The system did not let me pretend anymore.
The moment I opened Training Protocols again, a new prompt slammed into my vision like a paperwork spear.
[LEADER REGISTRATION REQUIRED]
Leader recognized: Sato Kenta
Protocol use requires an official party designation.
Enter Party Name:
> ___________
I stared at it.
Lyra stared at my face.
Mina stared at Lyra staring at my face.
Roth stared at the ceiling like he wanted to strangle bureaucracy with his bare hands.
“You’re making a face,” Lyra said.
“It’s asking for a party name,” I muttered.
Roth’s eyes finally moved to me. “We have none.”
“We’ve been… a party,” Mina said carefully. “But we never named it.”
Lyra tilted her head. “Name it something cool.”
I immediately typed the least cool thing my brain could produce.
Because if I named it something cool, the universe would treat it like a prophecy.
I wanted it boring. Boring means survivable.
I wrote:
Hero Standard
The system accepted it with the enthusiasm of a tax clerk.
[PARTY REGISTERED]
Party Name: HERO STANDARD
Leader: Sato Kenta
Party Record: Active
Lyra blinked twice, then burst out laughing. “Hero Standard? That’s not a name. That’s a product.”
“It’s perfect,” Roth said flatly.
Mina’s mouth twitched. “It… does fit.”
Valeblade whispered from Mina’s hip, suppressed but still alive. “A standard must be upheld.”
Lyra pointed at the sheath. “I hate that I agree with the sword.”
Valeblade whispered, smug. “As you should.”
Mina pinched the bridge of her nose. “Quiet.”
Valeblade whispered, after a pause that was almost character growth, “Understood.”
I didn’t celebrate.
I didn’t smile.
Because the moment the system recognized you as “Leader,” it didn’t just give you tools.
It started keeping receipts.
I spent the day trying to figure out what leadership even meant in a world where menus existed.
Formation Drill was easy. I could ping positions. Mark targets. Set retreat vectors.
The harder part was everything the system did not quantify.
Trust.
Mood.
Cohesion.
The fact that Mina still looked tired all the time.
The fact that Lyra still looked annoyed at me even when she wasn’t talking.
The fact that Roth watched me like he was waiting for me to do something stupid again.
I activated Role Optimization anyway.
[ROLE OPTIMIZATION ACTIVE]
Leader Tools:
- Focus Target
- Callout Ping
- Retreat Vector
- Threat Mark
Assigned Roles:
ROTH: Anchor
LYRA: Burst Control
MINA: Sustain / Purify
KENTA: Flexible Threat
PYON: Reposition / Intercept
The overlay hit the dirt yard like glowing chalk.
We ran it.
Roth advanced and held the line.
Lyra burned with precision instead of ego.
Mina timed barriers exactly on my pings.
Pyon blinked to marks and back, smug little utility monster.
For twenty minutes it felt like we weren’t just surviving.
We were becoming a unit.
Then my system chimed.
[SKILL RANK UP]
Leadership: D -> C
Party Bonus: Coordination (Minor+) -> Coordination (Moderate)
Lyra squinted at the notification. “Stop getting better at being in charge.”
“Why.”
“Because then you will start giving speeches,” she said.
“I will not.”
Mina looked at me with the expression of someone who has heard this exact lie before. “You might.”
Roth said, “He will.”
I groaned. “I hate all of you.”
Lyra smiled like she’d won something. “We are back to normal.”
Good. Great. Wonderful.
Then reality returned, with a crown stamp.
The station captain brought us our final paperwork, final receipts, final seal logs.
The escort quest was complete. Officially.
Unofficially, it felt like we’d just discovered the front door to something much bigger.
And bigger meant capital.
Roth said it over dinner, like it wasn’t a debate.
“We return to the royal capital tomorrow. We report the nodes. The casino. The forest cache. The charm fragments. The upstream residue. Everything.”
Lyra poked her stew like it had betrayed her. “Verena is going to be so happy.”
Mina’s hands tightened around her spoon. “The Church will not be.”
Roth’s gaze stayed steady. “Then they should have acted.”
No one argued.
We all remembered the gate integrity dropping. Five percent. The water pushing like it wanted to erase a town.
My stomach twisted.
I had a new party name.
A new leadership skill.
A new responsibility.
And it still wasn’t enough.
Not even close.
That night, the river under the station roared loud enough to keep me awake.
It sounded like a mouth.
Hungry.
I lay on my cot and stared at the ceiling until it started to feel like it was staring back.
Then the memory hit again.
The seal plate bending.
Mina’s barrier shattering.
Roth bracing stone with his body.
Lyra gasping for mana.
