Inside a cabin deep in the forest, a man sat brooding on a wooden chair, his fingers drumming against the armrest as he stared at the wall. "Best to make some food," he muttered, rising to his feet.
The moment he stood, the wall he'd been watching rippled with shadow. A pair of eyes snapped open within the darkness.
The man whirled around. "What is this?"
"I'm here to take your energy and your magic," the shadow wall hissed. "Just stay still."
A tendril lashed out at nearly the speed of light. The man dove aside and seized his sword from beneath the table. "You really think you can touch me?" he snarled, swinging the blade through the tendril and severing it cleanly.
Without hesitation, he hurled his sword toward the shadow wall. The blade embedded itself deep into the darkness. "Thank you for the power," the man said as shadows began seeping into the steel, drawn like water into parched earth. The shadow wall writhed and shrieked, then vanished entirely.
"Double that," he said, retrieving his weapon. "Time to get the other thing I need—that Blood Crystal."
He strode from his cabin into the dead forest.
Meanwhile, in a vast Gothic fortress, a man with crimson eyes lounged on his throne. "It's been days now," he muttered. "That shadow wall should be returning with some form of magic by now."
He rose, his voice hardening. "If it takes much longer, I'll have to end the shadow wall myself and acquire my magic through other means."
Suddenly, someone burst through the chamber doors. "Sir! Urgent news!" The messenger's face had gone deathly pale. "Someone has infiltrated our base!"
The red-eyed man—Kale—stepped forward. "Infiltrated? Impossible. We have the highest security."
"It's happening right now!" the messenger gasped. "Multiple men are dying by the second. Please, sir, you must see for yourself!"
Kale descended multiple flights of stairs, the stairwell eerily silent. When he reached the first floor and threw open the castle gates, he froze.
A bloodbath sprawled before him. His men lay scattered across the courtyard—some beheaded, others impaled with multiple swords, all drained of something vital. One man stood amid the carnage, his blade dripping with shadow.
"Glad you could make it," Oren said, his voice cold. "Now do me a favor and hand over the Blood Crystal."
Kale's mind reeled. "This much death... from one man? How strong is he? How did you breach my defenses? Hundreds—no, thousands—of my men, dead!"
Before he could blink, Oren materialized before him, blade slashing toward his stomach. Kale leaped back. He possessed no magic—not yet—but his physical strength remained formidable.
"You can't even believe it, can you?" Oren taunted. "The biggest castle in the region, and you're this stupid. In the midst of war, you should have sent your elite soldiers. Do you realize how easily I could kill you right now? How pathetically dumb are you?"
Kale steadied himself. "You think you're going to kill me?"
"I'm not going to kill you," Oren replied, circling like a predator. "I'm going to hurt you badly, steal that Blood Crystal, and claim my power. That's all. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Of course I do. Ask a dumb question, get a dumb answer."
"In that case—"
The blade plunged into Kale's stomach without warning. He hadn't even seen it coming. No shoulder movement, no muscle twitch—nothing. Was Oren truly this fast? If so, Kale needed to escape immediately.
"You think that'll kill me?" Kale grunted through the pain.
"Like I said, I'm not killing you," Oren said, twisting the blade slightly. "I'm hurting you badly before I take that Blood Crystal I know you have."
"I'll never give you the crystal," Kale gasped. "No matter what you say or do."
He desperately wished for his magic. Where was that shadow wall? Why hadn't it returned?
"You're thinking about that wall of shadow, aren't you?" Oren said, his smile vicious. "I killed it. Drained its power. It's dead. You're welcome."
Shock rippled through Kale. The shadow wall was supposed to be invincible—it absorbed attacks and grew stronger, stealing magic from anyone who challenged it. Yet this man had destroyed it.
"Now," Oren said, pressing closer, "give me the Blood Crystal, or you die. Simple choice."
"Killing me won't accomplish anything," Kale spat. "Do you know how many will come after you?"
"The people who'll come after me are pathetically weak. You're nothing. And by the way, your entire army can come—I'll slaughter them all and take their power too. If I already have their abilities, I'll just absorb something new."
"My people are stronger than you think!"
"Really?" Oren gestured at the bloodied battlefield. "From what I've seen, they're disappointingly fragile."
He leaned in, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper. "I'll give you a choice. You have five seconds to make it. Either hand over the Blood Crystal, or you die. Which will it be, Kale?"