We leave Briarwood before the royal soldiers can reorganize.
Mara leads us along a narrow trail that follows the stream north. The path is hidden beneath hanging branches and thick grass, making it difficult to see from the main road.
Elara walks beside her.
The healing potion restored most of her strength, but she still moves carefully whenever the ground becomes uneven.
I follow several steps behind them, examining my left hand.
The fingers damaged by Nightfall have returned to their proper positions. The cuts across my palm are closing, but thin white marks remain beneath the skin.
Malrec's energy is fading slowly.
"You keep staring at your hand," Elara says.
"It was almost destroyed."
"And whose fault was that?"
"Malrec's."
"You grabbed his sword."
"He was attached to it."
"That does not make grabbing it sensible."
"It worked."
"You say that every time you survive something reckless."
I close my hand into a fist.
A sharp pain runs through my wrist, but the movement is possible.
"Surviving usually means it worked."
Mara glances back at us.
"Try to keep your voices down."
"Are royal patrols nearby?" I ask.
"They will be soon. Malrec knows we are traveling north."
"He only knows we are looking for someone."
"He knows Aldric is alive," Mara says. "That is enough."
The fear I sensed from Malrec had been directed toward the northern mountains.
I doubt he will ignore it.
"What exactly is Aldric?" I ask.
"A seal master," Elara answers.
"I know that part."
"He creates and removes magical bindings."
"What makes him different from other magic users?"
"Seals do not work like ordinary spells," Mara says. "A spell uses mana to create an immediate effect. A seal changes the rules affecting a person, object, or location."
"So Elara's seal created a rule preventing her from speaking."
"Yes."
"And breaking that rule kills her."
Elara touches the dark symbol on her neck.
"For now, Malrec can no longer activate it from a distance, but the restrictions are still there."
I examine the mark.
Without Malrec's connection, the golden light is barely visible. Black lines from my death energy remain around its edges.
"Could I destroy it completely?"
"You could destroy the seal," Mara says.
"That sounds simple."
"You would also destroy everything connected to it."
Elara looks toward me.
"That includes my soul."
"Less simple."
The forest slowly becomes thinner as the ground rises.
By midday, we reach a rocky hill overlooking the eastern road.
The road curves through farmland toward the northern mountains. Travelers move in both directions, including merchants, farmers, and several groups of armed guards.
Near the horizon, riders wearing royal colors search wagons and question anyone traveling north.
Mara crouches behind a fallen log.
"The main road is already blocked."
Elara lowers herself beside her.
"How did they get ahead of us?"
"Communication crystals," Mara says. "Malrec only needed to contact the nearest outpost."
I use Fear Sense.
Most of the people on the road produce ordinary anxiety.
The soldiers are different.
Their fear is focused on the forest, passing travelers, and the wanted notices attached to their saddles.
They are looking for me.
A notification appears.
Dread received through rumor: 4
Dread received through rumor: 3
My total continues rising.
I open my status.
Dread: 891/1,000
Only one hundred and nine more.
The Mark feels heavier inside my chest.
Each new point of Dread causes a faint pulse to spread through my body.
"What happens when you reach one thousand?" Elara asks.
"I awaken."
"You say that as though it explains anything."
"The Reaper didn't explain much more."
Mara looks at me.
"You accepted power from Death without knowing what it would do to you?"
"My other option was staying dead."
She considers that.
"Fair enough."
Elara studies the soldiers below.
"We could wait until night."
"They will have more patrols by then," Mara says. "And if Malrec sends word to the northern villages, every road to Saint Orin will be watched."
I look toward the wagons being searched.
"We don't need the road."
"The mountains are too steep to approach from the west," Mara says.
"What about the east?"
"The eastern trail passes through the territory of the Red Knives."
"The bandits you mentioned?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
"At least fifty."
"Then we use the eastern trail."
Elara closes her eyes.
"I knew you would say that."
Mara gives me a suspicious look.
