Chaos reigned.
Screams, cracking bones, and bursts of power exploded through the air as if the world itself were tearing apart. Marcus stood in the midst of it all, yet felt like a stranger to the scene—his body present, but his mind somewhere far beyond.
He watched it all unfold like a dream—no, a beautiful nightmare.
People were changing… transforming… some summoned weapons from the void, others pulled energy from the earth, the air, from within themselves.
Is this the power everyone longed for?
Is this what I've been waiting for?
But he didn't feel envy.
What he felt was something else—a strange awareness that what played out before him was only the beginning, and that he didn't belong in this madness… not yet.
In the storm of chaos, he saw it: a small opening, almost like it had been made just for him. It wasn't obvious, but it was there—to the south.
He remembered the voice: "You may find settlements. Perhaps even mentors."
He glanced at the sky as if it had whispered the direction.
"South."
He moved.
Not fast, but with intention.
He wasn't fleeing.
He was searching—for answers, for a teacher, for a path.
This was his first true test: not to choose raw violence, but to choose the path toward understanding it.