System! Do I have skills?
...
("Analyzing.")
Then I heard it—
Status
("Player: Han Jiwoo")
("Species: Human")
("Title: None")
("Skills: Dash, Stealth, Contract")
("Evolution: None")
("Traits: None")
("Inventory: No Item Registered")
Dash and Stealth were pretty self-explanatory, but Contract and Evolution had me pondering.
Explain Contract skill.
("The invocation of the Contract Skill permits the subjugation and binding of external entities—commonly referred to as 'monsters' into a state of servitude as designated familiars. Caution: the probability of successful enactment is strictly contingent upon the invoker's present evolutionary classification.")
I sighed in confusion.
What? Can you say that in simple words?
("Current language setting can be modified.")
("Awaiting orders to perform the required change.")
Do it.
...
("Contract skill can be used to tame monsters and make them your familiar.")
("Warning: success depends on your current evolution.")
I wanted to ask about the thing called evolution, but I had no time.
I'd been waiting for nearly an hour. They'd stopped by a river and set up camp—three men standing guard, two inside. It was dark, yet somehow, I could see everything clearly.
I quietly assessed the situation.
Two men near the cage. One sitting by the fire. The beastkin girl was still tied up, slumped close to the cage.
My first target would be the man near the fire. Muscular build, shirtless, his sword was right next to him leaning on the stone he sat.
"How do I use the skills?"
("Commands.")
I told it to simplify things. Now it doesn't even bother explaining.
"Stealth."
("Stealth used: Duration- 3 minutes. Cooldown- 1 minute.")
Three minutes, more than enough.
I slid out from behind him without a sound, heading closer.
Crack.
My foot landed on a dry branch.
Startled, the man spun around and grabbed for his sword, face tightening, every muscle alert and tense.
But before he could fully register me, I lunged with my double-bladed dagger held in a reverse grip—slashing diagonally across his larynx. In military CQC, lethality meant striking key points.
I quickly stepped back.
Clutching his throat, he swung blindly, sword slashing through empty air.
Dash.
("Dash used.")
I darted in again, driving my blade clean through the jugular and carotid artery. A clean strike meant massive blood loss and a rapid drop in blood pressure—enough to cause brain shutoff in seconds.
A sharp spray of blood erupted from his neck. I caught his body before it could hit the ground, to avoid making sound.
"Oi! Keth, can't you do what I ask you to? What the hell happened?"
I had already dashed back, hiding behind a nearby tree.
"Kon, get over here, you asshole."
A man stepped forward long and lean body, daggers in both hands. "Yeah, Poke?"
Poke didn't look at him, eyes fixed on the corpse. His voice was calm. "Goblins? Could they be nearby?"
Kon sighed, rolling his shoulders. "I don't think so."
He knelt by Keth's body and checked the neck wound. "No... a goblin wouldn't strike with this kind of precision."
His eyes scanned the area. "Come out. I know you're near, you piece of shit guild rats."
I stayed completely still behind the tree.
("Stealth on cooldown: 50 seconds")
I turned around the tent. The remaining two men stepped out.
"Can you keep your voices down? I'm trying to sleep."
"Boss Mont, someone's around here," one of them said.
Mont grunted, "Then what the f* are you doing standing there? Go search for him!"**
"Boss Kae, what should we do with—"
"Poke, Kon," Kae cut in with a grin, "do what Mont said, search the whole area. He's probably close… maybe even listening right now."
Kae. The first man I saw by the cage when I stumbled upon them earlier.
And seriously, what kind of names do these guys even have?
As Kon stepped carefully, scanning the forest floor, his boots crunching softly over twigs, he moved closer to the tree I was hiding behind.
I seized the opportunity.
In one swift motion, I drove my blade into the back of his neck. He stiffened, but before he could react, I dropped low and sliced across his right abdomen, tearing through the liver. His body collapsed with a dull thud against the dirt.
I dashed backward and slipped into cover.
Poke whipped his head toward the sound, his body already in motion. He rushed over to the corpse, eyes bulging as he stared at his fallen companion.
He growled, fists clenched, voice low and shaking with rage. "Come fight fair, you f***ing guild rat!"
I tilted my head slightly.
Most of all—what guild are they even talking about? And isn't it already fair.
I narrowed my eyes at Poke. A red aura began to flare around him, veins bulging beneath his skin like twisted ropes. He gripped his double-edged sword tighter, jaw clenched, eyes sharp with fury.
A grin pulled at his lips. "Come out. I'm not like those weaklings who don't know how to enforce magic."
I thought so, no wonder they can roam freely in such a dense forest only relying on their swords. And The fact they mentioned goblins meant monsters were nearby too.
Pondering my next move, I hesitated for a second—just enough for Poke to take a wide swing and slash clean through the tree trunk I was hiding behind. Startled, I quickly dashed sideways, bark spraying past my face.
He trudged forward, a grin twisting across his face. "You thought I wouldn't see you? My eyes see through everything."
He was a towering figure up close. With that enhancement, fighting him head-on was asking to get split in two. He raised his sword high and brought it down in a sharp arc. A shockwave burst out, ripping through the trees behind me like paper.
I dropped low and pushed off the ground, heels up, dashing straight at him.
He swung again, this time aiming for my shoulder. I sidestepped, barely, the wind of the blade brushing past—and drove my dagger straight into the center of his chest, right where the aorta pulsed beneath the skin.
He let out a painful howl and swung his sword, desperately out of rage. I dashed back, dropped low, and slipped into my stance, ready to strike again.
He gritted his teeth. "You bastard."
How is he still not dead?
He raised his sword with both hands and slammed it into the ground. A piercing shock burst from the point of impact, cracking the earth in a jagged line toward me. I dashed to the side, but the shockwave caught me, slamming me into the dirt.
He trudged forward, clutching his bleeding chest, dragging his sword behind him as he moved closer.
What should I do?