"You understand that bandits will try to rob and kill us?"
"They're already afraid of royal soldiers."
"That does not make them afraid of you."
"Not yet."
We travel east through the forest, keeping far enough from the road to avoid the patrols.
As the afternoon passes, the land becomes rougher.
Tall trees give way to exposed stone and narrow ravines. Animal bones hang from branches, tied together with red string.
Some are painted with warning symbols.
Mara stops beside one of them.
"We have entered Red Knife territory."
I examine the bones.
"Do they expect this to frighten people?"
"That is generally the purpose of hanging skulls from trees."
"It could be more effective."
Elara looks toward me.
"Not everyone judges threats by how much Dread they generate."
"They should."
The trail narrows between two stone cliffs.
Fear Sense detects several people above us.
Their emotions are calm.
Focused.
They are waiting.
"We're surrounded," I say.
Mara reaches beneath her cloak for a dagger.
"How many?"
"More than ten."
Elara's hand begins glowing silver.
"Can they see us?"
"Yes."
An arrow strikes the ground in front of my boot.
A voice echoes from above.
"Stop where you are."
Men and women appear along both cliffs.
Most wear leather armor marked with red paint. Cloth masks cover the lower halves of their faces.
Bows are aimed down at us.
More bandits step from behind the rocks ahead and behind.
The man leading them is broad-shouldered and bald, with a red knife tattooed across his scalp.
He carries a heavy axe.
His gaze moves over the three of us.
"Travel tax," he says.
"How much?" Mara asks.
"All your coins, supplies, and weapons."
"That seems excessive," I say.
The man looks at me.
"You can keep your clothes."
"Generous."
Elara steps closer.
"We don't want trouble."
The bandit smiles.
"Then you came through the wrong pass."
Fear Sense shows no fear directed toward us.
They believe we are ordinary travelers.
The wanted notices may not have reached this far yet.
"What happens if we refuse?" I ask.
The man rests his axe against his shoulder.
"We kill you, take everything, and leave your bodies for the mountain crows."
"That sounds inefficient."
"What?"
"You could take everything without killing us."
"Dead travelers don't report bandits."
"Survivors spread better stories."
The bandit looks confused.
Mara quietly speaks behind me.
"Shin, we do not need to fight everyone we meet."
"They were going to kill us."
"They haven't attacked yet."
The bald man raises his axe.
"Enough talking. Drop your weapons."
I hold out my empty hands.
"I'm not carrying one."
His eyes move over my body.
"No sword?"
"No."
"Search him."
Two bandits approach.
One carries a short blade.
The other has a wooden club covered in metal spikes.
I allow them to come closer.
The man with the knife reaches toward my coat.
I catch his wrist.
He tries to pull away.
I tighten my grip.
His expression changes as the bones in his arm begin bending.
"Let go," he says.
"You first."
He drops the knife.
The second bandit swings his club.
I duck beneath it and drive my elbow into his stomach.
The impact lifts him from the ground.
He lands several feet away, unable to breathe.
The bandits above draw their bows tighter.
Their emotions change.
Uncertainty enters the pass.
Dread received: 2
Dread received: 1
The bald leader points his axe at me.
"Kill him."
Arrows fall from both cliffs.
I summon my scythe.
Black smoke forms around my hand.
The sudden appearance of the weapon causes several archers to hesitate.
I spin the scythe above my head.
Most arrows are knocked aside.
Two cut into my coat, and one strikes my shoulder.
The night elk leather prevents it from piercing deeply.
Elara raises a silver barrier over Mara and herself.
The remaining arrows shatter against it.
The bandit whose wrist I hold stares at the scythe.
"What are you?"
"Apparently, I'm becoming famous for that question."
I throw him into the group ahead.
Three bandits fall beneath him.
The bald leader charges.
His axe glows with orange mana.
He swings toward my head.
I block with the handle of the scythe.
The impact forces my feet into the dirt.
He is stronger than an ordinary soldier, but nowhere near Malrec.
