BOOOOOOMMM—!
A blasting voice.
The shadow turned back.
And shocked...
He didn't believe what he saw with his eyes.
The air was filled with dust of smoke.
Broken leaves, crushed fruits and shattered stone spread in surrounding. The scent of Ramfal sap mixed with blood and scorched earth, clinging heavy in the valley near the gate.
Limbo stood at the centre of it panting lightly.
Huff...huff...Huff.
Lightning flickered faintly along the hand holding the spear, it's hum was low but steady. His breathing was controlled, measured, though it was a thin line of blood traced down his arm dripping slightly onto the ground.
Limbo's eyes were locked in front.
Opposite to the elder standing firmed.
The old man's drew out his staff— pressed into the earth carving a shallow groove. His white hair messed up by air flow, wrinkled old eyes but still sharp and can spoke the the things they have seen throughout the life, not just days.
The soldier's around them hesitated.
No one dared to moved nor anyone spoke.
Not even the captain.
The grove itself seemed to be waiting.
You blocked it, the elder said slowly.
His voice carried the wright, not just bluff, not angry but undeniable.
That strike, he continues, was meant to break your will... And your resolve.
Limbo met his gaze without flinching.
I know.
I guessed that as well.
A murmured through the surrounding warriors, a 7 yrs old child blocked the elder something that even—.
Gaja tightened his grip on his blades. Rin's vines twitched, cooling instinctively around the wrists.
Sambha stood behind them frozen, small hands were shaking under the cloak.
The elder's eyes narrowed.
You...are not from this land, he said. Yet you crossed out gate you fought with our guards, and overwhelmed them, even stood against the authority.
A faint smile that no one saw.
And now, the elder said, you stand against me.
The pressure changes.
The become more compressed, folding inward as if the valley itself was being forced to bow before him. Stone groaned. Loose tiny stone particles lifted from the ground in tremble with vibration.
Several soldiers fall back a steps.
Rin sucked in a sharp breath. That's —!
Gaja swore under his breath. "Tch...this old man isn't holding back."
Limbo exhaled slowly.
Neither am I, this i didn't wanted but I can't put everyone's life on line.
The elder stepped forward.
The ground shattered beneath his foot.
He swung his staff. Not fast. Not in flashy way. But absolute.
The strike carried no wasted motion - only raw, refined force horned over centuries and countless battels. Mana surged outward in a crushing wave, distorting space itself as it directs towards Limbo.
In that instant.
Limbo moved.
His spear spun. Once... Twice..
Faster..
Mana flooded the weapon, thread of lightning wrapping around the rotating shaft reinforcing it, stabilizing it. His feet dug into the ground, muscles screaming as he channels power not for an attack.
But to endure and protect.
The impact hit.
BOOOOOOOM—!!
The explosion tore through the give like a thunderclap from the heavens.
Stone pillars around the ramfal cracked down in the middle.
Ramfal trees bent violently, fruits bursting into light midair.
The shockwave blasted outward, throwing solder off their feet like leaves in a storm.
Rin slammed backward, but manage to stand tall with vine.
Gaja skidded, blades carrying in hands.
Sambha screamed —hands over his ears as he collapsed on his knees.
At the centre.
Limbo and elders stood.
Limbo's boots were buried half-deep in the ground. Blood dripping slowly now, staining with dirt under him. His spear trembled violently in his grip, lightning flickering violently before stabilizing again.
The elder's staff had cracked.
Not broken.
Silence followed.
Thick.
Unnatural.
Few soldiers dropped their weapons.
Another whispered, "He...j stopped it...
Gaja stared, eyes wide open full of surprises.
....he actually stopped it.
Gaja feel the moment just right before the attack, "This old man isn't a joke, can't be taken lightly... He's instinct were screaming his Master of unformidabke strength, and he didn't even using....
Limbo stand tall slowly, pain flaring through every nerve. He ignored it.
If you're done, he said calmly, "then listen."
The elder studied him.
Not as an enemy, not even as a prey.
But something unfamiliar, still a connection.
You endured, the elder said quietly.
I had to, Limbo replied. "If I fell... everyone behind me would fall too."
And who knows what will you do to them.
A strange flickered crossed the elder's eyes.
Behind the battlefield —far above , upon a fractured stone ridge.
The shadow moved.
Tall.
Broad.
A presence like embers beneath bone and fur.
He had watched silently since the gate opened.
Or may be way before that..
Now, he took one step forward.
... intresting, the low voice murmured.
Below the elder lifted his staff again but this time, slower.
You fight without killing, he said. "You restrain power you clearly possess."
Limbo didn't answer.
He just stayed.
The elder's gaze shifts towards Sambha.
That child was trembling, but his eyes were locked on Limbo's back.
...it's too loud, sambha whispered.
The words hits something invisible.
The elder lowered his staff.
The soldier's froze, confused and uncertain.
Then.
A pressure fall.
Not violent.
Not oppressive.
But absolute. Every warrior felt it.
The elder stiffened.
His eyes widened a fraction.
From the distance, the shadow turned back towards the battlefield.
...so, the voice rumbled, faint but resonant,
"This is how it begins."
Witness the you follow, and learn...
What it means to be.
....what you'll need.
To rule.
The valley trembled.
Somewhere deep beneath the stone and roots of this land—
Something ancient stirred.
The elder took a slow step back.
For the first time— He hesitated.
"This strange feeling."
This never happened before—
Since he—.
"What does it means!"
The shadow look at direction, where the —.
And the battlefield held its breath.
Something grand or tiny, that no-one thought to be possible.
What is it?
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