Shawn stepped lightly over the damp forest floor, his bare feet sinking into the earth as he exhaled slowly. The nocturnal world around him pulsed with life—distant hoots of unseen birds, the rustling of unseen predators, and the occasional sharp cry of something unfortunate meeting its end. The darkness did little to hinder his senses. In fact, the cool air, the scent of damp leaves, and the faint glows of bioluminescent fungi heightened his awareness.
Tonight was his first true test. He had to know what he was capable of in this new body, this new realm.
He crouched behind the twisted roots of an ancient tree, eyes locked onto his first prey—a four-legged creature that vaguely resembled a boar, except its tusks were curled like jagged hooks and its eyes gleamed with eerie intelligence. It rooted through the undergrowth, its leathery hide rising and falling with each breath. Shawn tightened his grip around a sharpened stone he had fashioned into a crude dagger.
With a swift motion, he launched himself forward. The beast barely had time to react before his blade sliced cleanly across its throat. It thrashed, letting out a garbled cry before collapsing. Shawn wiped his blade on its fur, satisfaction tingling through his limbs. It was too easy.
"Well done," Elaris whispered in his mind, her tone filled with intrigue. "You're adapting quickly."
Shawn smirked but didn't respond. He was already looking for the next target.
Moving deeper into the woods, Shawn stumbled upon something far more interesting. A creature hunched over a carcass, gnawing noisily on bones. The thing was unlike anything he had seen before. It was vaguely wolf-like but grotesquely distorted. Its hind legs were too long, its front limbs unnaturally thin yet powerful, and its fur was a patchy mess of gray and black with streaks of crimson. Its ribcage pulsed as if something inside it was writhing, alive.
Elaris fell silent.
Shawn narrowed his eyes. "What the hell is that?"
"...I don't know." Her usual confidence wavered.
A thrill of unease slid down his spine, but he shook it off. It was just another beast. Stronger, maybe, but still a beast. He would test himself against it.
He moved fast. Too fast.
The moment he lunged, the creature turned its head at an unnatural angle, locking eyes with him. Its pupils dilated, glowing with a sickly green light. It was waiting for him.
Shawn twisted mid-air, barely avoiding the clawed swipe aimed for his throat. The force of the attack sent a wave of pressure through the air, shredding leaves and breaking branches. He landed and rolled, springing to his feet just in time to see the creature's jaw stretch open—far wider than it should—revealing rows of jagged, interlocking teeth.
"Back! Get back!" Elaris shouted.
Shawn didn't need to be told twice. He darted away just as a sickly black liquid sprayed from the creature's mouth, sizzling against the ground where he had stood a moment ago. The smell of burning earth filled the air.
"It spits acid?" Shawn growled, watching the ground corrode.
"Something is wrong with it," Elaris said, urgency creeping into her voice. "This isn't natural. That thing is corrupted."
Shawn's mind raced. His first instinct was to run, but his pride wouldn't allow it. He had to test his strength. He tapped into Lifeblood, his body igniting with renewed vigor. His muscles strengthened, his mind sharpened. He would take this thing down.
"Circle it, look for a weak point," Elaris suggested.
Shawn dodged another swipe and launched himself onto a nearby tree. Using his momentum, he kicked off, twisting through the air before landing a powerful strike at the creature's neck. The impact sent a sharp vibration up his arm. It felt like hitting steel.
The beast barely flinched. Instead, it let out an unearthly shriek, and its entire body convulsed. Its spine twisted grotesquely, bones cracking and reshaping. It grew taller. More monstrous.
Shawn's stomach sank.
Then it lunged.
He barely had time to react before it was on him. Claws raked across his chest, tearing fabric, drawing blood. Pain exploded through his body, but he gritted his teeth. He countered with a powerful kick to its side, but it was like striking a mountain.
"Shawn, we need to go!" Elaris urged.
But he wasn't listening. He twisted, managing to slash across its leg. The beast howled—its first real sign of pain. Victory sparked in Shawn's chest.
Then, its body spasmed violently.
A pulse of dark energy erupted from it, warping the air around them. Its eyes burned with a new, terrifying rage. Muscles bulged. Its skin cracked, leaking black ooze.
It had gone berserk.
Shawn turned and ran. He hated running. But there was no choice. The moment the beast roared, the entire forest seemed to shake. He dashed through the trees, weaving between trunks, leaping over roots, pushing his body to its limits. Lifeblood surged through him, repairing his wounds, keeping his stamina from dropping.
And yet, the beast was gaining.
It tore through obstacles like paper, smashing through trees, its breath hot on his back. The corrupted energy oozing from its body was warping the very environment around it, turning the foliage a sickly black.
Shawn's heart pounded. He could feel it closing in. He had to think—fast.
"Shawn! Up!" Elaris commanded.
