Ren thought he understood training.
He thought he knew suffering — the long nights of standing motionless, the endless swings until his bones rang, the blind battles in the dark where every mistake hurt more than the last.
But Kael's expression that morning told him otherwise.
"Pack lightly," Kael said. "Only what you can carry while running for your life."
Ren tightened the straps on his worn pack, suppressing the uneasy feeling in his chest.
"Where are we going?"
Kael didn't answer. He simply walked, and Ren followed.
They traveled north, deeper into Atherion's untouched territory.
Mountains rose like broken spears, forests rolled across the land like dark waves, and the further they went, the colder the air became. Even the wind seemed to whisper warnings.
By sunset they reached a jagged ravine, its stone walls carved by centuries of storms. A mist clung to its depths like a living thing. Ren sensed something inside—something old, hungry, and violent.
Kael finally spoke.
"This is Fangshade Abyss," he said. "A land where beasts don't hunt for food… they hunt for dominance."
Ren's breath caught. "You want me to train here?"
"No." Kael looked at him calmly.
"I want you to survive here."
Ren's heart dropped.
Kael continued, his tone as indifferent as if explaining a simple errand.
"Dominion Aura is not simply pressure. It is the soul made absolute. It is a command that forces all beneath it to submit. Beasts, men, the world itself."
He gestured at the ravine.
"Beasts understand dominance better than any human. If you want to awaken Dominion Aura, you must face creatures who kill for the sake of territory and pride."
Ren swallowed the rising fear. "Alone?"
Kael met his eyes. "If I intervene, you will never grow. From this point on… your life is your own responsibility."
And with that, Kael stepped back.
The message was clear: Ren must descend.
Ren took a breath, heart pounding as he approached the ravine's edge.
He climbed down using the roots and jagged stones, the mist swallowing him whole. The moment his feet touched the ground, a presence—massive and suffocating—pressed down on him.
Ren staggered.
"What is this feeling…?"
It was heavier than Kael's killing intent. He had felt pressure before, but this—this was primal, ancient. It felt like the forest itself was watching him.
Ren clenched his fists. Dominion Aura… I need to feel the will of stronger beings. That's what Kael wants.
So he walked deeper.
---
The First Encounter
The air grew colder the further he ventured.
Trees twisted unnaturally, their bark carved by the claws of beasts he couldn't yet see.
But he could hear them—low growls, distant howls, heavy breaths hidden within the fog.
Ren slowed his steps.
A shadow shifted between the trees.
Then it stepped forward.
A Riftfang Wolf—three times the size of a normal one, its fur dark and matted with old blood, eyes glowing with feral intelligence. Its mere presence felt like a weight pressing against Ren's chest.
"A beast with awakened instincts…" Ren whispered.
He had read about them—creatures that lived by pure dominance.
The wolf snarled. The air shook slightly, as if responding to its will.
Ren felt his knees weaken.
"So this is… a beast's aura of domination…"
He forced himself to breathe, remembering Kael's teachings.
> "Dominion begins where fear ends."
But ending fear was easier said than done when a beast's aura felt like a mountain crushing him.
The wolf lunged.
Ren rolled aside, barely dodging claws that easily shredded bark.
He struck with his staff—only to feel bones tremble from the impact. The wolf hardly flinched.
Ren steadied himself.
His Vital Aura surged, strengthening his muscles, sharpening his reflexes.
His Perceptive Aura flared, letting him sense the wolf's movements before they happened.
But the ground still trembled under the beast's dominance.
"This thing… Its will is stronger than mine."
The wolf circled him, growling deeper, jaws dripping saliva. Its very intent was a declaration:
Submit.
Ren felt the instinctual urge to lower his head, to accept its superiority.
He clenched his teeth. "No… I won't bow!"
The wolf roared, the sound shaking the mist.
Ren struck with everything he had—Vital Aura bursting.
The blow landed on the wolf's neck and pushed it back slightly.
The wolf's eyes widened in surprise for a single moment.
Ren felt it—
An opening.
A flicker in the beast's proud intent.
He stepped forward, voice trembling—but loud.
"Back… off."
