The night stretched endlessly over the Forsaken Lands, an expanse of shattered ruins and twisted landscapes. Kael stood amidst the wreckage, his breathing steady, his mind sharper than ever. The power of time pulsed within him raw, untamed, and dangerous.
He needed to master it. Fast.
A gust of wind howled through the ruins, carrying whispers of the past. His inherited memories told him that these lands were once home to the Elders of the Abyss, beings who defied the gods themselves. Now, only their remnants remained, along with creatures like the Nightfang Stalker and worse.
Kael clenched his fist. His newly acquired ability, Temporal Grasp, allowed him to slow, accelerate, or freeze objects in time. But for how long? What were its limits?
There was only one way to find out.
Kael scanned his surroundings, his eyes locking onto a pile of rubble. He focused, feeling the strange energy within him respond.
"Accelerate."
The air around the rubble distorted, and in an instant, the stones began to shift unnaturally decades of decay happening in mere seconds. The solid rock turned brittle and crumbled into dust.
Kael exhaled sharply. His body trembled, a wave of exhaustion washing over him.
"That took too much out of me I need to refine this."
He steadied himself and turned his attention to another test. A single fallen leaf drifted before him, caught in the cold night breeze.
"Freeze."
Time stopped.
The leaf hung suspended, unmoving, as if reality itself had lost its grip. Kael reached forward, plucking it from the air. The second his fingers touched it, the ability disengaged, and the leaf crumbled between his fingertips.
His heart pounded. This power wasn't just magic it was a fundamental force, something that could warp reality itself. But it was unstable.
And if he pushed too hard, it might consume him.
A sudden rustling echoed from the ruins behind him. Kael turned sharply, his senses heightened. Something or someone was watching.
He wasn't alone.
A shadow moved between the crumbling pillars, barely visible under the pale moonlight.
Kael narrowed his eyes. "Show yourself."
Silence.
Then, a voice low, raspy, and inhuman.
"You are not meant to be here Celestial Sovereign."
Kael's blood ran cold.
Who or what had just called him that?