Snow crunched. Blood dripped.
Kaito dragged himself into the dark cave, fingers trembling, breath shallow. The wind outside howled like ghosts mourning the dead. His cloak was torn to shreds, his body a canvas of bruises, cuts, and broken bones.
Then—
BOOM.
A thick boot slammed against stone. An axe flew toward him like trash being tossed aside.
THUNK.
The weapon embedded itself in the ground—inches from Kaito's face.
"You call this a heir?"
The voice was deep. Grating. Like a mountain cracking in half.
A short, square-built man stood at the entrance. No magic. No aura. Just raw weight.
His arms were thicker than Kaito's waist. Veins bulged like iron cables. One eye glowed amber; the other sealed shut by an old scar. His beard, tangled and grey, swung like chains.
"His scar looked less like a wound and more like a story carved into flesh."
Gorrim Ironhide.
The dwarf who once shattered a fenrir's tooth with a headbutt.
He squinted at Kaito like inspecting spoiled meat.
"Half-dead just from arriving. Can't imagine what'd happen if you trained.
Sorry, kid. Turn around. This place ain't for soft little princes. It's for warriors."
Kaito tried to sit up. Failed. His arm collapsed under him.
"I didn't come here to go back."
Gorrim snorted.
"Let me guess. Attacked by goblins? Scared of slimes? Did a bird peck your royal butt?"
Kaito's eyes narrowed.
"What attacked me… is already dead."
"Then what in blazes tore you up like this?"
"A demon."
Silence.
"Pale skin. Black eyes—no whites, no iris. Just… black. And glowing crimson inside.
Two horns. Looked human. But he wasn't."
Gorrim blinked. Then burst out laughing.
"Hah! Brat, demons don't come to these mountains. Even if they wanted to, they can't.
Wards, barriers, mana distortion—this entire range is poison to their kind."
"I'm not lying."
"So you want me to believe you met a demon, in my mountains, and lived?"
"Not just a demon," Kaito growled. "Something worse."
"What, the Demon Lord came for a stroll?"
"No…"
"You wanna say the greatest calamity of all—the Progenitor—paid you a visit and let you walk away?"
He rolled his eyes.
"Kid, you're not even worth the saliva on his boot."
Kaito's fists clenched. His voice turned cold, steady.
"You think some monster or animal could do this to me? To a Bloodcrest?"
He pushed himself upright.
Crack.
His ribs shifted. Blood dripped.
But his glare didn't waver.
"He toyed with me. Broke my bones like twigs.
Threw me into rocks like I was trash.
Said I wasn't ready yet… called me a chick."
Kaito's voice lowered to a whisper.
"Just before vanishing… he said:
'Run all you can. I won't kill you. Not until you grow.'"
He looked straight into Gorrim's eye.
"He called me Fear."
Gorrim stared.
The cave seemed to go still.
Then—
"Hmph," he grunted. "Then either you're cursed… or chosen."
He walked up, grabbed Kaito's collar, and hoisted him with one arm like lifting a potato sack.
"Either way, boy… you just made things interesting."
He turned and started walking deeper into the cave.
"Welcome to the Molgrim Mountains."
P.S>
"Oh. Bring my beauty with you."
Kaito blinked.
"Beauty…?"
"Can't you see my Bonecleaver stuck in the rocks?"
Kaito turned.
Oh.
He meant the axe.