The next week passed in a blur of training.
Every morning, Aren woke before dawn and went into the forest with Zephyra. She was a harsh teacher, pushing him to use his abilities over and over until his MP ran dry and he collapsed from exhaustion.
"Again," she'd say as he lay gasping on the ground.
"I'm out of MP," Aren would protest.
"Then wait for it to regenerate and do it again. You need to build your capacity. Push your limits."
So he did. Every day. Gust. Feather Fall. Running through the trees while Zephyra created wind currents to knock him off balance. Learning to sense the air, to feel changes in pressure and temperature.
Breeze and Spark watched from the sidelines, offering encouragement and occasionally getting in the way.
By the end of the week, Aren's Gust had leveled up to 3, and he could knock down small trees if he focused hard enough. His MP pool had grown from constant use.
But more importantly, his bond with Zephyra had strengthened.
[Bond Strength: 45% → 62%]
He could feel her emotions more clearly now. Her satisfaction when he did well. Her frustration when he made stupid mistakes. Her underlying happiness at having a shaman again after so long alone.
"You're getting better," Zephyra said on the seventh morning. "Slower than I'd like, but better."
"Thanks. I think," Aren said, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Don't let it go to your head. You're still weak. A Level 2 shaman with one contract. Any decent adventurer could kill you."
"Wow. Such encouragement."
Zephyra ruffled her feathers—her version of a laugh. "I'm keeping you alive by keeping you humble. The moment you think you're strong is the moment you get careless."
She had a point.
"Come on," Zephyra said. "Let's head back. You need actual food, not just MP potions."
As they walked back through the forest, Aren noticed something odd. The birds had gone quiet. Even the usual rustling of small animals had stopped.
His Spiritual Sense tingled. Danger.
"Zephyra—"
"I feel it too," she said, instantly alert. "Something's wrong."
Then Aren heard it. Shouting from the village. Screaming.
He ran.
…
Aren burst out of the forest to chaos.
The village square was in panic. People running, grabbing children, hiding in houses. And in the center of it all—
A monster.
It looked like a wolf, but wrong. Too big, easily the size of a horse. Its fur was matted and black, with red glowing eyes. Foam dripped from its jaws, and its body twitched with unnatural movements.
[CORRUPTED DIRE WOLF - LEVEL 18]
Status: Maddened, Diseased
HP: 850/850
The village guards—just farmers with spears—tried to hold it back, but the wolf was too fast. It lunged, and one guard screamed as massive jaws clamped on his arm.
"GET BACK!" Torrhen was there, bow drawn, firing arrows. They hit the wolf's hide but barely penetrated.
The wolf released the injured guard and turned toward a group of children frozen in fear near the well.
Aren didn't think. He just moved.
"GUST!"
Wind burst from his hands, stronger than he'd ever managed before. The blast hit the wolf mid-charge, knocking it sideways. It crashed into a market stall, wood splintering.
The children scrambled away, crying.
The wolf's red eyes locked onto Aren. It snarled, and the sound was like nothing natural. More like metal scraping metal.
"Aren, RUN!" Torrhen shouted.
But Aren couldn't run. If he did, the wolf would chase someone else. Someone weaker.
The wolf charged.
Aren raised his hands and used Gust again, but the wolf was ready this time. It dodged left, faster than something that size should move.
Then Zephyra struck.
She dove from Aren's shoulder, growing larger as she flew. Wind swirled around her like a miniature tornado. She slammed into the wolf's face, razor-sharp wind cutting across its eyes.
The wolf howled and stumbled, thrashing blindly.
"NOW!" Zephyra shouted. "Hit it while it's—"
The wolf's paw came out of nowhere.
It caught Zephyra mid-flight and smashed her into the ground. Hard.
Aren felt it through their bond. The impact. The pain. It was like getting hit himself.
[Zephyra HP: 145/200]
"ZEPHYRA!"
The wolf raised its paw to strike again—
An arrow punched through its shoulder. Then another. Torrhen, firing as fast as he could draw.
The wolf turned toward him, forgetting Zephyra.
Aren's mind raced. The wolf was Level 18. He was Level 2. In a straight fight, he'd die in seconds.
But he wasn't just a fighter. He was a shaman.
Aren activated Spirit Sight fully, looking at the wolf not with his eyes but with his spiritual senses.
And he saw it.
The wolf wasn't just sick or mad. It was corrupted. Dark spiritual energy wrapped around its body like chains, twisting it, driving it insane.
This wasn't a monster. It was a victim.
"Breeze! Spark!" Aren called. The two Lesser Spirits appeared from wherever they'd been hiding.
"Help Zephyra! Keep that wolf busy!"
"B-but we're not strong enough—" Breeze started.
"Just distract it! I need time!"
