As Asher slept soundly, a cold gust of wind brushed against his skin, rousing a faint shiver. He shifted slightly, hands reaching to adjust the duvet and pull it tighter around him, yet, midway through the motion, he froze.
In the next breath, he sprang to his feet, his senses flaring as his eyes snapped open.
His surroundings bled into his vision, gradually sharpening. The moon hung high in the sky, casting its silvery glow across the landscape below.
Trees, grass, and endless stretches of greenery extended for kilotres, cloaked in a creeping darkness that blanketed the earth, only barely pierced by the moonlight’s pale touch.
A gentle white fog clung to the air, drifting silently between trees and along the ground. It moved with an eerie grace, occasionally stirred and carried by the breath of the night wind.
’Where am I?’ Asher wondered, his mind spinning. He had gone to bed at exactly 7 p.m., yet now, he stood here, in an unfamiliar place.
He had no mory of being moved, no recollection of when or how it had happened.
’The True Awakening.’
He didn’t need to guess. He already understood. No assassin could have infiltrated the Wargrave estate, not while the entire family was present.
And even if so assassin with an overpowered ability had managed to slip through their defenses, they wouldn’t have wasted ti relocating him. They would have killed him where he lay, not left him in the middle of a forest.
’Zarek... or soone else?’ Asher mused, eyes narrowing. Zarek had always managed to bypass his Omni Perception, an ability that functioned even while he slept.
But that didn’t necessarily an Zarek was the only one capable of slipping past it. Perhaps others could as well, and simply never cared to bother.
’System. What ti is it?’ Asher asked silently.
[Ding]
[12:02 AM]
Asher frowned.
That wasn’t quite right. He was convinced the Wargrave estate had initiated the True Awakening precisely at midnight.
’Two minutes difference... does that an I’m only two minutes away from the estate?’ he speculated, but quickly dismissed the idea.
With individuals like the First Sun and Second Moon, whose speed defied comprehension, distance beca aningless. Who could say how many kilotres they could cross in the span of a single breath?
’System, where am I?’ Asher asked inwardly.
[Ding]
[The System is not a map, and therefore cannot determine your location. The System is already doing more than enough functioning as your personal alarm and clock]
Asher read the notification without the slightest hint of surprise. From the mont he had woken until now, not even a full minute had passed, his thought process operated at such a rapid pace.
Asher’s hands moved instinctively over his body, searching, hoping, for sothing. A clue, a sign, anything his family might have left behind.
His fingers brushed against his pocket, and he felt the unmistakable texture of parchnt. Retrieving it at once, he unfolded and read the brief ssage:
Survive until sunrise, or return on your own before then, if you can.
No guidance. No aid. Just a challenge masked as a test. Sunrise, which typically broke around 6:30 a.m., was now his silent deadline.
’System, set an alarm for 6:30 a.m.’ Asher commanded ntally.
[Ding]
[Affirmative, Host]
[Alarm set]
With no ti to waste, Asher vanished in an instant, his form a blur as he shot up the nearest tree, feet gliding effortlessly along its trunk before disappearing into the dense canopy above.
He concealed himself among the thick branches and leaves, the perfect vantage point from which to observe and prepare.
The trees here towered high, each one standing no less than four tres tall, as though reaching greedily for the sky itself.
The mont he read the word ’Survive’, Asher knew sothing wasn’t right. He couldn’t say what it was, but he felt it. Sothing was coming.
Hidden among the foliage, he stilled himself. His breathing slowed. His heartbeat steadied. His presence faded into the night, yet every muscle in his body remained coiled, taut with readiness. He was a phantom in the trees, poised to strike or vanish at the first sign of danger.
Asher’s senses flared, sothing had entered the edge of his Omni Perception. He didn’t hesitate. There was no ti to think, only to act.
Virelass flashed into existence in his hand, its edge gleaming with lethal purpose. In the sa instant, Asher turned, his body already in motion. With one swift, fluid strike, the blade streaked forward, and a head was severed cleanly from its body.
A spray of green blood arced through the air as a massive, three-ter-long serpent collapsed lifelessly across the branches.
Asher didn’t linger.
He launched himself forward, leaping from one tree to the next, gliding between branches and shadows like a creature born of the forest.
Only once he had put distance between himself and the kill did he settle into another high perch, shrouded once more by leaves and silence.
Then, he vanished again into stillness, watching, waiting.
He was certain the scent of blood from the slain serpent would draw more monsters to the area. But Asher hadn’t co to fight, his only goal was to survive until sunrise.
Though he possessed the ans to teleport back to the safety of his room and end it all, he refrained. Sothing deeper compelled him, the desire to witness the True Awakening for himself.
With Virelass hovering silently behind him, Asher lowered into a crouch, his presence dissolving into the bark and shadows of the tree, as though he had beco one with the forest itself.
Suddenly, a long, slender projectile sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, hurtling toward his position with deadly precision.
’I’ve been made,’ Asher thought. He didn’t flinch. In a flash, his rapier flickered into motion, effortlessly deflecting the arrow.
But;
BOOM
The air shattered with a thunderous explosion. The arrow detonated on impact, obliterating the tree he had been concealed within. Bark splintered into twigs, and leaves ignited midair, swirling backward under the force of the blast.
The sheer impact hurled Asher through the forest like a torn kite. His body crashed into another tree with bone-rattling force, before plumting from several ters above.
Yet, like a spectral feline, Asher twisted mid-fall and landed lightly on his feet. Without pause, he shifted into motion as he pushed forward, his senses flaring, eyes scanning the smoke and fla, searching for the one who had fired the arrow.
The acrid scent of burnt flesh clung to him as wisps of smoke curled from his battered fra. Blood trickled from countless wounds that marred his body, while his clothes, face, and hair bore the scorch marks of the explosion, charred, torn, and blackened.
With a single strike, Asher Wargrave, the monster, had been wounded.
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