The night air was heavy, thick with the rotten stench of something inhuman. Elric's stomach twisted, but his legs refused to move. Days ago, he would have run. He would have hidden, trembling until dawn. But not tonight.
Tonight, he remembered the faceless shadow that had torn his family apart. He remembered the silence after their screams. And he remembered the black-clad warrior who had cut through the cursed beings like slicing through mist.
For the first time, Elric was not afraid of death. He wanted answers.
He pressed his nose to the air and followed the foul odor that spread like invisible smoke across the empty fields. It grew stronger, more pungent, like blood and ash mixing in stagnant water. His body shook, not from fear, but from a strange determination that now burned inside him.
The path led him to a ruined barn at the edge of a deserted village. Moonlight carved pale cracks through the broken roof, revealing the horror inside.
A shadow — tall, formless, and grotesque — hunched over a body. The creature bent low, devouring the flesh with a sickening sound. Its body shifted and twisted as if it was made of smoke and tar, without a solid shape. Every bite it took warped its appearance, and slowly… grotesquely… it began to resemble the person it had just consumed.
Elric's fists clenched. His throat went dry. But still, words escaped him.
"Hey! Listen… what are you? Why do you eat them?"
The shadow turned. Two pits of darkness opened where eyes should have been. It tilted its head, studying the fragile boy who dared to speak. Then, in a voice like a whisper carried from the bottom of a grave, it mocked:
"You… you look uglier than the corpses I eat. I won't bother eating you. I'll just finish you for disturbing me."
Elric flinched. His clothes hung in rags, stained from days without bathing. His hair was tangled, his face pale and starved. He did look pathetic. But inside, something stirred — a spark of defiance.
The shadow lunged forward.
Elric didn't run.
He grabbed a stone from the ground and hurled it with all his strength. The rock passed through part of the creature's form, splattering it into smoky wisps. It wasn't much, but it made the monster pause.
His mind screamed for him to flee, but his heart replayed the lessons of his childhood. His father's stern voice teaching him the stances of martial arts. His mother's laughter as she made him chase the ball across muddy fields, teaching him speed and balance.
"Move, Elric. Don't freeze."
He bent, snatched another rock, and threw it again. Then another. And another. His arms ached, but he didn't stop. For the first time, he wasn't being lazy. For the first time, he was fighting.
The shadow roared, annoyed. It closed the distance in a blur, its form stretching like black mist. Elric stumbled back, but he did not turn away. He knew he was weaker, slower, weaponless. But he refused to collapse like prey.
Just as the creature's claws reached for him—
A flash of steel cut through the night.
The shadow staggered, a scream tearing from its formless mouth. In the span of a heartbeat, the barn filled with movement too fast for Elric's eyes.
The Shadow Slayer had arrived.
Clad in a black jersey, his long hair flowing like strands of midnight, the Slayer's presence swallowed the fear in the air. His blade glimmered as if it carried the weight of countless battles. With three swift strikes — legs, arms, neck — the cursed shadow collapsed, its body evaporating into dust that dissolved into the night wind.
The fight was over in less than a minute.
Elric's chest heaved. His legs gave way, and he collapsed to his knees. He had fought, yes, but compared to this… compared to him… Elric felt like a grain of sand facing the sea.
Still, he forced himself to raise his voice.
"Who… who are you? Where do you come from? How do you fight like that?"
The Slayer's gaze flicked to him. His eyes were sharp, unreadable, yet not unkind.
"I am a Shadow Slayer," he said calmly, his voice steady, strong. "I protect people from them."
The words struck Elric deeper than any blade. Protector. Slayer. A man who stood between humanity and the cursed.
"Then… then teach me," Elric blurted out. "Teach me how to fight. I want to learn! I don't want to run anymore."
The Slayer studied him for a long moment. The boy was filthy, thin, trembling — and yet his eyes burned with a raw fire.
"Why?" the Slayer asked finally. "Why would you risk your life? Do you even understand what it means?"
Elric swallowed hard, his throat tight. His voice cracked, but his words carried the weight of his broken soul.
"My whole family is dead because of these shadows. I have no one left to live for… but I can't let anyone else suffer like I did. If I can save even one family, even one person… then my life will mean something."
Silence filled the barn. The Slayer's blade dripped with shadowy residue that vanished into mist. His eyes softened, just a fraction.
"…You're weak," he said at last. "Weaker than the shadows you fight. Right now, you'd only die."
Elric's fists clenched, his nails biting into his skin. "Then make me stronger."
For a long time, the Slayer said nothing. Then, finally, he sheathed his sword and turned away.
"I cannot train you. But I know someone who can."
Elric blinked. "Someone… stronger than you?"
The Slayer's lips curved faintly. "Much stronger. A master. The one who trained me. If you truly want this path, I'll take you to him."
Hope — fragile, flickering, but real — ignited inside Elric's chest.
The Slayer walked toward the door, his figure cutting a striking silhouette against the moonlight. He paused, glancing back.
"Come at dawn. If you hesitate, I'll leave you behind. If you're ready… then your training begins."
And with that, he vanished into the night, leaving Elric trembling but alive.
Elric sat there for a long while, surrounded by dust where the shadow had fallen. His heart still pounded, but his lips curved into something he hadn't felt in weeks — a small, determined smile.
For the first time, Elric felt that his story had truly begun.