Morning came quietly.
Fog blanketed the road in a thick, pale veil, swallowing the trees and softening the world into muted shapes. The air was damp and cold, clinging to skin and fabric alike.
Zen and the others were already moving.
The cart rolled steadily along the dirt path, its wheels crunching softly against gravel and loose stone. Hooves thudded in slow rhythm, the horse's breath visible in faint white clouds.
Sunlight struggled through the mist.
Thin rays escaped through small openings in the fog, slicing faint lines of gold across the road before disappearing again.
Zen, Zaki, and Dhaka sat inside the cart while Ikuru guided the horse along the fog-covered road.
The wooden wheels creaked softly with each turn. The rhythm was steady. Unhurried.
Cold air slipped in through the thin canvas cover.
It was the kind of morning chill that didn't bite sharply—but lingered. Quiet. Persistent.
Zaki rubbed her hands together, fingers slightly red from the cold. She brought them close to her lips and exhaled warm breath into her palms.
A small cloud formed.
Then faded.
She repeated the motion again, shoulders slightly hunched.
Dhaka sat opposite her, arms folded, posture straight despite the cold. He didn't complain.
Zen sat near the edge of the cart's opening, gaze fixed on the fog ahead.
For a while, only the sound of wheels and hooves filled the cart.
Then—
Zen's voice cut through the quiet.
"I wanted to ask this last night," he said evenly, eyes still on the road ahead. "But it didn't feel like the right time."
He finally shifted his gaze toward them.
"If you don't mind telling me…"
A brief pause.
"What were you doing in that forest?"
Dhaka looked at Zaki amd turned towards zen .
"We dont mind you saved so naturally I can say it .we are merchant some one attacked us so to escape from them we took the forest route .We thought we could reach the capital city faster that way ."
The cart continued rolling through the fog.
Zen did not respond immediately.
His gaze remained forward, steady, unreadable.
"Capital city…" he repeated quietly.
"Ho I see" Zen said .
Any one can say is was fabricated lie i don't think they were merchant .But I'am not sure about that but I can tell they're hiding something.
Should I ask the name of their merchant company?
…No. Let it be.
I should just keep quiet and mind my own business.
Even Zen's destination, for now, was the capital city of the dukedom.
He could have suggested that they travel together.
But he chose not to.
He wanted to go there alone.
He didn't want anyone joining him.
He didn't know what else to talk about.
He never liked trivial conversations.
Nor was he interested in listening to them.
So he chose to remain silent and turned his attention back to the road.
"Hey, Red. Show me the Battle Essence I got from my hunt."
Red replied calmly, "I thought you wouldn't ask."
A translucent screen appeared before Zen.
Beasts Killed = D-Rank ×2
Battle Essence = 40
"So I got 20 BE per beast… not bad," Zen muttered internally.
If he had hunted E-rank beasts instead, he would have needed to kill twenty of them just to match this amount.
This clearly showed the difference between ranks.
Red's voice echoed in his mind.
"Even so, you can't keep challenging D-rank beasts recklessly. The time you spend recovering from injuries will outweigh the Battle Essence you gain. If yesterday's fight repeats, your survival probability decreases significantly."
Zen's gaze remained steady on the road ahead.
"I understand."
A brief silence passed.
"But hunting only E-rank beasts is inefficient. I would need to kill them in the thousands just to make noticeable progress."
His tone carried no impatience. Only calculation.
"Growth without risk is stagnation."
Another pause.
"If I avoid every dangerous fight… I'll remain exactly where I am."
Red's voice returned, this time carrying a faint trace of pride.
"That is the correct mindset. An optimal one."
A slight pause.
"However, caution remains necessary. Yesterday was a special case. Those were unique beasts with abnormal agility. Furthermore, you faced two simultaneously."
The system's tone sharpened slightly.
"If you avoid entering such unfavorable situations, you can progress efficiently without excessive injury or wasted recovery time."
A beat.
"You are already far stronger than an ordinary human—especially with balanced stats across all attributes."
Zen's voice carried a faint trace of pride at Red's compliment.
Who wouldn't want to stand at the top among their peers?
Everyone wants to be number one at what they do.
A small smirk formed at the corner of his lips.
"Yes… it's all thanks to my magnificent system."
Red's voice came out smug.
"So, you do know how to appreciate me."
Zen let out a quiet breath through his nose.
"Don't get ahead of yourself."
Their banter continued silently within his mind, light and fleeting — a contrast to the cold road stretching ahead.
It was night.
A pale moon hung in the sky, surrounded by countless stars scattered like diamonds across a vast black carpet.
The world was unnaturally still.
No wind moved.
No insects hummed.
Even the trees seemed frozen — as if something had ordered the night itself not to breathe.
Zen and the others sat inside the cart, resting after the long journey.
The wheels rolled steadily along the mountain path.
Then Ikuru's voice came from the front.
"We'll be reaching a town up ahead."
Zen spoke calmly. "Then let's stay in the town for tonight."
The cart moved forward a few more meters.
Soon, smoke became visible in the distance.
It wasn't like the thin trail of a campfire.
This smoke was thick.
Heavy.
It spread across the sky like dark mist, obscuring vision and swallowing the stars.
Ikuru's hands tightened on the reins.
"There's smoke up ahead," he announced, his tone laced with unease.
Zen pushed aside the canvas slightly and peeked out.
His mind filled with questions.
Even if something was burning… why should he care?
But still, he became cautious.
If it were a normal occurrence, Ikuru wouldn't have announced it.
When he looked ahead, he muttered aloud,
"Oh… damn."
It wasn't ordinary smoke.
It spread like a thick, suffocating mist, swallowing the entire area in dark, ashen gray. The sky above was no longer visible. The smoke was so dense it completely blocked one's view beyond a certain distance.
It was as if some cursed volcano had erupted ahead.
Zaki and Dhaka grew curious at Zen's reaction.
Why would he make that face?
They leaned out to look.
The moment their eyes fell on the scene, they froze.
Their mouths fell open.
Zaki instinctively brought her hand to her lips and gasped.
Zen stepped down from the cart and moved ahead to get a clearer view.
If there was this much smoke… then something massive must be burning.
No.
Massive wouldn't suffice.
It had to be gigantic.
He walked forward slowly.
And the scene that unfolded before his eyes—
It was something he would never forget.
The others soon followed and stood beside him.
They were at a high altitude now.
From there, they had a clear view of what was happening below.
Each of them wore a different expression.
Shock.
Disbelief.
Horror.
No one spoke.
They were struggling to process what they were seeing.
The entire town was on fire.
Not a single structure stood untouched. Flames devoured rooftops, streets, towers—everything. The blaze stretched endlessly, consuming the land in a sea of orange and black.
This wasn't a small village.
It was a vast settlement—sprawling across what must have been dozens of kilometers.
And it was burning.
Watching it from above felt unreal.
Like witnessing the end of the world.
Like standing inside a scene from an apocalypse.
No… it wasn't just fire. There was something more to it than a normal blaze.