Shin's Resurrection
In the heart of utter darkness, a faint glow emerged from his eyes... Shin slowly opened his eyelids to find himself lying on the ground. His body was free of wounds, as if a miracle had brought him back to life.
He moved slowly, feeling an immense power coursing through his veins. It wasn't the same energy as before... it was stronger, deeper, more savage!
He looked into his reflection in a nearby pool of water... staring into his glowing eyes that blazed like black fire.
"How am I still alive?"
He whispered, but the shock quickly turned into fury. He clenched his fists until his bones cracked. He remembered his defeat, his weakness, how helpless he was before his enemies.
"No rest... How did I lose so easily?! I was weak..."
But not anymore. He would never be weak again.
Flame of Resolve... The Birth of a New Warrior
Shin began his rebirth... two months of absolute hell!
On the first day, he drew his sword and trained until his hands bled. He repeated the basics of combat until his body moved instinctively, as if the sword had become an extension of his soul.
On the second day, he decided to torture his body to make it unbreakable. He lifted massive boulders until the ground cracked beneath his feet. He stood beneath crashing waterfalls for hours, challenging the raging water as if it were his enemies' strikes.
In the following weeks, he fought trees with his blade, ran through mountains, braved storms, and only slept when his body collapsed from exhaustion.
After two months, he stood before his reflection again... but this time, he was no longer the old Shin. He had become a majestic beast wearing the body of a man!
His muscles were hardened like steel, his gaze had become that of a cold-blooded killer, and his stance was that of a warlord emerging from hell.
He wore his black cloak, now like a dark aura surrounding his frame, and muttered in a voice like a growl:
"Time to fight... The path to the Ice Empire begins now!"
Encounter in the Stormbound Village
As he approached a small village, he felt curious and fearful eyes following him. Villagers whispered among themselves:
"Who is this man? He doesn't seem human... His aura is terrifying!"
He ignored them and went straight to the village elder. He stared at him with a cold gaze that pierced the elder's soul, then said in a deep, intimidating voice:
"I need to stay for one day."
The elder hesitated, but kept his composure and replied:
"You may stay... but I have a request. A horde of ghouls will pass through the village tonight. One of the villagers saw them. Their numbers are around fifty. Can you kill them?"
A slow smile crept across Shin's lips, and he whispered with deadly confidence:
"Consider it done."
The Massacre... Death's Dance Under the Moonlight
Night fell, and silence engulfed the village... but the air was heavy with fear.
At the village's edge, Shin stood motionless, his eyes glowing like stars in the dark.
Then...
Thundering footsteps!
The ghouls were coming.
Shin shed his cloak, revealing a body hardened and brimming with power. A deadly aura swirled around him like a black vortex, suffocating the air with its presence.
With steady steps, he advanced into the darkness, like a mythic being. Nothing in his presence felt human.
Then... he vanished!
In a blink, Shin was gone!
No one saw how he moved, but suddenly...
A ghoul fell! Then another! And another!
The ghouls didn't even realize they were dying. They only saw flashes of steel before their heads flew into the air.
Amid the bloodshed, Shin stood, his body untouched, his eyes scanning the remaining twenty.
He took a deep breath, gripped his sword with both hands, then whispered barely audibly:
"Nine Dragon Techniques..."
The air froze... the earth trembled... even the sky seemed to hold its breath!
"Straight Line... Heavenly Slash!"
In an instant, the blade flashed like lightning...
Then silence.
The heads of the twenty ghouls soared through the air before their bodies hit the ground!
Shin stood amidst the corpses, unfazed by the stench of death. He calmly sat atop them, as if they were a throne he had crafted for himself.
He raised his eyes to the sky, then muttered in a cold voice:
"This is only the beginnig