Icarius Fokuna entered the forest with one goal: to explore the monsters, creatures, and plants that lived there and to test his own abilities. He was excited, eager to see what the forest had in store. But as he walked deeper, something felt wrong. The place where he had fought goblins before was empty. No monsters, no signs of life—just silence.
Icarius's mind raced. Where did they all go? Then he heard it—a strange magical sound and the crash of destruction from deeper in the forest. The noise got louder as he walked toward it, taking him farther from the safety of the village.
Finally, Icarius found a huge arena hidden deep in the forest. It was a battleground where a massive Diablor dragon—like the system indicated—held fights to decide who would win a legendary creature. The loser would be killed and eaten, along with a hundred members of his tribe. But the winner would get the dragon's protection and the creature as a prize.
Icarius whispered to himself, "This is crazy." He hid in a tree above the arena, his eyes focused on a metallic box high up. "That must be the prize," he thought.
He used his metal magic to form a fitting key to unlock the box, moving slowly and carefully. He knew he had to be patient—one mistake could reveal him. "Stay calm," he told himself, his heart pounding. Finally, the lock clicked open. Icarius grabbed the box and quickly fled the arena. Behind him, the dragon let out a furious roar, shaking the ground.
By the time Icarius got home, it was midnight. He placed the box in the middle of his wooden house, lit candles with fire magic, and carefully opened the metallic cage with his hands. Inside, he found a unicorn. It was very young, only a few months old, and badly hurt.
"A unicorn?" Icarius whispered, surprised. "No wonder the dragon was so angry." Unicorns were extremely rare, and their meat was said to make someone stronger, more enduring, and better at magic, or so it was written on the system about it. But they also attracted danger, bringing monsters that hunted them for their powers.
Icarius quickly used healing magic to help the unicorn. As the magic worked, the unicorn began to wake up, slowly opening its eyes. It looked at Icarius with fear at first.
"Hey, it's okay," Icarius said softly, raising his hands to show he wasn't a threat. "I saved you from that dragon. You're safe now."
The unicorn's fear turned into curiosity. "You… you can speak my language?" it asked, surprised.
"Yeah," Icarius replied, just as surprised. "I must have learned it from my family. But I thought unicorns weren't welcome in human places. You've had a tough time, huh?"
The unicorn, a small, delicate creature with a pure white coat and a tiny, spiraled horn, nodded sadly. "Most people don't trust us. We bring trouble wherever we go. But… thank you for saving me."
Icarius thought for a moment. "Can you make yourself look like a regular horse? And is there a way to help you grow faster?"
The unicorn shook its head. "I can only change my appearance if the person I make a contract with has dark magic."
Icarius's eyes lit up. "Well, you're in luck. I know dark magic. How about we make a contract? We could be a team."
The unicorn hesitated, but felt warmth in Icarius's voice and saw his kindness. "Alright. Let's do it."
Icarius tried to use his system ability to form the contract, but nothing happened. "Why isn't this working?" he wondered. Then he realized the unicorn didn't have a system.
"Maybe I need to do this the old-fashioned way," Icarius muttered. He pricked his finger and placed a drop of blood on the unicorn's forehead. A magical circle appeared, and a menu popped up, showing that the contract was complete.
Now connected, Icarius used dark mana to hide the unicorn's horn. The transformation worked perfectly.
"How do you feel?" Icarius asked, proud of his work.
"It feels strange, but… it worked," the unicorn replied, looking at its reflection in a nearby window. "Thank you."
Icarius then got serious. "To help you grow faster, you need to eat the horns of demonic goblins. I've got some." Even though he was tired, Icarius ran back to the hole where he had killed the goblins, grabbed the horns, and raced home.
The unicorn was amazed by how quickly Icarius completed the task. "You did all this for me?" it asked, its voice filled with gratitude.
"Of course," Icarius said with a smile. "We're partners now."
The unicorn started to eat the horns, but then it began to choke. Icarius watched closely as the unicorn's body shook and then started to grow. In just a few moments, the unicorn turned into a full-grown, majestic creature with a sleek, muscular build and a mane that shimmered like silver.
"What's your name?" Icarius asked after the transformation.
"I don't have one," the unicorn admitted shyly.
"How about Astrid?" Icarius suggested.
The unicorn smiled. "Astrid… I like it."
Icarius then asked about Astrid's family. The unicorn's eyes filled with sadness as he told his story. "My entire tribe was killed by that dragon. I barely stayed alive. I thought I was going to die… until you saved me."
The next day, Icarius prepared for the journey ahead. He bought a cart and 1,000 tiny glass bottles, spending one golden coin. With only 14 silver coins left, he used the rest to buy food for the week.
"This should be enough for now," Icarius said to himself, looking at the bottles. "I'll make some healing potions with my magic. That should bring in some money."