Ash moved silently through the undergrowth, his eyes scanning for movement.
He read the forest. The way branches bent when something large passed through.
The patches of disturbed ground where heavy feet had tread.
The scratch marks on trees where ogres sharpened their crude weapons.
Two ogres. He'd been tracking them for the past hour.
Ash crouched behind a massive obsidian tree, watching the patrol route.
The ogres moved in a predictable pattern, crude creatures following the same path over and over, never varying, never adapting.
He had already prepared the field.
He had spent the last hour weakening the base of a massive obsidian tree; now, it required only a single, calculated push to become a weapon.
Ash climbed silently.
He positioned himself on a thick branch twenty feet up, directly above the patrol route.
Then he waited.
The two ogres appeared five minutes later, its heavy footsteps announcing its approach long before it came into view.
Ash's hand pressed against the weakened tree trunk.
The two ogres passed directly beneath.
Ash pushed the tree trunk.
The massive tree groaned, cracked, then fell.
The ogres looked up too late.
The trunk slammed into one of the ogres with crushing force, crushing it into the ground.
Bones shattered. It died immediately.
The second creature roared.
Ash didn't give it a moment to breathe.
Ash dropped from his perch, landing beside the second ogre.
Two brutal punches to the gut. It couldn't even react.
The impact was devastating. The ogre's abdomen caved in, internal organs rupturing from the force.
Blood poured from its mouth.
Before the ogre could react, an uppercut from Ash, The blow lifted the ogre's body off the ground.
But Ash didn't let go. His grip tightened on the creature's ankle, yanking it back down.
The ogre's body slammed into the ground with bone-breaking force, destroying the ogre's body, before the ogre could regenerate, the only thing the ogre could see was Ash green retina glowing, looking down at it.
Ash then stepped on its neck with extreme force severing its head.
The blue orb rose from the corpses. Ash touched it.
"Soul Extraction", Ash said.
The orbs flew towards him.
[SOUL EXTRACTION ACTIVE]
[VITALITY ABSORBED: +99]
[STRENGTH +6, ENDURANCE +6, AGILITY +6]
Ash stood slowly, breathing steady despite the violence.
He felt it, exhaustion left him, his mind clear and renewed.
His body felt stronger with each absorption, the power accumulating like layers of steel forging in a furnace.
He looked at the sky. The sickly orange was darkening, shifting toward deep amber as the gate's version of sunset approached.
Night was coming. And in an ogre-infested forest, night meant danger.
Ash needed to find shelter, but he knew he wouldn't be left alone so he set traps.
He found it twenty minutes later, a small clearing surrounded by thick obsidian trees, with a natural depression in the ground that would hide firelight from a distance.
Good sightlines in three directions, dense undergrowth blocking the view.
He set to work immediately.
He used his knife to sharpen branches arranged in a perimeter, angled outward.. A deadfall trap near the most obvious approach.
Basic. Crude. But effective against the creatures at night.
By the time he finished, true darkness had fallen.
Ash sat in the center of the clearing, his back against a tree.
"Impressive," Lilith's voice came from directly beside him, making him jump despite himself.
Ruby eyes studied him with that familiar mix of amusement and predatory interest.
"Most summoners would demand I protect them," she continued. "But you? You prepare to defend yourself. I appreciate the independence."
"For now I can't rely on anyone to save me," Ash replied, his voice steady. "This is a battle I need to fight on my own."
Lilith gave a light smile. "Oh, you're learning. Good."
She gestured lazily, and flames erupted in the center of the clearing, a bonfire that burned with crimson light, warm and strangely beautiful.
"Sit," she commanded, patting the log beside her. "We have a lot to talk about."
Ash moved to sit beside her, careful to maintain some distance.
But Lilith shifted closer immediately, closing the gap until their shoulders nearly touched.
"Magic," she said, holding out her hand. Flames danced across her palm, moving with liquid grace. "Do you truly understand the concept of it?"
"It should deal with the manipulation of mana," Ash said. "Converting energy into physical effects."
"Yes", She smiled, "but that's partially correct." The flames in her hand shifted, forming intricate patterns.
"Mana is the fundamental energy that exists in all things, the air, the earth, living creatures, even the space between atoms. Magic is the art of imposing your will upon that energy, bending it to serve your intent."
She gestured, and the bonfire's flames responded, rising higher, dancing in patterns that shouldn't be possible.
The fire bent to her will, like a living thing. It formed shapes, spirals, spheres, flowing ribbons that twisted through the air with impossible precision.
The flames moved not because of heat or air currents, but because Lilith commanded them.
"Authority," she explained, her voice carrying absolute confidence.
"When you truly understand something, when you comprehend its fundamental nature, you can command it. Fire is not just heat and light, it's transformation, consumption, rebirth. Once you understand that, once you feel it, the fire obeys."
Ash watched, fascinated.
The demonstration wasn't flashy or aggressive. It was precise. Controlled. Beautiful in its complexity.
"How can I use magic as complex as you?" he asked.
"It's easy, you must learn to sense mana itself." Lilith's hand moved to rest on his chest, directly over his heart.
The touch was intimate, her fingers warm through his shirt. "Close your eyes."
Ash closed his eyes.
"Mana flows through everything," Lilith's voice was soft now, almost hypnotic.
"Through your body, through the air around you, through the earth beneath your feet. Feel it. Not with your physical senses, but with your awareness."