In the lands of Zorah, a child could be seen carefully tending to the crops. Sweat danced across his forehead beneath the afternoon sun as he worked, quietly humming hymns of praise beneath his breath.
At last, Samson straightened his back and wiped his forehead with the back of his arm. "All done for today! Finally!" His voice rang happily across the farmland.
The seven-year-old glanced toward the distant forest. There was still enough daylight left. He decided he would head to the stream, roughly a mile from his family's land, and wash away the dirt and sweat from the day's work.
Samson closed his eyes. "Speed," the boy pleaded with the heavens.
Golden light flashed across his body.
Whoosh!
He vanished from the field, his small figure tearing across the land before disappearing into the wilderness.
For as long as Samson could remember, there had been something strange within him. From almost the moment he had learned to speak, knowledge had existed inside his spirit that no one had ever taught him. He knew that the heavens could hear him, and somehow, he knew that he could call upon them for aid.
There were limits, however. His blessings could not be called upon endlessly. Only through spending time privately with his Lord—through prayer, worship and genuine faith—could Samson replenish the strange energy dwelling within his soul.
Samson simply thought of it as his strength from God. He did not yet know that, one day, others would come to call it Faith Essence.
"Hahaha!"
Childish laughter echoed through the forest. Trees blurred past Samson as he ran, his golden blessing carrying him at speeds even a fully grown athlete could never hope to achieve. The sensation never stopped being fun. Wind rushed against his face, branches swept past him, and his feet barely seemed to touch the ground.
Then—
Snap!
"Huh—?!"
Samson's foot caught beneath an exposed root.
"AHH!"
His body was thrown violently forward. He bounced against the forest floor, rolling several metres before finally coming to a painful stop.
For several seconds, he remained sprawled against the dirt. "Owww…"
Samson slowly pushed himself upright. Scrapes covered his knees and elbows, blood ran from several shallow cuts across his arms, and his entire body throbbed from the fall.
He carefully inspected himself. "That really hurt…" His face twisted unhappily. "I guess I'll have to use the rest of my energy today."
Samson lifted his wounded arm. "Hea—"
His entire body froze.
Something inside him screamed.
Danger.
Samson snapped his head toward the right, and his breathing stopped. Two enormous yellow eyes watched him from between the trees.
A muscular body slowly emerged from the undergrowth. Golden-brown fur. Powerful limbs. A heavy mane surrounding its head.
Samson's face drained of colour. "A… lion?"
His heart began hammering against his chest. "A lion?! This close to the outskirts?!"
The creature lowered its body.
Samson didn't wait.
Every instinct within his young body screamed at him to run. He turned and fled, his blessing of speed still active. Golden light flickered around him as he shot through the forest faster than his legs should ever have been capable of carrying him.
Behind him—
ROAR!
The forest trembled.
The lion gave chase. Its massive paws tore through the earth as it pursued him, but Samson already had a considerable head start. With his heavenly speed strengthening his body, the distance between them refused to close easily.
Samson glanced ahead. The edge of the forest was getting closer. His home was beyond it.
A relieved smile slowly appeared on his face.
I can escape! I knew I wasn't going to die here!
Then the smile disappeared.
A thought struck him like lightning.
His home.
His mother.
His father.
The livestock.
Samson's eyes widened.
If I keep running… it'll follow me home.
His breathing became uneven.
Mum… Dad… what do I do?!
His feet continued moving, carrying him closer and closer to home while his mind raced. He could keep running. Maybe the lion would eventually give up.
Maybe it wouldn't.
And even if Samson escaped, what happened when the creature discovered the livestock? Or his family?
His teeth clenched.
I have to fight.
Fear gripped his stomach.
The lion might not let me escape anyway. And even if it does, it'll kill the animals.
Samson's eyes trembled before determination slowly replaced the fear within them.
"Ahhh, damn it all!"
He skidded across the forest floor.
"STRENGTH!"
Golden light erupted around him. A violent warmth flooded through every muscle in his body as his Faith Essence plummeted. Half of what remained vanished almost instantly.
Samson slammed his feet into the ground. Dust exploded around him as he came to a complete stop.
Then he slowly turned.
The lion was still several hundred metres away, but something had changed. It slowed, its ears twitching as its predatory eyes narrowed.
For the briefest moment, instinct warned it that the small creature standing before it was no longer quite the same prey it had begun chasing.
Samson stood frozen, his fists shaking at his sides.
The lion watched him.
Samson watched the lion.
Then the beast snorted.
Its hesitation became anger. This tiny creature had made it cautious? Its pride rebelled against the very thought.
The lion roared and charged.
Faster.
Far faster than before.
Samson felt the earth trembling beneath its weight. His face turned pale.
The strength flowing through his body was incredible compared to that of an ordinary child, but even Samson understood one horrifying truth.
It wasn't enough.
The lion grew larger in his vision with every passing second.
Two hundred metres.
One hundred.
Fifty.
Samson swallowed.
At the tender age of seven, a boy stood alone before an adult lion, prepared to fight to the death rather than lead it toward his family.
His fear did not disappear. His legs still wanted to run. His heart still begged him to flee.
But Samson remained where he stood.
He looked toward the heavens.
"STRENGTH!"
The plea tore from his throat.
Everything remaining within him vanished. His Faith Essence emptied as power flooded his body. Muscles tightened. Bones groaned. His small frame suddenly contained a terrifying amount of strength for a child his age.
Samson kicked against the earth.
BOOM!
The ground cracked beneath his foot as the boy launched himself forward.
The lion roared and leapt to meet him.
Man and beast flew toward one another.
Samson pulled back his fist.
The lion extended its claws.
Then Samson realised—
It's still not enough!
His eyes widened.
There was nothing left inside him.
No more Faith Essence.
Nothing left to offer.
Yet death was only a heartbeat away.
Samson screamed.
"MORE!"
For a moment, nothing happened.
And then the heavens answered.
Golden light erupted around his fist. A power that did not belong to his small body descended upon him.
The lion's claws swung forward.
Samson's fist followed.
Flesh met flesh.
CRAAAAACK!
The impact thundered through the forest.
The lion's eyes widened as its head snapped violently sideways. Its enormous body left the ground, sent flying backward as though struck by something many times its own size.
Trees and bushes shattered beneath it before it finally crashed against the forest floor.
Silence followed.
The lion did not rise.
It never would.
Samson's fist had crushed the side of its skull. Its cheekbone shattered inward from the impact, fragments of bone tearing through the creature's skull and penetrating deep into its brain.
Death had been instantaneous.
Samson remained standing for several seconds, simply staring.
"I…"
His chest rose and fell rapidly.
"I did it?"
Then the pain arrived.
"AHHHHH!"
Samson collapsed to his knees.
Four deep lacerations stretched across his arm where the lion's claws had struck him during the collision. Blood poured freely from the wounds, and in several places white bone could be seen beneath torn flesh.
Samson began trembling. His vision blurred.
"H-heal…"
Golden light weakly flickered around his injured arm.
Samson swayed.
The forest around him seemed to tilt as his eyelids became impossibly heavy.
"Mum…"
The boy fell forward.
Darkness swallowed his vision.
Beside the unconscious seven-year-old lay the corpse of a beast that no child should ever have been capable of killing.
By morning, people would begin asking questions.
By evening, the whispers would begin…