He wasn’t alone anymore.

  Kaelis sensed it before he saw them—two figures ahead on the road, moving cautiously, their energy signatures restrained but trained. Adventurers. Not reckless, but not weak either.

  They exchanged brief words. Names. Destinations. No trust, no hostility.

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  Kaelis listened more than he spoke, learning how the wider world functioned. Regions where tier imbalance caused instability. Areas where people vanished without trace. Rumors of powers that didn’t fit within known systems.

  When they parted ways, one of them paused. “Be careful,” the man said quietly. “The world doesn’t like anomalies.”

  Kaelis watched them disappear.

  That word again.

  Anomaly.

  He continued alone, understanding that even strangers could sense what the world itself had begun to notice.