Crestvale Forest – Just past sunrise
"Uuuuugh... I'm dying," Garron moaned, curled near the fire like a gut-shot walrus. "I swear that rabbit stew punched me back."
"Maybe if you chewed your food, you wouldn't be reenacting a demon possession every morning," Seraphine muttered.
From above, Lyra peeked out of her hanging hammock. "You sound like a goat giving birth."
"You sound like a—UURRGH—please kill me."
By the fire sat Auren Lysandre, his long blue hair tucked neatly behind one ear, silver eyes calm and distant. He stirred a steaming pot of tea with practiced grace, as if the moaning didn't concern him.
"I added marshroot and shadowmint," he said softly. "It will ease the discomfort."
Garron glared. "Last time you gave me a 'healing brew,' I farted lightning for ten minutes."
"That was a cleansing draft. You'd walked through a poison swamp."
"Still. My left eyebrow twitches when it rains now."
Auren only smiled slightly.
Just yesterday…
They fought a pack of thunder wolves, their electric pelts sparking death.
Leon charged in yelling, "For glory!" while Seraphine parried desperately and Lyra swore a lot.
Just before Leon got zapped by a bolt, the ground shifted slightly beneath the wolf's paws. It missed.
> Auren had silently cast Rune of Tilted Earth under the battlefield.
Later, a boulder randomly fell onto two wolves mid-ambush.
> That had been Sigil of Weight, triggered by Auren's toe tapping the dirt.
And Garron? He didn't get bitten once.
> Because Auren had secretly cast Veil of Scentlessness on him the night before.
Later that night…
While everyone snored like overworked donkeys, Auren sat by the trees, eyes glowing faintly as he whispered:
> "Circle of Silence. Ward of Shadows. Sigil of Distant Flame."
He etched them into the grass with a glowing thread of mana.
No monsters attacked.
No one noticed.
Back to this morning…
Leon stood, arms crossed, glaring.
"I'm done pretending."
Seraphine looked up. "About what?"
Leon jabbed a finger at Auren. "Him. He's useless. He never fights. Never lifts a finger."
Lyra scratched her head. "To be fair, he did warn us about that falling tree yesterday."
Garron burped ominously. "And my soup hasn't tried to kill me in days. That's suspicious."
"Exactly!" Leon snapped. "He's just lurking. Always talking in weird metaphors. What has he actually done?"
Auren blinked slowly. "Must one shout to be heard… or is the silence already singing?"
Everyone blinked.
"...See?" Leon pointed. "What the hell does that even mean?"
Garron tilted his head. "Is he talking about… soup?"
Leon stepped forward and kicked Auren in the ribs.
He stumbled back, hand to his chest, but didn't cry out.
He stood up, dusted his robe, and looked at them quietly.
Then he said,
> "The wind never asks to be thanked… yet without it, the flame dies."
And with that, he turned and walked off into the trees, robes fluttering behind him.
A beat of silence.
Lyra squinted. "Wait. Was he the wind?"
Garron scratched his armpit. "Or was the wind… the soup?"
Seraphine crossed her arms. "I don't know, but I kinda miss the wind already."
Five hours later…
A shadow beast charged straight into camp.
"MONSTER!" Lyra screamed.
Garron threw a fork at it.
No glowing runes. No protective barrier.
Leon drew his sword—too late. The beast pounced and tackled him into a bush.
Seraphine yelled, "Where's the usual protection?!"
Lyra ducked an incoming claw. "You think it went on vacation?!"
That night…
Garron moaned again. "The soup… betrayed me…"
He rolled into the grass, clutching his stomach.
"Someone find that creepy blue-haired guy," he gasped. "I take it back. I'll drink the bark soup. I'll eat a tree. Just make it stop…"
Seraphine whispered, "...Maybe he wasn't so useless."
Leon sat with crossed arms, scowling.
> "Tch. He probably just got lucky."
Snowflakes drifted lazily down through the thick forest canopy. The cold nipped at Auren's ears, but he didn't seem to mind.
He walked alone now.
