"I really don’t know what to say," Azel muttered, kneeling beside Feng and placing a steady hand on his subordinate’s head.
Warm, golden light spread from his palm, cascading across Feng’s battered body like liquid sunlight.
The swollen cheeks began to ease.
The black eye diminished.
Cuts sealed themselves shut, leaving behind faint, silvery traces before vanishing entirely.
Even the ugly claw marks across Feng’s chest faded under the steady flow of restorative magic.
Feng exhaled shakily, shoulders sagging in relief.
Azel sighed.
His crimson gaze sharpened as he studied the boy’s pathetic state.
’I was comparing myself during my first monster hunt to him... and honestly, I did far better.’
He remembered stumbling through the forest filled with hostile creatures, bleeding and terrified, but even then, he had learned quickly.
He hadn’t looked this pitiful.
"You should really stop playing around," Azel said flatly, though his hand lingered just long enough to finish the healing.
Feng’s eyes snapped to his master’s.
For a moment, his lips trembled as if he wanted to argue but then his shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Even if these frost monkeys didn’t deal any serious damage," Azel continued, his tone carrying the weight of experience, "that doesn’t mean the next monsters we face will spare you. Monsters don’t forgive mistakes. They don’t wait for you to catch up."
"I understand," Feng said, gripping his spear tightly until his knuckles whitened.
His voice trembled, but determination colored it nonetheless. "I’m just... clumsy. I’ve never used a weapon before. Neither do I have any weapon arts."
Azel raised an eyebrow.
’Oh?’
That was unusual.
In the game’s flow of events, Feng had already shown basic spear techniques by the time he awakened his mana.
But now? He didn’t have any experience?
"So you don’t have any experience?" Azel asked carefully.
"Yes, Master," Feng admitted.
He looked away, shame burning in his cheeks.
"I’ve only admired from afar." His voice lowered hopefully. "But if you would teach me later..."
Feng wanted to learn the sword, he really did but for the rest of today he just wanted to rest, getting beaten by Frost monkeys was already enough.
He would get some rest and then take revenge another day.
"Alright. Stand up. We’re burning daylight."
Feng blinked in surprise, then scrambled to his feet.
"Instead of introducing you to other monsters like I originally planned, we’ll just fight frost monkeys today."
The boy’s face fell instantly.
’Nooooo...’
"Okay, Master," he added quickly when Azel shot him a sharp look.
They trekked deeper into the forest, snow crunching beneath their boots.
The air grew colder and their breaths fogged before them.
Eventually, the chatter of monkeys echoed faintly through the trees.
They stopped at the base of a towering pine.
High above, a frost monkey dangled from a branch with one hand, nibbling lazily on a strange berry.
Feng frowned.
"Berries? Here?"
He didn’t understand how anything so delicate could survive this frozen wasteland.
Azel, however, didn’t care about the botany.
He saw an opportunity.
"There." He pointed at the oblivious creature far above. "Throw your spear at it."
"Eh?" Feng squinted, following his master’s finger. His mouth twitched.
The monkey looked like a distant speck to him. "It’s so far away."
"What do you mean? It’s just there," Azel said, continuing to point as though it were right in front of them.
His tone suggested it was obvious, almost insulting to think otherwise.
Feng stared at him, then at the monkey.
’Master, do you even realize what you’re pointing at?’
Sometimes, he truly wondered if he was a normal human at all.
Azel called the bone spear "light," as they were heading home but Feng could barely carry it without straining.
Azel could see targets at distances Feng couldn’t even dream of.
The gap was infuriating.
Still, Feng lifted the spear. His arms shook, but his resolve solidified.
"You won’t be able to throw that far normally," Azel instructed, stepping back to give him room. "So pour your full power into it. Use your mana."
Feng nodded, swallowing down nerves.
He stomped his right foot into the snow, steadying himself.
He could feel Azel’s crimson gaze on him, he had already disappointed once.
’I can’t disappoint Master,’ he thought fiercely.
He inhaled deeply, cold wisps leaving his lips, and willed his mana into the weapon.
The bone spear responded, glowing faintly, runes etched into its length flickering alive.
He tried to recall the movements of his sect elder, the majestic, flowing form of a technique he had once admired in secret.
Slowly, he mimicked it.
His stance widened, shoulders square, every ounce of mana pooling into his arms.
"Heavenly Spear Projection!" Feng roared, giving the name dramatic weight.
The spear exploded forward, tearing through the air with frightening speed.
Wind howled in its wake, a sonic boom splitting the quiet forest.
Feng’s eyes widened as he tracked its flight.
It stabbed directly into the frost monkey’s skull with deadly precision.
Blood splattered across the branch as the beast collapsed.
Instantly, a surge of mana flowed into Feng, making his heart race.
But then —
The spear didn’t stop.
It kept flying upward after killing the monkey, embedding itself deep into the trunk of the tree.
Right above several other frost monkeys.
The cluster of creatures paused.
Their heads turned in unison, glowing blue eyes narrowing as they stared first at the spear, then down at Feng.
The boy paled.
He raised a trembling hand. "Uh... mistake?"
A beat of silence passed.
Then the forest exploded with furious cries.
The monkeys shrieked, their claws flashing as they leapt from branch to branch, descending like a snowstorm of death.
Snow scattered.
The ground trembled.
The air itself seemed to shiver from their combined screeches.
Feng’s jaw dropped.
His stomach sank.
His life flashed before his eyes.
"MASTER! HELP!" he screamed, spinning on his heel and bolting backward.
His feet slipped in the snow as he tripped, scrambled, and stumbled, his arms flailing wildly.
Azel, watching with an utterly blank expression, pinched the bridge of his nose.
’Is he really the Demon of Annihilation?’
Azel couldn’t help but wonder.