The rain hadn't stopped.
It hadn't even slowed.
Hours had passed since the first drops fell, yet the forest still roared beneath the storm's relentless assault. Thick, rolling thunderclouds churned overhead, their dark mass swallowing what little daylight remained. Every few minutes, lightning split the sky, turning the dripping pines into skeletal silhouettes for a heartbeat before plunging everything back into gloom.
I trudged onward through the mud, each step sinking with a heavy squelch. The air was damp and cold, my clothes clinging to me like a second skin. The storm was wearing me down—not physically, not entirely, but mentally. I had thought I'd adapted to discomfort since arriving here, thought I was managing well enough. But the storm mocked that belief. It pressed on me constantly—on my body, on my patience, on my mind—until every step felt like wading through something thicker than air.
I was just beginning to think about turning back when the sound reached me—low, deep, and far too heavy to be wind.
A growl.
I froze.
Through the downpour, a shadow swelled in size, its shape gaining definition with each step. A bear emerged, its massive frame outlined by the cascading rain. Wet fur clung to its body, revealing the shifting power of muscle beneath. Its eyes, dark and unwavering, locked onto me—not with curiosity, but with intent.
Howl!
My silver-lined pupils shrank to the size of a needle.
My body could move faster, react sharper, and endure more than it ever had before. But that didn't erase the truth hammering in my chest—I had never been this close to something that could end me in seconds. No amount of speed or strength could make me less human. And right now, every human instinct I had screamed one word—Run.
I didn't think—I bolted.
Mud splashed under my boots as I tore through the undergrowth, branches whipping at my face and arms. The storm blurred everything into streaks of gray and green, the roar of the rain matching the pounding of my heartbeat.
Behind me, the bear's bellow split the storm like another crack of thunder. It crashed through the trees with terrifying force, every step it took sounding like an axe slamming into the earth. No careful weaving through trunks, no slowing for obstacles—it simply plowed through them, turning saplings into splintered debris.
I pushed my speed, legs burning as I weaved between trees, ducking under low branches, vaulting over roots slick with rain. The enhancements coursing through me turned every motion sharper, quicker—but the bear wasn't slowing. If anything, it was closing the distance.
A quick glance over my shoulder confirmed it: a hulking shadow tearing after me, teeth bared, eyes locked with unshakable focus.
Panic flared hot in my chest. This wasn't a race I could win by outlasting it. My mind scrambled for options—routes to higher ground, a fallen trunk to put between us, anything. But the forest offered no reprieve.
My boot slipped on a patch of wet moss, and my balance faltered for a heartbeat—just long enough for the bear to surge closer. I could feel its hot breath cutting through the chill of the rain.
I knew then there was no more running.
The trees ahead opened into a small clearing—a terrible stroke of luck. No cover. No tricks. Just me, the storm, and a predator built to dominate this kind of fight.
I skidded to a halt, chest heaving, my hands curling into fists. My mind screamed that this was insane. But instinct had shifted. Fleeing was no longer an option.
Howl!
The bear charged.
And I braced myself.
It lunged, a wall of muscle and fury.
I threw myself sideways, boots slipping in the mud as its claws ripped through the space I'd just been in. Even the near miss sent a spray of wet earth into the air.
It whirled faster than I thought possible for something its size, slamming a paw into the ground where I'd landed a second before. The impact sent vibrations up my legs, and I scrambled backward, heart thundering louder than the storm.
I tried to move—fast, precise, cutting angles like I'd practiced with smaller threats—but this wasn't a boar or some clumsy predator. The bear read my movements, pressing forward, its sheer presence swallowing the clearing.
Every strike it threw carried enough force to break me in half. Every swipe forced me further back, keeping me reacting instead of attacking.
My body could keep up with its speed—barely—but my mind was still playing catch-up. I wasn't some seasoned hunter. I didn't know the subtle tells in a bear's posture. The way its weight shifted before a lunge. The exact range of those claws. I was relying on raw reflex, not experience—and that was dangerous.
