Deep within a fortress, King Kain lounged on a throne carved from petrified bone, smoke curling around him like lazy serpents. Scantily clad figures draped themselves over the armrests, attending to his whims, their eyes vacant. The air hung thick with the cloying scent of exotic incense and spilled wine.
A warrior, clad in battered steel, stumbled into the chamber, panting, dropping to one knee. "My King! Forgive the intrusion, but Commander Dan—he has initiated the domain raid! Without awaiting your final command!"
Kain waved a dismissive hand, taking a slow drag from a jewel-encrusted pipe. A woman giggled softly beside him.
"Oh? Is that all?" His voice was a bored drawl, muffled by smoke. "Let him have his fun. Dan is invincible. He has never known defeat." A cruel smile touched his lips. "Save by my hand, of course. The raid will succeed precisely because he leads it. Now, leave us."
The warrior hesitated, then bowed low and scrambled from the room, leaving the King to his pleasures, utterly confident in his First Blade’s inevitable victory.
---
Fin slamd into yet another tree, the impact rattling his teeth. He coughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood and wood splinters, sliding down the rough bark to land heavily on the mossy ground.
Damn.
This guy was strong. Seriously strong. Like, maybe even Guildmaster Jolly strong, if she ever cut loose. The golden armor wasn’t just for show; it radiated power, and Dan knew how to use it.
He pushed himself up, ribs screaming in protest. His brief stint absorbing the shadow energy felt like a distant mory. This raw, concussive force Dan now wielded was sothing else entirely.
He’d tried weaving, dodging, countering with bursts of dark energy – nothing worked. Dan just plowed through it, his movents surprisingly fast for soone built like a walking vault, that massive greatsword still strapped to his back, unused.
Dan walked towards him slowly. He stopped a few feet away, looking down at Fin with undisguised contempt.
"Naive," he declared, his voice booming slightly within his helt. "Weak. You have power, boy, yes, but no foundation. No training. No discipline. You flail about, switching tactics like a cornered rat." He shook his head.
"How could a king manifest with such pathetic combat sense? It makes no sense." He nudged Fin dismissively with a golden boot, sending him rolling away again. "I expected more after you dispelled my shadow cloak. Disappointing."
Fin lay there for a mont, the world spinning slightly, Dan’s words echoing in his ears. Weak. No discipline. Flailing. Pathetic.
’He’s... not wrong,’ the thought hit him with jarring clarity. That hurt more than the physical blows. He thought back over to his fights.
He used whatever felt right, whatever new trick popped into his head. Silver Core one minute, Mana Cell chaos the next, absorption, now just raw energy blasts... it was random. Unfocused. Picking up new skills and forgetting the old ones.
Like a kid with too many toys, discarding one as soon as a shinier one appeared. Unpolished. Amateur hour.
’Okay. Enough screwing around.’ He needed to stop relying on flashy tricks and raw power dumps. He needed a foundation. Sothing solid.
Ti to go back to basics.
He pushed himself up slowly, ignoring the ache in his bones. The swirling darkness around him flickered, then faded completely, absorbed back inward. His eyes, which had been shifting between shadow and their normal brown, settled, becoming clear.
Dan watched, confused. The kid wasn’t flaring with power; he seed to be... shutting it down? Was he giving up? Or was this another trick?
Fin took a slow, deep breath, exhaling deliberately. He didn’t speak. Didn’t need to.
Then, it began.
A faint green aura, like the first shoots of spring grass, flickered around his hands and feet. It grew rapidly, swirling, intensifying, becoming a vibrant erald fire dancing around his limbs.
Not the overwhelming pressure of the shadow aura, not the cold silver light, not the chaotic energy of the Mana Cell. This felt... pure. Focused. Like the core power he started with, but amplified, refined. Concentrated.
He crouched low, pouring mana into his legs, into his arms, the green fire flaring brighter, making the moss around his feet sizzle faintly. Muscles coiled, energy gathering for a single, focused purpose.
He looked up, eting Dan’s confused gaze. His eyes weren’t brown anymore. They burned with the sa intense erald green as the aura engulfing him.
"Here I co," he said, his voice quiet but carrying easily through the clearing.
BOOM!
The ground beneath him exploded outwards as he launched himself forward. He crossed the twenty feet separating them in less than a heartbeat, his fist drawn back, aid straight at Dan’s golden-armored chest.
His fist connected with Dan’s golden breastplate with a sound like a gong being struck by a wrecking ball. At first, nothing happened. Dan blinked, staring down at the kid’s fist pressed against his armor, unimpressed.
Then the pain hit.
It started as a dull ache, then exploded outward like wildfire, radiating through his ribs, his spine, his entire body. His breath left him in a choked gasp.
Fin didn’t stop.
His next punch ca before Dan could react, slamming into the sa spot with pinpoint precision. Then another. And another. Each strike carried the sa concentrated green energy, each one landing with brutal efficiency.
Dan staggered back, his armor groaning under the assault. His face twisted in disbelief. This wasn’t so wild, unfocused power dump—this was controlled, deliberate destruction.
’What the hell is this?’ Dan’s mind raced. ’He wasn’t this strong before!’
Fin didn’t give him ti to think. He pivoted, driving his knee upward into his gut. The impact lifted the massive warrior off his feet for a split second before Fin followed through with a spinning elbow to the side of his helt.
Dan’s head snapped to the side, his vision swimming. He barely registered the next hit—a straight punch to the chest that sent him flying backward, skidding across the moss like a discarded toy.
Scarlet’s jaw dropped. ’No way.’ She’d seen Fin pull off so insane stunts, but this? This was different. He wasn’t just throwing power around anymore. He was fighting. Actually fighting. And it was terrifying.
Arachne, still propped against the tree branch, let out a shaky breath. Her fingers dug into the bark, her dark eyes fixed on Fin with sothing like reverence. ’This is it. This is why he’s a King.’
Dan pushed himself up, his armor dented, his breathing ragged. He glared at Fin, his earlier arrogance replaced by sothing darker. "You... little brat."
Fin didn’t respond. He just stood there, green energy flickering around him like erald flas, his expression calm.
Focused.
"Thanks to you, I have leveled up," He got ready to charge again, "I will make sure the ass whooping you are about to get is legendary."
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