"Did you hear? The demon lord was defeated."
The baker's voice carried easily over the counter as he slid a still-warm loaf of bread into a cloth wrap. Steam rose faintly from the crust, filling the shop with the comforting scent of yeast and grain. Outside, the village of Greenhollow stirred with its usual morning rhythm—vendors shouting prices, children darting between carts, guards changing shifts at the gate.
The customer, a traveler by the look of him, accepted the bread with a nod. "That's what they're saying," he replied. "But no one's heard back from the hero's party yet."
The baker frowned, scratching at his beard. "A week now and not even a runner. Doesn't sit right with me." He sighed, eyes drifting toward the forest beyond the village palisade. "Hope that brat is alright."
The traveler hesitated, then said nothing more, tucking the loaf under his arm before heading back into the street.
Across the bustling village, two guards leaned against opposite sides of the open gate, spears resting lazily against the wood. The younger of the two yawned, stretching his arms overhead.
"I hear the monsters around other villages have been quiet lately," he said, glancing toward the tree line.
The older guard took a long drink from his water pouch before replying. "Quiet's one word for it. One of the hunters found the body of an alpha wolf the other day. Torn apart and picked clean." He lowered the pouch. "I heard other monsters of the like have been discovered in a similar state."
The younger man laughed. "Makes our job easier."
The older guard didn't laugh back.
He stared into the forest, experience on the watch told him to be wary when things were 'too good.' It always precedes a future crisis.
Far from Greenhollow's gates, the Forest of Beginnings had changed.
Not in obvious ways. The trees still swayed gently in the breeze. Birds still nested among the red-barked branches. Sunlight still filtered through the canopy in warm, golden shafts.
But the balance within the forest had shifted.
At the heart of it moved a predator that did not belong.
The mimic ran on four powerful legs, its massive wolf form flowing effortlessly through the undergrowth. Where once it had stumbled, now it sprinted—leaping fallen logs, weaving between trunks, bounding off exposed roots without breaking stride.
It had been a busy week for the tireless predator.
Seven days of hunting, fighting, and learning had molded it's habits and thoughts to adapt for survival.
The system chimed softly at the edge of its awareness as it moved, checking it's condition.
STATUSWINDOW (PASSIVE DISPLAY)
Level: 15
Race: Baby Mimic (Legendary)
Title: Demon Lord Candidate
HP: 860 / 860
MP: 1,120 / 1,120
Primary Directive: Survival
Secondary Directives: Growth, Adaptation
The mimic no longer flinched at the words.
It didn't accept them—but it understood them.
Understanding, it had learned, was dangerous. But it was also necessary.
Its intelligence had grown steadily with each level, each consumed creature, each successful hunt. Thoughts no longer came only in fragments or borrowed echoes. They were connected now. Built upon one another; planned.
That planning had led it here.
The pack spread out in practiced formation, grey and black shapes ghosting through the trees. Monster rabbits burst from the brush ahead, their elongated limbs and oversized eyes marking them as far removed from their harmless cousins.
The mimic inhaled sharply.
Mana signatures bloomed in its senses and it found the perfect timing.
It surged forward, then veered sharply, circling wide. The rabbits scattered—straight into the waiting jaws of the pack. The mimic threw back its head and howled.
SKILLACTIVATED: [Feral Howl]
Effect: Area Stun (2.1 seconds)
MP Cost: 40
The sound rolled through the forest like thunder. The rabbits froze mid-leap, bodies locking as mana crushed down upon their nervous systems then the pack descended upon them.
Teeth flashed, and claws found flesh. The blood splattered the leaves as the hunt was over in but a few short minutes.
The mimic watched rather than joined, its eyes tracking each movement. It no longer needed to feed constantly. Instead, it observed—how the pack moved, how they shared, how the cubs waited their turn while the elders ate first. The mimic's time with the pack showed that they were able to live efficiently, it had structure, a meaning beyond survival for just the self.
When the bodies were gathered, the pack returned to their den. Meat was divided carefully. The cubs yipped and tugged at bones too large for them, while the older wolves fed in silence.
The mimic ate last as it always did now.
CONSUMPTIONCONFIRMED: Monster Rabbit (x3)
EXPGAINED: +24
Status: No Level Change
It felt the faintest twinge of disappointment.
Limitation. It knew that it needed to move on, this area would no longer provide growth.
That night, while the pack slept, the mimic rose quietly.
It padded to the edge of the clearing and paused, looking back one last time. The wolves stirred but did not follow. They accepted its dominance—but they did not need it.
And the mimic knew something else now.
It had outgrown this place.
To survive longer… I must become more.
The thought came unbidden—and stayed.
The mimic slipped into the darkness, moving alone.
It passed through familiar territory first. Trees it had marked and winding paths it had memorized. Then further, where the forest grew denser and mana currents ran thicker.
