"This wall… it's insurmountable. There's no way I can beat him. I have to get away!"
Nyata's thoughts raced faster than his heartbeat. Every instinct screamed for him to run. The man who had killed his master now stood before him, the air around him rippling with sheer power. The ground felt heavy beneath Nyata's feet, as though the world itself wanted to hold him still.
The man stepped forward slowly, each movement deliberate. His boots crunched over the broken wood and stone. Nyata could barely breathe. Fear consumed him, raw and primal, spreading like poison through his veins. Without thinking, his body moved. He turned and ran.
He sprinted through the forest, branches tearing at his clothes and face. There was no plan and no direction, only the need to get away. His breath came in ragged gasps, and his vision blurred from panic. It wasn't cowardice. It was instinct, an ancient terror buried deep within his blood, older than reason itself.
Behind him, the man's voice carried through the trees, low and mocking.
"Running away, are we? ...I don't understand why he trained you."
The words cut through Nyata like knives. Then came the sound, a deep hum that grew louder with each passing second. The man raised his fist, and fire burst to life around it. The flames swirled tightly, not wild but controlled, condensed into a sphere of blistering light.
"Let's end this."
The fire erupted forward in a narrow, searing beam that split the forest in two. Trees ignited instantly, their trunks melting under the impossible heat. But before the flames could consume him, Nyata's body moved on its own. His feet twisted, his spine bent, and he dropped low. The beam passed just inches above him, scorching the air.
He rolled to his feet, heart pounding. "What… what just happened?"
The man's expression shifted from amusement to disbelief.
"How? You shouldn't be able to do that. You're not even using the Hearth!" His voice roared, echoing off the burning trees.
Nyata stared at his trembling hands. "How did I move like that? It was like my body knew before I did."
The word lingered in his mind. Hearth. That strange energy the man used. Was that what his master had feared?
His thoughts were cut short by a sudden burst of movement. The man was already in front of him. Nyata barely saw the punch, only felt it. The impact crushed his chest, air exploding from his lungs as pain tore through every nerve.
Could mana have this kind of strength? he thought before slamming into a tree. The trunk shattered on impact, splinters raining down as he hit the ground hard. Blood filled his mouth. Every breath felt like fire.
He forced himself up, swaying. Through the haze, he saw the man stepping out of the ruined house, brushing dust from his fur jacket as if nothing had happened. Panic clawed at Nyata's throat. He ducked behind a nearby tree, pressing his back to the bark, trying to silence his breathing.
For a moment, there was silence. Then footsteps.
Each one was slow, deliberate.
Then they stopped.
The man exhaled a short, humorless laugh. "Pathetic."
Nyata's shoulders loosened for just a second, relief creeping in. That was when it hit.
BAM!
An explosion of pain tore through his ribs as the man's fist slammed into his side, shattering bone and flinging him across the clearing. His scream echoed through the forest as his arm twisted unnaturally, bone snapping on impact.
"AAARGH!"
He hit a cliff face and fell to the dirt below, gasping and writhing in pain.
"You can't run from power," the man said, his voice cold. "You can only kneel before it."
Before the man could strike again, Nyata forced his broken body into motion. Somehow, he ran, half stumbling, half dragging himself into a dark opening in the cliff. A cave. He didn't think, he just moved.
Deeper and deeper he went, the light fading behind him. The air grew cold, damp, and heavy with the scent of earth and metal. His footsteps echoed endlessly through the stone corridor until the sounds of pursuit vanished. Only then did he stop, leaning against the wall, clutching his shattered arm. His breaths came in shallow gasps, the pain blinding.
Then he saw it.
A faint glow ahead, pulsing blue and green. He limped toward it, his curiosity barely stronger than his fear. When the cave opened up, his eyes widened.
Before him stood a massive glass tank filled with green-tinted water. Strange wires ran across the walls, feeding into humming metal consoles. Buttons glowed in shades of red, blue, and white. Everything looked wrong. Too clean. Too advanced for this world.
And inside the tank, suspended in the glowing water, was a girl.
She looked no older than eighteen, her brown hair floating like silk around her face. She wore a white hooded sweatshirt lined with salmon-colored stripes and symbols Nyata didn't recognize. Her shorts were the same pale color, her skin soft and pale beneath the faint light. And her eyes, even closed, radiated something powerful. Something ancient.
Nyata took a step closer, awe cutting through his fear. "What… what is this place?"
His eyes caught on a cluster of symbols carved into the console, letters he couldn't read. Among them was a single flashing orange button, pulsing like a heartbeat. For reasons he couldn't explain, his hand moved toward it. He felt drawn, compelled, as if something deep within him demanded it.
He pressed it.
A hiss filled the cave as the glass tank released its seal. The walls began to lower, draining the green water into the stone floor. A thick smoke rolled out, tinged with a faint emerald glow.
The girl's eyes snapped open. Golden. Bright as molten sunlight.
She stepped forward, dripping water, her movements fluid and unnatural. Nyata froze as she looked straight at him. Her expression flickered between confusion and irritation.
"K'a'ut naq xinawaklesi sa' linwark?" she asked, her voice melodic but strange.
Nyata blinked. "I… I don't understand."
The girl sighed, muttering something under her breath. She stepped closer, placed two fingers on his forehead, and whispered a single word.
"Uanis."
A shock ran through Nyata's skull, a pulse of warmth that spread behind his eyes. When she spoke again, her words were clear.
"Why have you awakened me?"
He hesitated, unsure how to respond. "I didn't mean to. This whole place… it's foreign to me. I was just-" He winced mid-sentence, coughing blood. A sharp pain stabbed through his chest, one of his broken ribs piercing his lung.
The girl's golden eyes softened for a moment. "What a bother," she said quietly. "Saraw."
A white light surrounded him, soft but intense. He felt his bones twist and mend, his ribs shifting back into place, his arm straightening with a dull crack. The pain vanished as quickly as it came. When the light faded, his wounds were gone.
Nyata stared at her in disbelief. "How… how is that possible?"
But before he could ask more, his vision dimmed. The exhaustion, the fear, the adrenaline, all of it caught up to him at once. His body crumpled to the ground, eyes fluttering shut.
The last thing he saw was the girl standing over him, her golden eyes glowing softly in the dark.
Then everything went black.