The border didn’t look much different up close, even if it turned out to be much bigger than expected. Seeing it every day from the Bastion made it look smaller and less impressive than it was.
“We will visit the edge of the Windbloom Forest today. The outskirts are close by and mostly populated by 1-Star Wilds. We might encounter a 2-Star or 3-Star, but you don’t have to worry about them. Once you’re in serious danger, I will help you.” Daniel recited our plan before stepping out of the dome. It looked like he merged with the milky-white barrier as he stepped through.
My heart pounded louder than the drums on Surviva as I inched closer to the milky-white barrier. It rippled as I tapped it lightly, and my hand phased through when I pressed more firmly against it.
The dome was a unique structure. It was neither solid, liquid, nor gas. It felt more like a mixture of all three.
Nightmarish stories I and other children had been told about the outside resurfaced in my mind, but they dissipated in all directions as ripples of joy and excitement filled me. Aureus chirped excitedly, urging me to escape the confines of the Bastion and join Daniel.
You’re quite cocky for someone this weak. I teased and phased through the milky-white barrier.
While many stories about the outside were true, research had shown most were exaggerated. Sure, the outside was dangerous, and people could die there, but there were many ether-scarce areas near the dome. Even the unBlessed could survive outside if they knew what they were doing. That was how my father had survived, even though he’d ventured toward the Oridon Mountains. Dad nearly died out there, but he had been alone, lacking knowledge and training, crossing a distance of several kilometers as an unBlessed without the right equipment to fight any beasts, yet he survived.
I’d done my research. I had a sword, was Blessed, and had tempered my World and body extensively.
I can make it work! I swore to myself, emerging on the other side of the dome.
In the worst case, Daniel could rescue the damsel in distress.
Taking several deep breaths, the first thing I noticed was the strong earthen scent, enriching the more subtle fresh and flowery smell. A breeze swirled around me, as if to greet me, and I welcomed it with a smile.
Outside was… different from what I’d expected. There were no massive structures like in the Bastion, yet I noticed several tents, smaller wooden and stone structures, and dozens of people—Blessed with their Soulkin—roaming around.
“You didn’t expect that, did you?” Daniel chuckled, grabbing my shoulder to lead me through what appeared to be a makeshift village.
“What I’m about to tell you won’t matter today, but it might be useful later,” he said, gesturing to various structures that turned out to be a makeshift infirmary. Several patients were being tended to as we spoke, and there were also some more-or-less luxurious stalls where one could buy and sell goods.
“Rushing to the hospital and finding someone with the ability to heal severely wounded Blessed takes time. Time you won’t have if you get badly hurt in combat. That’s why there are several outposts with proper healers to tend to the worst wounds. Other than that, most Blessed won’t bother returning to the Bastion every time they collect a corpse or harvest an etherius plant. They sell them here instead.”
He motioned to the rest of the village. “This place is also the first line of defense, and a place where all adventurous Blessed can stay if they like the freedom of the outside more than the confinement of the Bastion. As you grow closer to your Soulkin, you may notice that you’re drawn to certain locations. Sometimes that may mean the mountains or a forest. Your personality may also shift. You might feel more inclined to be alone or seek solitude. That’s also part of the soulshare—something you should pay attention to. After all, your Soulkin won’t only learn from you. You’ll learn a lot from it as well.”
And once I had more, my Soulkins would learn from each other and influence one another too. I’d read about that before, but that didn’t mean I expected there to be a full-fledged village outside the dome.
“Are there many villages beyond the dome? Or other settlements farther out?”
Daniel’s smile cracked for a moment, and he guided me away from the village. The nearest trees and shrubs of the Windbloom Forest were still a little further away, but we closed in on the Wild zone quickly.
“There are settlements, but it’s difficult to protect them as they grow larger. Protecting the outposts is already a challenge—but it’s worth it. After all, the outposts ensure nothing gets close enough to the dome to damage it. They buy us time when stampedes happen and let us use the dome’s defenses to stall them.”
He ended the explanation there and walked me past a few Blessed carrying beast carcasses. We turned to the right when Daniel noticed several children wielding daggers, bows, and other weapons near the outskirts. He nodded curtly to a middle-aged man guiding the children and sped up when the man noticed us. The man smiled and waved enthusiastically, clearly trying to get Daniel’s attention.
