Bjorn was a whirlwind of emotions, mostly anger at the blacksmith. The betrayal from Waterfox was still fresh, and now the blacksmith had sold him out to the church. He almost lost his temper. Sensing his change in mood, Hana quickly took his elbow, trying to calm him down and reassure herself.“What’s going on here?” Hana asked confidently as she approached the group.The church mages were two men and a woman. The older male, dark-skinned like the southern people of the empire and likely much older than he appeared, stepped forward.“I am Mage Firesong. These are my companions, Mage Julius and Tilda,” he introduced himself with a thick southern accent. “The blacksmith reported this man acting suspiciously, and we’re on a mission to find some fugitives.”“I see,” Hana nodded. “How can we help, Mage Firesong? We are friends of the church,” she smiled.Bjorn nodded in agreement, thinking it best to avoid a fight. “Just a few questions,” Mage Firesong smiled.“Of course,” Hana smiled b
Two figures dressed in black raced toward a canyon. With a loud thunderclap, they leapt across the chasm, landing powerfully on the other side.Bjorn and Hana had been running for three days without rest, heading straight to the northern borders of the empire. They were determined to reach the Stormveil Order, uncaring that the church inquisitors might figure out their destination.The pressure of their situation had forced Hana to master the lightning demon arts, which boosted their speed. Bjorn was determined to keep moving until he couldn’t move anymore. They took no rests, eating while they ran, pushing their bodies and minds to the limit. But the strain was starting to show, and Bjorn knew they would have to take a break soon.Bjorn's instincts told him that Adept Firesong was no ordinary adept. Firesong was more powerful than the weak adversaries they had faced at the monastery. The only reason he hadn’t caught up with them yet was because his companion, Tilda, was still a novic
Bjorn saw their pursuers coming straight for them. They were still far away, needing about three hours to reach Bjorn's spot. But Bjorn knew they couldn't outrun Firesong for long.“I guess I have to figure out how to kill a murderous Adept,” he muttered to himself.Bjorn used some magic to make his shadow jump from shadow to shadow, reaching their position in minutes. He then sent his shadow ahead to scout the path.“Stay close, this will be dangerous,” Bjorn whispered, holding Hana's trembling hand to comfort her.They moved into the marshland, surrounded by thick fog. The ground was soft and muddy, slowing them down. Strange noises echoed around them, making the place feel eerie.Bjorn thought about their situation. “My only advantage is my devouring source, which they don't know about. They're angry, so their judgment is clouded. I can use my surroundings to my benefit,” he mused.“Look for the strongest beast,” Bjorn instructed his shadow. It was a risky plan that could end their
Firesong was stunned. He expected the boy to go flying back with broken bones, but Bjorn took the hit and even smiled.Bjorn didn’t wait for his opponent to dictate the tempo of the fight. He charged forward, using his lightning demon arts to gain speed. They clashed again, swords and spells ringing through the air.They clashed dozens of times in a minute. Bjorn was always pushed back, blood covering him, but he seemed to heal immediately. Firesong could end the fight quickly but wanted to torment Bjorn slowly. He enjoyed that Bjorn could take a beating, thinking it would prolong his suffering.Bjorn was glad Firesong underestimated him. “If I’m your punching bag, you can be my training dummy,” he thought.He saw this as a chance to train. He had always improved quickly when taking his daily dose of beatings from Stormshadow.He had been practicing the second form of lightning demon arts. The first stage powered his body with lightning, and the second stage covered him in lightning a
A second furious roar echoed from the beast, shaking the very air as it sluggishly rose from the lake's deep gorge, gradually picking up speed. Firesong felt a primal terror wash over him, every hair on his body standing on end. "How did I miss something this huge?" he berated himself. He turned to Bjorn and saw his condition was even worse. The beast's roar had shattered Bjorn's lightning armor, leaving him with internal injuries. Bjorn was on one knee, coughing up blood. Despite their enmity, Firesong couldn't help but admire Bjorn's guts and determination as a fellow cultivator. “What is your name, kid?” Firesong asked suddenly. Surprised, Bjorn saw no harm in answering since he needed a moment to stabilize himself. “I am Wildheart,” he declared with conviction. “Remember that name, if you survive today,” Bjorn said with a bloody laugh that turned into a cough. “Now you can die.” Firesong lunged at Bjorn to end the threat, but before he could reach him, a huge, armored, sca
Bjorn groggily woke up in a warm cozy room with the fireplace lit, he found himself lying on a warm bed made of beast furs. I took him about a minute to orient himself. “Where am I?” He muttered as he tried to get up but his body protested in pain, every inch hurts. With a grunt Bjorn pushed through the pain and made his way to the door of the small hut, he opened the door and found himself in a large clearing, with another smaller hut in the clearing, probably the storage room of whomever his host is. Bjorn was about to step out onto the clearing when he saw a large giant savage looking man step into the clearing with a much larger dead bear hanging from his shoulders. The savage giant towered over Bjorn, his massive frame shrouded in a tangle of messy brown hair that cascaded down his back like a blazing waterfall. His enormous, unkempt beard, thick and wild, bristled with the ferocity of a storm, framing a face marked by harsh features and piercing brown eyes that burned with u
