Chapter 10: Heartscale Fragment crystal
Mara didn't move.
Neither did the thing in front of her.
They stood in the trees, facing each other. The forest felt wrong around them. Too quiet. Like it was holding its breath.
The figure was tall.
Too tall.
Not a wolf. Not human either.
Its shape kept shifting. Like her eyes couldn't decide what they were seeing. Where its face should have been, there was only shadow.
Mara tightened her grip on the knife.
"System," she said quietly. "I don't like this."
Silence.
Then—
"This entity is observing," the System said.
"That's worse," Mara muttered.
The figure lifted one long arm and pointed.
Not at her.
At the dead rogue wolf behind her.
A heavy feeling pressed into Mara's chest. Not pain. Not fear.
Judgment.
"You killed it," the System said. "You were not expected to."
Mara swallowed. "So?"
"So," the System replied, "you changed the outcome."
The figure tilted its head.
The pressure grew stronger.
Mara felt suddenly small. Like she was standing in front of something very old.
"I'm not a thing to be measured," she said.
The pressure paused.
Then slowly faded.
The figure stepped back.
The trees closed around it.
Gone.
The forest breathed again.
Mara's knees almost gave out.
"That," she said shakily, "better not happen every day."
"It will not," the System said. "Probably."
She groaned and dropped against a tree as pain finally caught up to her.
Her side burned. Her ribs throbbed.
"Status," she said.
A soft chime.
[HOST STATUS — MARA]
Level: 1
Status: Injured (Improving)
Attributes:
STR — 3
AGI — 6
CON — 3
PER — 5
WIL — 4
Vital Condition:
Fatigue: High
Injury: Laceration (Side — Closing), Bruising (Torso — Fading)
Active Effects:
• Probability Divergence (Passive) — Unquantified
Available Points: 3
[STATUS: INJURED — IMPROVING]
"You're healing," the System added. "Slowly. But correctly."
Mara closed her eyes.
"Guess being a werewolf has one good thing."
"Yes," the System said. "You are harder to kill than they wanted."
Mara didn't sleep after the trees closed again.
She sat there for a long time, her back against the rough bark, knife resting across her knees. Her chest rose and fell slowly. Every breath hurt a little less than the last.
That was new.
The forest had gone quiet again. Not dead. Not calm. Just… waiting.
Whatever had stepped out of the trees earlier didn't come back.
That didn't mean it was gone.
"System," Mara whispered. "Is it still here?"
There was a short pause.
"I am no longer detecting the observer," the System replied.
Mara didn't relax. "That's not the same as saying it left."
"No," the System agreed. "It is not."
She sighed and leaned her head back against the tree.
"Of course it's not."
The rogue wolf's body lay a few steps away. Large. Still. Blood dark and sticky in the dirt. The smell hung heavy in the air.
She forced herself to look at it.
She'd killed it.
Not cleanly.
Not easily.
But she had won.
Her hands shook when she looked down at them. Dried blood coated her fingers. Some of it wasn't hers.
She wiped her hands on her pants and slowly stood.
Pain flared through her side. Sharp. Hot.
She hissed through her teeth but stayed upright.
"I'm okay," she muttered. "I'm okay."
"You are not," the System said calmly. "But you are improving."
She tested her weight. Took one step. Then another.
Her leg held.
Her ribs still hurt, but they didn't scream anymore. Her shoulder moved without locking up. Her breathing was steady.
She frowned.
"That's… fast."
"Yes," the System said. "Your werewolf physiology is accelerating recovery."
Mara tilted her head. "Even as an omega?"
"Yes."
That surprised her.
"I thought omegas healed slower."
"You heal slower than alphas," the System corrected. "Not slower than humans."
She let out a short laugh. "Low bar."
"Correct."
She gathered her things quickly. She didn't want to stay near the body longer than necessary. The forest hadn't reacted yet, but that didn't mean it wouldn't.
She moved deeper into the trees, careful but faster than before.