No yelling. No fake battle cries. No loud declarations of "I did it all myself!"
Just him… and peace.
> "So that's what silence sounds like," Auren muttered, brushing snow off his shoulder.
"No one screaming at me for not doing anything… while I was literally saving their butts."
He stepped over a root and sighed.
Flashback: The Dumb Party and the Invisible Hero
> "You didn't even help, Auren!" the hero shouted yesterday.
"You just stand there with your glowing hands and blank face!"
Yeah. Because casting eight spells at once kinda required focus.
That time the berserker's axe bounced off a "lucky" angle? Deflection Ward.
The "magical crit" the archer landed? Auren had cursed the enemy's armor to crack.
When the rogue bragged about dodging? Auren bent light around him with a Speed Sigil.
But no. None of them noticed.
They just saw his calm face and assumed he was slacking.
Back in the Forest:
Auren rubbed the back of his neck as the path twisted through icy roots.
> "I should've let the ice wolves maul them once… Just one tiny nibble. A polite mauling."
He stopped at a half-frozen creek and looked into the water, seeing his reflection — blue hair tousled, sharp jawline, silver eyes glowing faintly.
Still handsome. Still him.
> "They didn't deserve me," he said, then frowned.
"No, that sounds arrogant. Let's go with...
'Even the sun is invisible to blindfolded fools.'"
The wind rustled.
A nearby tree creaked, like it nodded in agreement.
He smiled.
Meanwhile, Back at the Camp...
"Why are there bite marks on my leg armor?!"
"I think the tent is cursed now... it tried to eat my boots."
"WHERE IS OUR MAGICAL STOVE?!"
They were falling apart.
No food-preserving enchantments. No weather protections. No enemy-sensing wards.
And most of all—no clue.
Back in the Forest:
Auren stretched his arms, looked at the endless trees ahead, and shrugged.
> "Guess I'll find a new place where people don't confuse silence with uselessness."
Then, just before continuing, he looked at the sky, closed his eyes, and whispered:
> "A shadow cast no praise on the torch it hides behind."
A nearby deer paused and looked at him solemnly.
"…You get it, don't you?" he said to the deer.
The deer blinked once.
Then ran into a tree.
"…Closer than the hero ever got."
Auren chuckled and walked on, boots crunching softly on the snow as the forest welcomed the only one smart enough to hear it breathe.
Auren walked through the dense forest, his boots crunching softly against the snow as he moved with a calm, steady pace. The air was crisp, the trees silent, their branches heavy with the weight of frost. The quiet of the woods was a welcome change from the noise of his past.
As he walked, his thoughts drifted, his blue hair swaying gently with each step. He barely noticed the shadows shifting at the edge of the woods—until he heard the low growl.
The ice bear stepped out from behind a cluster of trees, its hulking figure towering over Auren. Frost clung to its white fur, and its eyes glinted with hunger as it let out a deafening roar.
Without warning, the bear lunged, its massive claws slashing through the air, aiming for Auren's chest.
Auren's eyes narrowed. Without breaking his stride, he pivoted, his body moving with the grace of someone who had danced with danger before. The bear's claws swept past him, a mere inch away from tearing into his side.
He didn't even flinch.
> "By surge and flame, I chain the wrath."
The words left his lips with quiet force.
In an instant, a sharp bolt of lightning shot from his palm, striking the bear in its side. The beast froze mid-motion, its muscles seizing up as the electricity coursed through its nervous system, locking it in place.
Before it could react, Auren flicked his wrist, and a stream of miniature fireballs shot from his other hand. Each one exploded with pinpoint accuracy, striking the bear in rapid succession—its chest, its face, its sides—each hit followed by a burst of heat and force.
The bear's fur blackened where the fire touched, smoke rising from its body as it dropped to the snow, its frame twitching and still as the paralysis took hold.
Auren continued walking without a glance at the fallen creature. He stepped over the scorched remains, his expression unreadable as he moved past the twitching beast.
> "Even the wildest creatures fall to the ones who control their fate."
He walked on, the wind howling in his wake, the forest growing quiet once more.