The leader grins.
"Not so impressive."
I release one hand from my weapon.
Death energy gathers around my palm.
His smile disappears.
I strike his chest.
Black energy spreads across his leather armor.
The material decays instantly.
He jumps backward and tears it away before the energy reaches his skin.
His confidence is gone.
Dread received: 8
The archers fire again.
This time, I use Death Arc.
Black energy travels along the blade of my scythe.
I swing toward the cliff.
The curved wave cuts through the arrows and strikes the stone beneath the nearest archers.
The rock turns gray.
Cracks spread through the cliff.
Several bandits lose their footing and fall.
They land hard but survive.
Silence fills the pass.
The leader looks at the damaged stone.
His fear increases.
"You're a decay mage."
"I'm told my magic is different."
One of the bandits on the cliff looks closely at me.
His eyes widen.
"The coat."
The others turn toward him.
"What about it?"
"The wanted notice from Briarwood."
A thin stream of fear rises from him.
"That's him."
The leader glances between us.
"Who?"
"The foreigner who attacked the royal army."
Whispers move through the bandits.
"The one with the scythe?"
"They say he defeated Captain Varek."
"No, he fought Lord Malrec."
"I heard he stole Nightfall."
Their fear grows as each rumor is repeated.
Some of the stories are true.
Others have already become exaggerated.
Dread received through rumor: 5
Dread received: 4
Dread received: 6
Dread received: 3
The leader grips his axe with both hands.
"The World Raider."
I rest my scythe against my shoulder.
"So you have heard of me."
He looks toward his people.
They are no longer confident.
Several are slowly backing away from the cliff edges.
"You challenged a Royal Blade," he says.
"And survived."
"That doesn't mean you won."
"Malrec didn't capture me."
The distinction doesn't seem important to them.
The leader takes a cautious step backward.
"What do you want?"
"To use this road."
"That's all?"
"For now."
His eyes move toward Elara.
Her hood hides her hair, but her appearance is distinctive enough that he may recognize her from a description.
"And the women?"
"They're traveling with me."
One of the bandits whispers to another.
"That might be the princess."
The leader hears him.
His attention sharpens.
I can almost see the reward entering his mind.
One hundred gold coins for delivering me alive.
Probably more for Elara.
Greed begins pushing against his fear.
He raises his axe again.
"The Crown will make us rich."
Elara sighs.
"You should have let him leave."
"I planned to."
The leader shouts.
Every remaining bandit attacks.
Arrows, knives, and small fire spells fill the pass.
Elara's barrier expands.
Silver light covers all three of us.
The attacks strike the surface and create cracks.
"I can't hold this for long," she says.
"You won't need to."
I place my hand against the barrier.
Death energy passes through it without damaging the silver magic.
Black mist spreads across the ground outside.
The bandits hesitate as it reaches their boots.
The mist is not strong enough to kill them.
It doesn't need to be.
Their leather armor begins aging.
Metal buckles turn gray.
Wooden bows crack.
Grass dies wherever the mist travels.
The pass becomes cold.
Fear pours into the Mark.
Dread received: 7
Dread received: 9
Dread received: 6
Dread received: 8
Dread received: 5
My total rises above nine hundred and fifty.
The Mark beats harder.
The cold inside my chest becomes painful.
I can feel something pressing against its limits.
The bald leader runs through the mist.
Orange mana protects his boots from decaying.
He raises his axe.
I dismiss my scythe.
His expression changes.
The weapon disappears before his attack lands.
I step inside the swing and grab his throat.
His momentum carries him forward.
I turn and throw him into the cliff.
Stone breaks around his body.
He falls to the ground but forces himself up again.
Blood covers his face.
"You think the Crown fears you?" he shouts. "You are one man!"
The bandits listen.
So do Elara and Mara.
I summon my scythe again.
Black smoke forms around the blade.
"One man was enough to make a prince send an executioner."
The leader charges.
I release Death Arc.
