The growl grew louder, a low rumble that rolled through the trees like a living warning.
Luceris narrowed his eyes, the ash dagger firm in his grip.
He inhaled slowly, tuning into the pulse of the world around him.
The air was thick, dense with unseen energy — magicules, raw and wild.
Instinct screamed.
Stay low. Stay silent. Strike first.
A massive shape crashed through the underbrush — a direwolf, larger than any natural beast.
Silver fur bristling, burning yellow eyes locked onto Luceris.
The direwolf lunged, a silver blur.
Luceris reacted instantly.
With a sharp motion, the ash dagger dissolved into a fine mist that whipped around him, condensing into slender, sharpened needles.
The needles struck without hesitation, piercing the wolf's joints and tendons with merciless precision.
The beast yelped, its charge faltering mid-leap, collapsing into a painful tumble across the dirt and leaves.
Luceris moved in, the ash swirling once more into a short spear.
One breath.
One step.
One strike.
The ash spear plunged into the direwolf's throat.
The beast shuddered violently, blood gurgling from its ruined windpipe, then slumped into death.
---
Luceris pulled the spear free, letting it collapse into dust once more.
He wiped the blood from his hand, feeling a familiar tug deep within.
From the wolf's corpse, faint streams of light rose — magicules, raw and untamed.
The energy drifted toward him, drawn as if by instinct, and vanished into his body.
[Predation successful. Magicules absorbed.]
Luceris stood silently as his Ashen Soul drank deeply, strengthening his body and mind.
The ash around him responded quicker, moving more freely under his will.
He turned away, footsteps soundless against the earth.
---
Days blurred into nights.
Luceris moved like a phantom through the wilderness, testing and honing his power.
He hunted fang rabbits, giant crows, and other mindless beasts — using the ash to craft weapons and traps on the fly.
The ash obeyed perfectly.
Sometimes he condensed it into fine, invisible threads, creating slicing wires.
Sometimes he vaporized it, creating a suffocating ash cloud.
When prey fell, the magicules would rise from their corpses and flow into him.
[Predation successful. Magicules absorbed.]
Over time, the Ashen Soul's resonance grew stronger.
He could command more ash at once.
He could maintain constructs longer and with greater stability.
Luceris realized: emotion fueled the ash's strength.
Calmness brought precision.
Anger brought destruction.
---
One evening, Luceris crouched by a river under the blood-red sunset.
His reflection stared back — silver hair wild and wind-tossed, pale skin with tiny crack like a porcelain.Molten silver eyes, cold and unreadable.
He remembered the boy he once was — trained from birth as a weapon.
Raised in darkness.
Betrayed and discarded by those who called themselves family.
He dipped his fingers into the river.
Fine gray ash leaked from his skin, floating upward, responding instinctively to his mood.
Luceris smiled bitterly.
This was his gift now.
His curse.
And he would wield it without regret.
---
As night deepened, Luceris practiced by the riverbank.
He learned he could compress the ash to near-invisibility for stealth kills.
He could agitate it into slicing clouds or compress it into volatile bombs.
The magicules absorbed from his prey fueled this evolution, with each death feeding the Ashen Soul further.
Yet he sensed the danger:
Emotion could make the ash volatile.
Unchecked rage could cause it to lash out beyond his will.
He had to master not only his magicules, but his very heart.
---
When the first light of dawn painted the sky, Luceris rose.
He looked toward the mountains far beyond the forest, the lands yet unseen.
More monsters awaited.
More power to claim.
And maybe, just maybe, a place where he could finally exist without chains.
A faint, cold smile curved his lips.
"I'm coming," he whispered.
Not just to survive —
To live.
To live freely, as himself.