“I wasn’t fast enough…” Olivia whispered, her eyes wide with dread. “Sorry, Joe. I couldn’t keep my word.” Her voice cracked. “I failed to get us out.”

  “It’s not your fault!” Joe shouted, startling her into a flinch. “You gave it everything you had. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me. I should’ve been faster. If I’d given us a better head start, we would’ve made it.” Tears welled in his eyes. “I’m sorry…”

  “You pushed yourself even while I was making things harder for you,” Olivia said softly. “What you did was incredible. I don’t think any Unawakened alive could match the speed you showed today. I’m the Awakened. I’m the experienced adventurer. I should have done better and made it harder for that monster to track us.” Her gaze hardened with resolve. “But don’t worry, Joe. Even if it kills me, I’ll make it right. You won’t die. I swear it.”

  Joe’s eyes dilated, his heart fluttering at her words. No one had ever cared so fiercely about his life. Warmth spread through his chest before he could stop it.

  “I don’t want you to die, Olivia.” Her eyes widened at his reply. “If it means leaving me behind, then do it. I’m deadweight anyway. Save yourself. I’ll distract it and give you a chance to escape.”

  Olivia smiled faintly. “I think you’re overestimating yourself just a little, Joe. You’re an incredible Unawakened, the strongest I know, but you’re still an Unawakened. Even with all that determination, you wouldn’t stall something like that for even a second.” Her smile softened. “Still, thank you. I promise I won’t die. I’ll get us out of this.”

  “You mean it?” Joe asked, hope lighting his eyes.

  “Yeah. An adventurer never breaks a promise. I’ll get us out in one piece.”

  Joe smiled.

  The Lord of the Woods took a single step forward, sending a tremor through the ground. Their attention snapped back to the beast. Viscous brown fluid oozed from deep gashes and scorched wounds across its scales. The massive shell on its back was fractured, riddled with cracks, and its breathing was labored. The aura radiating from its body was noticeably weaker than when it had fought Trey.

  Even so, Joe knew the truth.

  This was still one of the three most powerful creatures in all of Evergreen. Injured or not, it could kill them both with ease. Winning was impossible. Escape was their only option.

  The Lord of the Woods had no intention of making that easy. Its jaws opened wide as a dense concentration of energy gathered within its maw. A heartbeat later, it unleashed a barrage of bullet sized seeds wrapped in mana.

  Before Joe could warn her, Olivia was already moving.

  She twisted and dodged with precise steps, narrowly avoiding the detonations that erupted whenever a seed struck the ground. A green barrier flashed into existence, blocking the attacks she could not evade. It held through several explosions before shattering into fragments of light. When the assault finally ceased, a thick cloud of smoke swallowed them.

  “Are you okay?” Olivia asked, worry lacing her voice as she checked on Joe.

  “Yeah… I’m fine.” Joe exhaled shakily, his heart pounding as the reality of their survival sank in.

  Once again, he was struck by her strength. It was easy to understand why Trey had been so confident in their ability to defeat the Lord of the Woods. His entire party was terrifyingly powerful. It was just their misfortune that the Grade 2 had proven far more monstrous than anyone imagined.

  “Good. Don’t let go,” Olivia said. “I’ll find a way out of this.”

  Her voice was steady, but her body told a different story. Her breaths were ragged, and the glow of mana around her flickered, threatening to fade as her reserves dwindled.

  The smoke dispersed.

  Olivia’s eyes widened as a massive sphere of mana hurtled toward them. She hastily murmured an incantation and raised another barrier, but it shattered instantly on impact. The orb detonated, hurling them away.

  Joe was torn from Olivia’s back by the explosion. Most of the damage was absorbed by her body, but his vision blurred as he was flung through the air.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Before he slammed into a tree, a green barrier formed behind him. It caught him with a softness like a mattress, cracks spiderwebbing across its surface before it shattered. Most of his momentum was absorbed, though he still struck the trunk hard enough to rattle his bones.

  Ahead of him, Olivia had conjured another barrier at her back. It held long enough to stop her momentum, fracturing instead of breaking apart. She landed unsteadily, then stepped forward to stand between Joe and the beast, her shoulders heaving with exhaustion.

  “Joe…” she said between labored breaths. “You need to get out of here. You have to report this to the Guild.” Her eyes burned with urgency. “The information we have is wrong. The Lord of the Woods isn’t newly evolved.”

  Her voice dropped, heavy with certainty.

  “It’s a Grade 3.”

  Joe’s vision swam, but Olivia’s words cut through the haze with brutal clarity. The final sentence echoed in his mind, refusing to fade.

