Awakening

The scent of blood hung thick in the air. Dain stood amidst the carnage, his breath

coming in ragged gasps. The two goblin corpses at his feet were already cooling, their twisted faces frozen in expressions of rage and surprise. The other two had fled, vanishing into the thick underbrush, their shrill cries fading into the distance.

For a long moment, he didn't move.

His hands trembled as he stared at the blood-streaked pitchfork clutched in his grip. The metal prongs, once rusted and dull, now gleamed with fresh crimson. His chest rose and fell in shallow, controlled breaths. He should have been dead.

But he wasn't.

The glowing, ethereal text still hovered before his eyes.

[System Online]

[User: Dain Varrow]

[Status: Critical Condition]

[Emergency Protocols Engaged]

[Skill Unlocked: Last Stand (Passive)]

The words pulsed faintly in his vision before slowly fading, as if embedding themselves into his very being.

Dain let out a shaky breath, trying to process what had just happened. His body still ached, and the wound in his side throbbed dully. He should have been writhing in pain, gasping for breath, yet here he was—standing. Breathing.

Moving.

He glanced down at his arm, where a deep gash still oozed blood. The goblins had cut him deep. And yet… he felt stronger than he ever had before.

The system.

The stories had always spoken of it as something lost to time, a relic of the past.

But now—he had seen it. Felt it. It had saved his life.

But why now? Why him?

Dain shook his head. Those were questions for another time. Right now, he needed to

get back to the village. He wasn't sure how long this strange power would last, and the last thing he needed was to collapse in the middle of the wilderness.

Gritting his teeth, he took a step forward.

The world seemed… different.

His senses were sharper. The rustling of the wind through the trees, the distant chirping of birds, even the subtle movement of the leaves overhead—it was as if everything had become clearer. More real.

His muscles still ached, but beneath the pain, there was something else—a deep, thrumming energy, as if his very body had been reforged.

[Skill Unlocked: Endurance (Lv.1)]

 • Stamina drains 10% slower.

 • Physical resilience slightly increased.

Another message flashed before his eyes. His steps faltered.

He wasn't imagining it. The system was still active.

And it was evolving.

A mix of fear and exhilaration coursed through him. He had no idea how it worked, no idea what had changed inside him, but one thing was clear—he was not the same man who had left Eldrin's Hollow this morning.

He had to keep moving.

Dain forced himself forward, gripping the pitchfork tightly as he made his way back toward the village.

The sun was beginning to set by the time he reached Eldrin's Hollow. The small collection of homes and farms nestled between rolling hills and thick forests looked the same as always—simple, quiet, unchanged.

Dain paused at the edge of the village, his heart hammering in his chest.

Would they notice? Would they see that something was different?

He exhaled slowly and stepped forward.

The main path through the village was mostly empty at this hour. Most of the farmers had retired to their homes, and the few who remained were tending to their animals or finishing their daily chores.

As he passed by a group of villagers near the well, an older man, Garrik, frowned in his direction. "Dain? What happened to you?" he asked, eyes narrowing at the blood on his clothes.

Dain hesitated. He hadn't thought about what he would say.

"I… was attacked by goblins," he admitted.

A murmur spread through the small group.

"Goblins?" Garrik's expression darkened. "Where?"

"Near the old watchtower," Dain replied. "Four of them. I fought them off."

The villagers exchanged uneasy glances.

"You fought off four goblins alone?" Another man, Edric, asked skeptically.

Dain nodded, gripping his pitchfork. "Two ran. The other two didn't."

Edric's brow furrowed. "You should be dead."

"I should be," Dain admitted.

A long silence stretched between them.

Garrik's gaze swept over him, lingering on the cuts and bloodstains. "You need to see the healer," he finally said. "Come. Let's get you cleaned up."

Dain hesitated but nodded. There was no point in arguing. As he followed Garrik toward the healer's home, he couldn't shake the feeling that something had shifted. The people of Eldrin's Hollow were simple folk, not

given to suspicion or paranoia. But even they could sense something was different.

And if they could feel it, then others would too.

The healer, an elderly woman named Maelin, clicked her tongue disapprovingly as she examined his wounds.

"These cuts should hurt more than they do," she muttered, dabbing a cloth against his skin. "Strange."

Dain stayed silent.

Maelin was no fool. She had tended to him many times before, and she knew how wounds should behave. But how could he explain what had happened? That something

inside him had awakened? That he could still see the glowing text in his mind?

She glanced at him, sharp eyes studying his face. "You're hiding something," she said simply.

Dain tensed.

Maelin sighed. "I won't press. But be careful, boy. You walk a dangerous path."

He nodded, swallowing hard.

She finished dressing his wounds and sent him on his way.

As he stepped out into the cool evening air, his thoughts swirled with uncertainty. The system was back. And somehow, it had chosen him.

What did it mean?

What else could it do?

And, most importantly—was he the only one?

That night, sleep did not come easily.

Dain lay awake in his small home, staring up at the wooden ceiling as questions circled in his mind. His body still thrummed with that strange energy, the echoes of the battle still fresh in his memory.

Then, as his eyes grew heavy, another message appeared before him.

[New Quest Unlocked: The Forgotten Path]

Objective: Uncover the secrets of the lost system.

Reward: ???

Dain's heart pounded.

A quest.

The system wasn't just back—it was guiding him.

And this was only the beginning.