Bjorn ate until he couldn’t eat anymore. His belly was so full that he could barely move, yet he watched in amazement as Grizzly continued to eat like a ravenous beast. The mage had the appetite of ten men combined, devouring everything in sight with unrelenting ferocity.Finally, after finishing his meal, Grizzly turned his attention back to Bjorn. "Let's begin," he said.Bjorn shifted into a lotus position, feeling a mixture of anticipation and trepidation. Grizzly placed a hand on his back, and Bjorn could feel a strange but powerful energy start to flow through his body. Grizzly was guiding this energy in a precise, intricate pattern, controlling its circulation with expert skill.“We draw our magical essence from sources beyond this world, often ignoring the natural essence of our own,” Grizzly explained, his voice calm and authoritative. “But it’s this very natural essence that most beasts rely on to gain their power.”As Grizzly spoke, Bjorn could feel the natural essence being
Bjorn can be seen seated in by a serene stream, cultivating and trying to break through on his shadow avatar arts, possessing a second shadow will be a big boost to his power.possessing two perfect scouts would be something anyone would wish for and Bjorn desires the same and his recent breakthrough in the lightning demon arts has only motivated him more to do this.This process is delicate and requires immense concentration. He closed his eyes and focused inward, reaching deep into his soul.With a sharp mental effort, he cut a tiny part of his soul. The pain was intense, like a burning knife slicing through him, but he gritted his teeth and pushed through. He could feel the small piece of his soul pulsing in his mind, a glowing fragment of his very essence.Next, he summoned his shadow from the source, a dark, shifting form that seemed alive with potential. Holding the soul fragment in his mind, he carefully guided it towards the shadow. The moment they touched, a powerful surge of
It’s been five days since Bjorn started training his new, unexpected students. He had a little difficulty passing on the absorption technique to the warriors, but once they understood it, their growth and progress were exponential.The quality and quantity of beasts' corpses available made it possible for everyone to train nonstop for days, and Bjorn made sure that the supply of beast meat never ran dry.With his shadows scouting the perimeter, he spotted any beast long before it arrived at the settlement and swiftly dispatched the powerful ones while directing some warriors to deal with the weaker beasts. But lately, the number of beasts coming their way had been gradually increasing, and Bjorn had already noticed that trend.“You need to move your community,” Bjorn said as he stood before a meditating Chief Martel, who had already achieved a body breakthrough to the adept level after absorbing numerous adept-level resources.The chief looked to have aged backward, with the wrinkles
The old mage who introduced himself as Chief Martel led Bjorn towards their camp with a small entourage of warriors, the rest of the warriors stayed back to loot the battlefield and take of their dead.They led Bjorn past a small wall that barely reached his chest and into their settlement made of a sea of tents, the tents are made of thick cloth, flapping gently in the warm breeze. The tents staked into the ground are arranged in a circular way, and they get larger the closer they get to the center.Bjorn noticed the nervous running around of the locals to get things back in order; he also noticed their looks of appreciation and admiration since word has gone around of his help in defeating the beasts that would have definitely killed most of them.As they got closer to the center of the settlement, the environment turned greener and Bjorn caught the sweet scent of water in the air; he saw the large tents in the middle of the camp go round an oasis, a shimmering pool of water surroun
After days of relentless training, Bjorn was finally ready to continue his journey. He felt on the cusp of a physical breakthrough, but his instincts warned him to hold back."I just need to focus on my essence training now," he thought as he donned black garb from his space ring. "But first, I need to get out of here," he mused, hearing the sounds of roaring and fighting in the distance.The region had transformed into a striking scene. The once fiery rivers of molten lava had hardened into dark, jagged rock, sprawling like a frozen wave across the barren land. The surface was cracked and rough, with some areas appearing smooth and glassy, as if the ground had been glazed. The desert sand, once soft and golden, now mingled with the blackened rock, creating a stark contrast. Wisps of steam still rose from small fissures here and there.Due to the still-erupting volcanoes and the region's new appearance, lava beasts had invaded the area, disrupting the ecosystem. This could not be tole