Without hesitation, he leaped. A clawed hand missed him by inches as he grabbed onto a thick branch and swung himself upward. He landed on the next branch, but the beast didn't stop—it simply slammed into the tree, shattering it at its base.
Shawn barely managed to jump to another tree as the one he stood on collapsed into splinters.
"We can't keep running forever!" he shouted.
"Then stop making it angrier!" Elaris shot back. "We need to lose it! Find water! Something it can't track you through!"
Shawn's eyes darted around. Then he spotted it—a river in the distance, its waters reflecting the pale moonlight. It was his only shot.
With a final burst of speed, he dove from the trees, angling his body toward the riverbank.
The beast roared behind him.
Shawn hit the water with a sharp splash, the cold stealing his breath. He forced himself down, down into the murky depths, hoping—praying—that the thing wouldn't follow.
Silence.
Then, an earth-shaking roar of frustration above him.
Shawn stayed still, heart hammering, as the corrupted beast prowled the shore, searching for him.
He had survived—for now.
Shawn lay in the cold embrace of the river, his breaths shallow and labored. The water rippled around him, its gentle current the only comfort he had after the desperate chase. His entire body ached from the unrelenting pursuit, and though his Lifeblood worked to heal him, exhaustion weighed him down like a leaden cloak.
With eyes closed, he muttered a silent prayer, a hope whispered to the unseen forces of the world. Perhaps the gods would send aid, or perhaps they would leave him to fend for himself. He did not know. But in his moment of weariness, he clung to the sliver of faith that something—anything—would answer.
Then, the air shifted.
A presence materialized above him, the pressure of it causing the very river to still. Shawn's senses flared with alarm, his body tensing despite his fatigue. He forced himself to look up, and what he saw sent shivers racing down his spine.
A man—no, not a man, something far beyond—floated effortlessly above the water's surface. His form was regal, almost ethereal, wrapped in garments that shimmered with the colors of the night sky. His golden eyes bore into Shawn with an intensity that made the boy feel as though his soul was being unraveled and examined thread by thread.
But the Ascendant's gaze did not linger long on him. Instead, those piercing eyes turned toward the corrupted beast, still standing at the river's edge.
"You dare," the being spoke, his voice neither loud nor soft, but filled with such weight that it left no room for defiance, "to bring chaos into my home?"
The beast trembled. For the first time since Shawn had laid eyes on it, it faltered. Its grotesque form, pulsing with a darkness unknown, recoiled under the Ascendant's gaze. But then, as if realizing that it had already committed to this confrontation, it let out a deep, guttural growl. The sound echoed through the trees, thick with defiance.
Shawn braced himself, expecting another fierce battle, but the Ascendant did not move.
He simply lifted a single hand, fingers barely shifting in a motion so subtle that it seemed almost lazy.
A gust of wind swept across the river.
A flash of something unseen—too fast for Shawn's eyes to perceive—rippled through the air.
And then, in an instant, the beast was no more.
Chunks of its body rained down, torn apart with such terrifying precision that the pieces sizzled and dissolved before they could even touch the ground. A creature that had driven Shawn to the brink of death had been reduced to nothing but scattered remnants in less than a heartbeat.
Silence stretched through the forest.
The Ascendant turned his gaze back to Shawn.
A slow, knowing smile curved his lips, a gesture that sent a fresh wave of unease through the boy's battered body. He could not tell if it was a smile of amusement, of acknowledgment, or of something far beyond his understanding.
Then, without a word, the being faded into the air, vanishing like a specter, as if he had never been there at all.
Shawn remained frozen, the cold river water doing little to suppress the sweat that had broken out across his skin. His breath came in ragged gasps as he tried to process what had just happened.
The nightmare that had hunted him relentlessly—the thing that had nearly ended him—had been obliterated with a mere flick of the Ascendant's hand.
True power.
This was true power.
Not the desperate scrambles of survival, not the frantic flailing of a warrior against a foe too great. This was dominance in its purest form. The ability to erase a threat without so much as lifting a weapon.
A terrifying thought gnawed at the edges of his mind.
What if the Ascendant had turned that power against him? Would he have even realized he was dead before it happened? Would he have been able to resist in any way?
His mind was strong, a fortress of will. But his body—his strength—was leagues away from reaching such heights. The realization settled deep in his bones, a whisper of understanding that he was not yet ready.
He needed more. More strength. More power. More control.
As the Lifeblood worked through his wounds, mending torn muscles and sealing gashes, Shawn let himself drift to the shore of the river. He collapsed onto the pebbled beach, his breath evening out as he lay beneath the night sky, stars twinkling above as though they had witnessed everything.
He clenched his fists.
The path ahead was still long, but he would not stop.
One day, he would not be the one trembling. One day, he would stand where the Ascendant stood now.
And when that day came, he would not need to pray for salvation.
He would be the salvation.