Chapter 22: The Hunger for Power
Ashen walked out of the ruined forest with slow steps, each one heavy from the fight. His body felt destroyed—bruises everywhere, cuts stinging, bones aching. But inside him, something burned hotter than ever. A feeling he hadn't felt for years. The feeling of wanting more.
Not just strength.
But power.
Real power.
Enough to crush anything in his way.
The forest behind him was silent. The fight with the Dire Wolf had scared every beast for miles. Even the wind seemed afraid to blow too hard around him. Ashen wiped the blood from his face with the back of his hand and looked at it.
"So weak," he muttered. "I need to be much stronger."
His body hurt when he breathed, but he didn't stop moving. He refused to stop. If he rested now, he would lose the momentum. This feeling—this fire—if he let it die, he might never feel it again.
Ashen stepped deeper into the mountain path. The ground here had darker soil, and the trees grew twisted as if something had pressured them to bend.
Stronger beasts lived here.
Good.
He needed new targets.
He walked for hours, ignoring the pain. His body throbbed, but he didn't complain. Pain was nothing. Weakness was worse.
He thought of the Dire Wolf. They fought evenly. Evenly. That wasn't good enough. He needed to crush beasts like that without effort.
As he walked, he replayed the fight in his head. The wolf's speed. Its claws. Its aura. He thought of how he dodged too slow at some parts. How he blocked too late in others. How his Qi ran out too early.
"That's not enough," he muttered. "I should've beaten it. Even if it's a Demonic Beast… I should've won."
The anger at himself grew stronger the more he thought about it.
He hated being stuck at a level where beasts could still match him.
He wanted to reach a point where nothing could stand in front of him. Not beasts. Not people. Not fate.
He walked through the trees until he felt a presence. A small one. Weak. But fast. Something stalking him.
Ashen didn't bother turning around.
He simply spoke, "Come."
A shadow leapt from the branches behind him, teeth bared. Ashen stepped half a foot to the side, grabbed the beast by the jaw, and smashed it into the ground.
It died instantly.
A simple low-level beast. Nothing more.
Ashen didn't even look at it. He just kept walking.
Minutes later, another presence. This time two.
He didn't call them out. He let them attack.
They jumped.
Ashen's hands shot up. One hand grabbed a throat. The other slammed a claw aside. He spun, swinging the beast into the other like a club. Bones cracked. The second beast hit a tree so hard it snapped in half.
They both lay on the ground, broken.
He didn't even breathe hard.
But he didn't feel satisfied. These beasts were too weak. Killing them wasn't training. It was just wasting time.
He needed something stronger. Much stronger.
Ashen kept walking until night fell. The moon cast pale light through the trees. His injuries burned, but he refused to stop. He wanted to push his limits.
He wanted to know where the line was so he could break it.
Hours passed.
Finally, he stopped walking. Not because of pain or exhaustion, but because he felt something ahead.
A pressure.
Stronger than the Dire Wolf, but not by much. A threat. A challenge.
Ashen's lips curved slightly.
"Finally."
He stepped forward.
Branches snapped as a powerful beast pushed through the trees. Its body was long, covered in dark green scales. Four legs, each with sharp claws. Two horns curved from its head. Its eyes glowed yellow.
A Forest Lizard King.
A Demonic Beast known for its hardened skin and brutal strength.
Perfect.
Ashen raised his fists, white Qi flickering weakly around them. He didn't care if his Qi was low. He wanted this fight. He needed this fight.
The Lizard King roared and charged. Its claws tore the ground apart as it moved.
Ashen dashed forward.
Boom!
They collided mid-charge. Ashen's fist cracked against the creature's skull, while its claw struck his ribs. Pain shot through his chest, but he ignored it.
He jumped back, wiping blood from his mouth.
"That's good," he said. "Come again."
The beast roared and lunged again. Ashen ducked under a swipe and punched upward, smashing into its jaw. The beast staggered, but only for a second. Its tail whipped around, hitting Ashen in the side with enough force to send him crashing into a tree.
The impact pushed the air from his lungs. He knelt, coughing.
But he smiled.
"This… this is what I need."
He pushed himself up and charged again despite the pain.
They clashed again and again. Fist to scale, claw to flesh. The Lizard King's skin was thick and tough. Ashen's fists bled with every punch he threw. But he didn't stop.
He powered through.
The beast slammed him down. Ashen rolled away just as its jaws snapped shut where his neck had been. He grabbed a rock and smashed it into the beast's eye. The creature screeched.
Ashen elbowed its head, then jumped onto its back, punching down again and again, each strike sending shockwaves through its body.
The Lizard King slammed itself into a tree to throw him off. Ashen fell to the ground, rolled, and stood again.
Both were injured. Both breathing hard.
Ashen grinned.
He stepped forward again.
But then—
His legs almost gave out.
He stopped. His vision blurred for a second. He finally realized how drained he was. His Qi was almost gone. His muscles were overworked. His wounds from the Dire Wolf fight still hadn't healed.
His body couldn't keep up anymore.
"Tsk."
The Lizard King charged again.
Ashen tried to counter—
But his arm trembled.
The claw hit him full force. Ashen was thrown through a bush and rolled across the dirt before stopping.
He pushed himself up to one knee.
His arms shook. His breathing was rough. His wounds reopened.
His body screamed at him to stop.
But he clenched his teeth.
"No," he growled.
He forced himself to stand again. His legs trembled. His fists barely lifted.
The Lizard King roared, sensing weakness.
It rushed him again, jaws wide open.
Ashen didn't step back.
He stepped forward.
"COME!!"
The beast lunged.
And Ashen met it head-on.
His fist slammed into the beast's open mouth. The beast's jaws closed around his arm, teeth cutting into his flesh, but Ashen didn't retreat. He punched with his other hand, hitting the beast's head over and over.
The beast shook him violently. Blood poured down Ashen's arm.
But he kept punching.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Until with one final desperate blow—
Crack!
The Lizard King's skull cracked under his fist. The beast collapsed, its body trembling before finally going still.
Ashen fell to his knees beside it, covered in blood—his blood and the beast's blood mixed together.
He was breathing heavily, his body shaking uncontrollably.
Pain shot through every part of him. His arm was torn. His ribs were cracked. His legs were weak. He felt like he could collapse any second.
He stared at the dead beast in front of him.
"…Too weak."
Ashen laughed weakly.
A low, tired, but satisfied laugh.
He lay on his back, staring at the night sky through the leaves. His mind still replayed the fight.
He had pushed past his limits.
He had fought while nearly broken.
And he had won.
But even with that victory, he felt something else.
It's not enough.
He wanted more. Stronger opponents. Stronger beasts. Stronger everything.
He wasn't chasing strength for fun anymore.
He was chasing it because he needed it. To survive in this world. To face future enemies. To face fate itself.
And to chase the question burning inside him:
Are there dragons in this world?
If there were… he wanted to meet them.
He wanted to fight them.
He wanted to stand in front of a real dragon again and feel that thrill.
His eyelids grew heavy. His body finally reached its limit.
But before he passed out, he muttered:
"I'll get stronger. No matter what."
His eyes closed.
Darkness took him.
The forest remained silent except for the wind and the faint drip of blood on the ground.
Ashen, badly injured, lying on cold earth, had taken another step forward.
A painful step.
A bloody step.
But a step closer to strength.
A step closer to the dragons he hoped existed.
And a step closer to the future battles waiting for him.
This was the path he chose.
The path of strength.
And he wouldn't stop.
Not now.
Not ever.