Chapter 16 – The Hunt by The Instinct
The world trembled.
The Crimson Horn Boar King tore through the valley like a living avalanche, each hoofstep splitting the cracked obsidian ground. Molten dust scattered with every impact, forming waves of crimson mist that glowed beneath the dying sun. The air was thick—hot, dry, alive with the sound of thunder trapped inside the earth.
Shin and Alicia moved first.
They didn't speak. They didn't need to.
Alicia leaped sideways, her boots sliding across burning rock as her palms glowed faint blue. Frost mist trailed from her fingertips, clashing against the blistering heat of Ignis Prime. Shin, in contrast, was chaos itself—his movements fluid, unpredictable. He darted forward, spinning his staff between his fingers like a dancer performing amid explosions.
"Vyuk!" Shin barked mid-spin. "You can't tame fire if you're scared to burn!"
Vaibhav hesitated.
The sound of his name echoed, yet it was buried beneath the roar of the Boar King. The beast's eyes burned with molten gold, and its breath came out as gusts of liquid heat. It wasn't merely attacking—it was consuming the land itself.
Vaibhav's grip tightened on his blade. He could feel his pulse hammering against the hilt, his Qi scattering, unstable. His boots skidded as the ground cracked beneath him.
Move.
His mind screamed, but his body lagged behind.
Shin ducked beneath a tusk that could have crushed a boulder, his laughter ringing out like defiance itself. He rolled, sprang back, and slammed his staff against the creature's flank. Sparks erupted. The impact sounded like thunder inside a forge.
Alicia followed through. Her hand swept upward—ice forming in midair, freezing the molten blood that spilled from the wound. The air hissed as steam rose, painting the battlefield in mist.
"Good hit!" Shin shouted. "Now we make it count!"
He dashed toward the boar's legs again. But the monster reacted—its tail, a whip of molten bone, slammed into Shin's side. He flipped mid-air, landing on one knee, coughing but grinning through blood.
Vaibhav forced himself forward. His eyes burned with determination, yet doubt gnawed at him.
Why am I hesitating?
The memory came unbidden—Lin Xuan's voice from a distant past, during training.
He saw the elder's sharp eyes and cold hand slapping his own away.
> "Fire doesn't wait for your permission, boy. It eats or gets eaten."
He remembered the pain, the sting—not from the slap, but from the truth buried inside those words.
Now, that truth felt heavier than his blade.
The Boar King roared again, molten saliva flying in arcs, burning holes into the earth. It charged, shaking the valley floor.
Vaibhav's instincts screamed louder than his fear.
"Severed—Lightning Step!"
The world blurred. His Qi burst downward, propelling him to the side just as the tusk grazed his shoulder. A streak of blood followed, sizzling midair. Pain shot up his spine, but his body moved faster than thought now.
He reappeared behind the creature, blade drawn back. He slashed at its hind leg, sparks flying—but the blade barely cut through.
The boar's hide was like molten armor.
Alicia saw it too and muttered through gritted teeth. "It's regenerating... too fast."
The molten veins pulsed brighter. The Boar King wasn't dying—it was enraging.
Shin spat blood and stood again. "Fine then... let's make it hurt."
He spread his stance, spinning his staff in a wild, circular motion. The Qi in the air thickened—compressed like a brewing storm.
"Severed—Fury Roar!"
His shout echoed across the valley as his Qi erupted outward, colliding head-on with the beast's charge. The shockwave split the ground. Lava geysers burst open. Vaibhav was thrown back, rolling across blackened stone.
When the dust settled, the beast was still standing. Wounded—but furious.
Its eyes locked on Vaibhav.
It saw weakness.
Its molten tusks flared brighter, heatwaves bending the air. The creature's muscles coiled, ready to crush him.
Vaibhav pushed himself up, panting, his vision trembling at the edges. His hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Alicia shouted, "Vaibhav! Fall back!"
He didn't move.
Not out of bravery—because something inside him refused to yield.
His breath grew shallow. The world dimmed. Every heartbeat echoed like a drum inside a cave.
And then—darkness.
He didn't even feel the tusk hit him. The moment it grazed his side, his body went limp, falling backward.
The world faded into shadow.
