The forest was alive.
Not in a comforting way—every snap of a branch, every rustle of leaves sounded like footsteps hunting us.
The girl clung to my arm, trembling. Her name… I realized I didn't even know it.
"I… I'm Liora," she finally whispered. "Aren… what… what did you do back there?"
I clenched my fists. My hands still tingled with the aftershock of the Void Pulse. Power that had saved us… but at what cost?
"I… I don't know," I admitted. "I think… I just wanted to survive. To protect you."
She nodded, but fear didn't leave her eyes. And why would it? I had just leveled a village with my emotions.
We ran deeper into the forest, the smoke of Valen Village disappearing behind the hills. But the footsteps followed—too measured, too confident. The Inquisitor-Knight wasn't going to let us go.
---
Hours passed. Night fell, and the forest became a labyrinth of shadows. My stomach growled, but hunger was the last thing on my mind. Every sense was sharpened, alert to the slightest movement.
Then, a soft glow appeared between the trees. Pale, bluish light drifting lazily through the darkness.
"Look," Liora whispered, pointing.
We approached cautiously. A campfire burned in a small clearing, and a figure sat cross-legged beside it. His hood was pulled low, hiding most of his face. But his eyes—emerald green—shone in the firelight.
"You're awake," he said calmly, his voice carrying a strange warmth. "And you're not dead. That's… rare these days."
I instinctively stepped in front of Liora. "Who… who are you?"
The figure chuckled softly. "A friend. Maybe. Depends if you survive my little test."
Before I could ask what he meant, shadows moved. From the darkness, small creatures lunged—pale, human-like but malformed, claws like knives. I recognized them from the Inquisition's reports in memory—hunters.
I tensed. Another Void Pulse?
The man in the hood raised a hand. "Stop."
The creatures froze mid-air. A single flick of his finger sent them collapsing to the ground, unmoving.
I blinked. "What… how?"
"Control isn't just power," he said. "It's understanding it. You… lack control. That will get you killed."
I stared at him, mind spinning. He wasn't part of the Inquisition. Not human, not normal. And yet, here he was… unafraid.
"I can teach you," he continued. "But first, you need a name. Not Aren Valen. That boy died with his village. You're… something else now."
My heart ached. Liora's small hand squeezed mine. I looked down at her.
"Yes," I said quietly. "Teach me."
A faint smile touched the stranger's lips. "Good. You'll need it. The world doesn't care about mistakes, anomalies… or reborn children. But power… power demands respect."
The forest around us was still. Quiet. But beneath that calm, I could feel it: the world was watching. And it wasn't done with me yet.
---
[New Ally Acquired]
Mentor: The Hooded Stranger
Skill Training Available
Warning: Emotional trauma may trigger Anomaly powers unpredictably
---
From the ashes of my past, a new path opened.
Not vengeance… not survival… but a choice.
To shape this broken world… in my image.