Arion stepped into the Forest of Shadows and immediately felt the shift in the air. It wasn't just colder—it was heavier, as if the forest itself was a living entity watching his every move with disdain. The twisted trees looked like the limbs of giant skeletal remains, and the shadows danced in unnatural ways.
"Well, this is terrifying," Arion muttered, checking that his "False Bravado Aura" was still active. Its faint glow was the only thing giving him a childlike sense of safety—like clutching a blanket in the dark. "Why did I take this quest again? Oh right, because I'm arrogant and stupid."
He had no idea how to track a beast. All he could do was walk forward in an exaggerated crouch, eyes darting around, flinching at every rustle of leaves.
Ding~
[Detected: Shadow Squirrel (Level 1)]
Arion stifled a scream and dove behind a tree, heart pounding in his throat. "A squirrel?! I almost died of fear because of a squirrel!"
This pitiful routine lasted for an hour. Every innocent woodland creature triggered a miniature panic attack. He cursed himself, the guild, and the system that had dumped him into this nightmare. "Aren't I the protagonist? Where's my godlike power? Or is my gift just excessive sweating when seeing rabbits?"
Suddenly, he heard a sound that couldn't be ignored. This wasn't leaves—it was a brutal thud, followed by a piercing roar. It sounded like two giants tearing each other apart nearby.
Arion froze. "Nope. Not my business. Whatever that is, not my problem." His first and wisest instinct was to turn around and sprint back to town. But just as he prepared to flee, a system window flashed.
[High energy waves detected: 'Serrated Fang Flower' nearby, 200 meters ahead]
"Damn you!" Arion screamed inside his head. "Why does it have to be in the direction of certain death?"
After an agonizing internal debate between survival instinct and greed (and fear of returning empty-handed), he made a terrible decision. "I'll just take a quick look. A very quick look. From far away."
He belly-crawled forward like a terrified snake, using every shrub and rock for cover. His heartbeat was so loud he feared the beast would hear it. The closer he got, the louder and more vicious the fighting became.
Finally, he reached a small ridge overlooking a clearing. He peeked over and immediately regretted every life choice he'd ever made.
There wasn't just one monster. There were three.
They were massive, semi-transparent beasts, looking like crystalline blobs with a sinister inner glow. They moved with violent force, and each had a glowing flower with sharp, glass-like petals sprouting from its head—a Serrated Fang Flower.
Ding~
[Target Info: Fang Warrior Beast (Green)]
Level: 22
[Target Info: Fang Guardian Beast (Yellow)]
Level: 24
[Target Info: Fang Alpha Beast (Yellow)]
Level: 25
"Three... over level twenty..." Arion nearly fainted. "Why didn't anyone mention they live in a happy family that loves murdering each other?!"
The two weaker beasts were attacking the massive alpha in a brutal territorial fight. Their roars mixed with the sound of shattering crystal.
Arion hid behind a rock, trembling from head to toe, watching the nightmare unfold. "Impossible. I can't do this. I'll just go back and say the beast wasn't there."
But then, the universe decided to mock him with absurd luck.
In the chaos, the alpha slammed the level 22 beast so hard it crashed right into Arion's hiding spot. The dazed monster landed just meters away, its precious flower practically begging to be plucked. The other two were too busy tearing each other apart to notice.
Arion froze. He saw the chance—a reckless, suicidal chance. "Now or never!" his brain screamed. "Die rich or die trying!"
Fueled by pure adrenaline, he lunged from cover, sprinted the short distance, and with trembling hands yanked the flower from the stunned monster's head. Then he scrambled back behind his rock, heart hammering.
Meanwhile, the alpha struck the level 24 beast with a devastating blow, knocking it down and leaving its flower exposed.
But the alpha was badly wounded too. After finishing its rival, it turned to finish the first victim—only to stagger, its wounds deeper than they looked. The mighty beast collapsed temporarily, its massive head falling close to the second defeated creature.
Arion watched from cover. Two more flowers. He didn't think. He just moved.
He shot forward like a bullet, snatched the second flower, and then, in a moment of insane bravery, dashed to the dazed alpha and plucked the third flower straight from its head!
Now he stood alone in the clearing, holding three glowing blossoms, surrounded by monsters that were either beaten or too shocked to react.
Did he strike a heroic pose? Deliver a cool line? No.
He turned and ran.
He ran like his life depended on it—because it did. He didn't care about noise or stealth. He just ran, adrenaline pounding in his ears. Behind him, the monsters stirred, roaring in fury and confusion at their missing "crowns," but the cowardly thief had already vanished.
Miles later, Arion finally collapsed under a tree, gasping for air, clutching the three flowers to his chest.
He looked at them, glowing in the forest's darkness. He'd survived. Not with one—but three.
"I... I did it," he wheezed, laughing hysterically. "I didn't even draw my sword. Didn't scratch a single one. I just hid like a rat and stole them like a thief while they killed each other. I'm... I'm the saddest hero in this world's history. And the luckiest."
Then, as he basked in his survival, the horrible truth hit him.
How am I going to explain this at the guild?
