Li Wei spent the day buried in parchment and ink, deep within the Li family archives.

  The scent of old books, beeswax, and dust filled the air. It was a comforting smell, one that spoke of knowledge and of buried secrets waiting to be uncovered. The flickering lanterns cast warm pools of light over faded scrolls and yellowed maps, their glow soft against the dark wood of the reading tables.

  He might be a warmaster now, a class built for leading armies and inspiring loyalty, but his highest stat was still Intelligence. He was not just a commander. He was a scholar of war, a strategist as much as a warrior. And like any good strategist, he believed in preparation.

  Books, maps, letters, scouting reports. He checked them all. Master Chen moved silently through the archives, retrieving whatever he asked for with practiced ease. The old eunuch had become his quiet accomplice, loyal through both generosity and the unspoken promise of a better future. He had lived through enough political shifts in the Li household to recognize when the tides were turning, and Li Wei was the rising current.

  “There have been reports of Rakshasa attacks near the Qianlong Valley region over the past year,” Li Wei muttered as he traced a finger along the faded edge of a parchment. “Men killed and eaten. Women abducted. But no expeditions were sent. The region is too poor, too far, too unimportant. My father ignored it. As he always does, unless it threatens his pleasures.”

  But things were different now.

  Li Wei was the first sword of the Li family, general of its soldiers. His father had handed him authority, whether by greed, politics, or sheer carelessness. Now, Li Wei could command troops, issue orders, and organize hunting parties as he saw fit. A warmaster did not wait. A warmaster acted.

  “There is a cave system here, young master,” Master Chen said, tapping a discolored map with a bony finger. “It winds into the mountain and disappears beneath the ground. There is no record of anyone ever mapping it fully. If the Rakshasa have made a den nearby, this would be the place.”

  Li Wei narrowed his eyes. The Qianlong Valley was remote, bordered by jagged ridges and covered in dense forest. The terrain would slow a large force, but it was ideal for a small, fast strike team. A perfect place for monsters to hide. A perfect place for something foul to grow unchecked.

  “We will go in with a small party,” Li Wei said. “Elite troops only. We clear the caves, defeat the Rakshasa, find their warmaster, and take whatever treasure they’ve hoarded.”

  It sounded like a dungeon raid. A classic setup from the video games of his past life. Select your party. Enter the dungeon. Defeat the mobs. Kill the boss. Loot the chest.

  But this was not a game.

  There were no save files. No second chances. No revive potion to bring the dead back. If he died, that was it. If any of his men died, they were gone forever. No reset. No resurrection.

  “Ancient scriptures say the Rakshasas were created in a form composed of the quality of foulness,” Master Chen said as he leafed through a fragile text. “They were born of hunger. Of them, anger was born. The god set forth beings in darkness. Starved, misshapen, beastlike. Insectoid. Hideous.”

  He passed a more recent report, scrawled in hurried strokes.

  “The sightings in Qianlong describe them as insectoid. Were the Rakshasa you fought in Yanshan the same, young master?”

  “No,” Li Wei said with a shake of his head. “They were more like rats. Deformed humans twisted with vermin traits.”

  “Then this might be a different clan,” Master Chen said. “Each with its own quality of foulness. Its own curse. Be careful out there, young master. Hunting Rakshasa in your own territory, in terrain you can control, is one thing. Hunting them in their own lair is another. No man who entered those caves has ever come back.”

  “Then we will be the first,” Li Wei replied quietly. There was no pride in his tone, only determination. “Thank you, Master Chen. The knowledge in these books, in these scrolls and maps, will save lives.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  A chime echoed softly in his mind.

  Stat Progression Activated: Intelligence +0.1

  The lanterns flickered as a breeze drifted through the narrow windows. Outside, the sun dipped behind the mountains, and the sky turned to ash and flame. The first shadows stretched across the land like reaching fingers.

  Darkness was coming.

  And Li Wei was preparing to meet it head-on.

  Li Wei visited Drakon and Thalassa next. Their chambers were in the military barracks, stark and utilitarian. These were the quarters of soldiers who chose function over luxury.

  "Gather your finest troops," Li Wei commanded them, standing tall beneath the flickering torchlight. "We will be traveling to the Qianlong Valley soon. It will be our next Rakshasa hunt."

  "Yes, General," the massive Virexian bowed.

