A new king?

At the Zefron War Front Base, Grand Commander Richard Silverblood surveyed the battlefield where his soldiers had perished. He looked upon the thousands of dead Cyval warriors and wondered who or what could have done this.

"Commander, we have confirmed that everyone on the battlefield is dead, except for the base commander and five other soldiers who stayed to defend the base. Every other member of the base was killed," the soldier reported.

The Grand Commander frowned, saddened by his inability to protect his army and angered by his lack of preparation for such a situation.

"What of the enemy casualties?" the commander asked.

"All confirmed dead, but oddly, none had any fatal injuries. They seemed to have just dropped dead," the soldier responded.

"How is that possible? What do you mean?" the Grand Commander inquired.

"We don't know yet. We are still investigating the cause of death, but we do know whoever or whatever it was is extremely powerful," the soldier explained.

"Also, one person is missing. The boy named Azrael has yet to be found, dead or alive," the soldier added.

"Where was he last seen?" the commander asked.

"According to the base commander, he and his squad were sent to border town just west of here while they were on border patrol. The bodies of his other squad members were found here, aside from his and the squad leader. The body of the squad leader was later found at the town. We are still currently working out what might have happened," the soldier continued.

The Grand Commander was silent as his mind raced with many thoughts. Who could have killed fifteen thousand men? Where is the boy, and is he connected to all this?

He thought about the possibility of the Headmaster intervening to save Azrael. It would make sense as such a thing would be very easy for him. However, the Grand Commander knew the Headmaster was known to never intervene in the Empire's problems.

It was now a question of whether he was willing to go that far for Azrael.

"Who are you, boy?" the Grand Commander said, his voice filled with determination.

In the soulless forest, the chirping of birds could be heard as Azrael sat by the shore of a lake, where a waterfall fell. He had been practicing suppressing his aura, as he knew it was crucial for his survival. Hunting weaker beasts had caused his dark ki to rise steadily, making him stronger, faster, and more alert to the ki of terrifying beasts he sensed from afar. He realized he would die in seconds if he faced any of them, so he amped up his aura suppression exercises, knowing that being found by any of those beasts would mean certain death.

After finishing his aura suppression exercise, Azrael began to practice with his sword. Although it had been a while since he last practiced, his form was still graceful and accurate. With his newfound dark ki, his movements became sharper, swifter, and more deadly. Every swing of his sword came with devastating power he had never felt before. He took a deep breath and felt ready to hunt stronger beasts, he had discovered a barrier at the entrance of his cave which only allowed him enter. So if it went wrong he would just run to the cave.

The area around his cave housed weaker beasts, but Azrael knew that the deeper he went into the forest, the stronger the beasts became. He had already killed over eight of the beasts around his cave and had enough food, but he kept hunting for training and to grow his dark ki, and to avoid the dark slumber.

So Azrael wanting a challenge and greater amount of dark ki began venturing deeper into the forest to find stronger beasts.

As Azrael made his way deeper into the forest, his senses heightened. He knew that he had encountered something truly formidable when he saw the giant wolf ahead of him. Its ki was greater than any of the beasts he had fought previously, but it was not nearly as terrifying as the one he felt from deep within the forest.

He watched the beast carefully, staying hidden and confident in his ability to suppress his aura and hide his presence. He planned to observe the beast unnoticed, but to his surprise, the wolf turned its head and looked directly towards him.

"It noticed me?" Azrael said, stunned.

Without warning, the beast charged at Azrael with great speed, its jaws full of sharp teeth. Azrael quickly dodged and pulled out his sword, ready to defend himself.

"Come," Azrael said, his voice steady and unwavering.

The wolf rushed at Azrael again, but he moved quickly to the side and sliced across its torso. The beast was injured, but it showed no signs of damage as it charged towards Azrael again, even faster this time. Azrael attempted to evade, but the wolf changed direction, using its force to hit him with its head.

Azrael was pushed back and groaned in pain as he held his stomach, but he quickly regained his composure and held himself up with his sword. The wolf let out a deafening growl that made Azrael's eardrums feel like they were about to burst. He tried to cover his ears, but it was no use, It was no ordinary growl but a ki technique. The wolf charged at him with full speed, and Azrael evaded it just in time to turn around and slice its neck with his sword with very precise sword movement.

As Azrael stood there, catching his breath and heaving, he felt his dark ki rise exponentially. He also sensed four beasts with ki similar to the wolf he had just slain, so without wasting any more time, he headed back to his cave as fast as he could.

Azrael sprinted through the forest, his heart racing and his breath coming in short gasps. The wolves were hot on his heels, their snarls and barks filling the air behind him. But Azrael had grown faster, more agile, and he quickly outpaced them, his feet pounding the ground in a frantic rhythm.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of running, Azrael burst into the safety of his cave. He collapsed onto the bed of leaves he had made, his chest heaving from exhaustion. As he lay there, he could feel the adrenaline still coursing through his veins, and he knew he had succeeded in killing a stronger beast. It proved to him that his strength had grown.

With a steady hand, he stretched his open palm above him, gazing up at the ceiling of his cave.

"Even stronger," he said to himself, his voice barely above a whisper.