By the skin of our teeth.
That was our current strategy.
It wasn’t a strategy.
It was luck.
Luck was a resource.
Luck runs out.
I sat up.
Pyon’s ears twitched from the corner. He blinked once, then appeared beside my cot like he’d been waiting.
…go?
I swallowed.
I didn’t want to do it.
I did it anyway.
I opened the party menu.
[PARTY: HERO STANDARD]
Members: 4
Party Bonus: Coordination (Moderate)
Options: Leave | Invite | Remove | Protocols
I clicked Protocols.
Solo Discipline.
Quiet Departure.
The prompt appeared again, like the system knew I’d come back.
[QUIET DEPARTURE]
Suppress party notifications while leader leaves.
Warning: Party Bonus suspended while active.
Risk: No alert if leader is downed.
Confirm: Y/N
My fingers hesitated.
Then I hit yes.
The party link snapped.
Warmth gone.
A hollow spot in my chest like I’d stepped away from a campfire.
[PARTY UPDATE]
You have left HERO STANDARD.
Quiet Departure: Active
I stood.
Pyon blinked at my ankle, ready.
I whispered, “Quiet.”
Pyon’s thought came back, small and proud.
…quiet
We slipped out into the night like thieves.
Night One
We followed the creek line upstream.
The water looked normal.
The air did not.
It smelled faintly sweet, like burned sugar and wet copper.
The system flashed.
[AREA EFFECT]
Minor contamination trace detected.
Source direction: upstream
Something moved in the brush.
Heavy.
Too confident.
A bear shape stepped into moonlight, shoulders too high, fur crusted with blue-black residue.
[ENEMY DETECTED]
Murkhide Ursus (Elite)
Level: 27
Traits: Corrosive Bite, Rage
Weakness: throat seam, eyes
My pulse jumped.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
I moved anyway.
Athletics carried me under a swipe.
Parry caught a bite and rattled my bones.
Corrosive spray hissed on my glove and burned through the surface layer.
HP dropped.
[HP -38]
[HP -24] Corrosive splash
Pyon blinked behind it and smashed his horn into its leg joint.
The bear stumbled.
I waited for the roar.
When its throat stretched, I went in.
Precision Thrust.
Deep.
The bear collapsed like its strings were cut.
Silence.
Then the system paid me like it was proud I hadn’t died.
[ELITE DEFEATED]
EXP +1,980
[LEVEL UP]
Kenta: 20 -> 21
Stat Points +5
I didn’t even feel happy.
Just relieved.
Then guilty.
I came back before dawn, rejoined the party, and slid into bed like a liar with clean hands.
No one woke.
Night Two
I went further.
The creek became a narrow channel.
The air got colder.
Something fast moved between trees, almost invisible.
A lynx with shadow fur and blue-veined eyes.
[ENEMY DETECTED]
Shadepelt Lynx (Elite)
Level: 28
Traits: Silent Step, Throat Rake
It hit like a knife.
It raked my shoulder.
HP dropped hard.
[HP -64]
I cast Minor Heal while running because I’m apparently that kind of idiot now.
The glow barely stabilized the bleeding.
The lynx circled.
Pyon blinked in and out, snapping its rhythm.
I baited it into a pounce.
At the peak, when its throat was exposed, I stepped in.
Guard Break.
Riposte.
Precision Thrust.
It died mid-air and hit the dirt like a dropped coat.
System chime.
[ELITE DEFEATED]
EXP +2,150
[LEVEL UP]
Kenta: 21 -> 22
I crawled back to the station before dawn with my shoulder burning and my mind screaming that this was unsustainable.
I still did it again.
Night Three
I wasn’t sleeping anymore.
I was napping between damage and denial.
I left.
Pyon followed.
We reached a ridge.
Below it, water pooled in a ravine.
Dark.
Still.
Wrong.
Blue shimmer clung to the surface like oil.
The moment I saw it, my inventory pulsed. The sealed S-rank shard felt colder.
Do not expose to floodgate water.
My skin crawled.
Something huge shifted down there.
Not visible. Just presence.
Then something smaller climbed out first.
A warg.
Wolf-shaped, wet stone hide, veins glowing faint blue.
It stared at me like it was waiting.
[ENEMY DETECTED]
Siphon Warg (Elite)
Level: 30
Traits: Mana Bite, Pack Call
I should have run.
I didn’t.
It lunged.
I parried. My arm went numb.
It bit, not my flesh.
My MP.
A cold sucking sensation hit my chest.
[MP -41] Mana Bite
I staggered.
Pyon blinked in and rammed its flank.
I used the opening to drive my blade into the rib seam.