Her steps felt different.
Lighter.
More controlled.
She jumped over a fallen log without thinking and landed smoothly on the other side.
Mara froze.
She blinked.
Then she did it again.
Jumped. Landed. No stumble.
"…Okay," she whispered.
"Yes," the System said. "Agility enhancement confirmed."
She smiled despite herself.
For the first time since the rejection, her body didn't feel like a cage.
Day Four bled into Day Five.
By the time Day Six arrived, her body had mostly caught up.
She avoided conflict.
Learned routes.
Marked safe water.
Practiced movement—testing her new agility carefully, deliberately. No sprinting. No waste.
By Day six, the forest felt… familiar.
Not safe.
But readable.
Her wounds itched more than they hurt now. Bruises yellowed and faded. Her stamina returned in increments—small, steady.
. . .
The timer changed sometime after she started moving again.
[DAY 6]
[TIME REMAINING: 47:59:59]
She stared at the numbers.
"six days," she said quietly.
"Yes."
"I'm still alive."
"Yes."
She shook her head slowly. "I really wasn't supposed to be."
"That assessment is accurate."
She kept walking.
The forest looked different now.
Not safer.
Just… familiar.
She knew how the ground felt before it gave way. She recognized the sound of moving air before something large passed nearby. She could tell when the silence meant danger and when it meant nothing at all.
Her body remembered things her mind never learned.
She avoided low ground. Stayed near thick roots and rocks. Places where she could hide if she needed to.
She drank from a stream and cleaned the blood from her side as best as she could. The cut was ugly, but it had already closed partway. Pink skin pulled tight instead of open and raw.
She touched it carefully.
"…That's scary fast."
"Yes," the System said. "You are at approximately ninety percent recovery."
She blinked. "Already?"
"Yes."
Her chest tightened.
The pack would have loved this ability.
And still they'd thrown her away.
She pushed the thought down and kept moving.
By midday, hunger hit her hard.
She hunted carefully this time, a small rabbit. No rushing. No panic.
When she threw a stone, it hit.
She struck with her knife. It landed where she meant it to.
She cut it up, cooked quietly, and ate slowly, watching the trees the whole time.
Nothing came.
That worried her more than constant danger.
The Mission Appears
She felt it before she saw it.
A tug.
Like something pulling at her attention.
"System," she said. "What is that feeling?"
"An opportunity," it replied.
Her vision flickered.
A soft chime echoed in her head.
[SIDE MISSION AVAILABLE]
She stopped walking.
"Oh?" she said. "Now you want to help?"
"This mission is optional," the System said. "But recommended."
The display opened.
[SIDE MISSION: STONEBACK TRIAL]
Objective:
Enter the Stoneback Ravine and retrieve a Heartscale Fragment.
Threat Level: Moderate
Conditions:
• Ravine contains territorial creatures
• High physical strain
• No environmental resets inside zone
Rewards (Choose One):
① +2 Strength
② +2 Constitution
③ Body Reinforcement (Minor – Permanent)
Failure Result:
• Forced Penalty Quest
• Temporary Stat Suppression
Mara stared at it.
" Well, that's a new one"
"Stoneback Ravine," she repeated. "That sounds bad."
"Yes," the System said. "It is named accurately."
She looked ahead.
The trees thinned. The ground dipped sharply in the distance. Dark stone rose like broken teeth from the earth.
Her instincts screamed.
That place was dangerous.
And important.
She licked her dry lips.
"Why now?"
"Because your body can survive it," the System replied. "Barely."
She snorted. "Comforting."
"You asked."
She paced for a moment, thinking.
Strength would help. She still couldn't overpower anyone bigger than her.
Constitution would mean she could take more hits. Last longer. Heal faster.
And the third option…
"Body reinforcement?" she asked. "What does that mean?"
"It improves overall durability," the System said. "Bones, muscles, organs. Slightly."
Her heart thumped.
That sounded permanent.
That sounded valuable.
