Chapter 15
The monster's roar shattered the silence.
Varnyx the Crimson Fang, the most feared predator of Bloodshade Forest, now stood before the weakest student of Sinjai Academy.
Aeren was frozen. But something inside him was not.
The ancient trial hadn't just tested him — it had touched something deep within his soul.Something older than the forest, older than the monster.
Varnyx's claws slammed into the earth—Aeren vanished.
Not by running.Not by dodging.
But space around him folded for a fraction of a second.
He blinked — now behind a tree.He didn't understand.
"Was that… did I move? Or did the world move around me?"
The Mind-Storm Begins
Varnyx growled. It didn't like tricks.
"You carry the scent of the Forgotten Line… That power… shouldn't exist."
The monster slashed the air. A shockwave ripped through the trees.
Aeren's eyes flared—golden for just a second.
Suddenly…
He could hear Varnyx's thoughts.Not just hear. He felt them. Rage. Bloodlust. Old pain.
"Find him. Tear him. End the heir before he awakens."
Aeren gasped and clutched his head."Whose voice is that?"
But that wasn't all.
From the smoke, a second presence whispered inside his thoughts—
"You can shift… You can bend time… You are not weak, Aeren."
His breathing slowed. His legs moved before he told them to.
He dodged the next attack a moment before it happened.The claw tore where he had been a second ago.
Time had stuttered.
The Mind Mirror
In the blur of movement, Aeren's gaze locked with Varnyx's.
For a fraction of time…
Their minds linked.
He saw a memory.A battlefield. Ancient. Burning. Monsters kneeling before a man cloaked in white flame.
That man—Had Aeren's face.
The connection broke.
"What… was that?" he whispered.
Varnyx staggered.
Even it looked… afraid.
"No… Not again… Not HIM again…"
The forest trembled. The air cracked. A pressure deeper than mana surged.
The Pulse
Without knowing how, Aeren raised his hand.
Time slowed.
Not for the world — for him.
He could see everything. The flapping of birds, the fall of leaves, the direction of the wind, the vibration in the monster's bones.
The crimson pulse launched from Varnyx's chest — a killing blow.
But Aeren's hand glowed.
He didn't stop time. He split it.
One version of the world — he died.
Another — he lived.
And his body chose the one where he lived.
The pulse passed through a tree.Aeren still stood. Unharmed. Breathing hard.
And Then… He Collapsed
Not from wounds — but exhaustion.
He had just used powers that no human body was meant to handle without training.
His vision blurred.His heartbeat slowed.The world faded…
"M-Mom… Dad…""I don't want to die again…"
Varnyx charged one last time.
Just as Aeren fell—
BLADE.
A flash of silver. A gust of wind.
Someone landed between Aeren and Varnyx.
"Don't you DARE touch him."
It was Anshi.
Her cloak burned away in spirit flames. Her silver dagger gleamed with her family's crest.
She stood tall between Aeren and the beast, fury in her eyes.
🩸 End of Chapter 15