Kyle stopped suddenly.
The vibration…
that heavy tremor he had felt that day,
when he had fled from the Crawler and fallen into the depths.
Morium awareness stirred before he understood why.
That sound… he knew it.
The ground trembled lightly.
Not an earthquake, but footsteps.
Heavy, slow steps, yet confident.
The beast emerged from the darkness.
Bigger than the Crawler.
Its body solid, its skin thick as stone,
and its wide jaw unable to close completely.
It was him.
The monster he had encountered during his fall.
The one that had attacked him from behind.
The one that had left its mark on his body.
The old scar on Kyle's shoulder…
pulsed with pain.
That day,
he had not fought.
He had made a desperate stab,
then fled.
And that had been enough to survive.
Today…
he did not take a single step back.
Kyle gripped Gravebound.
The weight that had seemed impossible…
was real.
Present.
Ready to be used.
The beast roared,
its voice shaking the rocks around it.
It charged.
The ground trembled beneath it.
In the past,
this would have meant the end.
Today…
Kyle saw it coming.
Not just with his eyes,
but with his body, his breath, the space before him.
Morium awareness was fully present.
Kyle sidestepped just one step.
The strike passed by him.
The air exploded near his chest.
He raised the sword.
And struck.
The blade hit the thick skin.
It did not pierce completely.
The beast responded immediately.
Its claws struck Kyle's shoulder.
Pain exploded.
Blood poured.
But Kyle did not fall.
Ignore… move… strike again.
A second strike.
Then a third.
Each more precise than the last.
Not faster…
but smarter.
The sword began to find its path.
The flesh tore.
The blood appeared.
The beast stepped back.
Kyle saw it.
He saw it… and believed it.
He jumped forward.
Gathered all his weight.
And brought Gravebound down in a vertical strike.
The blow cut through the flesh.
It hit.
The beast screamed,
then staggered…
and fell.
Silence returned to the abyss.
Kyle stood in place,
breathing heavily.
His shoulder bled.
His body shook.
But he stood.
Victorious.
Then it happened.
The blood that covered the blade of Gravebound
did not fall.
It drew in.
As if the sword was drinking it.
The pulse ran through the hilt…
into Kyle's arm… into his chest.
The pain eased.
Not healing,
but support.
Union.