The morning began with silence.
No horns. No drills. Only a low mist blanketing the training grounds like breath held by the world itself. Thalen stood alone beneath the arching obsidian gate, Kindle strapped across his back, eyes closed as he focused on the rhythm of his breathing.
Every breath was a blade strike. Every exhale, a parry. Every heartbeat, a step closer to the Tyrant’s path.
Velis approached wordlessly and placed a sealed scroll in Thalen’s hand.
"Your first outside assignnt," he said.
Thalen raised an eyebrow. "I thought I was still a beginner."
"You are," Velis replied. "That’s why this mission is to remind you of what that ans."
He gestured toward the distant southern cliffs. "A small border village near the edge of the Lower Realm is under attack by a rogue aura beast. Blade aura is suited for agile combat. You’re going alone."
Thalen’s lips parted. "What if I fail?"
"Then soone else will be sent to clean up your corpse," Velis said calmly. "But you won’t fail. You’re ready."
He didn’t feel ready. But he bowed and left.
The village of Harth lay beneath a ring of jagged cliffs, its hos no more than carved stone huts huddled close together like frightened children. Thalen arrived just past dusk, the air sharp and cold. Villagers watched from behind shutters, their expressions a mixture of fear and disbelief.
They’d sent a boy.
A boy with a sword and no reputation.
Thalen didn’t waste ti explaining.
He surveyed the area, finding deep claw marks in the soil, charred patches of earth, and twisted, scorched trees near the village edge. The aura beast was no animal. It was corrupted a being warped by an aura too unstable for its vessel.
He waited until night fell completely. Then it ca.
A shriek split the air. The ground trembled beneath heavy footsteps. From the shadows, a beast erged ten feet tall, blackened scales with veins of red fire glowing underneath, its maw dripping with molten saliva. Eyes like burning coals locked on him.
Thalen drew Kindle.
The blade pulsed.
The creature lunged.
Thalen rolled beneath its talons, slashing upward. Sparks danced, but his strike barely left a mark. The beast turned, its tail a blur, and smashed him into a rock outcrop. Pain lanced through his spine.
He stood again.
He wasn’t strong enough.
But he was sharp enough.
He studied its movents slow arcs, heavy steps, sluggish after each breath.
It had stamina. Not speed.
He used that.
He leapt between its legs, slicing at tendons. The beast roared, a gout of fla bursting from its throat. Thalen blocked with Kindle, his aura surging around him in a faint blue shimr. The fire struck, but the blade deflected most of it.
Not all.
His arms burned.
He scread.
Then moved anyway.
Thalen dashed up the beast’s back as it turned. He drove Kindle into the gap between its armored plates at the base of its skull.
The blade pierced.
The beast shuddered.
Then collapsed.
Silence fell again.
Only the sound of Thalen’s ragged breathing remained.
Hours later, he stood over the smoldering corpse, barely able to move. Villagers erged slowly, awe in their eyes. One knelt and whispered a word he’d never heard directed at him.
"Protector."
He said nothing, just nodded once and began the long walk back to the Citadel.
When he returned, Velis stood waiting beneath the statue of the Tyrant King, torchlight flickering across the ancient stone visage.
"You killed it."
"I did."
"And what did you learn?"
Thalen paused. "That strength alone won’t win a fight. That aura isn’t a hamr it’s a needle. And that fear can be useful if you don’t let it control you."
Velis nodded.
"Good."
He handed Thalen a small, cloth-wrapped object.
Inside was a sword fragnt dull, cracked, barely recognizable.
"This was the weapon of a man who failed to harness his aura," Velis said. "Keep it. Rember that power must be tempered. Or it becos ash."
As Thalen held the fragnt, Kindle shimred faintly on his back, as if recognizing the remains of a fallen kin.
That night, Thalen placed the fragnt beside his bed, lit a small fla, and whispered a vow:
"I will not beco ash. I will beco sothing stronger."
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