The black wave cuts through the handle of his axe.
It passes across his chest, destroying the remains of his armor without entering his body.
He stops.
The broken axe falls from his hands.
A thin black line remains across his skin.
He stares down at it.
I place the tip of my scythe beneath his chin.
"One man is enough to make all of you afraid."
The Mark absorbs another surge.
Dread received: 16
Dread received: 11
Dread received: 14
The number reaches one thousand.
Everything stops.
The bandits freeze.
The gray streams of fear hanging in the air become motionless.
Even the wind disappears.
A message fills my vision.
Required Dread acquired.
The Mark of Dread is awakening.
Pain explodes through my chest.
I fall to one knee.
The scythe slips from my hand.
Black lines spread beneath my skin, moving from my chest toward my neck, arms, and face.
Elara runs toward me.
"Shin!"
"Stay back."
My voice sounds wrong.
Deeper.
As though something else is speaking beneath it.
The world becomes dark.
For a moment, I am no longer in the mountain pass.
I stand in the Reaper's realm.
The endless black space surrounds me.
The Reaper appears several feet away.
"You reached one thousand faster than expected," he says.
"What is happening to me?"
"The mark is opening the first layer of your soul."
"It feels like it's tearing me apart."
"It is."
"That would have been useful to mention."
"You survived my training. You will survive this."
The Reaper raises one hand.
The Mark of Dread appears between us.
The chained black circle is different now.
A vertical eye opens in its center.
Purple light burns within it.
"Fear is more than energy," the Reaper says. "It is a connection between you and those who believe you can harm them."
The eye turns toward me.
"When enough minds recognize you as a threat, your existence begins to change."
"What does that mean?"
"You are no longer simply Shin Sasaki."
The Reaper's voice echoes through the darkness.
"You are becoming the World Raider."
The eye rushes toward me.
It enters my chest.
The realm disappears.
I return to the mountain pass.
The pain reaches its peak.
Black energy erupts from my body.
The force throws every nearby bandit backward.
Elara's barrier shatters.
Mara pulls her away as the ground beneath me splits.
A column of dark mist rises toward the sky.
The clouds above the pass begin rotating.
For miles around us, animals become silent.
The bandits stare at me.
Fear fills every corner of the mountain.
It no longer appears as thin gray streams.
It appears as chains.
Hundreds of dark chains stretch from the bandits' bodies toward the Mark in my chest.
Each one connects their fear directly to me.
I stand.
The black lines across my skin fade, leaving a circular mark in the center of my right palm.
A purple eye opens inside it.
Messages appear one after another.
The Mark of Dread has awakened.
Rank increased: Unawakened → Dreadborn
Physical abilities increased.
Death-energy capacity increased.
Dread Collection has reached Level 3.
Fear Sense has reached Level 2.
New ability acquired: Dread Aura.
New ability acquired: Terror Mark.
I open the ability descriptions.
Dread Aura
Release accumulated fear as a supernatural presence. Creatures with weak will may freeze, flee, or lose the ability to fight.
Terror Mark
Mark one target who fears you. You may sense the target's location and intensify its fear for a limited time.
The bandit leader remains on the ground.
He looks at me with wide eyes.
The chains connecting him to the Mark are thicker than the others.
I focus on him.
The eye in my palm glows.
A black symbol appears above his heart.
Terror Mark applied.
The leader grabs his chest.
"What did you do?"
"I marked you."
The Dread Aura activates without me intentionally calling it.
Dark pressure spreads through the pass.
The bandits' faces become pale.
Several drop their weapons.
Others fall to their knees.
The weakest begin crawling away.
Their fear enters me faster than before.
Dread received: 22
Dread received: 18
Dread received: 25
Dread received: 19
The leader tries to stand.
I focus on the Terror Mark.
His fear intensifies.
He looks behind me and suddenly screams.
I turn.
There is nothing there.
Whatever he sees exists only in his mind.
He raises his arms to protect his face.
