The conversation with the system lasted barely seven minutes, but it felt longer. When it finally ended, he let out a slow breath.
"I should test my abilities," he murmured. "But first… they deserve respect."
He moved through the ruined village in silence. The smell of death still hung in the air. One by one, he dug graves and laid the villagers to rest. With his new strength, it took only five minutes he could have done it faster if he buried them all at once, but he refused. They were people, not objects.
When he finished, he stood before the mounds of freshly turned earth.
"I'll avenge you all," he whispered. Then he walked away from the village.
He hadn't been gone long when a group of strangers approached the ruined settlement. They all wore matching black uniforms and carried an aura that warned anyone with sense to stay away. Some had pale, cold faces, while others looked almost human but it was just a disguise. Beneath the surface, they were powerful beings: werewolves, witches, and other hidden creatures.
They scanned the destruction in confusion.
"What happened here?" one of them muttered.
The group looked around, but nothing made sense. The houses were torn apart, yet no bodies lay scattered only disturbed soil.
A girl who appeared to be around twelve stepped forward. Her voice was calm, almost too calm for her age.
"With my observation… the Whispering Rot passed through here. The signs are on the walls."
The others stiffened.
"You're telling me that thing came here?" a man asked, his voice trembling despite his attempt to hide it. "What a tragic fate…"
"But wait," another man said, pointing at the graves. "The bodies were buried. The Rot doesn't do that. That means someone else intervened."
"Are you blind?" a girl behind him snapped. "Obviously the person must have been connected to the villagers. Why else bury them?"
"Who are you calling blind, you"
The leader, the girl at the front, shot them both a single cold glance. They went silent immediately.
"She may be right. Or wrong," the commander said softly. "But one thing is certain… whoever buried them wasn't an ordinary mortal. Digging graves for an entire village would have taken a normal person hours."
A quiet tension settled over the group.
"I don't know if this unknown being is a friend or a threat," the commander finished. "But someone crossed paths with the Whispering Rot… and survived."
In another part of the forest, a shadow moved quickly between the trees. He hoped no one had seen him. Thanks to his heightened senses, he noticed the group heading toward the village, which was why he left before they arrived. He was not afraid of the others. Even if he could not defeat them, he could still escape safely. The problem was the little girl leading them. When he checked her stats, they were almost double his own.
If the system had not warned him and shown their positions on the map, he would have used his ability to observe them and gotten caught instantly. He let out a breath of relief.
"Thank goodness I was not discovered. That would have been the end for me," he thought.
He continued running through the forest. "I need to find the nearest city. I must leave this place as fast as possible. I am not afraid of the forest, but who knows what lives here. Werewolves like to stay in places like this and I do not want to encounter anything too strong. I value my life. I am not ready to die."
Finally, he made it out of the forest. About two kilometers ahead, he spotted a carriage surrounded by a group of thieves. The problem was clear. The thieves were vampires, twenty of them, and their leader's aura stood out a little above the rest.
"Why is the leader's stats only slightly higher than my own" He asked the system.
[Ding]
[The blood they drink is not as pure as yours. The leader just broke through to the second stage, Nightborne. Power levels in each stage differ greatly.]
"So you're saying I can defeat him?"
[Yes.]
He decided to observe first. The people being attacked were only five in number. All of them were still at the fledgling level, though one was close to breaking through to Nightborne. The gap was still big enough to matter.
One of the guards called out, "Miss, we've encountered bandits."
The window of the carriage slid down and a lady's face appeared.
She had long silver hair that fell neatly against her shoulders, her skin pale but smooth with a faint glow. Her eyes were sharp and calm, giving the feeling of someone raised with proper care and discipline. Even in fear, there was a kind of quiet grace in the way she carried herself.
The moment the bandit leader saw her, his expression turned dirty. The girl felt disgusted but didn't show it on her face. She asked calmly, "What do you want from us? If it's money, I can give it to you. Just tell me what you need so we can leave."
The bandit leader smirked and said, "You'll only leave after I have my way with you."
One of the guards shouted, "Nonsense. How dare you speak to the miss like that."
The girl held up her hand. "Wait. Can we discuss another request? I can offer anything except that."
But the bandit leader kept insisting. The situation was turning worse. Even though she kept a calm face, her heart was tightening. Most of her guards were already dead. She had been traveling with a Nightborne-level guards, but they had been attacked twice before reaching this place. This was the third ambush, and her remaining guards were weak and tired.
The bandit leader noticed her fear and pressed even harder.
"Miss, we'll protect you. Don't worry," one guard said, standing in front of the carriage.
The strongest guard stepped forward and attacked the bandit leader first. "Since you refuse to surrender, I'll kill your men and deal with you afterwards," the leader said.
"Shut up and face me. You won't get past me."
The guard with the highest cultivation charged forward, kicking up dirt as he met the bandit leader head‑on. Their first clash sent a small shock through the ground, leaves trembling from the impact. The guard slid back a little before regaining his stance. The bandit leader only grinned, enjoying every moment.
The other guards quickly formed a tight defensive ring around the carriage, keeping their bodies between the young lady and the incoming vampires. Their blades moved in fast arcs, sparks jumping each time they blocked an attack. Tired or not, they refused to back down.
The bandit leader blurred forward, appearing in front of the strongest guard. His claw-like strikes came from strange angles. The guard blocked each one, but the impact numbed his arms. Still, he didn't retreat.
"You? Stop me?" the bandit leader mocked.
The guard gritted his teeth. "As long as I'm alive, you won't touch her."
He threw a heavy punch that sent a ripple of force outward. It pushed the leader back a few steps, but didn't injure him enough to matter. The leader brushed dust off his cheek, annoyed.
Around them, the fight was turning bad. The remaining guards struggled to hold the circle. Fangs flashed, metal clashed, and the vampires kept pushing closer. One guard was overwhelmed when three thieves rushed him at once. His sword flew from his hand, and a hard kick slammed him into a tree, leaving him barely conscious.
"Miss, stay inside the carriage. Don't step out!" another guard shouted as he blocked two thieves at the same time.
Inside the carriage, the young lady clenched her hands together. Fear tightened her chest, but she forced herself to stay calm. "Please… stay alive," she whispered.
The thieves became more aggressive. Two guards were already bleeding heavily, their movements slowing. The bandit leader noticed and smiled coldly.
"Pathetic. You can't even last this long."
He vanished and reappeared behind the strongest guard. A powerful kick sent the guard rolling across the dirt. Before he could stand, the leader stepped on his chest, pinning him down.
"Stop resisting. Once I'm done with you, she will be next."
Hearing that, the young lady felt her heart tighten, but she didn't make a sound. She only held her breath.
Another guard tried to reach his captain, but three thieves blocked him, cutting him down to one knee.
The defensive circle finally collapsed. The surviving guards were bleeding, exhausted, and surrounded. The thieves stepped toward the carriage with hungry eyes.
The bandit leader raised his foot, aiming to finish the strongest guard.
"This is the end for all of you," he said with a cruel smile.