llage, painting the smoke filled sky in

even sat down. For the past s

ying ease. His fingers, which should have been bloodied and broken, were perfectly fine. The latent Qi fr

an with a mound of dark soil. There were thirty two graves in t

ysical body felt impossibly alive. Every breath he took drew in the crisp morning air, but he also felt something else, a f

s eyes and l

caled River Hound sat perfectly within him, acting like a secondary organ. With every pulse, it pumped a warm, refined energy thr

air around his knuckles seemed to ripple faintly. But I don't have a cu

rm a sect of flying immortals. He nee

forge. The blacksmith, a burly man named Kael, was among the dead. Damian sifted thro

lacking a proper guard, but the blade was thick and the edge was brutal. It was too heavy for a normal

om a fallen banner and wrappe

Beyond this ancient forest lay the Eastern Peaks. The Whisperwood was infamous; it was a breed

it was a minor obstacle they simply flew

ning light to the thick canopy's gloom was instant. The ai

than ten minutes when the hair o

wly awakened senses were screaming at him. The shad

s instinc

threw his body to the side, rol

followed by a vicious hiss. Damian sprang to his fe

smoky grey that made them incredibly hard to focus on. They were lower-tier beasts, usually relying on stealt

ey looked

jaws unhinging to reveal

beast core in his chest flared, pumping a surge of Qi

d straight through the lynx's skull and out its midsection before the beast could even register

a single strike, let out a yowl of terror and sc

t to run," Da

et between them in the blink of an eye, appearing directly above the fleeing beast. He b

by Damian's steady breathing. He felt a r

what he was doing, but his body seemed to operate on an ancient instinct. He pulled out a small

t like before, the core liquefied

elf to the raging fire in his chest.

ps as he looked deeper into the dark woods.