"Where? Here? There's nothing—just a big swamp." I scoffed, scanning the thick mist that clung to every tree and root.
Stark's smirk twisted, like he knew something I didn't.
He slipped a hand into his pocket—and suddenly, blue sparks crackled in the humid air, throwing jagged shadows across the fog.
Before I could even blink, a massive shape slammed onto the mud.
A giant fish, nearly four meters long, lay there gasping. Its body was scarred, fins shredded like torn fabric, scales gleaming ocean blue, fading to pale yellow on its belly.
My brow shot up. "Where the hell did you get that? And how?"
Stark didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed the fish by the gills and hefted it high, as if it weighed nothing.
"Mud, come out! Dinner's ready!"
The moment he spoke, the very air seemed to vibrate. The ground trembled. Fog shredded and vanished. Mangroves tore free from the mud, roots dangling as water streamed down. A massive silhouette began to rise from the depths.
Then, everything went still.
Two enormous black shapes, hexagon-like and glistening, emerged side by side—one crowned with a lone tree clinging to its surface. That's not a boulder… that's an eye.
Cold dread coiled in my chest. I turned to Stark, my voice shaking.
"Stark… what the hell is that?"
He didn't look at me, eyes fixed upward.
"Just watch," he said quietly, eyes fixed upward. "Don't worry—he's a friend."
I took several steps back.
The rocks twitched and locked onto the fish. Stark's voice cut through the silence, sharper now.
"Move it, Mud! I'm not waiting all day. You want me to toss this away?"
Suddenly, the black shapes exploded upward, sending clumps of mud flying everywhere.
Nine massive legs unfolded, four on one side, five on the other, each covered in stone and roots.
Two enormous pincers snapped open, one larger than the other, as the giant creature fully revealed itself.
It wasn't just a swamp.
It was a crab. A monstrous one.
I swallowed hard, trying to process the size.
"This... this can't be real. I've read about these things—they're supposed to be smaller than my hand. How is this even possible?"
Stark finally looked at me, his smirk wider.
"This is just my little friend. I'll explain later."
The crab's massive pincer snapped shut around the fish and brought it to its mandibles. It devoured the meal quickly, leaving nothing behind, then pulled its head inside its shell like a turtle retreating.
Stark exhaled.
"Good. He'll be out for the next two weeks, so no worries there. Hey, check under his body."
I crouched and gasped.
There, carved into the crab's huge underside, was a full training ground. A circular track wrapped around the field, with weapon racks, dummies, and a wooden billboard near a pond at the far edge.
A ladder dangled down from the crab's abdomen.
"So... that ladder leads inside?" I asked, eyes wide.
Stark looked at me, amused.
Stark grinned, nodding. "Welcome to my house."
We climbed up and slipped through a trapdoor into a surprisingly cozy wooden interior.
I peeled off my dirty shoes, leaving my socks on, and followed Stark down a hallway lined with open rooms.
In the living room sat a girl, around my age, wearing sleek armor etched with glowing purple lines. The patterns ran all over her, even covering her fingers.
Her shoulder-length, golden brown hair framed a sharp, confident face, and her eyes locked onto me with a fierce mixture of challenge and curiosity.
'Does she want to fight me?'
"Nice to meet you,"
She smiled, slow, deliberate.
"It's nice to meet you, Damien. Care for a spar?"
I blinked.
"Sure. Of course."
Her grin widened, almost too wide.
'No, no, no'
'I had to say yes. She probably would think I'm weak if I said no.'
Stark nudged me.
"Looks like you two are already hitting it off."
His teasing made my cheeks heat. I fought down the urge to snap back and just followed him outside.
We stepped onto the training field beneath the crab's belly.
At the center was a smaller circle, split red and blue.
"Hey, Stark, how does this place not get crushed by the crab?"
He chuckled, busy setting up weapons.
"Oh, I trained the crab not to. Smart, huh? Where's your little friend?"
I pointed to Nox, who was chasing a small serpent nearby.
"That's fine if he wanders around," Stark said. "But after this match, we'll need him to explain part of your training. For now, don't worry about it—you're sparring with Stella."
Smirking, he jogged over to her and whispered something, and her lips curved with a knowing smile.
'I hoped it meant go easy. Yeah, that's it.'
Stark laid down the rules.
