After Queen Adelina’s desperate plea, Jax stood silent for a long mont, calculating. Finally, he exhaled sharply.
"Fine. I’ll get you to safety."
Relief flooded her face. "Thank you—"
"Don’t thank yet." He turned toward the carriage. "How do we ride this thing?"
Her expression fell. "We... we can’t. The horses bolted when the bandits attacked. They’re long gone."
Jax stared at her. "What?"
"That’s why I begged you to accompany . Please, I—"
"So you’re telling ," he interrupted, voice flat with disbelief, "that you want to walk you all the way to your kingdom?"
Her eyes said everything her mouth couldn’t: Yes. Please.
"Tsssk." He turned away, scanning the bodies of the dead bandits. He grabbed a rough wool cloak from one of the corpses and threw it at her. "Wear that."
Adelina caught it, holding the dirty fabric away from herself with distaste. But when she looked down at her own naked body barely covered by torn silk, she swallowed her pride and pulled the cloak on. It slled of sweat and blood, but it covered her.
They started walking.
After ten minutes of aimless trudging through forest undergrowth, Jax stopped abruptly.
"Wait. I’m just moving in a random direction. I don’t actually know the way out."
Silence.
He turned to look at her. "You don’t even know the direction?"
Queen Adelina’s face flushed red with embarrassnt. She looked down, saying nothing.
"Are you serious?" Jax rubbed his temples. "At least tell the way out. Or the nearest village. Sothing useful."
"We... we need to clear the forest first," she said quietly. "After that, a couple miles down the main road, there should be settlents. Small villages. We can ask for help there. Get transport to my kingdom."
"Great. And which way is ’out of the forest’?"
She pointed hesitantly to the left. "We were moving left earlier, so maybe—"
Jax sighed and started walking in that direction. Adelina followed a few paces behind, limping slightly.
They walked in silence for nearly twenty minutes before Adelina gathered the courage to speak.
"Um... who are you? And which kingdom did you co from?"
"I ca directly from heaven," Jax said without looking back. "The Goddess sent here."
Adelina actually puffed out a small, disbelieving laugh despite everything. "Tell the truth, or I—"
"Or you what?" He glanced over his shoulder, one eyebrow raised.
"I... I’m saying the truth. I swear on my sister."
"You must really hate your sister then," she muttered.
"Oh my god." Jax stopped walking and turned to face her fully. "Look. I need you to tell about this world. Everything. How it works, how powers work here, what dangers exist. All of it."
She looked at him like he was mocking her again.
His expression hardened. "I swear I will leave you here right now if you don’t take seriously."
The threat worked. Her face paled, and she nodded quickly.
For the next three hours, as they navigated through the darkening forest, Queen Adelina explained.
She described the kingdoms: Three human kingdoms—Veldora (her kingdom, centrally located and balanced), Astharion (northern military powerhouse), and ridax (southern coastal rchant kingdom). Then the non-human realms: Nocturna (vampire dominion shrouded in eternal night), Silvareth (high elf kingdom, ancient and isolationist), Feralund (beastkin territories—once unified but now split between Wolfkin in the north and Catkin in the south after a bloody civil war), Drakenmoor (dragonkin mountain strongholds), Gor’mash (orc tribal lands), Abyssalith (demon realm beyond the southern wastelands), and Luminastra (celestial floating islands, mostly extinct ).
She warned him of threats: Dire Beasts (corrupted animals ten tis normal size with purple veins), Riftborn (monsters erging from tears in reality), Bandit Kingdoms (lawless territories), and the Crimson Accord (assassin guild that answered to no crown).
Then Jax asked about power—how did people fight? What made soone strong?
Adelina slipped into her teaching voice, the sa patient tone she used with her children.
"The Heart. They pump blood, yes, but they also contain a Mana Core. It’s what allows us to use magic, enhance our bodies, perform impossible feats."
"Mana Core?" Jax pressed.
"There are eight phases, technically seven—the eighth is legend. Phase 1 through Phase 5 are common among trained warriors and mages. Then cos Phase X—extrely rare, only a handful per kingdom. Then Phase Oga—maybe five humans alive in the entire world possess it. And finally, Phase Infinity—which is myth. No confird records."
"What determines the phase?"
"Color and density of the core." She counted on her fingers. "Red for Phase 1, Yellow for Phase 2, Green for Phase 3, Blue for Phase 4, Violet for Phase 5, Gold for Phase X, Black-Gold for Phase Oga, and supposedly Aurora for Phase Infinity."
Jax absorbed this, his mind racing. "What phase are you?"
