"You will never know how deep a forest truly is… until its mist begins whispering your name."
Irinthal Forest was silent.
The mist hung like a curtain on a stage that was never meant to close, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
In the middle of that stillness, a small hut stood without meaning.
Its roof was covered in moss, its wood beginning to rot, and in front of the door, dark stains of dried blood marked the ground remnants of something that had once lived, but was not important enough to be remembered.
Inside… time had briefly stopped.
Noc stood in the middle of the room.
His body was still.
His breath… halted.
What… was that just now?
His eyes moved slowly, observing the fire that had frozen, the smoke that had stopped midair, and the unnatural silence that lingered.
Then everything returned.
As if nothing had ever happened.
Yet his chest still felt heavy.
Not an illusion…
He swallowed.
That really happened.
Slowly, his gaze returned to the figure standing at the doorway.
Augustus Kael'dorn.
At first glance, Noc had thought he was just another hunter from the lower villages.
Someone lost.
Someone that could be driven away with a little intimidation.
But now… his judgment had changed.
"This man… is strong."
"Not just strong."
"He's… dangerous."
That gaze. The way he stood. The way he did not react to what had just happened.
Everything felt… wrong.
"If he attacks… I die."
Noc's heart began to beat faster.
"Calm down."
"Don't panic."
"If he sees weakness, it's over."
He took a slow breath.
Suppressing his expression.
Forcing his body to remain relaxed.
On the other side…
Augustus stared at Noc without blinking.
His analysis ran quickly.
Yet the result remained the same.
Empty.
"No aura."
"No pressure."
"No sign of power."
"And that… makes no sense."
His gaze shifted slightly.
The small horned creature on Noc's shoulder.
Still.
Watching.
"Yet its existence… is unstable."
"As if it is not a single entity."
"But rather a manifestation… of something far greater."
His eyes narrowed.
"A high-level familiar."
"No… something beyond that."
"That thing should not exist in this world in such a form."
"Could it be… truly a demon?"
Valdryss on his back trembled faintly.
Not from immediate threat.
But from… recognition.
Or rejection.
"That creature is dangerous."
Then Augustus focused back on Noc.
Who stood casually.
Without reaction.
Without caution.
Without fear.
"He knows I came."
"He allowed me in."
"And he remains like this?"
A conclusion began to form.
And Augustus did not like it.
Noc shifted his shoulder slightly.
Teta was still there.
Quiet.
Yet… somehow, he felt calmer.
"…so whose doing was that?"
"Him?"
"Or… Teta?"
He didn't know.
And that made him even more uneasy.
"So," Noc finally spoke, his voice flat, "you're already inside."
As if it were normal.
As if nothing strange had happened.
Augustus did not answer immediately.
He took a small step forward.
Slow.
Controlled.
A test.
Simple.
A faint spiritual pressure was released.
Barely noticeable.
Just enough to probe.
Noc felt it instantly.
His chest tightened.
His breath caught for a moment.
"Damn it."
"He's testing me."
His body almost stepped back on instinct.
But he held it.
Hard.
"Don't move."
"Don't show it."
He lifted his chin slightly.
Meeting the gaze.
Forcing his eyes to remain steady.
On his shoulder…
Teta moved ever so slightly.
Almost imperceptible.
And something changed.
The pressure—
disappeared.
Not deflected.
Not resisted.
But erased.
As if it had never existed.
And yet... something else emerged.
Invisible.
Silent.
But present.
A depth.
A… void too heavy to be called empty.
Augustus stopped.
His eyes narrowed.
"No reaction."
"No resistance."
"My pressure… vanished?"
"I felt no counterforce."
"No collision."
"No response."
"Only… absence."
Then his chest tightened.
Subtly.
Almost imperceptibly.
As if something pressed from all directions at once.
Not sharp.
Not aggressive.
But… absolute.
Like the sky collapsing without sound.
Like the deep ocean suddenly placed above his head.
That pressure... did not attack.
Did not restrain.
Did not destroy.
Yet its mere presence made his instincts scream.
Valdryss trembled violently.
More than before.
Not a warning.
Not caution.
It was… pure fear.
For a fraction of a second... Augustus almost reached for his sword.
But he stopped himself.
Forcefully.
"Stay calm."
"Don't react."
"If this was an attack… I'd already be dead."
The pressure remained.
Unchanging.
Unincreasing.
Yet it did not disappear.
As if something was watching him from a place he could not comprehend.
And judging.
Measuring.
Deciding.
Cold sweat formed on his back.
Barely noticeable.
