The wolves struck first.
They always did.
Two packs surged from opposite sides, flames flaring brighter as they accelerated, claws tearing grooves into the earth. Heat rolled through the forest like a wave, igniting leaves midair, turning breath into fire.
Kaelen didn't retreat.
He stepped in.
Gravity inverted around his legs—light on his body, crushing beneath theirs. The first wolf leapt, jaws wide—
—and Kaelen vanished.
Not teleportation.
Acceleration.
Time bent around him as he slid past the snapping maw, Axiomfall tracing a clean, almost gentle arc.
The wolf didn't realize it was dead until it landed.
Its head slid free, flames guttering out mid-air before the body collapsed in silence.
Kaelen was already moving.
A second wolf pounced from behind—telekinesis snapped its spine sideways mid-leap, forcing its body into an unnatural curve. Kaelen didn't look back. He thrust the sword backward once.
Gravity-coated steel punched through skull, brain, and flame alike.
The remaining wolves hesitated.
That was their mistake.
Kaelen lifted one hand.
Area-wide gravity compression.
The ground beneath the pack imploded inward, forcing them together, bodies crashing into each other under invisible pressure. Flames surged wildly, turning chaotic.
Kaelen exhaled.
One Breath.
Time slowed.
He stepped forward, walking through burning air as if it were mist, each movement precise, economical. His blade flashed—short, controlled cuts, no wasted motion.
One slash to the neck.
One through the chest.
One upward cut that split a wolf clean in half.
The last tried to flee.
Kaelen flicked his wrist.
Telekinetic force dragged it back mid-sprint, yanking it into the air. Kaelen leapt, gravity boosting him upward, and cleaved downward.
The body hit the ground in two smoldering pieces.
Silence returned.
Only briefly.
The trolls roared.
Three massive figures charged, clubs swinging with enough force to shatter stone. One brought its weapon down in a crushing arc—
Kaelen stepped sideways.
The club smashed the earth, shockwaves rippling outward.
Kaelen drove Axiomfall forward.
Not deep.
Not flashy.
Just enough.
Gravity surged through the blade and detonated inside the troll's torso. The creature froze, eyes wide—
—then collapsed inward as its core imploded.
The second troll swung horizontally.
Kaelen jumped.
Gravity lifted him just enough to clear the strike. He landed on the troll's shoulder, used it as footing, and stabbed downward through the skull.
The third troll hesitated.
Kaelen didn't.
He flicked his fingers.
The troll's club tore free from its grip, wrenched sideways by telekinesis. Kaelen followed, stepping into range, and cut clean through the neck.
Three bodies fell.
No difficulty.
No wasted effort.
Only efficiency.
Then—
The air shifted.
The drakes took flight.
Wings beat violently, heat surging as they rose above the treetops, circling, watching.
Kaelen looked up.
He floated.
Gravity obeyed instantly, lifting him until he stood in open air, level with them. The forest shrank below, smoke curling upward from the carnage.
Kaelen raised Axiomfall.
Time answered.
This technique wasn't brute force.
It wasn't speed.
It was inevitability.
John had taught him One Breath.
Axiomfall had taught him how to carve concepts.
Kaelen slashed once.
Then again.
Then again.
The blade cut empty air—no contact, no resistance.
Yet—
Time Slash.
The cuts did not exist in the present.
They traveled through time, threading themselves into every possible future the target could occupy.
The first drake screamed.
Its head separated from its body as if reality had corrected a mistake. The torso shredded into pieces a heartbeat later, time itself finishing the work.
Blood and scales rained downward.
Kaelen descended calmly.
He landed with one foot on solid ground—
—and the other on the drake's severed head.
Axiomfall hung in his right hand, crimson dripping from the edge.
Kaelen gave the blade a sharp flick.
Blood scattered cleanly from the steel.
Behind him—
A shadow passed overhead.
The second drake descended slowly, fury and fear burning equally in its eyes.
Kaelen raised Axiomfall and pointed it forward.
His stance was relaxed.
His breathing steady.
"Come."
And the forest braced itself.