"Phase 2," she admitted. "Most royalty train to at least Phase 2. My husband is Phase 4. My daughter..." Her voice softened with pride. "Seris just reached Phase 4 last year. At nineteen. She’s a prodigy."
Jax filed that information away carefully.
A loud growl interrupted the conversation.
Both stopped walking. Jax’s hand went to his sword.
Then the sound ca again—from Adelina’s stomach.
She pressed a hand to her abdon, embarrassed. "I... I haven’t eaten since morning."
Jax realized he was hungry too. "What can we eat out here? Looks like we’ll die starving before reaching your kingdom."
As if in answer, they heard it—the distant sound of flowing water.
"A stream," Adelina said, hope in her voice.
They followed the sound until they found it—a wide, clear river cutting through the forest.
Jax looked at her. "At least tell you know how to cook a fish."
She made an innocent, helpless face.
"Fuck these nobles," he muttered, and started removing his shirt.
"What are you doing?!" Adelina spun around, her face flushing red. "You filthy—"
"What? I’m going to hunt fish. And I only have these clothes, unlike you who probably has an entire castle dedicated as a wardrobe back in your kingdom." He pulled off his pants, standing completely naked. "Why are you even blushing? You saw naked before. We... well, forget it. I really want to forget that."
She turned back slightly, her expression shifting to sothing like a scolding teacher. "Then why did you do it?"
He didn’t answer. Just grabbed his sword and waded into the river.
The water was cold but refreshing. Jax stood thigh-deep, sword held loosely in his hand.
His S-Rank: Sword King skill activated instinctively. The world sharpened—he could see the faint ripples indicating fish movent beneath the surface, predict their paths, calculate the exact angle and timing needed to strike.
There.
His blade flashed. A fish went flying through the air, landing on the riverbank with a wet slap.
"At least collect them in one place!" he called out. "And bring so dry wood!"
He could hear her moving on the shore, gathering the fish.
As he hunted, his mind drifted back to everything Adelina had told him.
He focused internally. "Status screen."
A translucent interface materialized before his eyes:
[CHAMPION STATUS: JAX RAYNE]
[LEVEL: 2.4 / 50.0]
[EXPERIENCE: 2,847 / 5,000]
[HEALTH: 100 / 100]
[MANA: 50 / 50]
[SKILLS:]
S-Rank: Sword King
Echo Mirror
Soul Thief
He smiled, looking at his level. ’Killing people leveled up. Now I know the chanic.’
He thought about Mana Cores. ’Guess I don’t have that. Instead this is my power system—experience and levels.’
Another fish. His blade pierced cleanly through it, sending it flying to shore.
He caught a particularly large fish—easily three feet long—and decided that was enough.
Wading back to shore, he looked around. "Queen?"
No response.
"Adelina?"
Silence.
’Shit. Where did this zero-survival doll go now?’
His mind imdiately conjured worst-case scenarios: beasts, bandits, another champion.
He quickly pulled on his clothes while still wet—uncomfortable but necessary and started running in the direction he’d last seen her, calling her na.
"ADELINA!"
He found her fifty yards downstream, struggling to drag a massive bundle of logs she’d sohow collected.
She was pulling with both hands, her face red with effort, the bandit cloak slipping off one shoulder. The logs were far too heavy for her.
When she saw him, she stopped and straightened, trying to look dignified despite being caught struggling with firewood.
"I... I gathered wood. Like you said."
Jax just stared at her for a mont. Then he walked over, effortlessly lifted the entire bundle under one arm, and started walking back toward their makeshift camp.
She followed, flustered. "I could have—"
"You couldn’t."
"I was managing—"
"You weren’t."
Back at the riverbank, he set down the wood and began arranging it efficiently. Within minutes, he had a fire going using friction and dry kindling.
He skewered the fish on branches and set them over the flas, rotating them carefully.
Adelina watched him work with growing fascination. This man who had destroyed her was now... cooking for her? Protecting her? The contradictions were dizzying.
When the fish were done, he gave her the largest portion without comnt.
She ate ravenously, too hungry to care about manners.
Jax took a bite of his own fish and imdiately sneezed violently.
"Shit. Should’ve dried myself off first." He sneezed again, then glared at the river like it had personally offended him.
Adelina, despite everything, felt the corner of her mouth twitch. Almost like a smile.
She looked at him—this strange, terrifying, impossible man who claid to be sent by the Goddess. Who had destroyed her and was now keeping her alive.
"Who are you really?" she asked quietly.
Jax sneezed again before answering.
"A sick person."
"At least for now."
The world blurred and he fainted, collapsing face-first beside the fire.
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