Trees cracked. A roar shattered the quiet.
The forest ripped apart like a torn curtain as something massive burst through the underbrush.
And then I saw it.
A wild boar, the size of a carriage, its eyes blood-red and glowing with a violent hue. Its tusks were long and chipped from too many fights. Moss grew from its back like it was part of the forest itself.
It snorted.
It locked eyes with me.
Then it charged.
"Eris—behind me!"
I moved on instinct, pulling her away from the clearing.
But she stepped forward instead.
Eyes wide. Hands trembling.
She raised them, trying to form a casting seal.
"Flamma… ignis… igni—!"
Her voice cracked.
Her mana faltered.
The wind shimmered, but the spell collapsed in her hands.
She gasped.
"I—I can't…"
The fear in her voice was real. Her entire body trembled. Magic requires mental clarity, and she had none left. Her eyes locked on the monster.
She couldn't move.
And I… was all that stood between them.
I can't beat that.
I don't have spells. I don't have armor. I don't even have a real weapon.
But I had this one thought, thundering in my mind:
If I run… she dies.
My bamboo sword was already in my hand.
Even if it was just a stick—
I gripped it like it weighed the world.
The boar came again.
Fast. Furious.
Its tusks tore the grass apart like cloth.
Dodge left!
I slid under it at the last second—barely escaping a direct hit.
Its breath was hot and foul, like smoke and blood mixed into one.
Strike now!
I slammed my blade into its side.
THWACK!
It barely flinched.
The sword cracked.
But I kept moving.
It twisted, tusk swinging wide.
It caught my arm.
SLASH!
Pain exploded.
Blood ran down my sleeve.
One more hit like that… and I'm dead.
But I saw Eris again.
Still kneeling.
Still trembling.
Still here.
She couldn't cast. But she didn't run.
And I wouldn't either.
"No more running."
The boar roared.
Charged one last time.
This time, I didn't move until the very last moment.
I pivoted.
The wind shifted.
And I brought the bamboo sword down—right between its eyes.
CRACK!
The blade shattered.
And the beast fell.
It writhed once.
Then collapsed.
Silence.
I stood over it, shoulders heaving. My arm burned, the blood dripping freely now.
My legs wanted to give out—but I forced them still.
Behind me, I heard footsteps.
Then a whisper.
"You… you stopped it."
Eris stepped forward slowly, her green eyes filled with tears.
"Even without magic… you stopped it."
I nodded, just once.
"You tried to cast. That was brave."
"But I failed."
"So did I. The first thousand times."
She looked at me, really looked—for the first time since I woke up in this world.
And then—
The air began to pulse with light.
Magic crackled in the distance.
They came without warning.
Blue flashes lit the sky.
Wind tore through the field.
Five elite soldiers dropped from above, armored in obsidian-colored mana suits that shimmered with glowing crystal veins. No swords. No steel.
Only pure, militarized magic.
They were called the Mightys.
Magic Knights.
The enforcers of order.
Guardians of the realm.
Trained from childhood to wield magic as weapon, armor, and law.
Their leader stepped forward—tall, with a spear of compressed lightning and eyes like polished sapphire beneath a half-mask.
She stopped when she saw the boar.
Then she looked at me.
At my torn clothes.
At the broken bamboo sword in my hand.
At Eris standing close beside me, her hands still faintly trembling.
One of the other Mightys stepped closer.
"Did he… kill that?"
Another voice answered:
"That's Leor von Eidenhart. The Hollow."
"...With no magic?" the captain asked flatly.
They stared.
At the beast.
At me.
At the stick.
And they didn't laugh.
Didn't mock.
Didn't speak for several long moments.
Then finally:
"Report to the capital," the captain said. "A noble has slain a C-Class beast using a non-magical weapon. He may be Hollow…"
"But he's not empty."