  It had only been three hours since he arrived in this world. There were countless things he did not understand yet, but one piece of knowledge had been made abundantly clear. Monsters were classified by Grades. The higher the Grade, the stronger the beast. It was a simple system, so basic that even a child could grasp it.

  Which was why the words ‘Grade 3’ sent a chill straight through his spine.

  “A Grade 3?” Joe spoke, coughing as the words left his mouth.

  “That’s right,” Olivia confirmed, her breathing heavy.

  “That means it’s the strongest creature in the jungle. Even stronger than the other two Great Beasts of Evergreen. You said the Lord of the Woods was supposed to be the weakest.”

  “That’s what we believed,” Olivia said grimly. “But we were wrong. Something in this forest has changed. There were never meant to be more than three evolved beasts here, yet we encountered the Twin Tailed Wolf, and it wasn’t even registered among the three Grade 2s.” She paused to steady herself before continuing. “Something in Evergreen is forcing monsters to evolve. If the Lord of the Woods has already reached this level, I can’t imagine how strong the other two Great Beasts have become. We never stood a chance from the beginning. Not even Eris and her party could defeat this thing.”

  Joe’s heart sank at the hopelessness in her voice.

  In this world, the gap between Grades was enormous. Olivia had not even been confident in facing a Grade 2. A Grade 3 was unthinkable. Trey’s party was strong. From the way Rina spoke at the Guild and from what Joe had witnessed firsthand, they had to rank among the top three parties in Suveny. They had slain the Twin Tailed Wolf, an evolved beast, and proven their strength beyond doubt.

  That was why Trey had been so confident. That was why Joe had believed in their chances.

  But the Lord of the Woods had shattered those illusions the moment it appeared. It had wiped out two members of Trey’s party in under a minute and forced Trey to sacrifice his life just to buy them time. That was not something a creature on the same level as the Twin Tailed Wolf could accomplish. They should have at least been able to resist.

  Joe had initially blamed it on surprise.

  But the truth had been there all along.

  The Lord of the Woods had survived Trey’s ultimate attack, an inferno that engulfed a massive section of the forest. A skill that would have reduced the Twin Tailed Wolf to ash. That alone should have been the giveaway. Joe cursed himself for not realizing it sooner.

  This beast was on an entirely different tier.

  And now, even escape felt impossible.

  “I can buy you time to escape,” Olivia said suddenly, snapping him from his thoughts.

  “What?” Joe protested. “You’re exhausted. There’s no way you can—”

  Olivia turned to him and smiled. “Don’t worry. I have a secret trick. I can hold it back for a minute. That should be enough for you to get away.”

  Joe’s eyes widened. ‘A secret trick?’

  He forced himself to stand, leaning against the tree behind him for support. “Then use it to save yourself. Even if I’m weak, even if I can only distract it for a moment, I can draw its attention away from you. You’re an Awakened. You’re more valuable to Suveny than I am. I’m just an Unawakened. My life is worthless, so you should be the one who—”

  “Don’t you dare say that!”

  Olivia spun around to face him, her voice booming through the woods.

  “Don’t you dare call your life worthless!”

  Joe froze, his eyes widening in shock.

  “Every life has meaning,” Olivia continued, fury blazing in her expression. “Awakened or not, we are all born for a reason. No life is inherently greater than another. Every life matters. So I don’t want to hear you say that ever again.”

  Tears welled in Joe’s eyes.

  No one outside of his parents had ever told him his life had value. Not once. He had been ready to throw away this second chance without hesitation, convinced it meant nothing. And now Olivia was telling him that even as an Unawakened, he mattered.

  His heart ached with warmth.

  “Even if you don’t see value in yourself because you’re an Unawakened porter who’s only been with us for a few hours,” Olivia said more gently, offering him a warm smile, “you’re still a party member. And for that reason alone, your life is precious to me.”

  Joe broke.

  Tears streamed freely down his cheeks.

  Olivia turned to face the Lord of the Woods as the dust ahead of them finally settled. A brilliant green light erupted from her body, her eyes, pulsing with radiant energy as her gaze shone with fierce intensity.

  “Now go, Joe.”

  She extended her hand without looking back. A green aura wrapped around his body.

  Energy surged through him, flooding his limbs with strength.

  “That should give you enough power to escape,” Olivia said.

  “What about you?” Joe asked, his voice trembling.

  She glanced back at him and grinned. “I’ll be right behind you. So go. I told you, didn’t I? I won’t let you die.”

  Joe’s eyes widened as fresh tears spilled down his face.

  He turned and ran. He did not look back. Deep down, he already knew the truth that Olivia was not going to follow him.

  She was going to die.