Three flowers. From a quest that required one. From monsters he shouldn't have even been able to approach. No one would believe he was just lucky. They'd assume... they'd assume he killed them all.
He stared at the three blossoms in his shaking hands. His expression shifted from triumph to pure horror.
"Ahhh... What have I done to myself now?"
The journey back to Arcadia was no less terrifying than the confrontation itself. Arion ran like a man hunted, clutching the three glowing flowers to his chest as if they were his life. Every shadow looked like a waiting monster ready for revenge, every rustle of branches sounded like the start of a deadly pursuit. He panted, stumbled, and kept running—driven by a mix of fear and desperation.
He finally reached the city's outskirts at dusk, utterly exhausted. He was covered in mud, his clothes torn by branches, his hair matted with sweat. He looked like a man who had just crawled out of hell's jaws… which wasn't too far from the truth.
"I have to… get to the guild," he rasped. "End this farce and get my money."
He staggered into the Adventurers' Guild building. At that hour, the main hall was bustling with adventurers finishing their day. The moment he stepped inside, an eerie silence fell.
All eyes turned to him. They saw his battered figure, his torn cloak, the dust and grime covering him. They didn't see a coward who barely escaped—they saw a warrior returned from an epic battle.
Serena was behind the counter, with the knights Robert and Leo standing beside her, deep in conversation. When they saw Arion, they froze.
"Lord Arion!" Leo shouted, the first to break the silence. "You're back!"
Arion trudged towards them, every step costing him tremendous effort. He reached the counter and leaned on it, fighting not to collapse. "The quest…" he panted. "…I completed it."
Robert eyed him skeptically. "Completed it? Did you bring the flower? Or was the beast too strong? There's no shame in retreating, boy."
Instead of replying, Arion opened his battered leather satchel on the counter. With trembling hands, he drew out the prize.
Not one flower.
But three Fangsedge Flowers, glowing with an eerie crystal light that illuminated every stunned face in the hall.
Robert's jaw dropped—literally. His mouth fell open and stayed that way, eyes locked on the three flowers like he was seeing a ghost.
Leo gasped audibly and began to shake, eyes welling with tears. "Th… three?"
Serena's face went completely pale. She swayed backward and would have fainted if Leo hadn't caught her at the last moment. "Oh… Goddess of Light…" she whispered hoarsely.
The silence shattered into a roar of disbelief.
"Three flowers!!"
"Impossible! Even an elite knight squad can barely take down one!"
"Did he kill them all by himself?!"
"Look at him! He fought a legendary battle and walked back on his own!"
Robert, who finally regained his ability to move, stepped forward and placed a hand on Arion's shoulder, his voice filled with awe he'd never felt before. "How? By the gods… how did you do it? Did you face the alpha?"
Arion had reached the very edge of his endurance. He looked at Robert through half-lidded eyes and spoke the truth in the most easily misunderstood way possible.
"They were… busy," he mumbled wearily.
Robert froze. "Busy?" he whispered to himself, then his eyes widened as the "real meaning" hit him. "What…? Do you mean… your power was so terrifying they couldn't even focus on you? You paralyzed them just by being there?"
Arion shook his head, trying to clarify. "No… I just… picked them up."
That sentence was the final straw that broke everyone's sanity. "Picked them up?!" someone in the back shouted. "Did you hear that?! He 'picked them up'! Like he was plucking apples from a tree! From the heads of three A-rank beasts!"
The room spun around Arion. "I need… rest…", he murmured before his legs began to tremble.
"Of course!" Serena cried, snapping out of her shock. "He fought a battle beyond imagination and doesn't even boast about it! What a hero! Bring him a chair! Bring him water!"
Before he could collapse, the system window appeared—one final blow.
Ding~
> [A-Rank Quest Complete: Retrieve Fangsedge Flower]
[Bonus Objective Complete: You brought more than required! (x2)]
[Calculating Rewards…]
[Base Reward: +5 Attribute Points, 1 Ability Elixir]
[Bonus Reward (x2): +10 Attribute Points, 2 Random Skill Books]
[Total: +15 Attribute Points, 1 Elixir, 2 Skill Books!]
"15 points…" Arion whispered faintly—before his eyes rolled back and he collapsed to the ground, surrounded by panicked cries from the adventurers.
They rushed to help him while someone ran to fetch Guildmaster Valerius.
When Valerius arrived and saw the three flowers on the counter—then looked at Arion unconscious and being tended like a national treasure—he drew in a long breath. He had seen much in his long life, but this… this was something else.
"This boy…" Valerius said quietly, his voice full of wonder and respect. "He didn't come here to be an adventurer. He came to redefine what power means in this city."
That night, Arcadia spoke of nothing else. He was no longer just "the Mysterious Adventurer Arion." He gained new titles—titles that spread through every tavern and alley like wildfire.
"Arion the Fangsedge Reaper."
"The Silent Tyrant."
"The Knight Who Collects Monsters for Fun."
As for the hero of these legends—he lay fast asleep in the guild's finest guest room, dreaming nightmares of giant gelatinous beasts hunting him for stealing their glowing flowers. His legend had only just begun—though he was the last to know it.