It screamed and fell.
[ELITE DEFEATED]
EXP +2,700
[LEVEL UP]
Kenta: 22 -> 23
Then I heard it.
A howl from the ravine.
Answering.
Pack Call.
I didn’t wait to see how many.
I blinked out with Pyon, heart hammering, and ran back to the station before dawn like the night itself wanted to bite me.
Day Four
Lyra started watching me like I was a gambling table.
She didn’t say anything at first.
She just tracked the little details.
The way I yawned too late.
The way my gloves had new cuts.
The way my shoulder moved stiffly.
The way I kept staring at the river like it owed me money.
Then, while Mina was cleaning her symbol and Roth was checking gear, Lyra leaned in and said softly:
“You’re leaving at night.”
I forced a laugh. “No.”
Lyra smiled. “Yes.”
Mina looked up instantly. “What.”
Roth didn’t look up. “I know.”
I froze.
Roth knew?
Of course he did.
Roth is the kind of man who can hear guilt breathing.
I opened my mouth.
Lyra cut me off.
“Don’t lie,” she said. “I’m not even mad yet. I’m just curious how stupid you are.”
“Very,” Roth said.
Mina’s eyes tightened, hurt flickering. “Kenta…”
I swallowed.
“I’m fine,” I lied again.
Lyra’s smile stayed.
“Okay,” she said sweetly. “Tonight, I’m following you.”
My stomach dropped.
“No.”
“Yes,” Lyra said. “And if you try to ditch me, I will scream. Loud. Like a girl being murdered. The guards will come. Mina will come. Roth will come. You will be dragged back by your ear.”
Mina blinked, shocked. “Lyra.”
Lyra did not blink. “I’m solving the problem.”
Roth finally looked up. “She is.”
I wanted to disappear.
Pyon blinked onto my shoulder and sent a thought that felt like a sigh.
…caught
“Yeah,” I whispered. “Caught.”
Night Four
I slipped out anyway.
Lyra was waiting in the hallway like a ghost with anger issues.
She folded her arms. “Lead.”
I exhaled.
“Fine,” I said. “But you listen. No hero moments.”
Lyra snorted. “I’m not the hero. You are. Allegedly.”
I opened the party menu.
This time I didn’t use Quiet Departure.
If someone was coming with me, then the point was no secrets.
[PARTY: HERO STANDARD]
Options: Temporary Party Link
Invite member: Lyra
She accepted instantly.
[TEMPORARY PARTY LINK ACTIVE]
Members: 2
XP Split: Equal
Party Bonus: None
We blinked out with Pyon into the trees.
The ravine was waiting.
Same dark water. Same blue shimmer.
Same feeling like the world was holding its breath.
Lyra stared down at it.
“That’s not normal,” she whispered.
“No,” I said. “That’s why I keep coming back.”
Lyra’s eyes sharpened. “You’ve been feeding yourself to whatever lives here.”
“Not feeding,” I said. “Testing.”
Lyra glanced at me. “That’s the same word with better manners.”
A howl hit the ravine.
Answering.
Four shapes climbed out of the water this time, one after another, like the river was spitting them out.
[ENEMY DETECTED]
Siphon Warg Pack (Elite)
Count: 4
Average Level: 31
Traits: Mana Bite, Corrosive Mist, Pack Tactics
Lyra inhaled sharply. “Four.”
“Yes,” I said.
“And you came alone.”
“Yes,” I admitted.
Lyra’s voice went cold. “You’re insane.”
“Probably,” I said. “Focus.”
I activated Leadership tools out of habit.
Focus Target lit up on the lead warg’s rib seam.
Lyra’s eyes flicked to the mark automatically.
“Helpful,” she muttered.
“Left warg first,” I snapped. “Do not let it breathe on you. If your MP drops, you die.”
Lyra smiled like she’d been waiting all week for someone to talk to her like that.
“Yes, boss,” she said, and then she moved.
The pack hit.
Fast.
One warg went for my throat.
Parry. My bones sang.
Another tried to flank Lyra.
Lyra didn’t throw a fireball.
She threw a needle of heat into its eye.
It screamed and missed its bite.
Pyon blinked behind it and rammed its hip.
It staggered.
I took the seam.
Precision Thrust.
Kill one.
[ELITE DEFEATED]
Warg 1 slain.
EXP +2,900
[PARTY NOTIFICATION]
Lyra: LEVEL UP 24 -> 25
Lyra: LEVEL UP 25 -> 26
Lyra’s eyes went wide mid-fight.
She laughed, breathless. “Oh. Oh that’s why.”
“Stop watching your menu,” I snapped.
