Three days had passed since Eren began training in firebending under Leylin's tutelage. The days were relatively quiet, but at night he could hear strange sounds coming from deep within the forest: heavy footsteps and a muffled roar that shook the trees.
That night, the moon was nowhere to be seen, and the sky was overcast. Eren heard a loud scream in the village.
He jumped up and opened the door of the hut to find people running toward the forest, shouting:
"Soul Beast! Soul Beast has attacked the village!"
Lelin was standing beside him. Her body was warm despite the chill in the air, and her golden eyes shone dangerously.
"Soul Beast?" he asked, swallowing.
"A creature that feeds on the souls of humans. It lures them in with terror and then consumes their energy. You must hide."
But Eren clenched his hand, feeling the faint warmth he'd trained for over the past few days ignite in his palm. He said in a steady voice, "No. If I don't face it now, I'll remain weak forever."
He ran toward the source of the screaming. The monster stood in the village's muddy square, a massive structure covered in gray fur, its eyes red like burning embers, and its fangs dripping with black saliva.
When the monster saw him, it roared, shaking the air and lunging at him at a speed beyond its own size.
Eren took a step back, then remembered Leylin's words:
"Controlling fire begins with controlling your heart."
He closed his eyes for a moment amid the screaming, feeling the fire within him. He didn't imagine it as an enemy, but as a friend.
He opened his eyes and raised his right hand, a small fire igniting above his palm.
"Now!"
The monster lunged at him, focusing its energy into the fire. He tried to control it so it would grow, but he felt the heat searing his skin. The fire danced unsteadily, but he didn't back down.
Just as the monster was about to consume him, he let out a sharp scream and threw the flames toward the beast's open mouth.
A red glow erupted in the distance. The monster's feet flinched, and its fur caught fire where the flames had been. It screamed in pain as it retreated.
But the fire didn't go out. Instead, it grew, slowly burning the monster's body until it fell to the ground, trying to extinguish the flames before letting out a final roar and disappearing in black smoke, leaving behind the smell of burning ash.
Eren sat on the ground, panting, his hands still trembling from the heat, but he felt a strange power coursing through his veins, a feeling he'd never known before... a feeling of freedom and power.
Lilin walked over to him, knelt beside him, and placed her hand on his shoulder. Her eyes were filled with both pride and concern.
"I succeeded... I controlled the fire."
He raised his head toward her, smiling despite the pain and exhaustion he felt, and said,
"I... I did it."
At that moment, he felt that this was only the beginning... the beginning of a long journey, a journey of fire and wind, that would change his destiny forever.
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