And finally—
The clearing; the place where the sky had broken open.
The mimic slowed, nostrils flaring as he inhaled both familiar and foreign smells. The scent of blood was long gone, replaced by rot and old earth. Bones lay scattered where scavengers had done their work.
The hero's remains, the word hero held little meaning for the mimic but it understood there must have been some importance for such a word.
The mimic approached cautiously, still in wolf form. Something tugged at it—not hunger, not fear, but something uncomfortable and heavy.
Memory.
It lowered its head and sniffed the bones.
Nothing.
The mana that had once flooded this place was gone. Seeped into the ground and drifted across the forest. Mixed with the sounds of the forest, voices began becoming clearer as they approached.
The mimic froze, dropping low.
At the far edge of the clearing stood three figures.
An adult knelt before the remains, hands clasped tightly. Two children stood behind him, small and uncertain. The adult murmured words the mimic could not hear, and light began to gather around his hands.
Mana of pure light—divine, sharp and pure—pulsed outward.
The mimic recoiled instinctively, muscles tensing.
The light enveloped the bones.
Something dark tore free.
A shadow—vague, screaming without sound—ripped upward from the remains and vanished into the sky like smoke scattered by wind.
The mimic stared.
That darkness felt… familiar.
Its system reacted immediately.
WARNING:
Residual Corruption Detected
Source: Dissipating Heroic Vessel
The adult gasped, staggering back.
At that moment, the little girl stepped forward.
Her green hair slipped loose from its ponytail as she reached out, fingers brushing the hilt of the holy sword.
The clearing went silent.
Light exploded outward.
SYSTEMALERT:
Heroic Artifact Activation Detected
The sword dissolved into radiance and surged into the girl's body. She cried out—not in pain, but surprise—as the light vanished, leaving her standing there puzzled but unharmed.
The adult shouted, joy and disbelief mingling in his voice. He grabbed the children, laughing and crying all at once, urging them to return to the village.
The boy glanced back once, confused, eyes sweeping the clearing—
—and nearly met the mimic's gaze.
The mimic held perfectly still.
The children and the man disappeared into the trees and silence returned to the clearing.
Slowly, after what seemed like hours of standing stock still; the mimic stepped into the clearing.
It approached the bones and lowered its head.
It bowed and attempted to copy the way the man had used his energy over the body.
The system chimed softly.
SKILLDISCOVERED (INSTINCTUAL):
[Guiding Light]
Creates a small orb of magical light.
Duration: 5 minutes
MP Cost: 15
Mana drained out of the mimic's body gently as a warm orb of light appeared above the it's head. It stared at the orb, transfixed.
Light.
Not destruction.
Just… illumination.
The mimic canceled the spell, watching the orb fade.
It turned away and shot forward into the brush to venture farther into the forest than it ever had before.
Three miles north, the forest changed again.
The air grew heavier. The ground churned and broken. Trees bore scars—deep gouges and snapped trunks as the mimic made it's way into unfamiliar territory.
The mimic smelled the threat before it was made known.
A massive beast of brown and jagged fur forced it's way into the area the mimic was standing. It was a lumbering boar that was an evolved version of it's kind.
The greater boar alpha burst from the brush, massive and furious, tusks glowing faintly with mana reinforcement. Its roar shook the earth.
The mimic braced itself, tightening it's muscles and scanning the surrounding to prepare a plan.
ENEMY DETECTED:
Greater Boar Alpha
Level: 22
Threat Rating: High
The battle that followed was fierce yet fast.
The boar charged over and over again, colliding with the side of the mimic and the surrounding trees. The mimic continued to dodged, retaliate, howl, and tried to copy partial traits mid-battle—thickening its hide, and reinforcing muscle density.
The mimic's blood mixed with boar's as the two struggled in the clearing, knocking down trees and destroying the ground in the fight between two large predators.
Using a skill the boar charged forward and left itself open in it's exhaustion, the mimic raked it's claws into the tough hide as it ran past. The boar cried out loudly as it fell to the ground, breathing raggedly but trying to stay alive. Minutes stretched into agony until at last, the boar feel silent.
BOSSDEFEATED: Greater Boar Alpha
EXP GAINED: +410
LEVEL UP!
Level: 18
New Form Available: Greater Boar
New Trait Unlocked: [Territorial Dominion]
The mimic stood over the corpse, breathing heavily.
Then it changed.
Bone shifted. Muscle surged. Tusks curved outward and it's fur grew thicker with it's size.
When it finished, a massive boar stood where the wolf had been.
The surrounding herd emerged slowly from their hiding places among the brush.
They bowed their heads.
The mimic accepted its new temporary role. It would learn all it could and adapt to the form until it felt as comfortable as the wolf.
Somewhere in the distance a new hero began to dream big.