Lying naked on the hot ground, Bjorn heaved a sigh of relief. It had been a crazy week— from the assassination attempt and robbing master-ranked beasts to surviving the chase of one and ending up in his current situation. He was tired and needed some rest, but he couldn’t afford to yet.Bjorn lay with smooth, flawless skin, untouched by any burn marks despite his fiery ordeal. The fire had scorched away every hair on his body, leaving him completely hairless. His smooth skin gleamed in the light, unblemished and soft, with no eyebrows or eyelashes remaining. He looked strikingly different, with his bare, smooth skin.With a groan, Bjorn sat up and took in his surroundings. The lava had carried him a long distance into an unknown region. Looking around, he found himself in a desert, but it looked nothing like a desert anymore. A large river of lava flowed through the sands, with smaller streams diverging from the main river. The hot, glowing lava lit up the surroundings, making the san
Pain, pure unrestrained pain, was the only thing Bjorn could feel as he sank to the bottom of the lava. He felt as though he was being swallowed by an ocean of fire. His skin sizzled and burned, and the pain was beyond anything he had ever felt.Every nerve in his body screamed in agony. His bones were already shattered from the impact of the molten rock. It was as if his entire body was being crushed and melted at the same time. He couldn’t move. His limbs refused to obey him. His vision blurred. He tried to scream but only managed to swallow more lava and gurgled up blood that burned immediately. It was as if the world had been reduced to an endless sea of pain and fire.“Damn it, everything hurts!” That was the first thought that entered his mind. His mind was a storm of suffering, flickering between consciousness and darkness as the lava continued its merciless assault. Time seemed to stretch on forever, each second an eternity of suffering and pain. Bjorn could have easily given
The ground shook violently beneath Bjorn and Bloodblade's feet as they raced across the volcanic land. Just as they thought they had gained some distance from the monstrous snake, the earth rumbled again, more fiercely than before. Another fissure cracked open in front of them, spewing bright orange lava and flames into the air.They skidded to a stop, barely avoiding the molten rock that bubbled up from the new fissure. The ground beneath them trembled continuously, making it difficult to maintain their balance. It was as if the entire landscape was alive, groaning and shifting with the immense power beneath its surface.Around them, they could hear the terrified cries of different beasts. Not only that, but they could also see some of the beasts running towards their direction, heading towards the grove they had just run out from.Various species that would never tolerate each other's presence on a normal day were now running side by side, their fear of the volcanic eruption suppres
Bjorn and Bloodblade stood before the massive tree, its trunk so large it needed fifteen arms to go around it. The tree was so large and tall that they appeared like ants standing before it. Standing this close to the tree, they could feel the welcoming, soothing warmth emitted from the fruits hanging from the branches.Bjorn could feel his devouring core stir, showing just how wonderful and valuable the fruits of the golden sage tree were.“Let's hurry up and get out of here before we are discovered,” Bjorn urged Bloodblade.With a powerful jump, they leapt onto the lower branches of the tree and moved in different directions. Bjorn jumped higher and to the left, while Bloodblade jumped towards the right side. They moved this way because the fruits were located far apart, and moving like this was the most optimal way to get all the fruits.It took about three minutes of jumping and climbing before Bjorn arrived in front of one of the fruits. The fruit seemed to carry the sun as it re
"You really do want to get us killed," Bjorn said with a sigh. He could see the crazy look in Bloodblade's eyes and knew nothing he said would stop Bloodblade from going after that fruit."I don’t see any way to get to that tree without going through the battlefield; that will be extremely dangerous." Bjorn massaged his temple."We have to get it, Wildheart. It will also be beneficial to us since we can use it to stabilize our cores if we force a breakthrough with those essence pills," Bloodblade urged him."This is madness. You are lucky that I am mad," Bjorn said as he grinned madly. "Let’s steal from some masters."Bloodblade returned the grin, and they got down to plotting their move. They studied the chaotic battlefield. After an hour of observation and planning, they were finally ready and set off to rob the beasts of their treasure.Bjorn and Bloodblade silently crept towards the battlefield of the adept and novice-ranked beasts. The battlefield was chaotic, the wolves clawing
"I can sense two snakes a hundred meters to our right," Bloodblade whispered to Bjorn beside him."One is coming up quickly behind us, and my shadow spots an adept-ranked one in the distance ahead," Bjorn replied as they hid on top of a huge tree with their invisible robe activated, hiding from the snake directly beneath them.The boys had come to discover that it's not so easy to get out of the Hollow Gloom Grove, as it is infested with thousands of snake-type beasts. The only reason Bjorn managed to survive the previous night was because it was a stormy night and most of the snakes had burrowed under the earth with their ability to manipulate the earth."Let's move," Bjorn said as he hurriedly followed the most optimistic path that his shadow mapped out for him.They moved steadily and stealthily, climbing the colossal trees sometimes and hiding under the roots at other times. On some occasions, they also encountered smaller, weaker snakes hiding from the stronger ones.Bjorn and Bl