“I’M NOT,” she yelled, absolutely watching her menu.
Warg two bit at me and hit MP again.
Cold suction.
[MP -46]
My vision blurred for a second.
Lyra saw it.
She shoved heat into the warg’s open mouth. Not enough to burn it, enough to disrupt.
It gagged.
Pyon blinked in and kicked its rear leg out.
I stabbed the seam.
Kill two.
[ELITE DEFEATED]
Warg 2 slain.
EXP +2,900
[PARTY NOTIFICATION]
Lyra: LEVEL UP 26 -> 27
Two left.
They changed tactics.
One held back, exhaling a thin blue mist that crawled across the ground like fog.
The other circled wide to hit Lyra.
I pinged it.
Retreat Vector behind Lyra.
“Back,” I snapped.
Lyra moved without arguing, which was the most unnatural thing I’d ever seen.
The flanker lunged.
Lyra stepped back on the vector and dropped a tight heat wall in its face.
It recoiled.
I sprinted in and cut its leg tendons.
Pyon slammed its side.
It fell.
I drove my sword into the seam.
Kill three.
[ELITE DEFEATED]
Warg 3 slain.
EXP +2,900
[PARTY NOTIFICATION]
Lyra: LEVEL UP 27 -> 28
The last warg stayed in the mist, eyes fixed on Lyra.
It opened its mouth.
The mist thickened.
Lyra inhaled without thinking.
Her face went pale instantly.
“My MP,” she whispered.
Her bar dropped like a rock.
[ALLY STATUS]
Lyra: MP Drain (Severe)
I moved without thinking.
I grabbed her shoulder and shoved my own will into the space around her like a shield.
Mental Resistance surged.
Leadership pulsed.
The system chimed.
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED]
Protective Presence (Rank F)
Effect: Reduces mental and charm effects on nearby allies.
Effect: Reduces mana interference (Minor) while leader maintains focus.
The mist around Lyra thinned like it hit an invisible wall.
She gasped.
Her eyes snapped to the last warg.
They went cold.
“Oh,” she said softly. “You tried to steal from me.”
She raised her hand.
A bead of heat, thin and cruel, shot into the warg’s throat.
It choked on its own mist.
It convulsed.
I stepped in and ended it with one thrust.
Kill four.
[ELITE DEFEATED]
Warg 4 slain.
EXP +2,900
[LEVEL UP]
Kenta: 23 -> 24
Kenta: 24 -> 25
[PARTY NOTIFICATION]
Lyra: LEVEL UP 28 -> 29
Silence hit the ravine.
Lyra stared at the air in front of her like she was watching herself become a different person.
Then she turned to me slowly.
“Kenta,” she said, voice trembling with joy and fury, “you have been doing this alone.”
I swallowed.
“Yes,” I admitted.
Lyra punched my arm.
Hard.
Then she punched it again.
“Never again,” she said.
Pyon blinked between us and sent a thought.
…ow
“Yeah,” I muttered. “Ow.”
Lyra crouched near the water’s edge and stared.
“This is upstream from everything,” she said quietly. “This is a source.”
I nodded.
Then the deeper thing happened.
The water in the ravine pulsed.
Not like a wave.
Like a heartbeat.
A blue vein of light ran under the surface and vanished into the rock wall like a root.
My inventory pulsed cold in response.
The S-rank shard.
Like it recognized the rhythm.
Lyra’s voice went low. “Did you see that.”
“Yes,” I whispered.
A sound drifted from further up the ravine.
Not a howl.
Not a monster.
Voices.
Human voices.
Chanting.
Lyra’s eyes widened.
We moved closer, slow, careful.
We found a ledge where the ravine narrowed, and beyond it, hidden in shadow, we saw it.
A line of hooded figures.
No robes.
No holy symbols.
Just dark cloaks and careful movements.
They carried crates.
Crown stamped.
They lowered them into a stone channel where water flowed down into the ravine like an artery.
And above the channel, carved into the rock, was a symbol I’d seen too many times now.
A circle of stars.
Not the Church’s sun motif.
Not the Crown’s crest.
Something older.
Something that made my stomach feel wrong.
Lyra’s breath hitched. “That’s…”
“Yeah,” I whispered. “That’s not a bandit operation.”
One of the hooded figures lifted a hand.
Blue light flared.
The water shimmered and the channel pulsed like it was alive.
The ravine answered with another heartbeat.
My system flashed a warning so sharp it felt like pain.
[WARNING]
Authority presence detected.
Threat classification: UNKNOWN
Recommendation: DISENGAGE
Lyra grabbed my sleeve.
