Chapter 13: The First True Kill
Deep within the forest, far from the bustling city, trees towered with trunks as thick as the embrace of three grown men. They stood apart from each other, yet each radia ted an ancient aura, as if they had witnessed millennia of destruction. A thin mist crept between the massive roots that stretched like tentacles over the damp earth, as if ready to snatch anyone who let down their guard.
The air was heavy. Humid. Thick with the scent of wet soil mixed with something deeper... fouler... like a corpse buried in a half-hearted grave.
The clang of metal echoed again and again—clashing swords, shattering shields, and occasionally, stifled screams.
Amidst the mist, nine awakeners fought desperately against hundreds of armed skeletons, surging like a legion from hell. Six men and three women moved like war machines. They weren't amateurs. Every motion was precise, coordinated, deadly.
One man leapt high, and in an instant, one of the women beneath him raised her hand. An invisible aura lifted his body into the air, making him hover like a god of war.
His mouth widened, and from deep within his throat, a massive burst of fire erupted, sweeping across dozens of skeletons below. They disintegrated in a blazing inferno of red flames, blinding to the eye.
The man landed steadily, satisfied with the destruction he'd left in his wake. That was his ability: Dragon's Breath. That's it. A fiery discharge. But because of that limitation, he trained his body endlessly for close combat. And luckily, he was damn good at it.
"Nice job, Lim!" shouted another man before charging into a crowd of skeletons with his fists. His movements were wild and brutal—not the result of elegant training, but more like a wild animal that knew exactly when to tear.
Each punch shattered skulls, and with every broken skull, another skeleton died, the purple glow in their eyes—the source of the binding magic—fading instantly.
"I think we can pull this off!" he shouted. "What about the rift? Is it open yet?"
"Still red," one of the frontliners replied, shaking their head slightly.