  Drakon was a mountain of a man, a terrifying soldier with strength carved from war. But he obeyed Li Wei without hesitation. He was pleased with the gold Li Wei had given him after the last expedition. He respected Li Wei’s strength as a warrior. And he was drawn in by Li Wei’s natural charisma, a charisma that now pulsed stronger than ever after his class awakening. A warmaster's charisma. Drakon would follow Li Wei to the bottom of the sea, the center of the earth, or the deepest level of hell if ordered.

  Once the troops were gathered in the yard, they began chanting.

  "Li Wei! Li Wei! Li Wei!"

  Their voices rang out, strong and full of fire. The soldiers were still riding high from the rewards of the last expedition. Their morale was no longer just the result of coin or glory. It was belief. Loyalty.

  The chanting stirred something within Li Wei. It reminded him of the Rakshasas chanting for their warmaster, Hidimba. Before Hidimba had entered the battlefield, the Rakshasas had been losing, scattered and disorganized. The moment he arrived, they had rallied and fought with terrifying resolve.

  Could it work the same way for him?

  Could Li Wei rally and empower his soldiers with nothing but presence? Could he fill them with courage and battle lust the way Hidimba had for the Rakshasa?

  He would have to find out during the expedition.

  But he felt something more. Not just the power he gave to them. Power that came back to him. As they chanted his name, something within him awakened. It was as if his stats had temporarily surged, as if his very body had grown lighter, sharper, stronger. Perhaps this was the hidden nature of the warmaster class. They empowered their clan. And their clan empowered them in return.

  Li Wei raised his hand. Silence fell like a curtain.

  "We are traveling to the Qianlong Valley at first light," he told them, his voice echoing across the barracks. "We will enter the cave system where man-eating monsters have made their dens. Who will follow me?"

  The question, spoken aloud, sounded absurd. To chase monsters into their lair? Into a pitch-dark cave system that had never been explored and from which no man had returned?

  The rational choice would have been to look away. To feign injury or sickness. To bow out before the madness began.

  But instead, the answer rose like a battle cry.

  "I will! I will! I will!"

  It was not logical. It was not safe. But the soldiers chanted anyway, every voice strong and resolute. They would follow Li Wei into the Rakshasa den, into the dark, into the unknown. If he led them, they would walk straight into the abyss.

  This was the power of the warmaster.

  At first light, the expedition began.

  There was no wasted motion. Supplies were packed, weapons cleaned, horses saddled. They rode out in tight formation, twenty handpicked warriors strong. Li Wei led at the front, his robes fluttering in the morning wind, sword at his side and purpose in his stride.

  Mei Ling rode beside the vanguard. The scout from Yanshan was now an officer loyal to Li Wei. Her sharp eyes and keen instincts had saved lives in the last expedition, and she had proven herself beyond question.

  Brother Fatong came as well, adjusting his prayer beads as his horse shifted beneath him. He was now the army’s monk, in charge of cleansing rituals and spiritual wards.

  "I do not know how you convinced me to come with you on this hunt, young master," he said, sighing as he tightened his belt. "Hunting Rakshasas in an underground cave system? That sounds like a recipe for disaster."

  "It comes with unlimited servings of soup," Li Wei said with a grin. "And who knows, you might even find enlightenment on this journey."

  "Or another treasure hoard filled with gold and gemstones," Thalassa said from behind them, laughing. She wore her bronze armor now, her red Virexian cape flowing behind her. She had left her revealing sparring leathers behind. What she wore today was made for real battle. She rode to Li Wei’s left.

  Drakon rode to his right, his presence calm and steady. His armor caught the light with every movement. In his saddle behind him sat a young boy, slender and delicate in appearance, feminine, almost mistaken for a eunuch at first glance.

  "Lian Yu?" Li Wei glanced at the boy, then at Drakon. "Should you really be bringing him with us?"

  "I am training him to be a warrior, General," Drakon said without hesitation. He placed a protective hand on the boy’s shoulder. "And the best way to learn is on the battlefield."

  Li Wei nodded. Drakon was right. No amount of drills or sparring could match the growth that came from real combat. He had seen it himself. Training gave small gains, small increments. A tenth of a stat here and there. But battle, real battle, gave something more. Completing quests brought full stat increases. Real growth.

  "Now then," Li Wei said, taking his place at the front of the formation. He was on horseback, the wind brushing his robes and the sword at his side. His voice rang clear across the valley.

  "Onward to the Qianlong Valley."