She looked toward the ravine again.
"Let me guess," she said. "I can't avoid it forever."
"No," the System replied. "The forest will eventually push you toward similar trials."
She sighed.
"Of course it will."
She tightened the straps on her pack.
"Fine," she said. "Let's see what a Stoneback Ravine looks like."
Stoneback Ravine
The air changed as she got closer.
Heavier. Thicker.
The ground sloped downward into a wide cut in the earth. Tall stone walls rose on both sides, dark and scarred, like something massive had clawed its way through long ago.
The ravine was quiet.
Too quiet.
Mara moved slowly down the slope, placing each step carefully.
Loose rocks shifted under her boots. She steadied herself with one hand against the stone wall.
The rock was warm.
That was wrong.
"System," she whispered. "Why is the stone warm?"
"Because it is alive," the System replied.
She froze.
"…Excuse me?"
"The Stonebacks," it continued, "are dormant lithic organisms. They blend into the ravine walls."
Her grip tightened.
"So the walls are… monsters."
"Yes."
She swallowed.
"I hate this place."
"That is a rational response."
She continued anyway.
The deeper she went, the narrower the ravine became. The light dimmed. The air smelled dry and sharp, like dust and iron.
Something moved.
The stone ahead of her shifted.
Mara jumped back just as a massive shape pulled itself free from the wall.
It looked like a mix between a lizard and a rock.
Thick stone plates covered its body. Its legs were short but powerful. Its eyes glowed faintly from deep cracks in its head.
A Stoneback.
It roared.
The sound echoed off the walls and shook dust loose from above.
Mara's heart slammed against her ribs.
"That's big," she whispered.
"Yes," the System said. "Do not let it hit you."
"Noted!"
The Stoneback charged.
It was faster than it looked.
Mara ran.
She dodged between jutting rocks, her new agility saving her again and again. The creature slammed into the stone wall where she'd been a second earlier.
The entire ravine shook.
She slipped, caught herself, rolled.
Stone scraped her arm. Pain flared, but she stayed moving.
She spotted it then.
Something glowing faintly near the center of the ravine.
A shard of pale blue crystal embedded in stone.
The Heartscale Fragment.
"There," she breathed.
"Yes," the System said. "Retrieve it."
"Working on it!"
She sprinted.
Another Stoneback pulled itself from the wall.
Then another.
Three.
Her chest burned. Her legs screamed.
She ducked under a swinging tail, leapt over broken rock, and slid the last few feet toward the glowing shard.
She grabbed it.
Pain exploded through her arm.
The shard burned hot in her hand.
She screamed and ripped it free.
The ravine roared.
The Stonebacks charged together.
"System!" she shouted. "Now would be a great time for advice!"
"Run," it said.
She didn't need to be told twice.
She bolted.
Stone crashed behind her. The ground shook. Dust filled the air.
She ran until her lungs felt like fire.
She didn't stop until the ravine widened again and the forest swallowed her whole.
She collapsed against a tree, gasping, clutching the glowing fragment.
Her whole body shook.
"I—did I—"
"Yes," the System said. "You succeeded."
The shard cooled in her hand.
The glow faded.
A chime sounded.
[SIDE MISSION COMPLETE]
Mara laughed weakly and slid down to the ground.
"That… sucked."
"Yes," the System replied. "But you survived."
She looked at the reward options as they appeared again.
Strength.
Constitution.
Body reinforcement.
Her hands clenched.
"I'm tired of breaking," she said quietly.
She lifted her head.
"I choose Body Reinforcement."
"Confirmed," the System said.
Warmth spread through her body.
Deep.
Solid.
Like her bones were being wrapped in something strong.
She gasped as the sensation passed through her chest, her arms, her legs.
Then it stopped.
[REWARD APPLIED]
She took a breath.
Then another.
Her body felt… steady.
Grounded.
Harder to shake.
She smiled.
Day six wasn't over yet.
But for the first time—
She felt like she might actually make it.