Embers of Control
Fenix woke up to the rhythmic creaking of the wooden wheels and the soft glow of sunlight warming his face.
'Just like in the Soul Trial,' he thought.
Shaking off the last remnants of sleep, he leaned forward, adjusting his posture as he fully sat up.
'Today, I turn 17… It's already been almost a year since my life completely changed.'
Time had passed quickly—too quickly. He was now a student of the most prestigious Awakened academy in the world, even if it was temporarily closed. And for the first time in his life, he had people he truly cared about. The promise he made to his mother—to survive, to find a future worth living—seemed to be coming true, little by little.
Today was the first day of spring, March 21st, the day of his birth. And today was also the day they would enter the Blackroot Jungle, an enormous stretch of dark wilderness. From what he understood, it resembled a typical rainforest but with deeper, more shadowy hues, as if the very essence of life within it had been tainted. Even the creatures that inhabited it shared the same eerie color palette.
'Good luck we didn't stumble on any'
'Did I seriously have to think about that?' he muttered to himself.
Lifting his gaze, he saw that the morning was still young. The two moons were retreating, vanishing beneath the horizon, while a grand sun began its slow ascent, casting golden light over the land.
Glancing around, he noticed that Vix and Doran were still fast asleep. Aldric, on the other hand, remained vigilant, seated at the front of the carriage, holding the reins as he guided them forward.
Fenix stood up and moved to sit beside him.
"Good morning, professor," he greeted.
Aldric gave him a brief glance before returning his focus to the road. "Morning, kid. How'd you sleep?"
"Well, well enough… Took me a while to actually fall asleep, but I feel refreshed." He exhaled a deep breath, feeling more awake with each passing moment.
"Where are we on the route?"
Aldric adjusted his grip on the reins. "Looks like we'll reach the Blackroot Jungle by sunset. Once we enter, we'll take turns keeping watch in pairs—two at a time. We'll need to stay more alert for any potential threats in there."
Fenix nodded, mentally preparing himself.
"But first," Aldric continued, "we'll take a break for breakfast. Wake those two up—I'll send word to Rein so we can stop for a while."
With that, Aldric raised his hand, summoning something out of thin air.
A bird materialized—a cyan-colored swallow, its feathers shimmering faintly under the rising sun.
Aldric held it gently and issued a simple command.
"Inform Rein to halt. We'll be stopping for a meal before continuing."
The bird let out a soft chirp before taking off at incredible speed, disappearing into the distance in mere moments.
Fenix's eyes widened in astonishment. That was far faster than a normal bird.
Aldric smirked at his reaction. "It's a familiar. I found it years ago, wounded. After nursing it back to health, it bonded with me and became my companion."
Fenix was momentarily stunned. He had always thought familiars were something you had to either purchase from a shop or obtain as a rare reward after killing a beast or person. He had never heard of taming one through simple care and trust.
Shaking off his surprise, he turned back toward the carriage. No more time to waste—he had two lazy teammates to wake up.
As soon as they finished eating and began preparing to move out, Aldric and Rein suddenly froze.
Their expressions darkened.
"Something's coming," Rein muttered, his voice sharp as a blade cutting through the air. "And it's not just one… there's a lot of them."
Without hesitation, the entire cohort drew their weapons, their instincts honed by years of survival.
Fenix felt his pulse quicken but immediately summoned Ashfang, gripping it tightly.
Then, a shadow moved.
From the dense underbrush at the jungle's edge, they emerged.
Creatures of chitin and blades—mantis-like beasts with elongated scythe arms, standing over three meters tall. Their black exoskeletons shimmered with iridescent red streaks, and their multiple compound eyes glowed with eerie light.
Tier II Beasts – Deathstalker Mantids.
Fenix's grip tightened. He had studied these creatures under Aldric before.
Highly aggressive ambush predators.
Fast, deadly, and incredibly resilient due to their hardened exoskeletons.
Strike from cover, using bladed forearms to dismember prey in seconds.
And now, twenty of them were closing in.
The Battle Begins
Before the creatures could strike, Rein moved first.
A silver streak flashed across the battlefield.
By the time the mantids reacted, two of them collapsed—bisected before they even registered their deaths.
Lena released a flurry of arrows, each shot precisely hitting their jointed limbs, forcing them back.
Doran engaged three at once, his massive axe clashing against the razor-sharp forearms. With one brutal swing, he shattered one mantis's limb upon impact.
Vix danced between them, her twin blades carving deep gouges into their armor, moving like a ghost in the darkness.
Orin, the healer, raised his staff, releasing a shockwave that stunned two mantids just before they could leap onto Lena.
Meanwhile, Aldric stepped forward. His black sword pulsed with energy as he swung. One clean stroke. One perfect kill. The mantis fell in two, its corpse thudding heavily onto the dirt.
They were too fast. Too efficient.
Fenix stood frozen for a moment, watching in awe.
'They're monsters in their own right…'
Then, one of the mantids turned toward him.
Its compound eyes locked onto him—calculating, predatory.
With terrifying speed, it lunged, blades raised to cleave him in half.
Fenix reacted on instinct.
He sidestepped, feeling the razor-sharp scythe graze his cloak, slicing through the fabric but barely missing his skin.
He countered immediately—coating Ashfang in black flames and driving it straight into the mantis's side.
The blade pierced through, but…
Not deep enough.
'Damn… their armor is thicker than I thought.'