The two spirits looked at each other, then nodded. They zipped forward, Spark throwing tiny fireballs and Breeze creating small gusts of wind. Nothing that could hurt the wolf, but enough to annoy it.
Aren ran to Zephyra. She was struggling to stand, one wing bent wrong.
"Don't move," Aren said, placing his hand on her. He focused, channeling MP into the bond between them.
[MP: 153 → 103]
Zephyra's HP started climbing.
[Zephyra HP: 145/200 → 170/200]
Not fully healed, but better.
"What are you doing?" Zephyra gasped. "Save your MP for fighting—"
"We're not fighting," Aren said. "We're saving it."
He stood and faced the wolf. It had shaken off Spark and Breeze and was advancing again, limping from Torrhen's arrows but still deadly.
Aren took a deep breath.
He'd learned Purification from the skill list but never tried it. Too expensive, too risky. But looking at the corruption wrapped around the wolf, he knew it was the only way.
[SKILL: PURIFICATION (BASIC)]
Cost: 80 MP
Effect: Attempt to cleanse spiritual corruption from target
Success chance: Based on INT + WIS + SPI vs Corruption strength
Aren had 103 MP left. Enough for one try.
He raised his hands and focused on the dark energy around the wolf.
"I don't know if you can understand me," Aren said quietly. "But I'm going to try to help you."
He activated Purification.
MP drained out of him like water from a broken bucket. The world tilted, and Aren nearly fell. But he kept focusing, pouring spiritual energy into the wolf.
Light—pure white light—burst from his hands and surrounded the wolf.
The creature howled, thrashing. The corruption fought back, black energy crackling against white.
[Purification Roll: (INT 15 + WIS 21 + SPI 58) = 94 vs Corruption Strength 70]
SUCCESS!
The dark chains shattered.
The wolf collapsed, the red glow fading from its eyes. Its body shrank slightly, the unnatural mutations receding. It lay there panting, looking confused and scared.
[CORRUPTED DIRE WOLF]
Status: Purified
HP: 320/850 (Injured, Exhausted)
The village went silent. Everyone stared at Aren, who stood there swaying, completely out of MP.
[MP: 103 → 23]
The wolf slowly got to its feet. It looked at Aren with normal brown eyes—still a dangerous predator, but sane now. Aware.
For a long moment, they stared at each other.
Then the wolf lowered its head. A gesture of respect. Or maybe thanks.
It turned and limped away, disappearing into the forest.
Aren's legs gave out. He sat down hard on the ground.
"What…" Chief Rodrick's voice was shaky. "What did you just do?"
"I… I cleansed it," Aren said, too tired to lie. "It wasn't evil. Just corrupted. Sick."
"You saved the monster?" One of the guards sounded angry. "It nearly killed us!"
"It wasn't itself," Aren said firmly. "Something corrupted it. Made it go mad."
Torrhen walked over and helped Aren stand. "Whatever you did, you stopped it. That's what matters."
But the looks Aren was getting from the villagers… they weren't grateful. They were scared. Confused. Suspicious.
A Level 2 kid shouldn't be able to do what Aren just did. A Nature Mage shouldn't have purification abilities like that.
Chief Rodrick pushed forward. "Aren Valewood. That was… unusual magic. Very unusual. The Priestess will want to hear about this."
"The Priestess already suspects something's off about my class," Aren said. "This won't help."
"No," Rodrick agreed. "It won't."
Great. Just great.
…
That evening, Aren sat in his room while his mother tended the injured guard. The man would live, but his arm was badly mauled.
Zephyra perched on the windowsill, her wing still healing.
"That was reckless," she said.
"Yeah."
"You could have died."
"Yeah."
"But you saved everyone."
"Yeah."
Zephyra sighed. "You're too nice for your own good, shaman. The world will eat you alive if you keep trying to save everything."
"Maybe. But I'd rather die trying than live doing nothing."
She was quiet for a moment. Then: "Our bond strengthened during the fight. I felt it."
Aren pulled up his status.
[Bond Strength: 62% → 71%]
[Level Up! You are now Level 3!]
+5 Free Stat Points
+3 Class Points (Auto-assigned)
New Skill Unlocked: Purification (Basic) Lv1
"We're getting stronger," Aren said.
"Not fast enough. That wolf was only Level 18 and it nearly killed us. The capital will have enemies far worse."
Aren knew she was right. But what choice did he have? He couldn't just hide in the village forever.
A knock on the door. Torrhen came in, looking serious.
"We need to talk."
"About what?"
Torrhen closed the door and sat down. "About what you really are. That wasn't Nature Mage abilities, Aren. I've seen Nature Mages. They grow plants and talk to animals. They don't purify corrupted monsters with holy light."
