Chapter 34
Purification
Kaelen pov
The moment Kaelen's Aether touched the corrupted ground, the Blight reacted violently.
It surged toward him like a living thing, tendrils of darkness reaching for the pure life force he was channeling. Kaelen gritted his teeth and pushed back, flooding the boundary with more power. Where his Aether met corruption, there was a flash of silver light and a sound like steam hissing from hot metal.
The corruption dissolved, but slowly. Too slowly.
Behind him, he could hear the villagers gathering, drawn by the light show. Their whispers carried on the night air.
"Is he actually fighting it?"
"Look at his hands…they're glowing!"
"What kind of magic is that?"
Kaelen ignored them and focused. The Blight wasn't just passive corruption…it had a kind of intelligence, a hunger that made it seek out and consume life force. Every time he pushed it back in one place, it would surge forward in another, testing his defenses, looking for weakness.