“Do you know him?” I asked, but Daniel shrugged dismissively.
“Not really. I’ve seen him a few times with his students. He knows me, though—and that’s the issue.”
Right, his parents are well-known.
A small detour led us away from the students and their teacher, but I kept thinking about them.
“These kids are all Blessed and probably stronger than me, aren’t they?”
Daniel didn’t look like he was listening. He stayed focused on the forest’s edge, which was probably what I should’ve been doing too. But after a few seconds, he answered.
“Their Worlds are probably larger than yours, and they spend more time refining their World, tempering their bodies, and growing their bond. But if I’m not wrong, they’re still Novices with Wild Soulkins. They’re too young to bear the strain of bonding with an Awakened beast. Except for that one kid. I think I remember him. He’s the son of the Bluesky Battalion’s captain. He was born with a larger World and met the requirements to bond to an Awakened beast two years ago, I think. That was when he was seven.”
Daniel didn’t answer my question directly, but I understood what he was hinting at.
“Don’t look so dejected,” he said, glancing at me and patting my back. “A Blessed’s childhood may be the best time to refine one’s World, but that doesn’t mean you’re much weaker than them. They’re still children—their bodies still developing. You could probably hold your own against them in a real fight.”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
That didn’t sound convincing. If anything, Daniel sounded like he didn’t believe his own words. But he wasn’t wrong. The academy students looked no older than nine or ten. They may have tempered their bodies, but they were still lighter and smaller than I. I’d have an advantage with my range and weight, though it was unclear how helpful that would be against well-trained Blessed, no matter how young they were.
“Stop thinking about such useless things and focus on the Wagur,” Daniel said, gesturing to the rustling bushes ahead.
A Wagur? My eyes narrowed, and I tensed, mind racing to sort through the information I’d researched about the Windbloom Forest and its ecosystem.
Daniel stepped back and vanished as a large frame emerged from the forest. He was still there, standing calmly, but his presence disappeared. It was almost like Daniel never existed.
Just like Daniel had predicted, a Wagur emerged from the bushes. Its physique resembled that of an ordinary boar, but it had a barbed tail, and large spikes grew from its spine. The beast was not even close to a height of one meter, and its tusks were short—indicators of the Wagur’s age and strength.
“1-Star,” I muttered, freezing in my tracks when something flew past me. It was a small stone, and it struck the Wagur square in its stupid face.
“Have fun,” Daniel snickered from behind. “And don’t die on me, dude!”
The beast swung around and faced me. I felt Aureus stir and peek out of the chest pocket, sounding excited as it stared at the purely physical beast. My body felt incredibly heavy as our eyes met, and I had to take several deep breaths to fix my posture and draw the silvernit sword. Feet pressed firmly into the ground, I watched the beast bleat aloud and charge at me.
It charged me, its eyes filled with fury and… Was that hunger?
I had to defend myself. This wasn’t a light spar with a friend. This was a life-and-death battle.
The beast was fast and closed the distance quickly. However, the Wagur was not as fast as I’d feared. I could move. I… was certain I could evade it.
I clutched the silvernit sword tightly in both hands and lifted it. Yet, faced with a charging beast, I felt my confidence waver.
Fighting a beast is one thing. I can do that. But should I really face it head-on?
Was that the right thing to do? I hesitated and recalled one of the things Daniel pointed out several weeks ago.
‘Never face your enemy head-on if you can avoid it. Any injury can lead to death outside the Bastions. Evade and counterattack.’
Daniel would probably protect me if I was about to die, but he wouldn’t protect me from injuries. I knew he wanted me to learn the lesson the hard way. Force me to be more careful and to prioritize my safety over a quick kill.
The Wagur was before me, staring me dead in the eye. My hair stood on end, and I leaped to the side, escaping a brush with death. A gust caressed my legs; the beast must have missed me by a hair’s breadth. But it missed. I scrambled to my feet and turned to face the Wagur again.
It slowed down, turned to me, and charged once again. And like the first time, I evaded the beast.
I didn’t get the chance to attack once and jumped out of the beast’s way half a dozen times, Aureus chirping in excitement, though an edge of nausea crept in as it was hurled around in the chest pocket. It clawed onto the pocket’s insides and held onto it as if its life depended on it… which was probably the case. I wanted to store the Soulkin in the World, ensuring its safety, but Aureus wanted to stay. It didn’t even matter that the Wagur was stronger than Aureus.
