" Come at me," he growled, voice raw, broken, yet unyielding.
Nighttime was when the forest truly awakened. And tonight, everything had come for him.
Glowing eyes emerged from the shadows.
Then shapes... dozens at first.
Then hundreds.
Monster wolves, their fangs dripping venom.
Massive bears - like beasts with stone - hard claws.
Scaled lizards crawling across the trees.
Dark hawks circling overhead.
Creatures without names, without mercy.
A chorus of snarls rose around him.
Toki inhaled once, slowly, steady.
Mana flared.
His body shimmered red, and his sword burned with the same furious glow. A child's body, broken and bleeding - yet radiating a power the forest had never seen.
Then he charged.
Every step hurt.
Every swing tore at his muscles.
But he didn't stop.
He carved through monsters like a raging flame.
Limbs flew.
Blood sprayed across the leaves.
The ground turned black and red beneath his feet.
They leapt at him from every direction, but he slashed, dodged, countered - moving faster then his injuries should've allowed. Each kill weakened him, yet somehow strengthened the fire inside his chest.
But the night was endless.
And the monsters were endless.
His body faltered. His legs gave out. His vision tilted.
He was surrounded - hundreds of monsters snarling, waiting to tear him apart. His hands shook violently as he tightened his grip on the katana.
I just need to survive the night... then I can find a way out at dawn...
He forced air into his lungs and roared, swinging the blade forward. He sliced a gap through the horde and ran, carving a bloody tunnel between the monsters.
They screeched and chased after him, the ground itself trembling under the stampede.
There was no end.
No hope.
No rest.
He cut down anything that got close, blade dripping, arms burning. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, fading... fading...
Then suddenly -
The monsters stopped.
The horde slowed.
Then back away.
Then turned and fled in terror.
Toki stumbled to a half, gasping.
" What...?"
The ground began to shake.
Leaves fell.
Birds scattered.
Trees swayed.
Then it stepped out.
An orc Lord.
Towering as tall as a tree - massive muscles bulging like boulders beneath green skin.
Its eyes gleamed with savage intelligence.
In its hands, it held a steel axe bigger than Toki's entire body.
It roared and charged.
Toki tried to move, but his body barely responded.
He raised his katana, bracing for impact.
The axe crashed into his blade -
And he was sent flying.
His bach slammed against a tree, knocking the air out of him. Blood sprayed from his mouth. His vision twisted into a blur of colors. Consciousness slipped like sand through his fingers.
But he stood.
He forced himself to stand.
The orc Lord uprooted a tree with casual strength and hurdled it. Toki's arms felt like they were splitting apart, but he cut the tree in half mid-air.
More blood spilled from his lips.
" Another hit and I'm a goner..."
He couldn't outrun it.
He couldn't dodge.
He couldn't take another blow.
He had one chance.
One strike left in his entire body.
He tightened his grip.
His arms trembling violently.
"What if I put all my mana into the katana...
instead of my body?
If the blade becomes strong enough... maybe it can slice through that monster... in one strike."
He didn't have time to think.
His life depended on instinct.
He poured every last drop of mana into the blade.
His sword glowed an intense, blinding red - hot, alive, vibrating with raw power.
His body weakened instantly.
But his blade became unstoppable.
" Let's end this," he whispered.
The orc Lord roared and swung it's massive axe.
Toki slid on the ground, barely dodging the killing blow by a hair's width. His legs screamed in agony. He pushed upward with the last strength he had.
And leapt.
The red blade flashed.
One orc.
One strike.
Everything he had.
The katana sliced through the orcs arms -
Then it's neck -
Clean and decisive.
The orc Lord's head toppled to the ground.
It's enormous body followed with a thunderous crash.
Toki fell too.
He hit the dirt, gasping, trembling, barely conscious.
No mana left. No strength. Only willpower keeping his eyes open.
It was almost dawn.
He crawled.
Dragging himself across the ground inch by inch.
His fingers dug into the soil as he forced himself forward.
He refused to stop.
He refused to die here.
Minutes passed.
Or maybe hours.
He couldn't tell anymore.
Then... he saw it.
A road.
He used the last of his strength and crawled into the dirt path. As his hand touched the road, sunlight finally rose, breaking through the trees.
Warm.
Soft.
Real.
" I... did it..." he whispered.
A faint smile touched his lips.
Then he collapsed, unconscious.
To be continued.