Building Anew (1)
A landscape that felt as though it had been dragged from my oldest memories unfolded before my eyes.
People screaming as they fled.
Wolf-like beasts pursuing them with light, effortless strides.
Scattered buildings were either ablaze or collapsing with deafening roars.
The world after the beasts' resurgence was, quite literally, a total shitshow.
The streams were stained crimson, reeking of decay, while the wails and screams never ceased.
"Take this."
A massive man drew a sword from his coat and handed it over.
It was about half the size of the greatsword the man himself carried.
"Take that and handle those bastards. I'll take care of that one."
He pointed a thick finger toward a village billowing black smoke.
It was the neighboring village, a place I used to visit occasionally while trailing behind my father.
From the shadows of a blackened building, a red beast poked its head out.
It looked similar to the other beasts scattered across the plains, but it was twice their size.
I nodded and made my way toward the fleeing crowd.
There were three beasts to deal with.
About ten more beasts formed a pack nearby, but the rest were busy scavenging corpses some distance away.
Without a moment's hesitation, I drew energy from my heart.
Even the weakest beast was no easy opponent unless you knew how to handle them.
They possessed hides too tough for an ordinary human's strength to pierce, bones as hard as most metals, and a raw power so immense that it took three grown men just to hold one back.
There was one way to fight them, but...
Now was not the time.
But the moment I became capable of wielding the beasts' power, they ceased to be my match.
I channeled a stream of energy directly into both legs and rapidly closed the distance.
Whoosh—
I swung my sword at the snout of a beast lunging toward a boy who had tripped while fleeing.
The blade flashed in a silver arc, biting deep into its flesh and stopping just short of the spine.
"Yip!"
Before the sticky blood could even coat the blade, I kicked the beast's head away and wrenched my sword free.
The other two beasts, which had been chasing the rest of the refugees, pivoted and charged toward me.
I quickly redirected the energy from my legs to my sword arm.
The sequence of movements flowed as naturally as water.
As one lunged off the ground with bared claws, I slipped inside its guard and drove the blade straight into its chest.
The blade groaned and flexed slightly before piercing the tough hide and sinking deep.
...Damn it.
Blood seeped from my gums.
It wasn't a matter of whether I could cut through them or not.
It was because my body was still immature, unable to handle and channel enough energy to withstand the strain.
Barely managing to support the heavy beast's weight, I hurled its body toward the other one lunging at my flank.
A sickening sensation of twisting bones rippled through me.
My current strength was woefully inadequate to face three at once.
Yet, that deficit could be overcome with experience.
I relaxed my muscles, dropping flat to the ground, then twisted the sword and yanked it free before the corpse could stiffen.
There was no time to waste.
Catching the scent of their kin's blood, the other beasts raised their blood-soaked snouts and glared in my direction.
I wish I could just decapitate them.
Swallowing my frustration, I drove my blade straight into the eye of the beast pinned beneath the corpse, which was still dazed.
The vibration of steel striking bone traveled up the hilt.
That dealt with the immediate threat.
The boy, who had watched the entire spectacle from right in front of me, was pale as death, his mouth hanging open.
"Run, quickly. You can make it if you go now."
It wasn't a lie.
Realizing their pursuers were gone, the boy's companions stood a distance away, stamping their feet anxiously as they looked back at us.
If they ran now, the remaining beasts would try to deal with me first since I was blocking their path. But if they hesitated and the pack split, I would have no way to protect them.
Yet, whether he understood this or not, the boy—whose pants were now thoroughly soaked—showed no sign of getting up.
"U-um!"
A sudden chill shot down my spine.
The thick stench of blood was rapidly approaching.
Thud.
It was the first one—the one whose jaw I had shattered.
Its jaw, torn all the way to its throat, dangled loosely by a strip of tough hide.
The moment it spun around, it lunged off the ground, swinging its forepaw.
Since I was still channeling energy into my arms, I managed to block the strike.
Steel clashed against claws with a sharp, heavy ring.
"...!"
I dug my heels into the dirt, bracing for the impact.
But I couldn't withstand the sheer force and weight behind the blow.
Aside from my arms, every other part of my body was still that of an ordinary fifteen-year-old boy.
Crash.
My vision flipped upside down.
I was sent flying, tumbling three or four times across the grassy field.
My entire body stung as if I had been scraped raw.
A wheezing sound echoed.
The beast's neck quivered, its yellow eyes narrowing into a sharp glare.
It was mocking me for my pathetic flight.
Right. Is that how it is?
My limbs, unable to cope with the sudden impact, trembled slightly.
My shoulder groaned, and my muscles screamed in protest.
The beast had clearly noticed my state and was taking its sweet time.
But unfortunately for it,
none of that mattered.
Hummm—
A thread of energy circulated through my body, rapidly soothing my injuries, while an equal amount of fresh power surged forth.
What did it matter if the amount of energy I could currently draw was small?
A vast reservoir of power, more than enough to last a lifetime, lay dormant within me.
I pulled my cleared mind and body taut, like a drawn bowstring.
I lunged at the jawless beast, which was still basking in its smug leisure.
