The fog had not yet fully lifted, but the forest already felt different.
Noc stood still for a moment, his gaze moving slowly across the trees as if trying to read the shape of the silence itself. The air was heavier than before. Not dangerous, exactly. Just altered. As though something had entered the forest and left its fingerprint behind.
"Maybe it won't be long before he returns here," he murmured.
He turned and headed back toward the hut, his steps unhurried.
"I… have to prepare."
The name lingered in his mind as he walked.
Augustus.
His traits. His strength. His name.
Everything narrowed down to one possibility.
"Augustus Kael'dorn…"
Noc reached the wooden chair inside the hut and rested one hand against it. If the man truly was who he thought he was, then this would not be simple at all.
"If he really is who I think he is, then this won't be as simple as I imagine."
He lowered himself into the chair, pressing a hand to his forehead.
"What he brings… will determine whether he truly is the Augustus Kael'dorn I know."
A low breath escaped him.
"Huff…"
Then his expression changed. Not dramatically. Just enough.
Serious.
Focused.
Whatever Augustus was doing, whatever game he was playing, Noc would respond to it. He stared into the dimness of the hut as the fog outside seemed to thicken again, swallowing the forest in a deeper shade of gray.
"Whether you're playing with me or being serious," he said quietly, "I will respond to everything you do to me… Augustus."
He sat there in silence, as though waiting for the next move.
On the other side of the forest, the aftermath of battle stretched across the ground.
Monsters lay scattered everywhere, their blood soaking into the earth. Trees had been split and torn from the ground. Cracks webbed across the soil. Residual energy still lingered in the area, heavy and unstable, as if the land itself had only barely survived what had passed through it.
Augustus stood in the middle of it all, Valdryss in hand, his body perfectly still.
With my current strength… I could defeat Erenwald.
The thought remained in his mind as he looked over the monsters he had slain.
Valdryss spoke within him once more. "Augustus, you have reached the same stage as the geniuses of past eras."
"Only the same stage?" Augustus asked flatly.
"Correct," Valdryss replied. "You might even be stronger than them."
A faint pause followed before the sword spirit continued. "You haven't even used a quarter of your current ability. In fact, it still feels as though there is a great deal of room left to grow. You have only just finished meditating."
Then the spirit began to manifest more clearly, a human-shaped shadow forming before Augustus, its outline resembling him exactly.
"You are still adapting, Augustus."
"Yes," Augustus answered.
His gaze shifted toward the forest ahead.
"What about that person?" he asked. "What kind of figure do you think he is?"
Valdryss was silent for a moment.
"I don't know," it admitted. "However… your instinct to come here, and your decision to follow him, are the right choices. Your instincts are still as terrifying as ever."
At that, the shadow faded and returned to the sword.
Augustus looked at the bodies around him.
Strange.
When he had first entered this forest, he had not sensed any of them.
Why had this place seemed so calm before?
His eyes fell on one of the corpses at his feet.
Vel'khar Serpentis.
He could kill it with a single slash.
It had lived calmly in a forest filled with creatures like this?
Even Sil'turah…
He said nothing else, but the thought remained.
Then, far away, in front of the hut, Noc sat in silence.
He had chosen stillness. Chosen calm. Chosen to wait.
But something was coming.
Not footsteps.
Not wind.
Pressure.
The ground trembled very faintly beneath him. So faintly that anyone else might have mistaken it for imagination, but Noc felt it clearly.
He did not move.
Did not turn.
Did not react.
Inside, however, his instincts tightened at once.
The air grew heavier.
Something large was approaching.
Slowly.
Surely.
Then it emerged from the fog.
At first, only a shadow appeared. Long and dragging, stretched out by the dim light. Then a body followed: a giant serpent with two massive arms, covered in green-black scales, its bulk as thick as the trunk of an ancient tree. Its head resembled that of an ape, and its empty eyes stared lifelessly into nothing.
Its body was being dragged across the ground.
By Augustus.
He walked calmly, unhurried, one hand gripping the monster's corpse as though it weighed nothing at all. Behind him floated several other monster bodies, carried by telekinesis. Torn. Ruined. Unrecognizable.
Among them was one much larger than the rest.
A tiger.
Muscular. Massive. Its fangs were long, its body marked with deep scars.
Thalgrim.
All of it had been brought here as though it were nothing more than ordinary prey.
Noc did not move.
Did not blink.
Did not react.
But inside, his mind erupted.
What in the world is this?
What kind of snake is that?
Why is it so huge?
And that tiger-like one… that was the one that bit me before—
His thoughts screamed, but his body remained still, composed, almost unnaturally calm. As if everything he was seeing belonged exactly where it should.
Augustus stopped a few steps in front of him and let the serpent's body fall.
DUMM.
The ground shook.
The fog parted.
Then Augustus lowered his head.
"My Lord."
His voice was calm. Controlled. But there was something different in it now.
Sincerity.
"I have brought the results of the hunt."
Silence settled between them.
Noc looked at the bodies in front of him. One second passed. Then another. At last, he stood slowly and took a single step forward. Not too close. Just enough to appear as though he was evaluating what had been brought before him.
In reality, his thoughts were far less composed.
I have no idea what this is.
His eyes moved across the corpses.
Vel'khar Serpentis. Thalgrim. The others.
He did not know those names.
But one thing was clear.
If this is what he considers enough… I'm really in trouble.
He stopped and let out a quiet breath.
"...Hm."
It was a soft sound. Light.
But Augustus heard it as judgment.
Noc raised his chin slightly and looked down at the monsters.
"...Not bad."
The words were simple. Short. Almost casual.
Yet the air shifted immediately.
Augustus went silent.
His eyes narrowed a fraction.
Not bad.
He repeated the phrase inwardly, measuring it.
