The settlement was hidden behind a barrier of illusion magic, but to Reynold's heightened senses—sharpened by the Core Ignition—the hum of mana was as loud as a waterfall.
He stood before a blank rock face.
"I know you are watching," Reynold said to the stone. "I am Reynold Van Der. I offer you a choice: die in the shadows when the Demons burn this forest, or fight with me and earn your place in the sun."
The air shimmered. The rock face dissolved, revealing a village of seventy-four people. They wore ragged robes, their eyes wide with fear and suspicion.
An old man stepped forward. He held a staff made of twisted white wood. This was Cho, the elder.
"A Van Der," Cho spat. "Your parents hunted us like dogs."
"My parents are dead," Reynold said, not flinching. "Killed by the King you fear. I am not my father. I am the man who is about to kill a High Demon, and I need your fire to do it."
Cho narrowed his eyes. "Why should we trust a magicless boy?"
Reynold didn't speak. He stepped forward and unsheathed his sword. He initiated his breathing technique. The air around him grew heavy, the pressure dropping. Heat radiated from his skin, not from magic, but from the sheer metabolic overdrive of his body.
"Because," Reynold said, his voice distorting slightly from the pressure, "I am the only thing standing between you and extinction."
Cho looked at the boy. He didn't see mana. He saw a will that terrified him.
"Fine," Cho signaled his people. "But if you betray us, we will burn your castle down ourselves."
"Deal."