The mantis shrieked, retaliating with a brutal swing.
Fenix ducked just in time, the blade whistling past his ear.
He needed a different approach.
Instead of brute force, he remembered Aldric's lessons:
Observe the enemy.
Find their patterns.
Exploit their weaknesses.
He dodged another swing, this time focusing on the mantis's movements.
Then, he saw it.
'Their underbelly. The chitin is thinner there.'
Fenix rolled forward, sliding beneath the mantis just as it struck again.
With a single, well-placed slash, he drove Ashfang through its exposed abdomen, igniting black flames that burned from the inside out.
The mantis shrieked violently, its body twitching as it collapsed, consumed by fire.
[ You have slain a Tier II Beast – Deathstalker Mantid. ]
[ +4 Soul Shards. ]
Fenix absorbed the shards immediately.
[ Soul Core Progress: 30/800. ]
'Better than nothing,' he thought.
He exhaled, steadying his breath.
More Enemies Incoming
Two more mantids lunged toward him.
Fenix took a step back, adjusting his stance. His sword… something was different.
Ashfang gleamed more intensely than before, its black flames wilder, more aggressive.
It had fed on his last kill.
'That's right… my sword gets stronger every time it takes a life.'
He decided to use it to his advantage.
Instead of dodging recklessly, he repositioned himself so the mantises were in a straight line—making it impossible for both to attack simultaneously.
He struck first.
A clean vertical slash.
The first mantis lost its head in an instant.
[ You have slain a Tier II Beast – Deathstalker Mantid. ]
[ +4 Soul Shards. ]
Fenix absorbed them again.
[ Soul Core Progress: 34/800. ]
Now, only one enemy remained.
This one seemed more cautious.
'It's smarter than the others…'
This time, Fenix didn't attack immediately.
Instead, he waited.
The mantis charged, its scythes tearing into the ground, kicking up dirt.
Fenix sidestepped at the last second.
Then, he had an idea.
For days, he had been practicing a basic fire spell—a simple Fireball used by most fire-affinity Awakeneds.
But when he summoned flames into his palm…
It wasn't red or orange.
It was a miniature black sun.
'Looks more like a black hole than a fireball…'
The mantis realized the danger too late.
It tried to pull its scythes from the dirt, but it was stuck.
'Now.'
Fenix hurled the fireball.
The explosion lit up the battlefield.
The mantis was erased.
[ You have slain a Tier II Beast – Deathstalker Mantid. ]
[ +4 Soul Shards. ]
But then, the system continued speaking.
[ You have slain a Tier II Beast – Deathstalker Mantid. ]
[ +4 Soul Shards. ]
[ You have slain a Tier II Beast – Deathstalker Mantid. ]
[ +4 Soul Shards. ]
[ You have slain a Tier II Beast – Deathstalker Mantid. ]
[ +4 Soul Shards. ]
[ You have slain a Tier II Beast – Deathstalker Mantid. ]
[ +4 Soul Shards. ]
Five times.
Five kills from one fireball.
Fenix froze.
'What the hell did I just do?'
The remaining Deathstalker Mantids realized they were outmatched.
One attempted to flee, but Lena's arrow pierced its skull before it could take another step.
The last one screeched defiantly, lunging for Doran—only for the massive warrior to grab it mid-air by its forearm and snap it like a twig.
The fight was over in less than a minute.
It was something normal, Tier II beasts were no match for this level cohort.
Fenix exhaled and absorbed all his new Soul Shards.
[ Soul Core Progress: 54/800. ]
Then, something dropped from one of the corpses.
[ Item Obtained: Shadowcarapace Cloak (Common). ]
A lightweight cloak made from Deathstalker Mantid chitin. Offers mild protection against physical attacks and blends well into the darkness.
Fenix grinned.
'Yes! Finally, an item drop!'
He hadn't received one since Ashfang.
Doran chuckled. "Not bad, kid."
Rein gestured for them to regroup. "Let's keep moving. We need to reach Blackroot Jungle before nightfall."
It didn't take long for them to collect the mantid meat from the fallen creatures. Once gathered, Aldric stored it in his dimensional bag, ensuring they had fresh supplies for the journey ahead.
They all knew that Fenix's fireball—and the massive explosion it caused—had likely attracted unwanted attention.
With caution, they resumed their march.
As they walked, Fenix felt the weight of their stares.
The three Awakeneds who had fought alongside him—Vix, Doran, and Aldric himself—kept throwing him curious glances.
Even Aldric, who had been training him personally, seemed caught off guard by what he had witnessed.
This time, it was Doran who broke the silence.
"What the hell was that, Fenix?"
Fenix shrugged. "A fireball."
Vix scoffed. "That wasn't a normal fireball, and definitely not one from a two-core Awakened."
Aldric chuckled, shaking his head. "I have to admit, kid… that was insane."
Fenix nodded but didn't say anything more.
He didn't want to reveal too much, especially not about the nature of his flames.
Still, a thought lingered in his mind.
'That was useful… but dangerous.
This time, I was lucky. My cohort is strong enough to avoid the blast and the spreading flames.
If I had been with a weaker group… they could've been consumed too.'
The thought troubled him.
But before he could dwell on it further, Blackroot Jungle came into view.
The massive, dark expanse loomed ahead, its twisted trees reaching toward the sky like clawed fingers. Shadows danced between the dense undergrowth, and the air felt heavier, almost unnatural.
The dungeon was close now.