He didn't shout. He didn't scream.
He merely spoke with everything in him—a spark of will.
The wolf froze.
Just a fraction of a second.
But enough.
Ren's heart pounded. That… was that Dominion?
A tiny seed, but real.
The wolf lunged again—but this time, Ren didn't dodge completely. He grounded his stance, slammed his staff into the earth, and roared back:
"GO BACK!"
A wave burst from him—weak, shaky, but undeniable.
The wolf staggered a step.
Ren collapsed to one knee, panting. The beast growled but backed away slowly, unwilling to continue the fight.
Ren exhaled a shaky breath.
"That… that wasn't strength. It was will."
---
The Abyss of Beasts
Ren wandered the ravine for days.
He fought boar-beasts with razor tusks, serpent creatures that moved with silent malice, ape-like monsters that pounded the earth until Ren's ears rang.
Each fight drained him.
Each beast pushed him closer to death.
But each encounter also sharpened something deep inside him.
A defiance.
A refusal to kneel.
A spirit that refused to break.
By the end of the first week, Ren's body was covered in scars, but his aura began to change. His presence grew sharper, heavier.
Creatures that once attacked instinctively now observed him first—testing, judging, reassessing.
By the end of the second week, smaller beasts began avoiding him entirely.
Ren noticed this, even if subtly.
"My presence… It's pushing them back."
Dominion was growing.
But Kael wasn't finished with him.
---
The Apex Trial
On the fifteenth day, Ren reached a clearing.
A massive stone altar lay shattered in the center, surrounded by deep claw marks.
And atop it sat a Shadowhorn Leonor.
A beast of legend.
A lion with horns of black steel, muscles rippling like liquid stone, its mane crackling faintly with dark energy.
Ren's breath hitched.
Even without seeing it fully, just its aura crushed him like a collapsing mountain.
He couldn't breathe.
He couldn't move.
He couldn't think.
His Perceptive Aura screamed warnings.
His Vital Aura flared in panic.
"Th-this thing… It's on the level of an Overlord-class beast…"
Ren fell to his knees, the beast's aura forcing him down like gravity itself.
Submit, the Leonor's presence roared silently.
Submit.
Ren's chest tightened. His vision dimmed.
But then—
> "Dominion begins where fear ends."
Kael's words.
Soft but sharp inside his mind.
Ren dragged in a breath.
Then another.
Then another—forcing his trembling legs to brace beneath him.
He raised his head. Even if it felt impossible.
"…I won't kneel."
The Leonor's eyes snapped toward him.
Its aura intensified, doubling, crushing the clearing like an avalanche of malice.
Ren screamed as the pressure slammed him against the ground—
—but he refused to break.
He pushed back with everything:
His will.
His fear.
His pain.
His pride.
His existence.
A thin pulse rippled from him.
Weak. Pathetic. But real.
The beast paused.
Ren clenched his teeth, blood dripping from his nose.
"No one…"
He pushed again.
"No beast… no man…"
Another pulse. Stronger.
"No god…"
His aura flared wildly.
"WILL MAKE ME KNEEL!"
His spirit erupted.
A shockwave of pure, raw Dominion Aura burst out of his body, slamming into the Leonor like a hammer of will.
The beast staggered back—its dominance disrupted, if only for a moment.
Ren stood.
Barely.
But he stood.
For the first time, the Leonor lowered its head—not in respect, but in acknowledgment.
Ren's vision blurred.
His breath trembled.
But a smile formed.
"…I did it."
Dominion Aura.
The King's Will.
He had awakened it.
---
Kael's Return
When Ren climbed back from the Abyss days later, bloodied, exhausted, and barely alive, Kael stood waiting.
The old warrior stared at him for a long moment.
Then—
A faint smirk appeared.
"You survived," Kael said quietly.
Ren collapsed to his knees, laughing breathlessly.
"I… think I did more than survive."
Kael nodded once.
"You did."
Ren lifted his gaze. "So… what now?"
Kael turned, the wind tugging at his cloak.
"Now, Ren the Giftless…"
His tone carried pride, weight, and a warning.
"…your real path begins."