The moment Kael lunges forward, the world shrinks to a singular focus—the enemy before him. The air is thick with the stench of rot and decay, the remnants of Echoes littering the ground in grotesque, crumbling husks.
Their newest adversary is different. The shifting abomination stands taller than the rest, its form constantly twisting—partially solid, partially dissolving into a mist that pulses with unnatural energy. Its face is a shifting mess of hollowed-out features, as if multiple existences are struggling to converge into one.
Kael's first attack is swift. He moves low, blade humming through the air, aimed to carve through its side—
But his weapon phases through.
A sudden crack—a force slams into his side, sending him sprawling across the ground. He rolls, gritting his teeth as pain blooms across his ribs. The thing didn't dodge. It simply wasn't there.
"Not every fight is about hitting harder," Varian's voice cuts through the chaos. He stands calmly to the side, arms crossed, as if completely unbothered by the battle. "You have to understand what you're fighting before you can kill it."
Kael forces himself to his feet, panting. "Then start explaining."
Varian tilts his head slightly, watching the shifting entity. "It's caught between two states—half here, half somewhere else. Your attacks don't land because you're striking it like something bound to this reality."
Kael grits his teeth. "And the solution?"
"The Veil," Varian states simply. "It's the boundary that divides worlds, but it also governs the way things exist. Everything follows a rule—even this. If you learn to influence the Veil, you can shift how you interact with what's in front of you."
Another blur of motion—the creature lunges again. Kael dodges on instinct, narrowly avoiding the clawed mass of writhing limbs that nearly takes his head off.
Varian exhales, almost bored. "You're reacting. But you're not thinking."
Kael doesn't have time to argue. He tightens his grip on his weapon and lunges again, this time aiming for the moment the creature solidifies. He twists his body mid-air, anticipating the phasing shift—
And misses again.
The entity's mass flickers, shifting into something else entirely—Kael's own reflection, a distorted mimicry of himself lunging forward in perfect synchronization. His own face twists into a monstrous grin.
His own blade swings back at him.
Instinct screams at him to block, but at the last second, he does something else instead—
He lets go.
Kael doesn't resist the shift. He doesn't fight against it. Instead, he lets his body follow the unnatural pull, moving with the Veil's influence rather than against it. His form tilts unnaturally, as if something unseen just adjusted his very existence.
His reflection's attack misses by a hair's breadth.
Varian lets out a quiet chuckle. "Interesting. You felt that, didn't you?"
Kael lands in a crouch, heart pounding. He did. It was only for a split second, but for that moment, he had shifted. Not fully, not with control—but something inside him had responded.
The mark on his arm burns faintly.
The creature lets out a low, distorted shriek, sensing the change in him.
Kael tightens his grip on his weapon. This time, he's ready.
Varian's voice is calm, instructing. "Don't just see it—feel it. Let the Veil's pull guide your strike."
Kael exhales slowly. He steadies his stance, focusing—not just on the enemy in front of him, but on the way it shifts.
There. A flicker—a brief moment before the transition.
This time, he moves before it does.
His blade carves through the air, and for the first time—it meets resistance.
A howling screech rips through the battlefield as the creature's shifting form is torn apart, unraveling into a spiraling mess of severed strands and withering echoes.
Kael exhales, lowering his weapon as the remnants of the thing dissolve.
For the first time since this fight began, he understands something new.
Varian nods approvingly, though there's something unreadable in his expression. "You're starting to get it."
Kael, still catching his breath, wipes sweat from his brow. "What was that?"
"Instinct," Varian says. "Your body knows things before your mind does. You tapped into something just now—a thread of what your power could become."
Kael frowns, looking at his hands. That moment—**the shift, the way his existence had tilted—**it felt unnatural. But it also felt… right.
Varian's smirk returns. "You want answers? Keep pushing yourself. Eventually, you won't need me to explain."
Kael isn't sure if that's a promise or a warning.
But either way, he knows one thing for certain.
He's getting stronger.
And something inside him is starting to wake up.