Dawn came cold and grey.
Mist clung to the forest outskirts like it didn't want to let go, curling around roots and low-hanging branches. The road leading out of Stonehaven narrowed quickly, cobblestone giving way to packed dirt, then to little more than a trail carved by boots and blood.
Lysa walked ahead, hands behind her head, eyes sharp despite the lazy posture. Brunn followed a few steps back, humming something low and tuneless, the head of his hammer occasionally scraping a tree trunk with a dull thunk.
Owen brought up the rear.
He liked it that way.
"So," Lysa said without turning around, "fresh B-ran, I feel no mana from you and you're awfully quiet. You gonna explain that, or we pretending it's normal?"
Owen shrugged. "There's nothing much to explain."
She snorted. "Sure then I guess..."
Brunn glanced back, smiling. "You were right, you don't talk much."
"Do I need to?"
"No," Brunn said. "Just checking. Some people go quiet 'cause they're scared. Others, cause they're thinking."
"And which is he?" Lysa asked.
Brunn tilted his head. "Second one."
Owen didn't respond, but the corner of his mouth twitched.
They reached the treeline where the job marker indicated increased activity. The forest here was quiet, too quiet. No birds. No insects. Even the wind seemed hesitant.
Lysa stopped.
"Alright," she said, tone shifting. "Something's off."
She crouched, fingers brushing the ground. "Tracks."
Brunn knelt beside her. "Heavy. Clawed. But… uneven."
Owen stepped closer, eyes scanning the undergrowth. "Like it's limping?"
Lysa looked up at him, surprised. "Yeah. Exactly like that."
They exchanged a look.
"Beasts don't limp unless something hurt them," Brunn muttered. "Or unless they're fighting each other."
Then suddenly, a low growl rolled through the trees.
Then another.
Then three more answered.
"Contact," Lysa said calmly, daggers already in her hands.
The underbrush exploded.
A massive horned beast burst forward, hide scarred and eyes wild with pain and rage. Behind it—two smaller ones, circling wide.
Brunn moved first.
He stepped forward and slammed his hammer into the ground.
The impact cracked the earth, throwing the lead beast off balance.
"Left one's mine!" Lysa shouted, vanishing into the trees in a blur of silver.
The second beast lunged toward Owen.
It was fast.
Owen met it head-on.
Steel rang as claw met blade. He twisted, stepped inside its reach, and drove his sword across its shoulder. The beast shrieked and recoiled but didn't fall.
Owen adjusted instantly, footwork tight, breathing controlled.
The creature charged again.
Owen ducked low, rolled, came up behind it...
...and froze.
Another presence, despite him not having mana he could feel it.
It was stronger.
And in that moment shadow dropped from above.
"MOVE!" Brunn roared.
Owen dove as a massive shape crashed where he'd stood, snapping branches like twigs.
The alpha.
Twice the size of the other two. One horn broken clean off. Old wounds crisscrossing its body.
Lysa reappeared beside him, breathing hard. "You guys good?"
Brunn wiped blood from his cheek, grinning grimly. "I've never been better."
The alpha roared.
The fight turned brutal.
Lysa darted in and out, blades flashing, drawing its attention. Brunn took hits head-on, hammer swinging like it weighed nothing, every strike shaking the ground.
Owen watched and waited as Brunn perfectly countered the beast on the chin stunning the beast for a brief moment. That brief moment is what Owen needed, He saw the opening instantaneously and with out hesitation he vanished.
Owen closed the gap in one dash appearing right behind Brunn positioning himself right where he needed to be. He subconsciously grinned as he thrusted his blade at the opening. He didn't aim for power. He aimed for timing.
The beast roared in pain as it reared back to strike Brunn and Owen. Owen pulled out his blade and tossed it to the side, which looked like a useless move at the time, until Lysa appeared grabbing the blade and leaping onto a fallen trunk, then launching herself upward and diving back down eyes glowing plunging the blade down into the beast's neck causing it and the head to crash down on the ground with a big quake that left even Owen shook.
"So this is mana." Owen muttered under his breath.
The beast howled in pain.
"NOW!" Lysa yelled.
Brunn lifted his hammer up into the air and Owen noticed something. Just like Lysa, there's a sudden glow in their eyes then a burst of strength. Brunn then brought his hammer down with everything he had.
The beast's head caved in as it burst out with blood spraying everywhere.
Silence returned to the forest, broken only by heavy breathing.
They stood there for a moment, staring at the corpses.
Then Lysa laughed.
"Holy shit," she said. "That worked."
Brunn let out a booming chuckle. "Kid's got guts."
Owen wiped his blade clean. "You two alright?"
Lysa blinked. "Did you just ask us that?"
Brunn smiled wider. "I like him."
They didn't take long to gather resources from the corpses before beginning their journey.
They didn't talk much on the walk back.
Not because the fight rattled them, more like none of them felt the need to fill the silence. The forest slowly came back to life as they moved away from the clearing. Birds chirped again. Wind brushed through leaves. The tension peeled off layer by layer.
Stonehaven's gates came into view just as the sun fully climbed the sky.
"First round's on me," Brunn said suddenly, stretching his arms. "Rule of surviving jobs."
Lysa smirked. "That's not a rule, that's just you liking alcohol."
"Both can be true."
Owen hesitated. "…Sure."
The guild hall was louder than before. A few mercenaries glanced their way, eyes lingering on Owen longer than earlier. Not out of respect but curiosity.
They turned in the job without fuss. The receptionist skimmed the report, paused at the mention of an alpha, then looked up.
"You three fought and alpha and still returned before lunch?" she asked.
"Barely," Lysa said.
She slid the coin pouch across the counter. "Fair pay but Don't make this a habit."
Brunn pocketed the coins. "No promises."
They took a corner table, drinks clinking down in front of them. Brunn downed his in one go. Lysa sipped hers slowly, eyes half-lidded as she watched the room.
Owen held his mug but didn't drink yet.
"You don't drink?" Lysa asked.
"No," Owen said. "Despite being seventeen I haven't tasted alcohol."
She nodded. "Don't get used to it."
Brunn laughed. "You say that like you're ancient."
"I've buried friends," she replied flatly.
That instantly killed the mood.
Owen finally took a sip. The burn hit his throat, unfamiliar but grounding.
For a while, they just existed together. No questions. No probing. Just Brunn's questionable stories and the comfort of shared victory.
Eventually Brunn spoke up addressing Owen. "So, Owen. You heading somewhere, or you drifting?"
"Drifting," Owen answered.
"Good," Brunn said. "Drifters do learn faster and are more reliable."
Lysa glanced at Owen. "You fight like someone who's been alone a long time, that move you did how did you even manage to pull it off?"
"Huh?" Owen replied blankly
She leaned back. "You were the reason we were able to kill the beast. You attacked it the moment Brunn countered its attack. Despite it being risky nobody without mana would be able to close that distance instantly like you did. Yet even in that moment I felt not a single ounce of mana from you. The table went quiet as even Brunn was thinking about what Lysa was saying " So how?"
" Well, I don't know I just moved to where I needed to be the most." Owen replied sipping the beer in his mug like it was some toxic poison.
Lysa sighed " Anyway, wanna join us?"
" Sure." He replied still looking down at his mug.
Brunn sat grinning like he'd won something. "Look at that. Second day here and we've already adopted him."
"I didn't agree to that," Owen muttered.
Lysa smirked. "Too late."
And just like that, without ceremony or declaration, Owen found himself not walking alone anymore.