The sun gradually descended toward the western horizon, its golden light slowly giving way to the softer silver glow of the rising moon as Nathan remained outside in his secluded meditation spot, entirely focused on managing the curses within him and refining his mastery over Dark Magic.
As always happened when he entered these deep meditative states, hours slipped past almost unnoticed. Time became fluid and irrelevant when his consciousness turned inward to wrestle with the malevolent forces constantly churning in his core. What felt like minutes stretched into entire portions of the day, the external world fading into insignificance while he battled internal demons .
When Nathan finally emerged from his trance-like concentration, the sky had transformed completely—daylight replaced by the deep purples and blues of approaching night, stars beginning to emerge as darkness claimed dominion .