"Get it away from me!"
The other bandits stare at him.
Their fear becomes panic.
Elara moves closer but remains outside the dark mist.
"Shin, stop."
I look toward her.
The chains of fear connected to the bandits are intoxicating.
Each one makes me feel stronger.
Faster.
More complete.
It would be easy to continue.
I could make every person in the pass experience the worst terror their minds can create.
The Reaper asked me to spread fear.
This is what the power was made for.
"Shin."
Elara's voice cuts through the sensation.
I look at the leader again.
He is curled on the ground, shaking.
I close my hand.
The eye in my palm disappears.
The Terror Mark fades.
The leader stops screaming.
Dread Aura weakens.
The pressure across the pass disappears.
The surviving bandits gasp for air.
I pick up my scythe.
The weapon feels lighter than before.
More connected to me.
Purple lines now run along the black handle.
The blade has grown slightly longer.
A notification appears.
Soul Weapon Summoning has reached Level 3.
Your soul weapon is responding to your awakened Mark.
A name may soon be earned.
Elara approaches carefully.
"What happened?"
"I awakened."
"I gathered that."
Her eyes move toward the bandit leader.
"What did you make him see?"
"I don't know."
"You used an ability without understanding it?"
"That happens often."
Mara walks toward us.
The fear coming from her is stronger than before.
She tries to hide it, but Fear Sense makes that impossible.
"What rank are you now?" she asks.
"Dreadborn."
"I have never heard of it."
"Neither have I."
The bandit leader slowly pushes himself onto his knees.
He no longer looks greedy.
He barely looks capable of speaking.
"What are you going to do to us?"
I examine the people around the pass.
Several are injured.
None are dead.
Their weapons are broken, and their desire to fight has disappeared.
"Nothing."
He stares at me.
"You're letting us live?"
"You're more useful alive."
The leader's fear rises again.
I point north with my scythe.
"You control the eastern path to Saint Orin's monastery."
His expression changes.
"You're looking for the dead seal master."
Mara steps forward.
"Who told you Aldric was there?"
"No one. We've seen royal patrols near the ruins for months. They bring food but never enter."
"They know he is alive," Elara says.
The leader nods.
"They watch anyone who approaches."
"How many soldiers?" I ask.
"Usually twelve. Sometimes more."
"Any Royal Blades?"
"No."
"Then they won't be a problem."
The leader looks at the mark in my palm.
"You fought Lord Malrec."
"Yes."
"Did you defeat him?"
"No."
He seems surprised by the honesty.
"But he failed to capture me."
The bandits whisper.
That part will become the story they tell.
I dismiss my scythe.
"Take us to the monastery."
The leader looks around at his people.
"You expect us to help you?"
"I marked you."
The color drains from his face.
"The mark is gone."
"You don't know that."
Technically, I don't know whether it is completely gone either.
Fear Sense detects the connection still lingering around him.
The ability description says I can sense a marked target's location.
Even after the visible symbol fades, I can feel him.
The leader realizes I am not bluffing.
"What happens if I refuse?"
"I find you."
His fear strengthens.
"Fine."
Elara looks at me.
"You could have asked normally."
"I did."
"You threatened to track him forever."
"I didn't say forever."
"That does not make it better."
The bandits gather their wounded and broken equipment.
Their leader introduces himself as Garron.
He keeps several steps between us as we walk.
The Red Knives lead us through a hidden path between the cliffs.
The route is narrow but far faster than the public trail.
As we climb, I examine my status.
World Raider
Name: Shin Sasaki
Race: Dreadborn Human
Rank: Dreadborn
Dread: 1,147
Worlds Raided: 1
Soul Weapon: Unnamed Scythe
Abilities:
Death Energy — Level 3
Soul Weapon Summoning — Level 3
World Translation — Level 1
Dread Collection — Level 3
Fear Sense — Level 2
Dread Aura — Level 1
Terror Mark — Level 1
Techniques:
Death Arc — Level 1
My race has changed.
