"YES! THAT'S IT! KEEP MOVING!" Baelor's voice echoed from somewhere above.
Both hounds' ears twitched, but they didn't look away from Sage this time. They'd learned.
The healthy hound suddenly barked, a sharp, commanding sound. Its partner responded with a different bark, and they began moving in perfect coordination. One would attack while the other repositioned, never giving Sage a moment to focus on just one target.
The uninjured hound came in low, snapping at his legs. Sage jumped back, but the wounded one had circled behind and was already leaping despite its injury.
Sage dropped to one knee and rolled forward, under the airborne hound. As it passed over him, he swung upward, catching its belly with the axe blade. Not deep enough to kill, but enough to draw another pained howl.
"WATCH YOUR LEFT! YOUR LEFT!" Baelor shouted.
The healthy hound was already there, both heads snapping at Sage's arm. He yanked it back just in time, teeth clicking together where his wrist had been.
Sage's smile grew wider. His heart was pounding, but not just with fear anymore. There was something else, excitement. The thrill of the fight. The rush of surviving by his own skill and speed... it helped that the necklace was calming him.
He began to understand why his mother had always seemed so alive during their sparring sessions.
The wounded hound tried another coordinated attack, but its injuries were slowing it down. Sage read the pattern now—bark, position, strike. He waited for the signal.
There, he healthy one barked.
Instead of defending, Sage charged straight at it. The hound, expecting him to react to its partner's positioning, was caught completely off-guard. Sage's axe came down in an overhead chop.
The creature managed to twist aside, but not completely. The blade bit deep into its shoulder, drawing a spray of dark blood.
Now both hounds were wounded, both limping, both furious.
"INCREDIBLE! ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!" Baelor's voice was practically gleeful.
But the hounds still didn't look toward the sound. They'd adapted, learned to ignore distractions. These creatures had been fighting for survival long before Sage arrived.
They separated wider now, forcing Sage to constantly turn and pivot. The wounded one would feint while the other attacked. They were wearing him down, making him waste energy on false threats.
Sage's breathing grew heavier. His mother's training had been intense, but this was different. This was life and death, and these creatures had nothing to lose.
The healthy hound, well, less injured hound, suddenly did something unexpected. Instead of coordinating with its partner, it charged straight at Sage, both heads snarling with berserker fury.
Sage braced for impact, raising his axe to block or strike. The hound leaped—
And crashed to the ground as a rock the size of Sage's fist cracked against its skull.
"NOW! WHILE IT'S DOWN!" Baelor's voice rang out.
Both hounds immediately snapped their heads toward the sound, finally unable to ignore the direct attack. They could see Baelor now, perched on a rocky outcrop, another stone in his hand.
The less injured hound started to charge toward the demon.
Sage didn't waste the opportunity.
He sprinted forward and brought his axe down in a devastating overhead strike. The blade caught the creature between its shoulder blades, driving deep into its spine. The hound collapsed with a final, echoing howl.
The remaining hound spun back toward Sage, but it was too wounded, too slow. Its leg could barely support its weight, and blood loss was making it sluggish.
Sage advanced methodically now, no longer rushed. The creature snapped and snarled, but it could barely move. He circled it like it had circled him, waiting for the perfect moment.
The hound tried one last desperate lunge.
Sage stepped aside and brought his axe across in a clean, horizontal cut.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Sage stood among the bodies, breathing hard, covered in dark blood, some his, mostly theirs. The smile hadn't left his face. If anything, it had grown.
"Well," Baelor called down, transforming back from his bird form to land beside the carnage, "that was educational. You might actually survive this after all."
Baelor saw the smile on Sage's face and said, "Seems you were enjoying yourself there."
Sage quickly wiped the smile off his face, as if he'd been caught doing something shameful.
Baelor shook his head. "Don't look so guilty about it. Now, take that axe and cut open its chest."
Sage looked at Baelor in confusion. "What?"
"You heard me."
"Why?"
"Just trust me, kid. Have I steered you wrong yet?"
Sage nodded reluctantly and grabbed his axe. He walked to the nearest corpse, the one he'd already wounded in the underbelly.
He wasted no time cutting it open. Soon the chest cavity was split wide, organs exposed. The sight didn't bother him. Back home, his mother had taught him to butcher their hunts. He'd never worked on a dog before, but the principle was the same.
"Good. Now reach inside."
Sage looked at Baelor again, hesitating.
"I said trust me. When have I led you astray?"
Sage plunged his hand into the warm cavity. "What exactly am I looking for?"
"Small, round object. Hard like a stone. Feel around near the heart area... yes, higher... that's it."
"Got it." Sage felt something solid and smooth.
"Pull it out."
There was resistance, like the object was connected to something, but Sage managed to extract it. He held up his bloodied hand, examining a sphere about the size of a large marble, pulsing with faint inner light.
"Perfect. Hand it over."
Sage passed it to the monkey, who made it vanish into his storage.
"Now the other one."
As Sage moved to the second corpse, he asked, "So what is that thing?"
"An Origin Core. Think of it as concentrated life force, every living thing has one. They contain raw power, magical essence. For someone looking to grow stronger, these are... let's call them shortcuts."
Sage extracted the second core and handed it over. "Is this the only way to get stronger? Because it seems like I'd have to kill a lot of people to make any real progress. Is that what I'll have to become?"
Baelor's expression grew serious. "Yes, Sage. You're going to kill. A lot. Not just random people for power, but anyone who stands between you and your goals. Your mother's resurrection, your revenge against Móði, these things will make you enemies. Powerful enemies. Gods, mortals, creatures you can't even imagine yet. Some will hunt you for sport, others for glory, some just because they can."
He paused, studying Sage's face. "You need to understand something right now: this path you've chosen? It's going to change you. You'll have to make choices that would horrify the person you are today. The question is: can you live with that? Because if you die with a clean conscience, your mother stays dead and Móði wins."
Sage's jaw tightened. "What other options do I have?"
"Origin Cores are the fastest method, but not the only one. You can absorb ambient magical energy from the environment, much slower, but it works. Some beings grow stronger through specific means: drinking blood, consuming magical flesh, absorbing spiritual plants. The methods are as varied as the creatures that use them."
Sage frowned. "I don't sense any magic in the air."
"That's because your seal is blocking most of your natural abilities. Once we deal with that..." Baelor's eyes gleamed. "Well, let's just say you'll see the world very differently."
He leaned closer. "But remember this, Sage: power without purpose is worthless, and purpose without power is just wishful thinking. You want both? You'll need to become someone your mother might not recognize. The question is whether you can live with that to save her."
Sage stared down at his bloodied hands, then nodded slowly. "Whatever it takes."