I barely had time to scream.
The Mana fiend's strike slammed into the stone where my head had been a heartbeat ago. Shards exploded outward, slicing across my shoulder and sending sparks of pain skittering across my skin.
I rolled sideways, more luck than skill, narrowly avoiding having my skull crushed into the jagged rubble. My chest heaved, every inhale a battle, every heartbeat thudding against my ribs like a war drum.
The fiend didn't pause. It moved with terrifying speed, gliding closer, limbs bending in ways that made my stomach turn.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" I spat, scrambling to my feet.
Dust stung my eyes. My hands found only broken stone and splintered metal. My foot caught a loose slab and I tumbled forward, scraping my palms across the rough surface. A sharp, metallic taste filled my mouth, and I gagged.
'Run. Run. RUN!'
I bolted blindly toward the edge of the courtyard, dodging fallen beams and twisted metal, leaving my carefully plotted path behind me. Every instinct screamed to flee, but my mind was a tangle of panic and frustration.
That's when I noticed it.
'The fragment-!'
My chest froze mid-breath. I patted my pocket. Nothing.
My heart plummeted.
"No. No! No, no, no!" I cursed, skidding to a halt, clawing at the stone as my mind raced. The rune had fallen somewhere back in the storage area. my stupid, clumsy hands had dropped it in the chaos.
Panic flared hotter than any fire.
Part of me screamed to go back, to risk it, to snatch it up and run. But another, louder part of me knew better.
'No. Not worth it- I can't die for the sake of some stupid rune!'
I swallowed hard. My greed burned, clawing at the edges of my mind, but fear burned hotter.
"I'll get something else later" I muttered under my breath, trying to convince myself. "Something that won't get me chase by some ugly, translucent Beast!"
And then I realized: the Mana fiend hadn't slowed. It hadn't hesitated.
It was right there.
Behind me.
Its limbs bent at impossible angles, closing the distance with terrifying speed. Each step sent tiny tremors through the ground, rattling dust into my lungs. Its low, wet breathing reached me, the sound a wet hiss that made my stomach lurch.
I stumbled forward, tripping over loose rubble. My hands scraped against jagged edges, cutting into my palms. My lungs screamed for air. My chest felt like it was going to explode.
Every instinct told me to hide. Every instinct screamed 'run faster!'
I didn't dare look back. I could feel it, the pressure of its presence, the shadow brushing the nape of my neck, the faint warmth of its pulsing veins mirrored in the air behind me.
It was relentless.
It didn't tire. It didn't hesitate.
I ducked beneath a toppled beam, narrowly avoiding the swipe that shattered the stone where I had just stood. My shoulder stung. My leg skidded on dust and debris. I fell forward, scraping my palms raw.
The fiend didn't stop.
Not for a second.
The sound of its approach was constant, a wet, pulsing rhythm that synced with the panic pounding in my chest. Every step I took felt like it was one step behind me, a predator matched perfectly to my fear, hunting me for the smallest slip.
And somewhere deep in me, the fragment I had abandoned burned faintly against my memory, warm and taunting, a reminder that even in survival, greed had been right there, and I had let it go.
But there was no going back.
Not now.
I pushed myself harder, gasping, heart hammering, every nerve screaming. The Mana fiend was right behind me. Close enough that I could almost feel the heat of its pulsing veins. Close enough that one stumble would be my last.
And yet… I ran.
Because the only choice left was to survive.
I burst out of the courtyard and into a narrow stretch of collapsed street, the ruins closing in on both sides like a broken throat. My vision tunneled, edges blurring as my legs screamed in protest. I didn't know where I was going. Left, right? None of it mattered. All paths felt equally lethal.
Stone shattered behind me.
I threw myself forward just as something tore through the air where my spine had been. The shockwave alone slammed into my back, hurling me face-first into the ground. I rolled instinctively, barely avoiding a second impact that cracked the street open like brittle glass.
I came up coughing, dust clogging my throat.
'Too close-'
'Way too close!'