Aren's stomach dropped. "Torrhen—"
"I'm not going to tell anyone," his brother said quickly. "You're family. I don't care what class you really have. But you need to be more careful. People are already talking. Saying you're dangerous. That your class is cursed."
"It's not cursed. It's just… different."
"Different how?"
Aren hesitated. Could he trust Torrhen with the truth?
"I'm not a Nature Mage," Aren said quietly. "The System… it hid my real class. To protect me, I think."
"What's your real class?"
"Ancient Shaman."
Torrhen blinked. "Shaman? Like the old legends? The spirit walkers?"
"Yeah."
"And that rank the System showed… A-rank…"
"Also fake. My real rank is…" Aren paused. Should he say it?
Zephyra spoke up from the window. "Tell him. If he's going to protect your secret, he needs to know what he's protecting."
Torrhen jumped. "Who said that?!"
"My contracted spirit," Aren said. "You can't see her, but she's right there."
Torrhen stared at the empty windowsill. "You have a spirit?"
"Yeah. Her name is Zephyra. She's a wind spirit."
"Hello, Aren's brother," Zephyra said.
Torrhen looked like his brain was breaking. "It… she… this is insane."
"Welcome to my life," Aren said. "And to answer your question—my real rank is SSS. Primordial. Whatever that means."
Torrhen sat there for a full minute, just processing.
Finally, he spoke. "You're the strongest person in the kingdom, aren't you?"
"No. Not even close. I'm Level 3. Most city guards are Level 20 or higher. I just have a weird class with weird abilities."
"But you'll get stronger."
"Hopefully."
Torrhen ran his hand through his hair. "Okay. Okay. So you're a secret super-class shaman with spirit powers. And you're going to the capital in three weeks where people will try to figure out what you are."
"That's the plan."
"That's a terrible plan."
"You have a better one?"
Torrhen thought about it. "Actually… yeah. I'm coming with you."
"What?"
"You need protection. Someone to watch your back. I'm Level 12 now, decent with a bow, and I know how to handle myself in a fight. Plus, I'm your brother. It's my job to keep you alive."
"Mom won't—"
"I already talked to Mom. She's scared about you going alone. If I go with you, she'll feel better. And honestly, so will I."
Aren felt his throat get tight. "You'd do that? Give up staying here to babysit your little brother?"
"You're not a baby anymore," Torrhen said. "You're a shaman. Apparently the first one in five hundred years. And whether you like it or not, that means you're important. Someone needs to make sure you don't die before you figure out what that means."
Aren couldn't speak. He just nodded.
"Alright then," Torrhen stood up. "We leave in three weeks. Until then, train hard. Get strong. Because the capital is going to eat you alive if you're not ready."
After Torrhen left, Aren lay back on his bed.
"Your brother is wise," Zephyra said. "You should listen to him."
"I know."
"And he's right. Three weeks isn't enough time. You need to level up fast."
"How? I can't just go fight monsters. I'm too weak."
"Then we find weak monsters. Things you can handle. Small dungeons. Corrupted animals. Build up slowly."
Aren sat up. "There's a dungeon near here. F-rank. Torrhen used to train there when he first got his class."
"Perfect. We start tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"Yes, tomorrow. The capital won't wait for you to be ready. So we make you ready as fast as possible."
Aren looked at his status screen. Level 3. Still pathetically weak by this world's standards.
But he had three weeks. Three weeks to grind levels, increase his bond with Zephyra, maybe contract another spirit or two.
Three weeks to become strong enough to survive whatever the capital threw at him.
He could do this.
He had to.
…
[STATUS UPDATE - AREN VALEWOOD]
Class: Ancient Shaman (Displayed as: Nature Mage)
Level: 3
HP: 130/130
MP: 23/168
STATS:
∙ STR: 8
∙ VIT: 17 (+3)
∙ AGI: 14
∙ INT: 18 (+3)
∙ WIS: 22 (+1)
∙ LCK: 7
∙ SPI: 58
SKILLS:
∙ Spirit Sight (Passive) Lv2
∙ Spirit Speech (Active) Lv2
∙ Minor Offering (Active) Lv2
∙ Spiritual Sense (Passive) Lv2
∙ Gust (Active) Lv3
∙ Feather Fall (Active) Lv2
∙ Whisper Carry (Active) Lv1
∙ Purification (Basic) Lv1 [NEW]
SPIRIT CONTRACTS:
∙ Zephyra (Wind Spirit, Intermediate) - Bond: 71%
ACTIVE QUESTS:
∙ Report to Capital (22 days remaining)
∙ The Fading World (No time limit)
NEW QUEST:
∙ Grow Stronger (Reach Level 10 before capital journey)
REPUTATION:
∙ Thornhaven Village: Mixed (Respect +10, Fear +15, Suspicion +20)
∙ Spirits of the Forest: Friendly (+25)