These creatures were no ordinary beings. Vel'khar Serpentis could become a disaster if it ever appeared in human territory. Thalgrim was a land predator even elite soldiers avoided. And to his Lord, all of this was merely… not bad.
Augustus lowered his head a little more.
"I understand."
His tone deepened.
"Then this does not yet meet your standards."
Noc almost choked.
What?
But his face remained calm.
"...Enough," he said softly.
He did not agree. He did not deny it either. He simply stopped the line of thought before it could go further.
"For now."
That small addition was enough to redirect everything.
Augustus fell silent.
Then he nodded.
"Understood."
Noc looked at the monsters again, then turned away as if they were of only minor interest.
"...Store them."
He gave the instruction with an air of quiet routine.
"What can be eaten… separate it."
A simple sentence. Yet it was enough to make the scene feel reasonable, as if this had happened before, as if this was ordinary.
Augustus immediately moved.
"Yes, My Lord."
No hesitation. No question.
As he began sorting the bodies, Noc sat back down on the chair near the hut. He remained calm, silent, as though everything was under control.
But inside, his mind was moving quickly.
Crazy.
These creatures were in this forest?
His eyes narrowed slightly, not from fear, but from realization.
That tiger… the only thing that made me worry about living here has died.
So all this time, there were still many other creatures hidden here?
The calculations came quickly after that.
He could live here.
Not just survive.
Live.
The corner of his lips lifted by the slightest degree.
This person can be used as my protector.
Yes… but I still have to be careful.
On his shoulder, the small horned creature slowly moved its tail, watching everything in silence.
As though witnessing the beginning of something.
The monster bodies had been moved aside. Blood still stained the ground. The scent of iron remained in the air. Yet in front of the hut, the stillness returned.
Noc sat as before, calm and unreadable.
But this time, he was not merely waiting.
He was thinking.
His gaze lowered, not toward Augustus, nor the corpses, but toward the ground itself.
If I let this continue on its own…
He will act according to his standards.
And his standards…
His eyes briefly flicked toward the enormous corpse beside him.
…are too high.
That was a problem.
If Augustus kept hunting like this, the traces of his power would eventually draw attention. And that was the last thing Noc wanted.
I need his strength.
But I also need him not to attract notice.
Two opposing needs. One impossible balance.
Then Noc stood.
Augustus immediately stopped what he was doing and turned toward him, lowering his head at once.
"My Lord."
Noc did not answer immediately. He walked slowly past the monster bodies without looking at them, as though they were unimportant.
Even though the smell of blood on Augustus was still strong enough to make the back of his throat tighten.
He stopped a few steps in front of him.
Silence passed between them.
Long enough to make thought begin to gather.
Then Noc spoke.
"...Do you know what is the most dangerous thing in this forest?"
It was a question, not an order.
Augustus lifted his head slightly, though his posture remained respectful.
"The strongest creature, My Lord?"
Noc slowly shook his head.
"...No."
He turned a little, his gaze drifting into the fog beyond the clearing as though he were seeing something that was not there.
"The most dangerous thing…"
He paused.
"...is the law of cause and effect."
Augustus said nothing at first.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he processed the words.
Noc did not explain further. He simply remained silent, giving the idea room to breathe.
And in that silence, Augustus' thoughts began to move.
Cause and effect.
Traces.
Blood.
Movement.
Strong creatures always leave marks.
And marks invite something else.
Hunters. Stronger creatures.
Or humans.
His expression changed subtly.
"I understand."
Noc did not answer directly. But inside, he noted it.
He caught on fast.
Augustus continued, his voice lower now.
"That means it is not only strength that matters… but how that strength is used."
Noc tilted his head a little.
"...Continue."
One word. But for Augustus, it was permission.
"If the traces are too large," Augustus said, "then attention will come. Including the remnants of my energy, which are still too dense and still leaking because I am not yet accustomed to my current level of power."
His head lowered deeper.
"I have been careless."
Noc looked at him.
Yeah. True.
Outwardly, however, he only let out a small breath.
"...A small mistake."
The words were measured, enough to correct without crushing.
"...Fix it."
"Understood."
But Augustus did not stop there.
He straightened.
"From now on, I will limit my movements. Eliminate traces. And only take what is necessary."
Noc remained silent for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Good.
"...Do it."
The wind moved through the forest in a slow sweep. The fog began to thin, but something else had changed instead.
Not visibly.
Not tangibly.
But undeniably.
Noc was no longer merely surviving.
He was beginning to control.
Slowly.
Quietly.
Without anyone noticing.
Like a maggot that did not change the world, but dominated the place it lived in.
And Augustus…
had become part of that change.
Noc looked toward the forest again, his expression calm, almost indifferent.
"...Besides that," he said.
Augustus immediately focused.
"Yes, My Lord."
Noc's gaze remained on the trees.
"...Not everything that moves there has to be killed."
Augustus fell silent.
The meaning was broader than the sentence itself.
Noc continued, his tone still flat.
"...Some things are more useful if they remain alive."
Augustus understood at once. Strong creatures. Rare creatures. Creatures with value. Or even something that could be used later.
"I understand," he said, his voice sharpening with focus. "I will assess which should be eliminated… and which should be preserved."
Noc gave a slight nod.
"...Do it."
Silence returned once more.
But now it was different.
The direction had already changed.
Not because of an order.
But because of a conclusion Augustus believed to be his own.
And in Noc's mind, the thought was simple.
Success.
He sat back down, calm and composed.
Now he will move within the limits I set.
He glanced ahead, toward the forest.
And most importantly… he won't suspect anything.
The fog shifted gently between the trees.
Noc sat in silence once more, but this time he was no longer only waiting for the forest to answer.
He was beginning to shape what came next.