Jimmy stopped a few feet away from the Thorn family, his gaze sweeping over them. Garrick was slumped against the tree, his leg twisted at a brutal angle. Lyra knelt beside him, her glowing hands trembling as she tried to mend the injury. Elise stood slightly in front of them, her bow held loosely, though her posture screamed caution.


    Without a word, Jimmy crouched down in front of Garrick. The man stiffened, his jaw tightening, but Jimmy paid no attention to the tension radiating from him. His eyes flicked to the leg, then back to Garrick’s pale face.


    “It’s broken,” Jimmy said flatly.


    Garrick snorted weakly. “Yeah, I noticed.”


    Jimmy didn’t react to the sarcasm. Instead, he reached into his bag of holding, his hand emerging with a small vial filled with shimmering golden liquid. He held it out toward Garrick, “Drink.”


    Garrick hesitated, looking from the vial to Jimmy’s unreadable expression. Elise’s fingers tightened around her bow, her gaze darting between the two.


    “What is it?” Garrick asked cautiously.


    “A potion,” Jimmy replied “It’ll heal the leg.”


    Lyra glanced up at her father, her wide eyes filled with silent encouragement. After a beat, Garrick took the vial and popped the cork. The potion slid down his throat in a single gulp, its warmth spreading almost immediately.


    Jimmy leaned back slightly, watching with faint interest as Garrick’s face contorted, then relaxed. The bone shifted with a faint crackling sound, straightening as the bruises along his leg faded to nothing.


    Garrick stared at his leg, then back at Jimmy. “You’re serious.”


    “I don’t carry junk,” Jimmy said simply, standing up and brushing snow from his knees.


    Lyra’s mouth fell open as she whispered, “That was incredible.”


    Elise relaxed slightly, lowering her bow, though her expression stayed guarded. “Thank you,” she said carefully. “You didn’t have to do that.”


    Jimmy shrugged, slipping the empty vial back into his bag. He hesitated for a moment, his hand lingering near the strap. Then, surprising himself more than anyone else, he spoke.


    “Do you need help?”


    The question hung in the air for a beat too long. Lyra blinked at him in shock, while Garrick opened his mouth, then closed it again. It was Elise who finally broke the silence.


    “Help?” she echoed, her voice tinged with disbelief.


    Jimmy nodded, his expression as stoic as ever. “If there’s something I can do. Tell me.”


    Elise’s wariness deepened as she studied him, but Lyra broke into a tentative smile. Garrick rubbed the back of his neck, looking between his healed leg and the stranger in front of him.


    “Why?” Garrick finally asked.


    Jimmy looked at him, then at the frost-covered ground. He didn’t answer right away, his eyes flicking briefly to the horizon before settling back on the family.


    “I don’t know,” he admitted, his tone softer than before. “It just felt… right.”


    For a moment, nobody said anything. Then, slowly, Garrick nodded. “Alright.”


    The fire crackled softly, its warmth battling the relentless chill that hung in the air. Jimmy sat apart from the Thorn family, his katana balanced across his lap, the blade reflecting the flickering orange light. He’d meant to eat or rest, but instead, he found himself watching the flames, their quiet dance a poor distraction from the tension lingering between them.


    Garrick leaned back against the tree, stretching his freshly-healed leg, though his expression remained tight. Lyra huddled close to her father, her knees pulled to her chest, while Elise sat cross-legged, her bow resting beside her. Her sharp eyes hadn’t left Jimmy for more than a moment since he’d joined them.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    It was Garrick who spoke first. “You said you don’t know why you helped us.”


    Jimmy didn’t look up. “I did.”


    “Still strange,” Garrick muttered, shifting his weight. “Most Exalted would’ve walked right by, maybe stopped to loot what was left if the Goliath got us.”


    Jimmy didn’t respond immediately. When he did, his tone was measured, almost detached. “Not my style.”


    Elise scoffed softly. “What is your style, then? Silent swordsman with a hero complex?”


    Jimmy’s gaze flicked to her, unreadable. “I don’t do complexes either.”


    Garrick chuckled, though it lacked humor. “Well, whatever your style is, it worked. Can’t argue with the results. That thing would’ve flattened us if you hadn’t shown up.”


    Jimmy stayed silent, letting the words settle.


    The fire crackled softly, casting flickering shadows across the snow-dusted clearing. Jimmy kept his gaze on the flames, his expression impassive as Lyra’s voice broke the silence.


    “We weren’t always like this, you know. Running. Hiding.”


    Jimmy’s brow furrowed slightly. He didn’t look up. “What were you, then?”


    “A family,” Lyra said, her voice trembling just enough to betray the weight behind her words. “We lived on a farm outside <mark>Harwick</mark>. It wasn’t perfect, but it was home.”


