Fallen Realm Online: Rise of The Fallen Monarch

*****

Deep within a dense dark, evil-looking forest, towering ancient trees stood like watchful guardians, their twisted limbs stretching toward the sky.

Their shadows stretched long beneath the thick canopy, while a faint mist curled around the roots, leaving the air damp and heavy with stillness.

From time to time, distant rustles and low growls echoed through the undergrowth, yet no creatures revealed themselves.

At this moment, two figures moved cautiously through this dark forest, one walking ahead with a relaxed but alert stance, while the other scanned their surroundings with sharp, wary eyes.

These two were none other than Lilith and Xylen who had entered the forest over an hour ago.

At first, both of them had remained on high alert, especially Xylen, who, due to his past life, understood the dangers lurking in the beginner training forest.

Although most of the beasts within were always relatively weak, ranging from level 0 to level 5, they were still usually very deadly to the novice, level 0 players and only a few u to usually manage to survive without being killed, yet here…

"I'm confused." Xylen exhaling and rolling his shoulders suddenly muttered, and hearing him, Lilith glanced at him, her own brows furrowed.

"About what, my lord?"

"We've been walking for over an hour in this thick forest, and if I remember correctly, you claimed this place was incredibly dangerous." He turned slightly, giving Lilith an expectant look. "So why haven't we even come across a single ant?"

"I…" Lilith bit her lip awkwardly. "…I also have no idea, my Lord."

She sounded troubled. "It is not always like this, my lord. This forest is known to be deadly and that's the reason why our village forbids people from entering since all our able-bodied men died eighteen years ago."

"Huh?" Xylen's brows rose.

"Dangerous?" he muttered, sweeping his gaze over the dark, silent landscape. "If a place like this could be considered dangerous, then wouldn't that make the word itself useless?"

Still, despite his words, his instincts from his past life gnawed at him. A silence like this is just too unnatural, meaning that some powerful predators had most likely already claimed their territory.

With this thought, Xylen sighed and rubbed his temples. "I have less than 22 hours to level up and kill that so-called uncle. But at this rate, I haven't even reached level one, let alone gained enough strength to face my enemy. How am I supposed to complete the mission?"

"What should I do now?" he muttered, his voice audible to only himself.

Just then an idea struck him and without hesitation:

"Is this the only forest near the village?"

Lilith, taken by surprise by his question hesitated for a second, before responding; "No."

"Huh?"

Xylen's mouth opened, but before he could react;

"This forest is vast… wider than two cities combined and according to legend, if one goes deep enough, they might even encounter a level fifteen boss, so, I don't think going to another forest is necessary."

"Oh?" Xylen's brows lifted, then without hesitation... "Then let's go deeper."

"This…" Lilith paled, looking at Xylen as though he had just said the most disbelieving thing of all time. "My… My Lord, could… could you perhaps not have heard what I just said?"

"Huh?" Xylen was confused for a moment, wondering what she had just said, but then a look of understanding appeared on his face and he smirked.

"Wasn't this the same way you also claimed there were level-ten monsters here?"

"I…" Lilith opened her mouth but couldn't argue, her tongue tied, having no idea how to retort.

Eventually;

"But… but my Lord, what if we do end up meeting one of them?" she stammered. "I wouldn't even be able to fight back before we're both killed!" She tried convincing Xylen, however, Xylen only smiled slightly.

"My mind is set," he replied and not waiting for Lilith to react, he strode forward.

Lilith's heart skipped a beat at this and she rushed after Xylen. "My Lord, please there is no need to go deeper into this forest! If we keep searching around the outskirts, we'll eventually find monsters!" she pleaded.

Xylen ignored her.

But just as she was about to protest harder, not wanting to accept Xylen's wish this time, however…

"Shush."

Xylen's finger suddenly pressed lightly against her lips, silencing her.

"This…" Lilith froze, her breath hitching.

She gingerly raised her head, expecting to see him looking at her, but he wasn't.

Right now, Xylen's gaze was locked ahead, sharp and intense, his eyes gleaming as if he'd just spotted something exciting.

'What has my Lord seen?' Lilith wondered in her mind and slowly turned her head, following his gaze.

In the following second, her heart nearly leaped out of her chest.

Crouched in the undergrowth a few meters ahead of them right now was a small creature, gnawing on something wet and red.

This creature resembled a ferret, but its body was covered in rusted thorns, and its blood-red eyes gleamed hungrily in the dim light, making it obvious it was a demonic monster.

A Brambit.

A powerful chill ran down Lilith's spine and without hesitation, she pointed a trembling finger, then covering her mouth with her other hand to stop herself from screaming, she stuttered.

"My… my lord, that's… that's definitely a Brambit."

"A Brambit?"

Xylen frowned, and then rifling through his past-life knowledge, he tried bringing up any information about this creature, but he had never heard of it before. Not even once, otherwise, he would have remembered.

With this, Xylen heaved a small sigh.

'Good thing that I have this skill,' he thought to himself and without hesitation, activated Royal Scan.

In the following second, a pulse of energy flickered across his vision, and just then:

[ 3 MP has been deducted to activate Royal Scan ] A mechanical voice he was well used to echo in his mind.

Before he could think much, however, a transparent interface appeared before his eyes.

*****************************

[ R O Y A L – S C A N - R E S U L T ]

Creature Name: Brambit

Level: 1

HP: 75

ATK: 60

DEF: 65

SPD 40

[[ SKILLS:

· Rusthorn Spikes (Lv. 1) – Creature Launches metal-like thorns at passive enemies, causing bleeding which might lead to death if fatal enough.

· Pain Mirror (Lv. 2) – The creature reflects a small portion of damage back to the attackers.

· Vile Thicket (Lv. 3 Passive) – When the creature hits, there's a small chance to entangle the attacker.

|| E N D ||

]]

*****************************