The road to Roakan stretched ahead of them through rolling hills and dense forest.

They had been traveling for five days now.

The carriages rolled along the packed dirt road. The Dragon Maidens rode in formation. The iron-suited soldiers kept watch on the perimeter. Everything had the organized, practiced feel of a group that knew how to move together.

Jake sat in the carriage with Chelsea and Gran Rosalinda.

Chelsea was reading something. A book she’d brought from the house. Gran Rosalinda was dozing against the window with her head resting on a folded blanket. The afternoon sun came through the carriage window in golden bars of light that moved across the interior as they traveled.

Jake was quiet.

He’d been quiet for most of the journey. Not sullen or withdrawn exactly. Just thoughtful. Processing everything that had happened. The awakening. The python. The system screens that only he could see. The growing weight of being the heir to House Raikarndel.

And also learning his new abilities. Though the system was not showing the class, with the abilities he has, he would be considered a mage or warrior.

Chelsea looked up from her book.

"You’re brooding," she said.

"I’m thinking," Jake corrected.

"You’ve been thinking for five days straight. At some point thinking becomes brooding."

Jake almost smiled. "I have a lot to think about."

"I know you do." Chelsea marked her place in the book and set it aside.

"But you don’t have to carry it all alone. We’re here. Mother and I. We’re not just passengers."

Gran Rosalinda stirred at the sound of her name but didn’t open her eyes.

"I don’t know what’s waiting in Roakan," Jake said quietly.

"Raikarndel clan. I’m sure my father had enemies and now I have to deal with them. Whatever political situation I’m walking into. The Dragon Maidens keep calling me "young master" and "true heir," but I don’t know what that actually means yet."

"Then you’ll learn," Chelsea said simply.

"The same way you’ve learned everything else. One step at a time."

The carriage hit a rut and bounced. Gran Rosalinda mumbled something and shifted against the window.

Jake looked out at the passing forest. The trees were thick here, like they were really old.

The kind of forest that had been standing for centuries and would stand for centuries more. Light and shadow moved between the trunks in patterns that his enhanced vision could pick out clearly even at this distance.

The carriage slowed.

Then stopped.

Jake heard voices outside. It was Raani’s voice. She was talking to someone, giving orders.

The tone was calm, but there was an edge to it. The edge of someone who’d found something that required attention.

The carriage door opened.

Raani stood there in her dark robes with the silver embroidery. Her face was composed but alert.

"Young master," she said.

"We need to stop for a while. We’ve spotted a wild beast herd about two miles ahead. Large ones. Direwolves and something bigger. The scouts are checking the best route around them."

Jake nodded. "How long?"

"An hour, maybe two. The other maidens went ahead to get a closer look at the herd’s movement pattern."

"All right. We’ll wait here."

Raani bowed slightly and closed the door.

Chelsea looked at Jake. "Wild beasts?"

"Apparently."

"Is that normal for this region?"

"I have no idea. I’ve never been to this region before."

The carriage settled into stillness. Outside Jake could hear people dismounting. Setting up a quick rest stop. The horses being walked and watered. The normal sounds of a traveling group taking an unplanned break.

Jake opened the carriage door and stepped out.

The forest pressed close on both sides of the road here. The canopy was thick enough to block most of the direct sunlight. Everything had a green filtered quality. Cool and quiet except for the sounds of the camp.

Jake walked away from the carriages.

Not far. Just enough to stretch his legs and get some air. He moved toward the edge of the road where the forest began. His boots crunched on fallen leaves. A bird called somewhere overhead. The normal peaceful sounds of a forest in the afternoon.

Then he felt it.

A pressure in the air. There was a subtle change in the surroundings; something was wrong.

The feeling came from nowhere and everywhere at once. His blood sense triggered. The system pulsed once in warning. Every instinct he’d developed screamed at him to move.

Jake dove sideways.

*

The barrier went up before the attack landed.

Maudlina appeared from where she’d been standing near the other carriage. Her hands came up and the deep shimmering wall of force materialized in the air between Jake and the treeline. Solid and humming with power.

The fireball hit it a second later.

It wasn’t a small fireball. It was a massive sphere of concentrated flame the size of a horse. It slammed into Maudlina’s barrier with a sound like a thunderclap and exploded. Fire and force spread outward across the barrier’s surface. The impact lit up the forest in orange and red. Heat washed over everything.