I ducked another swipe, feeling the air split inches from my head, and lashed out with a kick toward its side. My heel connected, hard enough to make any human crumple. The bear only grunted and twisted, snapping its jaws so close to my arm I felt the heat of its breath.
Too strong. Too resilient.
I retreated again, using the slippery ground to slide just out of range as it charged. Mud splattered my face, the storm turning every breath into a mouthful of water. My vision blurred for a split second, and in that instant—
The bear was on me.
I dropped, rolling under the massive bulk as its momentum carried it forward. My hand brushed the coarse, rain-slick fur of its belly before I came up behind it. I struck low, aiming for the legs to break its balance. It stumbled, just for a heartbeat—but that was all I got.
It spun with terrifying speed, and this time its paw grazed my shoulder. Pain exploded down my arm, hot and electric, my muscles locking for half a second before I forced them to move again.
The storm above had grown wilder. Thunder cracked closer now, sharp and violent, shaking the air. The clouds swirled like a dark vortex, pulling the light from the world.
Each breath burned in my lungs. Each step felt heavier than the last.
The thought of turning back gnawed at me, whispering with every heartbeat.
I could retreat, lose the bear in the chaos, and find somewhere to wait out the storm. Maybe even try to retrace my steps to where this all began.
For a moment, the idea of home clawed into my mind—not this forest, not this nightmare, but my old life. The cramped apartment. The low hum of the fridge in the corner. The cheap instant noodles stacked by the counter. Waking up to the same dull light through the blinds, doing the same things day after day, waiting for something—anything—to happen.
I scoffed bitterly.
Go back… to what?
To the same lifeless days, steeped in hollow damnation?
Right when I had been granted the power to shape my own destiny—
to shatter the shackles that bound me my entire life?
I'd rather be swallowed by this storm than by that emptiness.
That old life had been safe. Predictable.
It had also been… dead.
Here, every moment threatened to kill me—
and yet every moment mattered.
Every choice was real. Unforgiving. Irreversible.
And somewhere in this madness lay a reason for why I was here.
Why I was chosen.
I clenched my fists, dragging myself back to the present.
Running now would only deliver me back to that suffocating routine.
My eyes rose toward the swirling darkness above.
A jagged flash tore through the clouds, searing my vision.
The roar that followed rattled my bones to their core.
And then—like a spark in my mind—an idea struck.
It was as if fate itself leaned in, whispering a solution into my ear.
I straightened, my stance firm, my glare sharp with resolve—
and as the bear lunged through the storm, I did not move.
The world narrowed to a single, breathless instant.
I pushed—hard—against the limits of my cognition.
The storm's chaos bled away into something unnatural, something silent.
The sound of rain dulled until it became nothing but a distant hiss. Each drop now fell lazily through the air, tracing slow, perfect arcs toward the earth.
The bear's charge broke apart into a sequence of frozen images—its claws half-extended, its weight shifting forward, droplets flinging from its fur like tiny shards of glass. Its eyes burned with wild hunger, but even that fire seemed trapped in molasses.
I turned my gaze upward.
The clouds churned like a sea of black ink above me, and within them—threads of white fire, restless, searching.
I could feel the electric tension gathering, could predict the exact vein of lightning that was about to tear through the sky.
My thoughts sharpened to a single, ruthless intent.
I stepped forward—not to dodge, but to place myself exactly where I needed to be.
Every motion was deliberate. Every angle calculated. My hand rose, fingers spread slightly, guiding the probabilities that swirled invisibly in the air.
The bear was still mid-leap when I released my hold on time.
The world snapped forward—
—and the heavens answered.
A jagged spear of lightning tore down, blinding in its purity, striking the beast straight through its skull.
The impact was deafening, the acrid scent of ozone and burnt flesh cutting sharply through the storm.
The force shattered the animal's momentum, sending it crashing to the ground.
Where it fell, the earth smoked faintly, and the bear's massive form lay twisted and blackened—its fur singed to a crisp, skin cracked and charred, a lifeless, scorched corpse smoldering in the rain.