Only slightly, according to the status.
I still feel human.
My heartbeat is normal.
My body looks the same.
But the world around me is clearer.
I can hear the bandits whispering hundreds of feet away.
I can sense living creatures moving through the trees.
Most importantly, I can feel every person who fears the World Raider within a wide area.
Hundreds of faint connections stretch toward the west.
Toward Briarwood.
More appear farther south as travelers spread the story.
The kingdom is beginning to know me.
Elara walks beside me.
"You stopped," she says.
"What?"
"When you used that ability on Garron. You could have continued, but you stopped."
"You told me to."
"You listened?"
"Don't sound so surprised."
She looks ahead.
"For a moment, I thought the power had taken control of you."
"So did I."
That answer concerns her.
It concerns me too.
The fear felt good.
Too good.
The Reaper warned me about strengthening my body, other worlds, and gathering Dread.
He never warned me about wanting more of it.
Perhaps he assumed I wouldn't care.
Perhaps he wanted it to happen.
"Does awakening always change someone?" Elara asks.
"I don't know."
"What did you see?"
"The Reaper."
Her steps slow.
"He spoke to you?"
"Yes."
"What did he say?"
"That I'm becoming the World Raider."
Elara watches me.
"Are you still Shin?"
"I think so."
"That is not a convincing answer."
"I'm still the person carrying your supplies."
"You stole those supplies."
"From people trying to kill us."
"That does sound like you."
By evening, the mountains rise around us.
The air becomes colder.
Ruined stone pillars appear between the trees, each carved with symbols worn away by time.
Garron stops beside one of them.
"Saint Orin's land begins here."
Mara looks toward the symbols.
"These are monastery wards."
"They haven't worked in years," Garron says.
A bird flies between the pillars.
The moment it crosses, blue fire flashes across the air.
The bird disappears.
Only a few feathers fall to the ground.
Garron takes a step back.
"They worked that time."
Mara examines the pillars.
"The wards have been restored."
"By Aldric?" Elara asks.
"Possibly."
Fear Sense detects people ahead.
Twelve figures are positioned along the mountain trail.
Royal soldiers.
Behind them, farther up the mountain, I feel something else.
One person.
His fear is unlike anything I have sensed before.
It is controlled and carefully hidden.
But it is directed toward Elara.
Toward her seal.
And toward me.
"He knows we're here," I say.
"Who?" Mara asks.
"The seal master."
A bell rings somewhere in the mountains.
The sound travels through the forest.
Blue symbols ignite across every ruined pillar.
The path behind us disappears beneath a wall of pale fire.
The bandits panic.
Garron turns toward me.
"You said you needed to reach the monastery."
"We have."
"This is not the monastery."
A voice echoes from the burning symbols.
It belongs to an old man.
"Princess Elara may enter."
The royal soldiers ahead draw their weapons.
The voice continues.
"The innkeeper may enter."
Mara looks toward the pillars.
Garron becomes nervous.
"And the others?"
The old man pauses.
"The bandits must leave."
Garron does not wait.
He signals his people, and the Red Knives quickly retreat through a narrow gap in the rocks.
I remain where I am.
Elara looks toward the glowing symbols.
"What about Shin?"
Blue light gathers in the air.
The pressure of the monastery wards focuses directly on me.
"The creature wearing the shape of a man," Aldric says, "must be destroyed."
Elara steps in front of me.
"He saved my life."
"He carries Death inside his soul."
"So?"
"So he is not here to save Asteria."
The ward symbols become brighter.
Hundreds of blue blades form above the path.
Every one points toward me.
I summon my scythe.
The awakened Mark opens in my palm.
Aldric's fear strengthens.
Not fear of my strength.
Fear of what I may become.
I smile.
"He already knows who I am."
Elara looks back at me.
"Do not make this worse."
The blue blades begin moving.
I raise my scythe.
"I think it's already worse."
END OF CHAPTER 8