The beast, albeit only 1-Star, was tougher, faster, and stronger than Aureus. Yet, after evading the beast several times in a row, I didn’t have to leap out of its way any longer. I recognized its attack pattern—a simple charge that didn’t seem to change—and predicted its movements. I… could see how it was going to move.
I was fully locked onto the beast ahead and knew instinctively where to move to evade its tusks. The beast hurled its head around whenever I escaped the charge, but this time I moved in the opposite direction. I stepped to the side, clutched the sword handle tightly as I raised it, and let the Wagur do the rest.
The blade cut into the Wagur’s side and tore through hide and flesh. A tremendous amount of force slammed into the blade as the beast’s momentum carried into it, yet I never let go. The strain was worse than expected, but so was the sensation of cutting deep into the flesh of a living being. I felt the Wagur’s hide and muscle yield beneath the blade, and I couldn’t suppress the rising nausea as my gaze was drawn to the blood dripping onto the ground.
The beast’s charge didn’t end even as the blade sliced through its entire side. I turned around, blood dripping from the blade, struggling to remain in control of my body. My limbs trembled violently, and my vision wavered, shifting from the blood on my blade to the crimson sloshing from the Wagur’s side. The beast bleated weakly as it turned to me, and I half-expected it to charge again. Instead, it collapsed to the ground, blood pooling around it.
And I looked at it—stared at the beast as it writhed in pain, slowly bleeding out. Its eyes remained furious, locked onto mine with intense hatred, yet the light faded steadily.
The strength in my legs vanished suddenly, and I found myself kneeling on the ground, feeling the bile rise in my throat. Yet, I didn’t vomit, and my eyes never left the dying beast.
Daniel appeared beside the struggling Wagur. He emerged seemingly out of nowhere and gave me a subtle nod of appraisal. Then he bent down beside the beast, a blade manifesting in his hand, and slashed the Wagur’s throat, ending its suffering.
The world around me seemed to cease to exist for a moment before my body could no longer take it. My stomach revolted and my throat opened wide, releasing my breakfast in a single stream. Tears welled in my eyes, but I remained strong. At least, I tried to as I stared at the lifeless body ahead of me.
“My parents taught me to treat beasts like I wanted to be treated,” Daniel said, dead serious, but I could hardly hear him. “Just remember that if you want to receive a painless death, you better give your utmost to give them one as well.”
I spat out the bits of vomit stuck in my mouth and scrambled to my feet. Wiping the tears from my face, I stared at the corpse, and etched the picture deep into my mind.
It was the first time I’d seen Daniel like this. Decisive. Cold. Capable of killing.
But that was what this world was all about. Razarn followed a simple principle.
The strong rule.
It was survival of the fittest.
This time, I didn’t attack the beast. It attacked me and suffered the consequences because I was stronger. Because it was too slow to hit me first.
But what would happen the next time? Would I kill another beast for my own gain? Or would it kill me and reap my World—devour me and my World to grow stronger?
“Razarn is not fair. It never was. Nor was it ever peaceful.” Daniel gave me a steely look and approached, one hand resting on my shoulder. “If we do not kill them, they will kill us instead.”
We had to hide behind the dome and seek its protection to avoid beasts. However, even that was not foolproof, or the Collapse would never have happened. I had known that much. It was something everyone was taught. Mankind was only alive thanks to the Rulers and their tireless efforts to build the Bastions. They protected humanity and offered us the shelter we needed to thrive. But the Rulers couldn’t defend the Bastions alone. Powerful beings roamed Razarn, and they were growing stronger, trying to find ways to overwhelm the Rulers… to devour them.
After all, most beasts considered humans a delicacy. Maybe not our bodies, but the Worlds born within us were all beasts needed to transcend their limits.
“I understand,” I muttered, holding tightly onto the seed of determination rooting in my heart.
I knew I was far from perfect. If anything, I was riddled with faults. That didn’t change anything, though. Everyone was faulty in some ways. Perfection did not exist, and it wasn’t worth striving for.
However, I could always try to improve.
To become a better person. A better friend, son, and maybe companion.
Aureus chirped excitedly, flooding me with a sense of affirmation and pride.
All I had to do was get up and move forward.