sighed.
Hiking. Of course.
The path to the mountain's summit stretched ahead like a bad decision that had already been made.
They began the climb.
Kael fully expected to be wheezing like a dying hound within thirty minutes.
Maybe less, if the incline got any steeper or the guilt of skipping leg day in every past life started catching up.
But strangely… he felt fine.
No burning lungs. No jelly knees.
Just a steady pace and an odd sense that his body had quietly upgraded itself while he wasn't looking.
He figured it had to be the spells—Selene did say magic mutates the body, makes it stronger over time.
Either that, or I've finally unlocked my protagonist metabolism.
Around them, the forest thickened.
Wind bit colder.
And the distant howls and growls of mountain beasts became clearer… closer.
Kael glanced at Selene.
She looked entirely unbothered, as usual—boots silent, gaze calm, expression somewhere between "alert" and "mildly bored of danger."
Then—
WHOOOMPH—rrrhhhhhhh…
A roar rolled through the trees like thunder dragged across gravel.
They both stopped.
Kael's breath hitched.
Selene's eyes narrowed.
The sound faded, but the forest held its breath.
Kael's heart thudded once, loud in his chest.
'Alright then,' he thought, straightening.
'Time for the Main Character Moment.'
He stepped forward dramatically.
Selene blinked, vaguely impressed.
Was her master… brave?
She followed his line of sight, scanning the treeline where the sound had come from.
Then they heard it.
Footsteps. Heavy. Wet.
Crunching snow.
A shadow moved between the trees.
And from it emerged—
A wolf.
Or something that might've once resembled a wolf, before someone dunked it in ice, nightmares, and bad intentions.
Its fur crackled with frost. Its eyes glowed a sickly blue.
Snow clung to its limbs like armor.
Selene's voice was calm.
"Frostmane. Rank 1 beast. Tougher than most."
She stepped forward confidently.
"Let me handle it."
She looked to Kael for approval—only to realize, with slight confusion, that he was no longer beside her.
Her eyes darted back.
Kael was behind her.
Way behind her.
He squinted from a safe distance and called out,
"What are you staring at? Kill it already!"
Selene sighed.
And here I was, thinking my master was brave.
At least he wasn't reckless.
Unlike certain idiotic young nobles who thought a good jawline made them invincible.
Meanwhile, Kael was behind her thinking something very different.
'Which idiot fights that?'
'It looks like a murder statue that learned to walk.
'I'm not dying for a tutorial boss.'
Just as he was about to mentally commit to a lifetime of tactical hiding, the system chimed:
[Mission: First Hunt]
[Slay the Rank 1 Beast – Reward: ???]
Kael stared at the message.
Then at the beast.
Then very quietly muttered, "Right. I'm that idiot."