Chapter 28
Time had dissolved into darkness.
Kael no longer knew how many days he had dragged his broken body through the underground. Every moment felt like a battle—not against his enemies, but against himself.
His wounds closed slowly, yet with every new training, he tore them open again.
His bones groaned, his muscles screamed, his blood stained the cold stone.
And still, he began again.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The Breaking Point
One night, he decided to push further.
He focused his mana not into a single part of his body, but into all his limbs at once.
A scorching heat flooded him, blistering, destructive.
His arms seized, his legs stiffened, his heart pounded so violently he thought it would burst.
Then came the pain.
Absolute pain.
As if his veins were exploding, as if his flesh was dissolving under the flood of an ocean too vast.
He screamed.
A guttural cry that echoed through the tunnels like the roar of a beast in chains.
His body collapsed, wracked by spasms. His fingers clawed at the stone, his eyes weeping tears of blood.
For a second, he thought it was over.
That his body had finally shattered for good.
The Birth of Balance
But within that abyss of agony, he felt something different.
His body, instead of extinguishing, resisted.
Unstable, on the verge of collapse… but resisting.
His mana still boiled wildly, but his muscles, his bones, his tendons—slowly, painfully—began to accept the pressure.
Weakly.
Shaking.
But no longer breaking as quickly.
Kael panted, his face drenched in sweat and blood.
Then, slowly, he pushed himself up, staggering like a puppet with broken strings.
He took a step.
His knee buckled, but he held.
A second step.
His breath rasped, but he advanced.
And when he finally fell, he did not crumble to pieces as before.
He simply knelt, his trembling hands steady enough to hold him upright.
A smile split his lips.
"Yes… I can feel the cracks beginning to mend."
The Silence of the Depths
He remained still for long minutes, listening to the pounding of his heart.
He was still weak, still broken… but now, he knew.
His body could learn.
His body could adapt.
Pain was no longer an obstacle—it was a guide.
He raised his head, his eyes glowing in the dark like twin flames.
"Keep hunting me. When I rise from here… I won't be the man you think you're chasing."
And in the shadows, Kael began again.
Again.
Again.
Again.