“Kenta,” she whispered, suddenly serious, “we are leaving.”
My mouth was dry.
“We should get proof,” I whispered.
Lyra’s grip tightened. “You will get proof by living long enough to tell the capital.”
She was right.
I hated that she was right.
We blinked out with Pyon before the chanting could shift, before the hooded figures could look up, before whatever authority presence that warning meant decided to notice us.
We returned to the station before dawn, breathing hard like we’d stolen something.
We had.
Information.
The kind that gets people killed.
Morning
Lyra didn’t even let me pretend.
She kicked Mina’s cot lightly.
Mina sat up, startled.
Roth was already awake. Of course he was.
Lyra pointed at me. “He’s been leaving at night.”
Mina’s eyes went wide, hurt flashing.
“Kenta,” she whispered.
I opened my mouth.
No lie came out.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Roth’s voice was calm. “How many nights.”
“Three alone,” I admitted. “Fourth with Lyra.”
Mina’s hands clenched. “Why.”
Because I was scared is not a satisfying answer.
Because I didn’t want you to die is not a smart answer.
So I told the truth anyway.
“Because we won the gate fight by luck,” I said quietly. “And the next one might not give us luck. I needed strength. I thought I could do it without dragging you into it.”
Mina’s eyes shined, angry and sad. “That’s not protecting us. That’s leaving us behind.”
Lyra cut in. “And it was also effective. I just went from twenty-four to twenty-nine.”
Mina blinked, shocked.
Lyra added, “Also we found something upstream. Hooded figures. Crown crates. A carved channel feeding the ravine. Star-circle symbol. The system screamed at us to disengage.”
Roth’s posture changed. Subtle. Dangerous.
“Upstream operation confirmed,” he said.
Mina’s voice went tight. “So it’s real. It’s organized.”
I nodded.
Roth looked at me. “You will not go alone again.”
I swallowed. “Yes.”
Lyra crossed her arms. “And we’re not wasting this.”
Mina stared at Lyra. “What.”
Lyra jerked her chin at me. “If he’s going to grind like a cursed machine, we do it smart. We rotate.”
The word landed in my chest like a weight and a relief at the same time.
Roth nodded once. “Rotation reduces risk.”
Mina’s eyes flicked to me, still hurt, but thinking now. “One partner per night. Controlled hunts. Controlled retreat.”
Lyra grinned. “And controlled punching when he gets stupid.”
I exhaled.
“Okay,” I said. “Rotation.”
Lyra pointed at me. “Next time, you take Mina.”
Mina’s cheeks warmed slightly. “Lyra.”
Lyra waved a hand. “Not like that. You need levels and reps too. And you need to see what he’s been doing so you can yell at him properly.”
Roth said, “Then me after.”
Lyra blinked. “You want to go.”
Roth’s voice was flat. “Yes.”
Mina looked at Roth, surprised. “Captain…”
Roth didn’t soften. “If there is an upstream enemy, I will see it with my own eyes.”
Fair.
Terrifying.
Then Roth said the important thing again.
“We leave for the royal capital today.”
Lyra’s grin faded slightly. “Because of what we saw.”
“Yes,” Roth said. “This is beyond a station. Beyond a guild outpost. We report to the Guildmaster and the Crown. We force an investigation.”
Mina’s voice was quiet. “And the Church.”
Roth didn’t answer, which was also an answer.
I stared at my Training Protocols.
There was a tool for this.
One that required consent.
Road March Training.
I looked up at them.
“We can train on the road,” I said. “The system unlocked a march protocol. It converts travel into progression. But it requires party consent.”
Lyra stared at me. “Is it awful.”
“Probably,” I admitted.
Lyra nodded. “Yes.”
Mina hesitated, then nodded too. “Yes.”
Roth said, “Yes.”
The system chimed like it had been waiting for the words.
[PROTOCOL ACTIVE]
Road March Training
Party: HERO STANDARD
Cohesion check: Passed
My chest loosened.
Not because we were safe.
Because for the first time, I wasn’t doing it alone.
We packed fast.
Evidence bagged.
Crate logs sealed.
Charm fragments wrapped.
Maps copied.
We stepped out of the station and onto the road back to the royal capital.
The quest arrow in my vision shifted from “deliver” to something else.
Report.
Survive.
Become stronger before the upstream thing decided to move.
Lyra walked at my shoulder, still annoyed, still smug, still alive.
Mina walked on my other side, still tired, still stubborn, still trying to forgive me.
Roth walked ahead like a standard bearer for the concept of duty.
Pyon blinked onto my shoulder and sent a thought that felt like a promise.
…together
I exhaled.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “Together.”