Yet amid that darkness, another voice spoke—calm, patient, and terrifyingly familiar.
> "Uh-uh. You are wrong. It isn't a technique. It's a surrender. The animal in you is the only thing that knows how to survive. Let it hunt."
The voice of Lin Xuan. But not as he remembered it—this one came from deeper, beneath the flesh, beneath thought itself.
Vaibhav's body twitched. His chest rose once. His lips parted, breath silent.
The Boar King raised its tusk again.
But the air changed.
A pressure radiated outward—so dense, so suffocating, even Shin froze mid-motion. The flames around the battlefield bent toward Vaibhav's body as though pulled by gravity.
The boy's fingers flexed.
He wasn't conscious.
Yet something was moving him.
A shadow bled across his eyes—black sclera spreading like ink. His irises turned white, glowing faintly beneath the dust.
A hush fell across the battlefield.
The Boar King hesitated, snorting steam, sensing danger but not understanding it.
Vaibhav's body stood upright, slow and deliberate. Every muscle shifted like a predator stretching after centuries of sleep. His breathing was measured, calm—too calm.
Shin whispered, "Vyuk...?"
No answer.
The creature roared and charged.
Vaibhav didn't flinch.
The ground shattered as the Boar King lunged, tusks tearing through rock. But Vaibhav moved—too fast to follow. He sidestepped, his motion fluid, seamless, his palm striking the beast's snout. Bone cracked. A flash of black heat rippled outward, invisible but deafening.
Shin's eyes widened. "That's... not Severed Unity."
Alicia felt the same pressure that Lin Xuan once emitted—the primal presence that crushed the soul before touching the body.
Vaibhav twisted, his foot sweeping upward. The world seemed to distort—air tearing with a low hum.
The Boar King screamed, blood and molten matter spraying across the valley.
Vaibhav landed silently, one hand still raised, eyes unblinking.
He didn't roar. He didn't speak.
He simply moved.
Each step carried precision beyond instinct—like something inside him had learned to fight while the conscious mind slept.
The beast tried to retaliate, slamming its tusks again, but Vaibhav ducked and countered with a bare-handed strike that crushed through molten armor.
Flesh tore. Fire hissed.
Shin stood frozen. Alicia's hand trembled mid-spell.
They both felt it—something ancient, something wrong.
Vaibhav twisted his wrist, snapping the tusk clean off. He spun, kicking upward—his foot connecting with the beast's jaw.
A thunder crack split the sky.
Half the Boar King's face disintegrated. The shockwave flattened nearby rocks.
For a moment, there was silence.
The massive creature swayed, its molten eyes dimming, then collapsed with a quake that echoed for miles.
Vaibhav stood over it, his head tilted down, his shadow long and still.
The air shimmered around him.
Then, slowly, his body swayed. His breathing returned—ragged, human again.
The black sclera faded. The glow dimmed.
Vaibhav's knees buckled. He fell forward, unconscious, his hand landing on the cooled lava.
Shin rushed forward, catching him before his head hit the ground.
"Hey, Vyuk! Wake up, damn it!" he yelled.
Alicia knelt beside him, a worried look on her face.
But before she could speak, it vanished—like it had never been.
For a long while, there was only silence. The smell of ash, burnt metal, and fear filled the air.
The mighty Boar King lay motionless, its charred hide cracking under its own weight. The once-towering beast looked finally dead.
Shin exhaled shakily. "It's… over."
He didn't notice Alicia's expression tighten. Her pupils dilated.
A low vibration rippled through the earth.
The Boar King's massive body twitched. Its veins bulged with dull crimson light, molten blood surging once again.
Cracks formed along its tusks—then it moved.
A guttural roar tore through the forest, shaking the very roots beneath their feet.
"Shin—move!" Alicia screamed, pulling him back as the beast's head jerked upward, eyes blazing like molten glass.
The Boar King was standing again. Its breath steamed with burning decay, the ground splitting beneath its hooves.
Shin froze in disbelief, his gaze flicking between the half-dead monster and Vaibhav's limp form lying only a few feet away.
The creature's glare locked onto the boy's unmoving body, its fury now something primal, hateful, personal.
The forest seemed to hold its breath as the beast let out a sound between a growl and a thunderclap—
And the fight began once more.