From legs to arms. I moved in perfect harmony with the rapid flow of energy, driving the finely honed blade straight into its dark-red throat.
With a slight twist of the hilt, I felt the distinct sensation of slicing through soft viscera.
After a brief, futile struggle, the beast went limp and collapsed.
It was then.
*Boom!*
Before I could even savor the victory, a massive explosion echoed from the distance.
It came from the village where the red beast had been—the direction the man with the greatsword had gone.
A beast large enough to swallow a sheep or goat whole was hurled into a building, its flank caved in.
The building collapsed rapidly under the impact.
Thick gray smoke billowed, and through it, a crimson aura flared.
It was the man's greatsword.
Flickering flames, looking almost starved, enveloped the blade.
Advancing toward the red beast, the man unleashed a torrent of fire so intense it made my head spin.
Sizzle—
The acrid stench of burning flesh stung my nose.
Rather than a clean cut, it was a crushing, pulverizing blow. A sizzling sound rose from the beast's neck as it collapsed, oozing fluids.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
Sensing mortal danger, the red beast thrashed violently and scrambled out from the collapsed rubble.
"Screeech!"
The beast's agonized roar reverberated through the air.
Not only the fleeing refugees but even the beasts charging toward me froze, staring at the spectacle in sheer awe.
The only ones still moving were the red beast, the man—
and me, seizing the distraction to slaughter the remaining beasts.
The flames dancing along the man's greatsword subsided into a cold, quiet simmer.
Seeing this, the red beast stopped its retreat and lowered its stance.
*Boom!*
The red beast lunged, its massive jaws snapping open.
Rows of razor-sharp teeth lunged right for the man's throat, but his greatsword swung in tandem, slamming hard into the beast's cheek.
The beast's head whipped aside, spraying blood across the nearby wall.
Yet its momentum didn't falter. The man thrust his greatsword straight forward, impaling the red beast's shoulder.
"Screeech! Screeech!"
A horrific shriek erupted from its maw, which was dripping with thick saliva and blood.
The outcome was already decided, but the man didn't stop there.
Bearing the full weight of the red beast, he lifted his embedded sword.
No, the flames flared up once more, mercilessly devouring the beast's flesh from the inside out.
They severed tough tendons and muscles, tearing through thick bone.
And the fire incinerated the hide, scattering embers into the air.
Every movement was executed with effortless grace, and the man remained completely unscathed.
Without even breaking a sweat, he simply extracted the Core from the fallen beast's corpse.
In short, the man hadn't even tried.
After centuries of peaceful human reign,
and with the ancient beasts only now awakening from their deep slumber, I couldn't comprehend how this man had already acquired such monstrous power.
While harboring those thoughts, I decapitated the other beasts, who were still paralyzed with fear from the duel.
From my feet to my fingertips.
I constantly circulated a stream of energy to match my movements.
It was a sensation I hadn't felt in a very long time.
The more I repeated it, the faster I became. Eventually, I was fast enough to easily handle the remaining beasts even when they snapped out of their daze and lunged at me all at once.
The pathways inside my body, widened by the raging energy, were burning hot.
I couldn't let this sensation slip away.
Soon, I stopped caring about my physical wounds, finding it a waste of time to even heal myself and draw new energy.
Fatigue accumulated and the pain intensified, but I was simply intoxicated by the long-forgotten thrill of achievement.
Deflecting claws with my sword, slipping into openings, and piercing vital points.
By the time all of this began to happen naturally without a single conscious thought,
"Stop."
Just as I snuffed out the life of the final beast, someone grabbed my shoulder.
My heightened senses rapidly faded, and I began to gasp for the air I had been holding.
My limbs were numb and tingling.
My entire body was covered in gashes and cuts.
"Ah..."
In an instant, all the strength drained from my body, as if a thread had snapped.
I had pushed my body far past its limits.
If the man hadn't caught me by the scruff of my neck, I would have collapsed face-first onto the dirt.
Clang!
The sword slipped from my hand and clattered against the ground.
Its edge was completely chipped and ruined from hacking through tough hides and grinding against hard bones.
The blade even looked slightly warped.
"How long are you going to stand there like that?"
"Ah, sorry."
No deep gashes, no severed limbs.
Injuries of this caliber would heal in no time.
With that thought, just as I tried to draw the energy that had retreated back into my heart—
"Huh?"
The energy, which should have stopped flowing by now, kept trickling out.
And then, the massive power slumbering deep within my heart began to stir.
Followed by that familiar, agonizing pain.
I could only writhe as a burning sensation scorched me from the inside out.
"Ugh... Argh!"
Even when I tried to force the drawn energy back inside, the pain refused to subside.
I felt like I was on the verge of blacking out, but I couldn't let myself go. If I failed to control this rampaging energy, the tangled mess of power would undoubtedly tear my body apart from within.
Had my body been fully matured, this wouldn't have been a concern. But right now, I was nothing more than a half-grown brat. One wrong move, and I might never wake up again.
I barely managed to look back.
The man met my gaze, his eyes as indifferent as ever.
No way he's going to help me.
In that case, there was only one thing left to do.
Taking a ragged breath, I closed my eyes and began to draw out the energy all at once.