Marcus, still riding the thrill of discovery, decided to shape another on—something different this time.
The energy swirled in his hand, shifting and solidifying into a curved bde. It felt weightless, yet sturdy, just like the spear before it. Satisfied, he turo his arget—a nearby rock.
Swing.
The bde sliced through effortlessly. A thin mist lingered where the cut had been. For a moment, the rock remaiill—then, with a soft slide, it split apart like butter.
"I kind of like this."
Enced, Marcus tiesting his creation, experimenting with different strikes, angles, and teiques. The hours passed unnoticed, lost in the rhythm of his newfound skill.
By the time the sky darkehe ndscape around him was in ruins—craters, deep gashes, and scattered debris marking his relentless practice.
He paused, gng around at the destru.
"Maybe I overdid it… again."
A sharp, stabbing pain shot through Marcus’ skull, so sudden and intehat he nearly lost his bance mid-air. His vision blurred for a moment, the thrill of battle instantly repced by a wave of exhaustion that hit him like a crashing tide. His body, which had felt unstoppable just moments ago, now ached with a dull, growing fatigue.
‘Tch… what the hell is this?’ He ched his jaw, pressing his cws against his temple as if that would help ease the pain. But it only grew worse, pulsing in sync with the very energy that had fueled his rampage.
Only now did he realize—he had been reckless. He’d used too much, drawn too deeply from his reserves without a sed thought. The sensation wasn’t just exhaustion. It was something deeper, a fual backsh from whatever power surged within him.
His wings faltered for a moment before he forced them steady, pushing himself toward the cave. He o rest. ime to figure out what was happening to him.
By the time he nded, his limbs felt heavier than before. Each step deeper into the cave felt like trudging through thick mud. The cold stone walls weled him, the familiar darkness settling around his form as he finally allowed himself to colpse onto the ground. His breathing was slow, trolled—but his mind raced.
How had he not sidered this? A power without limits did. He should’ve known there would be a cost.
‘Fine… I’ll rest for now,’ he thought begrudgingly, shutting his eyes. He could think about all of this ter.
Far beyond the ruined battlefield, something stirred.
It had beeing—hibernating, perhaps. Until now.
A ripple in the air, subtle yet impossible to ignore, had brokeillness of the nd. A pulse of mana, wild and untamed, had surged through the enviro like a bea in the night. And something had been noticed.
Deep in the shadows of the forest, a presence shifted. It had no name, only hunger. An instinct was as old as time itself, whispering that something powerful had appeared in its domain.
It did not hesitate.
It began to move.
Silently. Purposefully.
Toward the cave.
-^-^-^-^-^-^-
Marcus stirred, a sharp sensation crawling up the back of his skull. His instincts fred, dragging him from the lingering fatigue that settled after his reckless hunting spree. Something was near. Something big.
His eyes snapped open.
A presened outside the cave, its heavy steps g against the snow. Slowly, Marcus pushed himself up, ign the dull ache in his limbs. His breath steadied as he moved toward the entrance, each step careful, measured.
Then he saw it.
A massive ice lizard stood just beyond the cave’s mouth.
It was unlike a he had entered before. T over him even at its normal stas body was covered in thick, jagged scales that gleamed like frozen stohree curved horns jutted from its skull, each dusted with frost. But what caught Marcus’s attention most were its limbs—four powerful arms, eading in hooked cws, flexing with eerie precision as if testing the air itself.
For a brief moment, her moved.
Then, without warning, the beast lunged.
Marcus barely had time tister the motion before it was already upon him, closing the distah speed that shouldn’t have been possible for something of its size. His instincts roared, his body reag before his mind could catch up. He twisted, narrowly dodging as the lizard’s cws tore through the stone where he had stood just moments before.
Dust and shattered rock flew into the air as Marcus rolled back, putting space between them. His hands tightened, energy crag around his fiips.
He o strike first.
A spear formed in his grasp—pure energy solidified into a on of destru. Without hesitation, he hurled it at the beast.
The spear found its mark, sinking deep into the lizard’s side before detonating. A violent explosion ripped through the air, sending id flesh flying. The creature howled, a guttural, ear-splitting roar of agony as one of its four arms was torn off.
But it didn’t stop.
The moment the dust settled, the lizard was already moving, leaping toward Marcus with relentless fury.
His eyes wideoo fast!
A massive cwed arm swung down, and Marcus barely mao raise his arms in a desperate attempt to block. The impact was brutal. A force like a battering ram smmed into him, knog him off his feet and sending him hurtling through the air.
He crashed into the snow several meters away, rolling violently before ing to a staggering stop. His vision blurred, his ribs ached, and the cold bit into his skin like needles.
The moment Marcus crashed into the snow, he knew he couldn’t afford another direct hit. His arms throbbed from abs the blow, his ribs ached, but he shoved the pain aside. The ice lizard was already charging again, its three hleaming uhe oonlight.