But real.
"This isn't from the creature."
"This… is from him."
His gaze returned to Noc.
Who still stood calmly.
Unmoving.
Unrevealing.
And that—
made it all the more terrifying.
"He's not attacking."
"This… is a warning."
"He's showing… the boundary."
A new conclusion formed.
Far more dangerous than the last.
"He's not restraining himself."
"He's simply… ignoring it."
"And when I stepped too far"
"He answered."
Slowly...
very slowly
Augustus withdrew the pressure he had released.
And almost instantly it vanished.
Gone.
As if it had never existed.
But its trace remained.
In his chest.
In his mind.
And in Valdryss, still trembling.
Noc remained standing.
Calm.
Silent.
While inside him—
"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!"
"It just disappeared?!"
"He pulled it back…?"
"Or…"
He glanced briefly at Teta.
The creature remained still as always.
As if it had done nothing.
Yet for a split second...
its small eyes were not empty.
There was something there.
Something too deep.
Too ancient.
Too… aware.
"…him?"
Noc swallowed the question.
Not now.
Not in front of this man.
"If you want to just stand there," Noc said casually, "go ahead."
He turned, walking back toward the table.
His steps deliberately slow.
Controlled.
As if he didn't care.
Even though each step felt like walking on a thin thread.
One mistake... and he would fall.
And die.
"If not," he added, "close the door. The air outside is annoying."
Augustus did not move immediately.
He kept observing.
Every movement.
Every detail.
Yet... no openings.
No cracks.
No sign that the man before him had nearly collapsed under simple pressure moments ago.
There was only... perfect calm.
"You're not normal," he finally said.
His voice low.
Steady.
But more serious than before.
Noc sat down again.
Picked up his cup.
"People say that a lot," he replied lightly.
Even though no one ever had.
But this time it did not sound like a joke.
Augustus glanced at Teta.
The small creature remained still.
But now...
it no longer seemed harmless.
There was something in its stillness.
Something that did not move, because it did not need to.
"That creature," he said, "is not something simple."
Noc shrugged.
"He's never caused trouble."
The wrong answer.
Or perhaps… too correct.
Valdryss trembled again.
Stronger.
As if trying to distance itself.
Refusing proximity.
Augustus finally stepped fully inside.
This time, nothing stopped him.
No anomaly.
Everything felt normal.
And that only made him more certain.
He slowly closed the door.
His eyes never leaving Noc.
Yet part of his attention remained fixed on the creature on his shoulder.
Calculating.
Weighing.
Avoiding.
"My name is Augustus."
He paused briefly.
"I came looking for something."
Noc blew on his drink.
Still hot.
Steam rising slowly.
Normal.
Too normal.
"Everyone who comes here says that," he replied casually.
He glanced at Augustus.
"They usually find nothing."
Silence fell again.
But this time—
it was different.
Heavier.
Denser.
As if the air itself had thickened.
And for a brief moment... nothing moved.
Nothing spoke.
Even the fire seemed to wait.
As if the small world inside that hut was holding something back.
Neither of them truly understood what was happening.
But they both knew one thing:
they were evaluating something—
they could not fully comprehend.
Augustus did not move.
But his thoughts raced.
"If that truly is his power..."
"I cannot win."
"If it isn't."
"Then... I don't know what I'm facing."
Meanwhile.
Noc had only one goal:
"Don't die."
On his shoulder Teta tilted its head.
Its small eyes stared at Augustus.
Then shifted slightly.
Toward the sword on his back.
Valdryss trembled.
For the first time... not in warning.
But in fear.
Not fear of attack.
Not fear of power.
But something simpler... recognition.
As if it was being seen not as a weapon but as something that could… be broken.
And Augustus realized it.
Slowly... very slowly he took a breath.
Keeping it steady.
But for the first time since entering that forest he felt like he was in the wrong place.
Very wrong.
Interesting.
Inside that small hut there was no explosion of power.
No battle.
No clash.
Yet something had begun.
One side pretending to be strong to survive.
One side choosing not to attack because it could not understand.
And between them the small horned creature remained still.
Watching.
Knowing more than it should.
And perhaps more than this world allows.
In Irinthal misunderstanding is not just a mistake.
It is the beginning of something far more dangerous.
Something that if left alone will not stop at just two people inside that small hut.
Because sometimes the most dangerous thing in the world... is not power that is unleashed.
But power that… chooses to remain silent.
And within that silence, something begins to grow.
Slowly.
Without sound.
But inevitably.
Toward something even legends… are not yet ready to tell.