1 Arriving at Iron Forge City

A gaunt figure staggered through the craggy woods, crashing through the dense tree branches. His hair was a black, shaggy mess, and he struck a pitiful sight. This unfortunate young man was Saif, who had been traveling through the unforgiving wilderness for almost a month now. For the first 20 years of his life, he had been living in relative peace and happiness in Green Mist Village, his birthplace and home for as long as he had known. Unfortunately, his beloved village had been utterly destroyed due to a violent tempest, which smashed down upon the people without warning. All the villagers present had met a grisly fate, their bodies being unable to withstand the immense pressure of the violent winds, painting the landscape red with blood and innards. Coincidentally, Saif had been out in the forest with a small hunting party, but upon their return, the groups set out on their separate ways, leaving their previous lives behind them.

Such occurrences did happen occasionally, with disasters such as huge firestorms or unexpected lightning strikes wreaking havoc amongst the common folk. However, a feeling of unease remained in the back of Saif's grieving mind - this area wasn't known to have extreme weather or anything of the sort. While the suddenness of the events had left him shocked and distraught, having just lost all that he had ever known, he now felt slightly suspicious of the recent events. However, such thoughts were inevitably pushed to the far recesses of his mind as he struggled onwards.

As for where he was going, he didn't have much of a choice. Joining a nearby village was a possibility, but most people in a village were bound by either blood or marital ties, he would forever remain as an outsider. Instead, he pressed onwards towards the nearest city, a place that he had never been to but had heard of many times from passing travelers - Iron Forge City, being called such due to it being the main production center for arms and weaponry for the Bomin Empire.

Saif had set out on this long and arduous journey over 20 days ago, armed with nothing but his staff, which he used for hunting. While his fellow villagers often mocked him for his choice of weaponry, he much preferred the simplicity and efficiency of his staff. Luckily, the woods he was passing through were relatively safe, with few demons or dangerous beasts to worry about. Now, he could finally make out a large stone wall in the distance, standing as tall as a mountain. It was unlike anything he had ever seen, causing Saif to pause in his tracks for a moment, his mouth agape and his many worries forgotten for the time being. Stumbling out of the trees and towards a dirt road lined with knee-deep grass, he finally moved his gaze from the city wall and took in his surroundings.

Ahead of him, he saw a long line of people queued up outside the city gate. Moving forward towards the end of the line, Saif noticed that while there were some people with arrogant gazes, standing proudly in the gaudy clothing of nobility, many of them seemed to have fallen upon tough times, with dirty clothing and appearing to be refugees. Looking at his own tattered clothing though, Saif knew that he would be classified with them, as a refugee seeking asylum.

Lost in thought, Saif neared the crowd of people, some of whom turned to look at him for a brief second before turning back around and ignoring his arrival. Everyone seemed to be too busy with their own troubles to worry about another, except for a kindly old man who was seated on the ground about seven or eight spots ahead of him. The old man gave him a reassuring smile, but Saif didn't return it, instead breaking his gaze and looking away. Although raised to be kind to the elderly, at this point Saif wasn't in the mood to fraternize with others. However, just as Saif was getting ready for a long wait, he heard a commotion from behind him.

"Make way for the noble house of Durtham!"

A carriage sped down the dirt road, pulled by four large Rhinoceros Beasts, level 2 Danger Beasts. Danger Beasts were classified separately from normal beasts largely due to their inherently superior strength and increased aggressive characteristics. While different from Demons, who mostly arrived via portals from other dimensions, Danger Beasts originated normally alongside regular beasts, but due to the disparity between the two, a rough distinction was made between them. For Saif, even a level 1 Danger Beast was a rare and obscenely dangerous creature.

As the carriage rapidly approached, Saif could make it out in more detail. It had a sinister vibe about it, so pitch black that it seemed to devour the sunlight which was so radiant just minutes ago. On top of the roof was a raised, twisting spike, appearing like an oversized corkscrew shooting 10 feet into the air. Impaled upon it was a grotesquely twisted man, still alive judging by his shallow, pained breaths. Just as he was taking in this shocking sight, Saif realized the most important thing - it was coming straight towards the end of the line where he stood, seemingly with no intention of stopping.

With a jolt, Saif rushed over towards the grass on the side of the road as the driver of the carriage spurred the Rhinoceros Beasts madly onwards. As if used to such things, the people lined up quickly dispersed, giving way to the carriage. However, Saif noticed the old man from before was still struggling to stand up, having been abandoned by the people standing near him and being forced to stand by himself. His walking stick had been lost in the flurry of people rushing out of the road, and in his advanced age, he couldn't rise without support.

Seeing this, Saif felt he had to do something. Although he wasn't so naive as to believe he was some sort of hero, saving people in trouble wherever he went, it was impossible to ignore such a scene playing out in front of his eyes. At this point, the carriage was already within 500 feet of the struggling man and was approaching rapidly. Knowing that he was too far away to run over and assist the man in time, Saif threw his staff towards the man in desperation. Although it was a little heavy, if the man was able to use it as a walking stick, he could probably save himself.

The plan seemed to be the best possible attempt as salvaging the situation to Saif at the time, but unfortunately, things didn't go quite as planned. The heavy staff flipped through the air with force and smashed into the aged man's unprotected head, causing him to drop to the floor, unresponsive. In front of Saif's disbelieving gaze, a Rhinoceros Beast stomped on the man's chest, causing his body to burst like a rotten fruit. Then, without ceremony, the carriage sped onwards to the gate, the spike studded wheels dismembering the squashed corpse as it passed and grinding the fallen staff to mulch.

Although Saif had seen the bloody scene of his village's destruction, he was still not used to such gory sights and felt his stomach turn as he stared at the old man's head, which had rolled close to his feet, as if drawn to him for some unknown, devilish reason. The surrounding people all stared at Saif, who felt their dull gazes pierce him as if with unspoken accusations and blame.