Realm Lord

Arthur walked for several more hours, his legs growing heavy with fatigue but his determination never wavering. Finally, the sun tucked itself behind the horizon, and the pale moon dawned overhead, casting an ethereal silver glow across the endless field.

'Would you look at that,' Arthur thought with a hint of pride. 'I survived a whole day in the Second Realm... that's a whole day longer than I expected to!'

He chuckled hopelessly at his own morbid joke as he continued his march through the darkness that gradually enveloped the field. The night air felt surprisingly cool against his skin after the day's oppressive heat, bringing welcome relief to his sweat-soaked body.

Without warning, Arthur stopped in his tracks, a perplexed expression crossing his face. Something was happening to him—something inexplicable yet undeniable.

'What the hell is this feeling?'

He raised his hands before his face, examining them closely as if expecting to find some visible manifestation of the strange sensation coursing through his body. His fingers looked the same—no transformation, no glow, no outward sign of change—yet everything felt profoundly different.

'I feel... stronger. Much stronger.'

Arthur's body suddenly felt buoyant, almost as if he were floating. His muscles, weary from hours of walking, now thrummed with renewed vigor. Most peculiar of all, his eyesight seemed sharper in the darkness than it had been during daylight hours, as though a veil had been lifted from his perception.

The sensation was oddly comforting, like being wrapped in the cold embrace of someone—or something—he trusted implicitly. Or perhaps more accurately, something that trusted him. Arthur found himself fighting back a smile without understanding why he even wanted to.