    Garrick leaned forward, his hands clasped tightly, his voice quieter than before. “It was a good life. Quiet, sure, but we had everything we needed. Crops, livestock, neighbors who’d lend a hand when things got rough. <mark>Lyra’d</mark> ride into the market with me sometimes to sell eggs, and Elise made the best damn soup in the county. Then Integration hit, and… that life was gone.”


    Elise’s tone was colder, sharper. “The System didn’t just take the world. It took people. We lost friends, neighbors—half the town, just gone. Those who stayed… well, the Normal Path doesn’t give you much choice.”


    Jimmy’s gaze flicked up briefly, curiosity sparking behind his stoic exterior. “What do you mean?”


    “The System picks for you,” Garrick explained, his fingers tightening. “Drops you into a mini-land, gives you skills, gear. Keeps you just strong enough to survive, but not enough to fight back. And you don’t get a choice. Normal Path’s all we had.”


    Jimmy’s grip on his katana tightened, though his tone remained even. “You didn’t want it?”


    Elise shook her head, her expression bitter. “No one does. But what else can you do? You play by the rules or die trying to break them. Advanced Path’s for people who think they’re untouchable. Or stupid.”


    Jimmy stayed silent for a long moment, his jaw tightening slightly. Finally, he spoke, his voice quieter than before. “It’s not what you think.”


    The Thorn family exchanged glances, surprised by the sudden shift in Jimmy’s tone. Even Elise seemed caught off guard.


    Jimmy leaned forward, the firelight catching in his eyes. “The System didn’t pick my path. It chose me.”


    Lyra tilted her head, her curiosity plain. “It chose you? Why?”


    Jimmy shrugged, his gaze dropping to the flames. “Doesn’t explain itself. Just dumped me into the Advanced Path. No weapons, no safety nets. Just… survive.”


    “That’s insane,” Elise said bluntly, her sharp tone cutting through the quiet.


    Jimmy’s lips quirked faintly, almost a smile, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Didn’t feel sane at the time. One second, I’m on my night shift at gas station, and the next, everything goes dark. When I could see again, I was in the middle of a forest—Frostwood Grove, the System called it.”


    Garrick frowned, leaning forward slightly. “It just… threw you into it? Like that?”


    Jimmy nodded. “Yeah. Didn’t even have time to process what was happening before it dropped my first notification. ‘Advanced Path initiated. Zone: Frostmarch. Objective: Survive.’”


    Lyra hugged her knees, her voice quiet. “What did you do?”


    Jimmy exhaled slowly, his grip tightening slightly on the katana across his lap. “Didn’t have much of a choice. The first thing I saw was a wolf—Level 5. Frost-matted fur, glowing eyes. I was Level 1, unarmed, and scared out of my mind.”


    Elise’s sharp tone softened slightly. “How did you fight it?”


    “I didn’t have a weapon, so I grabbed the first thing I could find—a splintered branch lying on the ground. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.” Jimmy’s voice remained calm, but there was a faint edge of memory to it. “The wolf lunged at me, and I swung. Didn’t kill it, but it backed off just enough for me to breathe.”


    He paused, the firelight flickering in his eyes. “It kept coming, though. Every time I hit it, it got angrier. Smarter. By the end, I wasn’t fighting it—I was trying to survive long enough to get lucky.”


    Garrick’s brow furrowed. “And you killed it?”


    “Barely,” Jimmy admitted. “Dodged a lunge, swung the branch as hard as I could, and somehow caught it on the side of the head. It staggered, and I didn’t stop. Just kept swinging until it didn’t get back up.”


    The fire crackled softly as Jimmy’s words hung in the air.


    Lyra’s voice was almost a whisper. “What happened after?”


    Jimmy glanced at her “The System dropped a chest—reward for surviving. Inside was a sword and a coat. “Said I earned them. Then it gave me the next objective and sent me on my way.”


    “Just like that?” Elise asked, her tone incredulous.


    “Just like that,” Jimmy confirmed. “That’s the Advanced Path. Every fight’s a step forward, or the last one you’ll take. No help. No shortcuts.”


    The silence stretched as the Thorn family processed his story. Garrick leaned back, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. “That’s… a hell of a start.”


    Elise’s gaze sharpened as she studied Jimmy. “So that’s why you fight the way you do. No one to rely on but yourself. No System to fall back on.”


    Jimmy didn’t respond immediately, his gaze returning to the fire. “Something like that.”


    Lyra’s voice broke the quiet, soft but insistent. “It must’ve been lonely. All that time, fighting on your own.”


    Jimmy shrugged slightly. “You get used to it.”


    “But do you want to?” Lyra asked, her wide eyes fixed on him.


    For the first time, Jimmy didn’t have an answer.