His mind raced. He o defend himself.
Raising his hands, he gathered energy, f it to shape into something solid. A translut barrier erupted before him just as the lizard swung its remaining arm down.
Boom!
The impact sent a violent ripple through the shield, cracks f instantly. But it held—just long enough for Marcus to roll to the side, dodging the follow-up attack. The moment he was clear, he released the shield, letting the energy disperse as he summoned something else.
A on.
Raw mana swirled in his grasp, hardening into the shape of a sword—long, curved, and pulsing with unstable power. It felt weightless in his grip, yet sharp enough to carve through stone.
The lizard turoward him, its nostrils fring as frost mist poured from its maw.
It reparing another breath attack.
Marcus acted first.
He hurled an energy ball straight at its face. The glowing sphere streaked through the air like a shooting star, colliding against the lizard’s open mouth just as it exhaled.
Boom!
A shockwave burst out, sending icy mist scattering in all dires. The lizard reeled back, disoriented, its breath attack cut off before it could fully form.
Marcus didn’t waste the opportunity.
He rushed in, sword fshing as he aimed for its exposed throat. The bde met scales—thick, reinforced, but not invulnerable. His first ssh barely cut through, only managing to leave a faint glowing line in its wake.
The lizard snarled, swinging its tail.
Marcus ducked. The tail whooshed over his head, fast enough that he could feel the wind pressure. He retaliated immediately, stepping forward and sshing at the beast’s underbelly.
This time, the bde bit deeper.
A long gash tore open, dark blood spilling onto the snow. The lizard roared in fury, using all three of its remaining arms to strike at once.
Marcus leaped back, but not fast enough. One cw raked against his side, shredding through his makeshift armor and sending pain fring through his ribs. He ched his teeth, refusing to stagger.
Another energy ball formed in his free hand.
He u at the creature’s wounded side, the explosion f it to stagger again. Taking advantage of the opening, he dashed forward, this time aiming for its legs.
A precise ssh severed one of its tendons.
The lizard colpsed onto one ks bance breaking.
Marcus spun his swripping it tighter. He o end this before it had a ce to recover.
Charging energy into his bde, he sshed downward with all his strength. The attack sent a shockwave through the lizard’s body, carving deep into its thick hide. The beast let out o, gurgling howl before colpsing fully onto the ground.
Its massive form twitched once.
Then it went still.
Marcus stood over the corpse, panting, his breath visible in the cold night air. His hands trembled from exertion, but he wasn’t do.
The essence of the beast still lingered.
And he wa.
Marcus stood over the corpse, his breath still ragged from the fight. The lizard’s lifeless form y twisted in the snow, steam rising from its wounds, its dark blood already beginning to freeze in the cold air. He exhaled, steadying himself.
This wasn’t enough. Creating ons, hurling energy bsts—those were just surface-level tricks. He wanted more.
He wao see what else he could do.
A slow grin spread across his face as aook shape.
Stepping closer, he pced his palm against the lizard’s cooling flesh. He could still feel traces of its energy—faint, fleeting remnants of life that hadn’t yet scattered pletely.
Closing his eyes, he willed his remaining energy to move.
The power surged from his core, flowing through his arm and into the corpse. He focused, f the energy to seep deeper, ing around whatever was left of the creature’s esse coiled and slithered through the body like tendrils, grasping at something unseen.
And then—
A response.
The energy ihe corpse shifted, stirred. Marcus felt it, like a thread tying itself back together. The beast’s fading esseno longer esg, was being pulled ba, ed by his own power.
The air around him grew heavy.
A deep hum filled his ears as the lizard’s body twitched.
Then—
Hisssss.
Dark blue mist began to seep out from the corpse. It slithered over its body like living shadows, eating away at the flesh, breaking it down piece by piece. Muscles withered. Skin decayed. The remains corroded as if time itself was fast-f the process.
Until all that was left was bone.
Marcus took a step back, watg as the mist ed around the skeletal frame, pulsating like a heartbeat. Then—slowly, unnaturally—the bones began to rise.
First, a shudder. Then, movement.
The massive skeleton lifted itself from the snow, shifting into a huance before straightening fully. The dark mist tio coil around it, ging to the bones like an unnatural shroud. Its empty eye sockets fred to life with an eerie, glowing blue light.
It stood before him.
Marcus felt something new—an invisible liween him and the rise.
A e.
He lifted his hand, almost instinctively.
The skeletal lizard reacted, l its massive skull toward his palm, as if bowing to its master.
Sileretched between them.
Then, suddenly—Marcus ughed.
A low, amused chuckle at first, then something more. He couldn’t help it. The absurdity of it all, the sheer madness of what he had just done. He had turned a dead creature into something else entirely—something that beloo him.
His own undead beast.
The possibilities swirled in his mind, visions of what he could do with this power.
His path in this world had just taken a urn.