"No weapons. That means no ki weapons, Stella. If you get knocked down, you lose. If you step outside the circle, you lose. No killing. And have fun."
His eyes flicked to me with a sly grin.
"Oh, and Damien? Don't worry about her armor. It only works if she uses Ki to flow through it, so it'll be like hitting normal clothes."
My eyes widened. My pulse quickened.
What? 'No killing'? Why is that even a rule? Isn't that obvious?
We both walked up to one side; I was on red, she was on blue.
Her joyful excitement vanished, replaced by sharp focus. She took an offensive stance.
I took a stance, but since I'd never truly practiced one, I copied the stance I'd seen Ken use.
Stark raised his arm.
"Three... two... one... go!"
A yellow light zipped above him and exploded.
Then Stella rushed forward, her strikes lightning fast.
I dodged, pretending to be distracted.
When she swung at me, I grabbed her arm—but it didn't budge.
It was like grabbing a stone pillar.
I barely pulled free.
'I need to find her blind spot.'
She pounced again with a flurry of blows.
One strike grazed me, fire blooming in my arm.
Pain was familiar. Ken's hits had hurt worse.
Using that edge, I ducked low and hit her with an uppercut.
It staggered her, but her smile only grew wider.
"You're better than I thought, Damien."
Her voice dropped to a teasing drawl.
"Wouldn't want to lose to just anyone... especially a girl."
Her words sent a chill down my spine.
'I'm trying to survive here, not impress her.'
Before I could react, she stepped forward faster, arm cocked back, eyes cold with intent.
I dodged and then realized the real trap.
She swept my legs out from under me, and I slammed onto the warm stone floor.
I was done.
Stark clapped from the sidelines.
"What a match! Didn't expect you to last that long."
Stella looked down at me, and her smile softened, beautiful now.
She held out a hand.
"Thanks for the fight, Damien. You did great. I hope we grow stronger together."
I coughed, feeling a little heat on my cheeks.
"Th-thanks. I hope so, too."
Stark grinned and waved her off.
"As for you, Damien, your technique is a mess."
"Today, we work on your ki."
"Stella knows the basics, so she's free for now."
She waved, turning back into the house.
Stark had placed two boulders half my size in front of me.
"Alright, this should be small enough. First, what you're gonna do is place both your hands on each boulder."
I did as he said.
'Good'
He picked up two other boulders and placed them in front of himself.
"Now look what I will do."
He sat down and he placed his hands on each boulder. Yellow sparks of light started to pour out of his hand and covered the boulder.
Then he dismissed the yellow Ki, got up, and a perfect imitation of the boulders on the ground appeared on his hands. They were the same size but yellow, though they didn't have the same amount of detail as the boulders did. The imitation didn't have the ridges or cracks that the original one had.
Then Stark had dismissed them.
"That's the first thing you need to do." He said with an amused face.
I stared at him for a while, then spoke.
"Yeah, so how do I cover the boulder with Ki when I release my Ki? Not only do my arms feel like they will implode on themselves, but the Ki also explodes on impact."
He looked at me and smiled.
"Good question. The reason for its explosion is that's how you're imagining it. Ki is multiplied by imagination. When surrounding the boulder with Ki, be calmer and imagine inside your head what you want. For your arms, stop stiffening them up, which causes more Ki to leak. Here, give me one second."
He reached his hand into his pocket—and once again, blue sparks crackled and a golden circular giant ring with a red gem engraved into it appeared on his hand.
'I gotta ask him later about his small pocket. How can he hold so many things?'
He held the ring out for me.
"Here, this will help and also make it more difficult. This is an enchantment, you know what an enchantment is, right?"
I looked at him silently for a couple of seconds.
"Nope."
He let out a large sigh.
"Well, that doesn't matter today. Put it on, it will deplete twenty percent of your Ki while equipped and reduce damage to your arm if you mess up. And by the way, if you damage your arms too much, it'll be bad; we don't have any healers or doctors."
I cracked my knuckles and scoffed.
"You can go know I'll be done in no time, I'll imitate this boulder even with this dumb bracelet-ring thingy."
Stark raised a brow.
"Oh? Good luck, then I'll be at my house.
Stark left, leaving me alone. I put the enchantment on the same arm as Noelles. As I put it on, I felt something inside depleted instantly.
'Okay, let's get started with this.'