The Mana fiend surged through the debris it had just created, unfazed, its elongated limbs flexing as it landed. Cracks spiderwebbed beneath its weight. The blue veins under its skin burned brighter now, pulsing violently, like it was getting excited.
I scrambled up and ran again, lungs on fire, legs numb, mind fraying at the edges.
'Think. Think!'
There- an overturned transport frame, half-sunken into rubble. I veered sharply, sliding behind it as another strike smashed down where I'd been a moment earlier. Metal screamed as the frame bent inward, nearly crushing me.
I crawled out the other side on shaking hands, barely getting my feet under me before the fiend was already moving again.
'This Bastard is learning fast.'
'A bit Too fast.'
My breath came in ragged sobs now. My chest hurt- no, burned, but I didn't have the luxury to focus on it. I vaulted over broken stone, clipped my shoulder on a jagged edge, and nearly lost my balance. The world tilted wildly.
I corrected by sheer instinct, stumbling instead of falling, and somehow stayed upright.
'Luck. I'm relying on luck.'
I couldn't keep this up.
The ruins ahead opened briefly into a wider stretch of broken ground. I sprinted for it, hoping, stupidly, that space would save me.
It didn't.
The Mana fiend launched itself forward, covering the distance in a single, horrifying bound. I felt the air compress behind me, heard the violent rush of displaced mist.
I dove.
The impact missed me by inches. Stone detonated upward, flinging me hard across the ground. I slammed into a half-standing wall and collapsed in a heap, stars exploding across my vision.
For a second, I didn't move.
My body refused.
The pain caught up all at once, sharp, deep, everywhere. My limbs trembled uncontrollably as I tried to push myself up. My fingers slipped uselessly against stone slick with mana residue and blood.
'Get up—'
'Get up or you'll die!'
The Mana fiend approached slowly now.
It didn't rush this time.
Its breathing filled the air, heavy and wet, every step deliberate. It loomed over me, blotting out the faint blue glow of the mist, veins blazing bright enough to cast warped shadows across the ground.
'This is it.'
I couldn't run anymore.
My legs wouldn't respond. My lungs felt like they'd been scraped raw. Panic hollowed me out, leaving nothing behind but a terrible, quiet clarity.
'Is this really how it ends? Death at the hands— claws or whatever the hell this ugly Abomination uses?!'
And then-
Pain bloomed in my chest.
Not sharp or sudden, but Hot.
Blisteringly hot.
I gasped, clutching at my chest as the sensation spread outward, like molten metal poured directly into my veins. It didn't hurt the way injuries did, it burned, deep and internal, as if something sealed shut for years had just been forced open.
"What—" I choked.
The heat surged again, stronger this time, racing through my arms, my legs, my spine. My fingers spasmed. My vision sharpened abruptly, the haze of panic cutting away like fog under sunlight.
I sucked in a breath.
It didn't burn.
My lungs filled cleanly, smoothly, as if the air itself had changed.
The Mana fiend struck.
Instinct, not thought, made me twist.
I shouldn't have been fast enough.
And I sure as hell wasn't fast enough.
And yet, the blow grazed past me instead of crushing me outright, tearing through stone instead of flesh. I was thrown aside again, but this time I rolled cleanly, came up on one knee, chest heaving.
The heat roared through me, steady now. Heavy. Present.
I stared at my shaking hands.
Faint lines of warmth traced beneath my skin, subtle, almost imagined, but unmistakable.
My heart thundered.
"No way." I whispered hoarsely.
The Mana fiend recoiled slightly, as if surprised by my last effort dodge. The air around me felt different now, denser. Almost... responsive.
'This feeling-!'
Every kid in the city knows the stories. The tests. The sermons. The envy.
'This isn't adrenaline or some stupid luck.'
'This is-'
My breath caught as realization crashed into me harder than any blow.
'I've awakened...'
'An Aether Core–'
'...My very own Legacy!'
The thought barely had time to form before the Mana fiend lunged again.