The barrier held.

Maudlina stood behind it with her hands raised and her face set in concentration. The barrier absorbed the blast and dispersed it. The flames died. The smoke cleared.

Jake was on his feet with his drawn blade. He had asked for one from Raani.

The men came out of the forest.

They wore black robes. Full coverage from head to foot. Hoods up. Faces hidden behind dark masks. They moved with coordinated precision. Spreading out. Surrounding the road. Cutting off escape routes.

Jake counted twelve of them.

Then fifteen.

Then he stopped counting because more were still coming.

The Dragon Maidens reacted instantly. Raani’s voice cut through the camp. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Defensive formation! Protect the young master!"

The iron-suited soldiers moved into position. Weapons drawn. Shields up. The Dragon Maidens surrounded the carriages with Jake at the center.

The men in black robes attacked.

*

The fight was immediate and brutal.

They came in fast without a warning. Just direct assault with the kind of coordinated aggression that spoke of training and planning. These weren’t random bandits. These were professionals.

Jake felt his bloodline surge.

The system screens flashed at the edge of his vision.

[ COMBAT MODE ACTIVE ]

[ RAIKARNDEL TECHNIQUES AVAILABLE ]

[ RECOMMEND: SHADOW STEP, VOID STRIKE ]

Jake moved.

He used Shadow Step for the first time in actual combat. The technique pulled him through the connected shadows between where he was standing and where the nearest attacker was raising a blade. One moment Jake was behind the Dragon Maidens. The next moment he was five meters away with his sword coming down on the robed figure’s shoulder.

The blade connected, it went a bit deep.

The man went down.

Jake was Class II and he could take them on easily, as they were all Class III warriors and seemed like trained assassins.

Jake didn’t stop moving.

Another attacker came at him from the left.

Jake pivoted, using the momentum. His enhanced strength made the sword feel lighter than it should. His enhanced speed made the world feel slower. He could see the attack coming. Could read the angle. Could step inside the guard and drive his blade through the gap in the robes.

Two down.

The system pulsed again.

[ BLOOD SENSE DETECTING: 23 HOSTILES ]

[ THREAT LEVEL: HIGH ]

Twenty-three. More than Jake had counted. More were still in the trees. They seem to be waiting or watching; Jake couldn’t tell exactly.

Maudlina was fighting three of them at once. Her barrier work was incredible. She didn’t use large shields. She used small precise walls of force that appeared exactly where she needed them. Blocking strikes. Redirecting attacks. Creating openings that she exploited with quick precise movements of her own blade.

Ankerita fought nearby. Her talent was different from her sister’s. Where Maudlina used barriers, Ankerita used compression. She would grab the air around an attacker and squeeze. The pressure was invisible but the effect wasn’t. Men dropped. Gasping. Unable to breathe.

The Dragon Maidens were holding the perimeter. Raani fought like water. Flowing. Never stopping. Always moving to the next target. The other maidens moved with her in coordinated patterns that created overlapping coverage.

The iron-suited soldiers fought in tight formation. Shields locked. Spears out. Professional and disciplined.

But there were a lot of attackers.

Jake felt something building in his chest. The bloodline responding to the fight. To the danger. The system was showing him things. Techniques he could use. Abilities he hadn’t tried yet.

One of the robed men came at him with a spear.

Jake caught the spear shaft with his left hand. His enhanced strength stopped it cold. The attacker’s eyes widened behind his mask. Jake pulled. Yanked the man forward off balance. Drove his sword through the man’s chest before he could recover.

The spear fell from dead hands.

Jake picked it up.

He turned and threw it at another attacker twenty meters away. The throw was harder than any throw he’d made before. Faster. The spear crossed the distance in less than a second and took the robed figure through the throat.

[ TECHNIQUE LEARNED: ENHANCED PROJECTILE ]

The system registered it. Filed it. Added it to the growing list of things Jake could do now that he couldn’t do a week ago.

The fight raged for ten minutes.

It felt longer. Time always felt longer in combat. But when the last of the robed attackers fell and the clearing went quiet except for heavy breathing and the sounds of wounded men, Jake checked the sun’s position and it had barely moved.

Ten minutes.

Twenty-three attackers.

All down.