The courtyard was silent, except for the wind. No growling. No roar. No threat.
The bear was dead.
But the silence that followed wasn't relief.
It was realization.
The group sat in a loose circle near the edge of the structure site. Bandages were wrapped. Water passed around. The dead monster's bones still smoldered where it had collapsed. No one said much.
Chadwick had gone, disappearing into the shadows without a goodbye. He left behind a wake of tension, like a warning scrawled into the dirt.
Joey finally broke the quiet. "That thing wasn't even the worst, was it?"
No one answered.
He looked rough—battered, half his hoodie torn, a long line of stitches across his ribs. His muscles flexed even while sitting, naturally powerful. He ran a hand through his messy black hair and leaned back, blue eyes staring at the clouds.
"You guys felt that too, right? Like the System was… watching us."
"It was," Conner said.
Katie was leaned against a wall nearby, her long black hair tied into a loose braid. She looked flawless, even bloodstained. Tall, sharp-featured, with an elegance that didn't break under pressure. Her frost magic had burned out by the end of the fight, but she was still the calmest person in the group.
"Everything changed," she said. "We triggered something permanent."
Neive sat cross-legged by her, gently feeding a few herbs into her wolf summon's mouth. The creature flickered, half-solid, its mana still unstable. Neive's long blonde hair hung down in front of her face, her bright green eyes sharp behind the soft features. She looked small next to the others—only a little over five feet—but her presence was solid. Grounded. Clever.
Conner stood apart, facing the structure.
His coat fluttered slightly in the breeze, bow slung across his shoulder, the new bone weapon shaped to fit his grip perfectly. His brown eyes were locked on the glowing runes around the platform—half-focused, always calculating. His messy light brown fringe still clung to his forehead from the sweat of the fight.
Not the flashiest in the group.
But focused. Quiet. And now more dangerous than he'd ever been.
[Trait Evolution Complete: Hollow Marksmanship (D)]
Conner finally opened the full Trait description.
Trait: Hollow Marksmanship (D)
Type: Evolvable / Precision-Based
Passive Effects:
• Magic Scope Eye: Automatically locks onto enemies within range. Reveals weak points. Bonus to ranged accuracy (scales with Perception).
• True Draw: Holding a drawn shot for 3+ seconds applies a power and accuracy boost based on Magic and Perception.
• Hollow Bind (new): Successful shots slow enemy movement for 2 seconds. Slow effect scales with Perception.
Notes:
• Trait will evolve again at Rank C upon meeting hidden conditions.
• Evolvable Trait – no known cap.
• Weapon-Agnostic: Works with any bow-type weapon, including magic constructs.
• Trait affinity favors patient, high-skill users. Not recommended for high-speed burst playstyles.
He read it twice.
It wasn't just about aiming. It was control. Precision. Strategic delay. The longer he watched, the better the shot. Every arrow wasn't just damage—it was interruption.
And if the Trait evolved again…
He didn't finish the thought.
Instead, he opened his Skill window.
A new entry blinked at the top:
[New Skill Acquired: Bow Proficiency Lv.1 (F-Rank)]
Effect: Slightly increases accuracy and reload time when using bow-type weapons.
Progress: [3%]
Note: Skills level up through active use. Skills at Lv.10 may rank up.
He hadn't even meant to unlock it—but his hands remembered the draw. His mind counted wind, distance, rhythm. Skill wasn't just clicking things anymore. It was learned.
Across the courtyard, Joey groaned and stood up.
A system prompt hovered near him.
[Skill Learned: Strength Conditioning Lv.1 (F-Rank)]
"Guess beating the hell out of something does teach you stuff," he muttered, cracking his knuckles. "Not bad."
Katie stretched her arms, forming a thin sheet of frost in the air.
[Skill Learned: Ice Weave Lv.1 (F-Rank)]
She didn't react outwardly, but a small smile tugged at the edge of her mouth.
Neive blinked as her summon shifted form for the fifth time in the last hour—its claws slightly more angular now, sharper at the tip.
[Skill Learned: Summon Shaping Lv.1 (F-Rank)]
She laughed softly. "It's like getting achievements in real life."
Conner looked at them all. Not just the skill screens—but the people.
They weren't scared anymore.
They were starting to adapt.
That night, they didn't sleep right away.
Katie was the first to speak, sitting by the fire with her knees tucked up, sipping from a heated bottle of soup.
"So," she said. "That bear… level nine, right?"
Conner nodded. "My Scope Eye picked it up during the fight."
"It was four levels above any of us," she said. "And it nearly wiped us out."
Joey leaned on his knees. "And we're only in one zone. One place."
Neive looked up. "How many more are out there?"
No one answered.
The silence that followed wasn't fear. It was math. If one level nine monster had nearly killed them—and there were monsters far above that…
They weren't ready.
But the System wasn't waiting for them to be.
The next morning, Conner rose early and stepped into the courtyard. His new bow felt lighter now, almost like it was syncing with him. He nocked an arrow and took a deep breath.
Then loosed.
The arrow hit the far wall with a solid thunk, embedding clean into a crack between bricks.
[Bow Proficiency +1 → Lv.2]
He smiled faintly.
Then fired again.
Again.
And again.
Until the sun started to rise.