After the battle the rest of the merchants and mercenaries including the beast now glanced at Daniel with fear, though some masked it with respect.
They had to bury the dead before they left so they took a longer time there with Daniel assisting them in their endeavor, normally they won't be able to do that but Daniel and Mira's presence there gave them a lot of assurance .
Later that day mira sat near him on the wagon roof, legs crossed, sharpening her twin daggers with a whetstone. "You drew lightning without forming a sigil," she said softly. "That's not supposed to be possible."
Daniel kept his gaze on the clouds. "I didn't mean to. It just… answered me."
She studied him. "That's what I'm afraid of."
The road turned rocky, climbing toward the Broken Stone Pass — a gorge carved between black cliffs. The caravan leader, an old mercenary named Varron, rode ahead with two scouts. His Spirit Awakening aura flickered faintly, steady but tense.
"Stay sharp," he barked. "These cliffs hide worse than beasts."
The merchant behind Daniel laughed nervously. "You mean bandits?"
Varron spat into the dust. "Not ordinary ones. The Stone Fangs — a tribe of earth-blooded marauders. Half men, half mountain."
Mira's expression darkened. "Elemental-borns?"
Varron nodded. "Aye. They're not natural — twisted descendants of earth spirits who once served the old sects. Their skin's like granite, and they crush bones for sport."
---
By dusk, the path narrowed. The wagons formed a line as they climbed the ridge. Shadows stretched long across the canyon floor.
Daniel's lightning mark pulsed faintly — a whisper beneath his skin.
> [Codex active: Essence anomaly detected. Multiple hostile signatures converging.]
He rose slightly. "Stop the wagons."
Varron frowned. "Boy, what are you—"
The ground trembled.
A second later, the cliffside exploded.
Boulders cascaded down like thunder. The lead wagon shattered. From the dust leapt figures with stone-gray skin, their eyes burning with dull amber light. They wielded crude axes carved from black ore, and their auras shimmered with Spirit Awakening essence — heavy, oppressive.
> "Stone Fangs!" someone shouted.
Mira flipped off the wagon roof, blades flashing. "Protect the merchants!"
The guards rallied, forming a circle. Daniel landed beside her, lightning crackling faintly around his forearms.
One of the marauders grinned, his voice like grinding rock. "Leave the wagons, and we'll let you crawl away!"
Varron drew his curved blade. "Over my corpse."
"Gladly," the bandit leader growled.
He was massive — twice Daniel's height, his chest carved with glowing runes. His steps made the earth itself groan. When he slammed his palm into the ground, spikes of stone burst upward, impaling two guards before they could scream.
Daniel's eyes widened. That power… he's at least mid Spirit Awakening.
> [Codex advisory: direct confrontation not recommended. Energy density exceeds host threshold.]
Daniel grit his teeth. "Then we'll just have to be smarter."
He sprinted sideways, lightning flaring under his feet. The Codex guided his senses, predicting the flow of each attack a heartbeat before it landed. He dodged a falling boulder, then struck the weak joint in one bandit's armor, sending sparks crackling across his stony hide.
The marauder howled, staggering back.
Mira appeared behind another, slicing tendons where stone met flesh. "They're slow," she called. "But tough!"
Daniel nodded, parrying an axe swing that sent vibrations through his bones. His fists glowed faintly with lightning as he countered, aiming for pressure points instead of brute force.
> [Essence alignment optimal. Release current through secondary meridian.]
The Codex's voice pulsed like a heartbeat. Daniel obeyed. Lightning erupted along his arms in short bursts — controlled, focused. Each strike left glowing cracks across his enemy's body.
But the leader was different. His core pulsed like a living mountain. He stomped the ground, sending a shockwave that shattered the earth beneath them. Daniel barely leapt aside in time.
The caravan teetered at the edge of the gorge. Horses screamed.
"Mira!" Daniel shouted.
She was already moving — hurling a dagger that struck one bandit in the eye. "We need to end this fast or we'll lose everyone!"
Daniel's gaze snapped to the leader, who was channeling essence through a crystal embedded in his chest — glowing faintly brown.
> "That stone…" Daniel muttered.
The Codex pulsed.
> [Unknown mineral detected: Elemental Stone — Earth Variant. Warning: massive energy concentration.]
The bandit roared, his aura swelling like a mountain storm. "Tremble before the Stone Fang!"
Daniel's mark blazed under his shirt. If I don't stop him, everyone dies.
Lightning surged. The Codex's voice became a whisper inside his skull.
> [Controlled overload possible. Output limit: 78% before cellular breakdown.]
Daniel exhaled slowly. "Seventy-eight is enough."
He dashed forward — sparks spraying under his boots.
The clash shook the canyon. Lightning met stone; essence screamed against essence. Mira dove aside as the blast carved fissures through the ground.
When the dust cleared, both Daniel and the leader were gone — swallowed by the collapsing cliff.
"Daniel!" Mira shouted, voice echoing down the ravine.
Below, the chasm glowed faintly blue.
Lightning still flickered somewhere in the dark.