“I’m starting over.”
That was the last thought that crossed Daron’s mind before he closed his eyes that night.
A true beginning.
Not from nothing this time, but from understanding.
From recognizing both his limits and his potential.
Morning did not arrive peacefully.
It arrived as a test.
He woke to a light knock on the door.
“Daron, wake up.”
Amy’s voice.
He slowly opened his eyes, sat up, and opened the door.
She looked at him with a faint smile that barely concealed her excitement.
“If I waited for your permission, we’d fail our first mission after coming back.”
He froze for a moment.
“A mission…?”
She nodded.
“Yeah.
We’re back to work.”
He stood immediately.
“What do we have?”
Her smile widened, as if she had been waiting for exactly that response.
“Twenty ghouls in the Western Forest.”
Silence.
Then he said,
“That’s a lot.”
“It is,” she replied calmly.
“That’s why we’re going as a team.”
A few minutes later, they were gathered in front of the city gate.
Karl stood with his sword resting on his shoulder.
Gene was beside him, his massive shield reflecting the pale morning light.
Noor checked her arrows one by one.
Amy looked at Daron with questioning eyes.
“Ready?”
He took a slow breath.
“This time…
yes.”
Inside the forest, everything felt different from the wolf hunt.
The air was heavier.
The trees denser.
The silence more unsettling.
Not peaceful.
Expectant.
“They’re here.”
Noor’s voice was low and calm.
“How do you know?” Daron asked.
She pointed at the ground.
“Tracks.
But they’re not random.”
Daron crouched and examined them.
Then he froze.
“They’re spreading out.”
Karl raised an eyebrow.
“Spreading out?”
Daron nodded.
“They’re not acting like a normal pack.”
He slowly lifted his head.
“They’re hunting us.”
A brief silence followed.
“They want to surround us.”
At that exact moment, the first ghoul emerged.
Large.
Gray-skinned.
Leathery flesh.
A broad face.
Eyes glowing red like embers.
Then two more appeared.
Then five.
Then more behind them.
From the sides.
From every direction.
Gene’s voice rang out, calm and firm.
“Formation!”
Everyone moved immediately.
Gene took the front.
Daron and Karl covered the flanks.
Amy stayed in the center.
Noor guarded the rear.
But something felt wrong.
Daron noticed it immediately.
Not through his ability.
Through observation.
Through thought.
“They’re not attacking.”
Amy glanced at him.
“What?”
“They’re waiting.”
A second later, the ghouls moved.
But not toward them.
Around them.
“Tear through them!” Karl shouted.
Daron’s voice cut across the battlefield.
“That’s exactly what they want!”
Everyone stopped.
They looked at him.
He spoke rapidly.
“They want to split us apart and kill us one by one.”
“Then what’s the answer?” Gene asked.
Daron scanned the surroundings.
Trees.
Distance.
Terrain.
“We hold our ground.”
His eyes landed on a section surrounded by dense trees on three sides.
“And force them to fight in a narrow space.”
He pointed.
“There.
We keep our backs protected.”
They moved immediately.
The battle began.
The first ghoul charged Gene.
It slammed into his shield like a wave crashing against a cliff.
But a second ghoul leaped over him.
“Left!”
Daron shouted.
He barely avoided the attack before driving his blade into its side.
The ghoul fell.
Another appeared behind him.
He would have been hit—
But Noor’s arrow pierced its eye with terrifying precision.
Daron began to move.
Not randomly.
Not recklessly.
Strategically.
A tree here.
A shadow there.
The ground is slippery.
He used everything around him.
A massive ghoul rushed him.
Daron stepped back.
Only once.
The slick ground stole the creature’s balance for a split second.
That was enough.
A thrust to the throat.
The ghoul collapsed.
But they were smarter than he had expected.
Two moved together.
One attacked openly, drawing his attention.
The second came from the right.
“Damn it—”
He raised his sword too late.
Then—
He felt it.
That flash.
That sensation.
Now.
The ability activated.
Not completely.
Only partially.
But enough.
He saw the attack’s path.
The intention behind it.
He moved.
A perfect dodge.
One strike.
Then another.
Both ghouls fell.
His breathing accelerated.
His head began to ache.
Stop.
Not now.
He shut it down.
“Daron!”
Amy’s voice.
He turned.
Three ghouls had surrounded her.
He rushed forward.
Not relying on the ability.
Relying on what he had learned.
He threw a stone with his free hand.
It struck one ghoul in the back of the head.
The creature turned toward him.
Amy seized the opening and killed another with astonishing speed.
Daron arrived beside her.
They fought together without exchanging a single word.
A natural coordination.
An instinctive understanding.
The first and third ghouls fell moments later.
“You’re improving…”
Amy spoke between breaths. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Daron didn’t answer.
His mind was elsewhere.
They’re learning.
Adapting.
Cooperating.
Then he understood.
“Kill the leader!”
His shout echoed through the forest.
“What?!” Karl yelled back.
Daron pointed.
“That one!”
“The one that’s not fighting!”
There was a larger ghoul standing behind the others.
Watching.
Observing.
Giving subtle signals.
“Gene!
Open a path!”
Gene surged forward like a moving fortress.
Daron followed directly behind him.
Karl pushed from the right.
Noor provided cover from the rear.
Amy secured the flanks.
They closed in.
The leader retreated.
It’s smart.
It won’t stay.
And it didn’t.
It fled.
“Don’t let it escape!”
Daron charged after it alone.
The creature was fast.
But Daron understood something.
It won’t run forever.
It’ll look for a place to hide and wait.
The ghoul leaped between the trees and vanished.
Daron stopped.
He closed his eyes.
Felt.
Only faintly.
Not strongly.
But enough.
The ability activated for a few brief seconds.
He saw its movement.
Its location.
He opened his eyes.
Turned.
Avoided the ambush from the side.
Then drove his sword forward in a clean, decisive thrust.
The ghoul collapsed.
Hatred burned in its eyes—
Then death extinguished it.
Daron stood there, breathing heavily.
His head spun.
“This is my limit…”
By the time he returned, the battle was over.
Everyone looked at him.
“You killed it?” Karl asked.
Daron nodded.
Gene sat down on the ground.
“That’s why they broke and ran.”
Noor nodded.
“It was directing them.”
Daron looked at the group.
Then he said,
“Ghouls aren’t just monsters.”
He paused.
“They’re natural fighters.”
The team sat down.
Exhausted.
But alive.
Amy smiled warmly.
“For our first mission after coming back…”
She chuckled.
“Not bad.”
Daron looked at her.
“This is only the beginning.”
At that moment, he realized something important.
He hadn’t won because of his ability alone.
He had won because of his understanding.
His strategy.
His skill.
And the companions fighting beside him.
He lifted his gaze toward the patch of sky visible between the towering trees.
Then whispered,
“I don’t always need it.”
A smile appeared on his face.
“But when I do use it…”
His eyes sharpened.
“I’ll be far stronger.”