Night had just swallowed the remaining twilight over Oakhaven Village when the air abruptly turned freezing cold. It was not the ordinary chill brought by the winter wind, but a bone-deep frost carrying the stench of blood and decay. Inside the Markus family’s rickety shack, Elena was adjusting a thin blanket while her husband, Mark, stood guard near the door, an old wooden axe gripped tight in his hands.

"Mark... do you smell that?" Elena whispered, her voice trembling as she wrapped her arms around herself.

Before Mark could answer, a long howl shattered the silence of the night, echoing from deep within the forest.

Ahoooouuuu!

The howl came not from a lone wolf or two. It was a hungry hunting pack, driven out by the extreme winter and ready to pounce on anything that moved. Within seconds, hysterical screams tore through the night from neighboring houses. Doors slammed, wood shattered, and utter panic engulfed the entire village.

"Damn it! Shadow Wolves!" Mark yelled, his face turning pale as death. "They’ve come down from the mountain!"

In the corner of the room, Rian—who had just absorbed the knowledge from the forbidden grimoire—opened his eyes wide. His consciousness was now brimming with shadow magic formulas and the battle reflexes of his past life as a mercenary. Though his current body was merely that of a three-year-old child, his mental composure was forged of iron.

A real threat has arrived, Rian thought coldly. There’s no more time to hide.

CRASH!

The eastern wooden wall of the shack shattered into splinters under a massive impact. Dust and wood debris filled the air. From the gaping breach, a terrifying beast leapt inside. It was a Shadow Wolf—a shadow beast with fur as dark as soot, burning crimson eyes radiating bloodlust, and a body twice the size of a normal wolf. Thick saliva dripped from its razor-sharp fangs.

"Elena, run to the back!" Mark cried out in panic, raising his axe high as he put himself between his family and the beast.

However, Mark was exhausted and merely an ordinary farmer; he possessed neither the speed nor the strength to contend with a beast of magic. Lightning fast, the Shadow Wolf lunged forward, ignoring the swing of Mark’s axe and raking its claws across his shoulder. Fresh blood spurted out. Mark was hurled backward, crashing into the wall before collapsing unconscious in a pool of his own blood.

"Mark!" Elena screamed hysterically. She scrambled toward her husband, tears streaming down her cheeks.

The beast wasted no time. With a low rumble that vibrated through the floorboards, the wolf turned, locking its burning red eyes on Elena as she shielded her helpless husband. The monster opened its jaws wide, preparing to tear through her throat in a single fatal bite.

At that exact moment, Rian stood behind a overturned wooden table. His heart beat at a controlled, steady rhythm while the mana inside him boiled, surging through the internal meridians he had recently unblocked. In his grip, he held a small wooden makeshift knife he had painstakingly carved and sharpened over the past few days.

Not enough, Rian analyzed rapidly. A normal physical attack won't pierce that beast's thick hide.

Without hesitation, Rian funneled his mana circulation straight into his palms. Utilizing the basic shadow manipulation technique he had just acquired from the grimoire, he coated the tiny wooden knife in a dense, lethal aura of purple energy. The crude wooden stake transformed into a high-energy, deadly weapon.

Now!

Exerting the full strength of his toddler muscles—now reinforced by mana—Rian leapt from the table at a speed impossible for a child his age. His eyes locked onto the monster's singular, critical vulnerability: the left eye, left exposed without thick fur or mana defense.

SWOOSH!

Rian’s tiny frame glided through the air like a phantom slipping out of the dark. With millimeter precision and the calculated aim of an elite sniper, he hurled the mana-infused wooden knife with everything he had.

Fast. Precise. Fatal.

The wooden blade pierced the freezing air with a sharp hiss.

THWACK!

A sickening crunch echoed through the room as the blade buried itself deep into the Shadow Wolf's left eye. The purple mana coating the tip detonated inside the monster's skull, obliterating its brain tissue and central nervous system in a fraction of a second.

The giant Shadow Wolf froze mid-lunge. Its body went rigid, the glowing crimson light in its eyes died instantly, and its final death howl strangled in its throat.

THUD!

The monstrous beast collapsed lifeless, crashing down in a heap of thick black blood right at Elena’s feet.

A suffocating silence enveloped the ruined interior of the shack. Elena, who had been clutching her husband in despair, slowly raised her head. She stared at the corpse of the giant wolf sprawled before her, then turned her gaze toward Rian, who stood a few paces behind her—a faint, lingering glow of strange energy still drifting off his small hand.

Elena stared at her son in pure horror, her breath catching, her entire body trembling violently. Beneath her tear-filled eyes lay a profound terror—not of the dead beast, but of the three-year-old child who had just saved their lives in a manner that defied all logic.