Kael was training.
Each day he remained still in the grass, meditating. He knew he had to grow stronger while his master was healing. His teacher had told him it could take a few weeks, but Kael inferred that Darius simply wanted to be alone.
He was severely weakened.
The only time Kael approached his room was to leave food by the door. Every time, the same pale, expressionless face met him. Kael knew Darius was grateful… yet he also understood that he was drowning in something far heavier than physical wounds.
He still wore the same robe as always.
Kael couldn't help but wonder—
What was going through his mind?
...
Now that I am in bed, I must heal my wounds.
This child… he truly has been a savior. If he hadn't caught the old man's attention, I wouldn't have survived. Even though I've reached the Emerald Level… there are others far more experienced. Far stronger.
I cannot stop feeling sorrow for him.
He barely understands what happened to his family, and the fragments he remembers were enough to push him toward a mental collapse. The meditation training had to begin early. That much stress could permanently scar his mind.
I cannot imagine what will happen when the old man tells him the truth.
What will he become?
Will the blade sharpen…
Or will it shatter?
Countless thoughts rushed through Darius' mind as he remembered the reason he had no arm… and why his body was partially disfigured.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
It was raining that day.
He was at the peak of his power.
He had taken a temporary retirement with his wife and daughter. Just a few months of peace. A break from the life of a hunter.
They were far from headquarters. Far from danger.
Or so he thought.
He was playing with his daughter in an open clearing. She was five years old, laughing as she sat on his shoulders. His wife watched them with a gentle smile.
Then—
The air grew heavy.
Denser.
He didn't notice.
Two seconds.
That was all it took.
A creature emerged from the woods.
It was an abomination.
They called it The Mycologist.
Its bloated body resembled a grotesque mushroom. It had two pale, fungal heads, and instead of hair, clusters of green, oozing mushrooms grew from its scalp.
It was enormous.
Five meters tall.
Darius stumbled upon it by pure accident.
He stood one meter away.
His daughter still sat on his shoulders.
She screamed.
Darius froze.
Two seconds.
A hiss.
A faint breeze.
At first, it seemed harmless.
Then he felt something warm dripping down his shoulder.
He looked up.
The screaming had stopped.
His daughter—
She was liquefying.
The air was saturated with acid and spores. Her muscles were exposed beneath dissolving skin, and before his eyes, mushrooms began sprouting from her skull.
Darius resisted the spores due to his strength. He gently laid what remained of his daughter on the ground, trembling.
He turned—
His wife.
She was clawing at her own face, tearing away mushrooms that regrew instantly. She screamed at the top of her lungs—
Until mushrooms filled her throat.
She collapsed.
Darius fell to his knees.
"What have you done…?"
"What the fuck have you done?"
"WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE?!"
His voice broke as he choked on his own tears.
Then he stood.
His gloves turned purple.
Not the usual blue.
Above him, a colossal saw blade manifested—equal in size to the Mycologist itself. It began to spin. Faster. Faster. Until it broke the sound barrier, producing a thunderous roar.
He slammed it into the ground.
It burrowed downward, shrinking as it descended, spinning faster and faster. As its radius decreased, its angular velocity increased violently—conservation of angular momentum pushing it toward impossible speeds.
The earth trembled.
The Mycologist laughed and in a cold horade voice said
"Seems you are as weak as your girl and wife. What a pity. Your attacks cant even reach me, fucking weak"
As it spoke, a deep vibration began to rise from beneath the soil.
Something was coming back up.
