Pain is a cold teacher.
Kai's blade grazes my cheek. A deep, burning cut—like being struck by a glowing whip. I ignore the blood immediately soaking into my collar.
I run.
"Come here!" Kai roars. A fireball forms in his hand. Smaller than the explosions before—more compact. More focused.
"Where do you think you're going?!" he shouts and hurls it at me. "I thought we were done with tricks! Or are you so pathetic you can't beat me without them?"
Cheap provocation, I think coldly. He wants to bait me.
I don't answer.
I concentrate my mana into my calves. The fireball screams toward me like a comet. At the last second, I veer sharply to the side, pushing off so hard that gravel sprays beneath my boots. The flames miss me by a hair's breadth and slam into the trunk of an old oak.
CRACK.
The tree groans. Wood splinters. The crown collapses in flames. Even without the artifact, his magic is still absurdly strong.
I reach the open stable. Two butcher knives are stuck in a wooden beam—probably left there by the stable hands. I rip them free. They fit my hands perfectly. Better than the heavy sword.
I turn to face him.
"I don't need tricks to beat you," I shout, spinning the knives in my hands. "Now that you're this weak, it'll be easy."
Kai laughs dryly as he approaches, sword loose in his grip. "Yeah, yeah. Talk all you want. We'll see who's still standing in the end."
He charges.
I rush toward him. The clash is violent. He swings with raw power—a horizontal strike meant to split me in half. I redirect it. With my left knife, I parry, letting his steel slide off my blade. He reaches for my throat.
I jump. I use his arm as a foothold, cling to it, and drive both knives into his forearm. Kai doesn't make a sound.
Instead, he spins—fast. Too fast. The centrifugal force rips me free. I fly, slam hard into the ground, roll, and stagger back to my feet, gasping. Kai calmly pulls the knives from his arm and tosses them aside.
The wounds are closing—slowly, I notice. He attacks again.
I dodge, duck under swings, leap over kicks—but it's getting harder.
Damn it. I analyze him while dancing for my life. Before, it was just brute force and blind trust in his massive mana reserves. But now…
He's learning.
He still relies on his superior reach, but his technique is becoming more precise. It reminds me of training with Aurora—except this body is fully grown and trying to kill me. Another cut on my upper arm. Then one at my hip. Blood seeps from a dozen small wounds.
I need my knives. They're behind him.
I activate my mana reinforcement, dive between his legs, and lunge toward the knives lying in the dirt. Too late.
He's behind me.
His mana erupts—dark red. Heavy. Condensed. "Do you really think you're the only one who can channel mana into their muscles?"
His voice is calm. Dangerous. Damn it.
He hadn't used it once during the fight. I thought he relied only on fire. But this is basic. Every child learns this.
He tightens his grip. My shoulder cracks. He raises his sword to skewer my back.
I jump upward—twisting into a backward flip inside his hold, wriggling free like an eel. My boot slams into his chin. I push off his chest, land three meters away—
Right by the knives.
"You've got talent," Kai says. "If you were older, you'd have been truly dangerous."
He attacks again.
Faster. Sharper. I barely get my blades up in time. Sparks fly as his sword crashes against them. My arms go numb from the impact.
He's still adapting. Fighting even more confidently now.
I need distance. I need time.
I leap back and, midair, throw one knife.
It flies low.
It sinks straight into his foot. Kai drops to one knee. "AAAARGH!" he screams, grabbing at it.
Chance.
I don't hesitate. I rush forward, second knife ready for the killing blow. He's down. Injured. I'm two meters away. Suddenly, he looks up.
He smiles.
"Got you."
I skid to a halt. What—?
Kai snaps his hand upward. He hadn't been clutching his foot. He was scooping dirt.
A cloud of sand and dust explodes into my face. I'm blind.
My eyes burn. Tears flood them. All I see is gray haze.
Shit.
How did I fall for that?
He didn't even flinch when I stabbed his arm—why would a knife in the foot make him scream? I hear the hiss of steel too late.
A burning pain tears across my torso. A sideways slash. Deep. Very deep.
I'm knocked off my feet, crash onto my back. I try to breathe, but only blood spills from my mouth.
Cold drops hit my face.
Rain.
It's started raining. I barely feel it. Pain drowns out everything.
I wipe the dirt from my eyes, try to crawl away. My legs feel like lead.
Kai slowly rises. He limps—but he looms like a mountain. "Oh, it's started to rain," he says, looking up at the sky. "How perfectly fitting for your end."
He steps over me and stops.
"For a child—and a human—you were really strong," he says thoughtfully. He tilts his head. "Could it be that you're an Otherworlder?"
I freeze.
My blood turns to ice. "Wow… seriously," Kai laughs darkly. "No wonder you were so hard to kill."
He plants his foot on my chest, grinding me into the mud. "Tough luck. Died in your old world just to crawl back into the dirt a few years later here." He raises his sword. The blade gleams wet in the rain.
This is the end.
I can't move. I'm bleeding out.
If only I had lived longer… maybe I could have changed something. Then—
A voice echoes in my head.
My voice.
But I didn't speak it. Not consciously.
>> BLESSING OF SPEED <<
"Blessing of—what?" I think, confused.
The world freezes.
Rain halts midair. Droplets hang like crystals around me. Kai's sword, descending toward me, crawls through time. I see scratches in the steel. The madness in his eyes. Everything is slow.
Except me.
I move.
I don't think. I act on instinct. I push off and leap sideways. It feels like a normal jump.
Time snaps back.
WHOOSH.
The sword crashes into the ground where I was moments ago. Earth explodes upward.
Kai blinks. Stares at the empty spot.
"Where…?"
He spins—and sees me.
I'm standing eight meters away.
Eight meters.
In a blink. "How did you get there?" he gasps, eyes wide.
I stare back—more confused than he is.
Teleportation? No.
I moved. But when?
Then my knees give out.
Darkness creeps into my vision. The world spins.
Damn it. I've lost too much blood.
I collapse sideways, face sinking into cold mud. The sound of rain grows distant. This is it.
I'm half dead.
And just before the light fades, the voice returns—loud. Commanding. Absolute.
>> BLESSING OF REGENERATION <<