A year had passed since Sera and his group had trained with Grimjaw and Venna. The training grounds still echoed in their memories. Sera still remained at the initial stages of C core while Grimbold, Nokka, and Gia had all skyrocketed to the peak of their D core.
Grimbold's spirit gift was called Terralord, Gia's was Saintess, and Nokka's was Darkborne. Gia's gift was a light elemental ability which had restorative effects while also being deadly in offense. Nokka's ability was the opposite—she could cast dark spells, but unlike Venna, she was purely offensive and mostly trained with daggers.
Sera had two abilities, one for each existence he lived. For the god Azrael, he received a katana—the Allborn Katana—a blade forged from all elements and weak to none, its metal gleaming with an otherworldly sheen. For his identity as Sera, he received the gift Space Lord, a power that remained as mysterious to him as it was potent. Spirit energy for monsters, unlike humans, depended on how much they had within them. While monsters couldn't gather energy like humans to grow, they could easily absorb energy from consuming the cores of other monsters.
All the young ogres who joined the training had grown noticeably stronger, even those who couldn't unlock their spirit gifts after failing the battles in their soulscapes.
They had all come to an open clearing where they would take the test that determined if they could join the warrior ranks as fledglings for expeditions. One coming up was the Grothek Vulkash, a tradition that every ogre tribe waited for yearly.
The clearing stretched before them, dappled with afternoon sunlight filtering through the canopy above. Murmurs rippled through the crowd when suddenly everything went silent as a figure appeared. It was Sarion, chieftain of the Crimson clan—a sight that commanded respect from his people and adoration from the children. Veryan and Thakkor flanked him on both sides. As he approached the front, he cleared his throat before speaking.
"Offspring of our Crimson tribe, you are the new generation of this village—our future. Today you will venture into the wild and hunt without parental watch. I want you all to move out as family and carry out your objective."
Sarion paused, his gaze settling on where Sera and his group stood before continuing. "You will spend three days outside the settlement. Your goal is simple: hunt down five horned lycans. Upon returning, you will all receive the warrior mark. Good luck."
Sarion turned and walked out of the clearing without giving another glance to his son. Veryan stayed back to handle the process. They were supposed to break into groups of four and hunt down five lycans. Horned lycans were rank B monsters, almost as strong as oni, but their fangs were necessary for becoming a warrior—all ogres wore them as necklaces to show they had earned their status. As Sarion said, they would spend three days with no one coming to look for them.
Sera had worked hard to convince Bria to let him go, even promising to bring back a carnivorous stag. Though Bria was a mother, she was an ogre first, and strength meant everything to them. Once she believed Sera was confident he could succeed, she let him go.
The others had also proven themselves before coming here. They all rushed into the forest, with Sera and his usual group taking the lead. They were eager to see the world outside their settlement.
---
After moving through the dense forest for some time, the group decided to take a break. Ancient trees towered overhead, their thick canopy making afternoon feel like twilight. They had traveled for two hours and were sure they had reached the thicket described to them. The groups spread out to rest among the massive roots.
A certain ogre watched Sera's group with hateful eyes, though none of them noticed as they were, as usual, bickering about something.
"You idiot!" Gia shouted as she grabbed Sera by the ear. It had been long since their training started, and during that time they hadn't seen each other. Gia had been hearing about Sera's actions during training—how he helped others, even the female ogres.
Gia's cheeks turned red as she tugged on Sera's ear. "Gia, no! I can explain—" Sera said in pain, looking to Grimbold for help.
Before his friend could respond, a hateful voice spoke from nearby. "How pathetic! Really touching—the chief's son and our former enemy's bloodline having a nice reunion. Have you forgotten how these Yin caused troubles for us? Even now the Trollbreed are attacking because we defeated them."
The ogre had a brawny build like Grimbold but seemed stronger. The other three ogres in his group nodded in agreement as they stirred up trouble. "I have been waiting for this day when the older ones would finally leave us alone so I can teach you a lesson. I am Ragna, son of Thakkor, and I consider any Yin bloodline to be my enemy. So young master, choose between your own people and your enemies."
Hearing this, Gia released Sera's ear. He looked at Ragna without saying a word, then glanced at Grimbold, who appeared saddened by the words. He looked at Nokka, who had an angry expression, and finally at the faces of all the Yin present before walking forward.
Seeing this, Ragna raised his hand to greet Sera. "I knew you'd make the right choice, young mast—"
SMACK!
The sound of Sera's slap echoed through the clearing, leaving everyone stunned and silent.
Ragna's hand flew to his burning cheek, his eyes wide with disbelief. The chieftain's son had actually dared to strike him! Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth where Sera's fingers had caught him. Even though the ogres respected the chieftain's bloodline, they still bowed to raw power. To Ragna, Sera was nothing more than a pampered princeling playing at being a warrior—and now that prince had signed his own death warrant.
"This little bastard!" Ragna's voice cracked with rage, spittle flying from his lips. "You dare strike me? ME?" His whole body trembled with fury. At sixteen, he towered over eleven-year-old Sera like a mountain over a pebble. The boy had just stepped into the world of spirit energy, completely unaware that he was about to face a predator who would tear him apart.
Ragna's fist shot forward like a battering ram, but the very air seemed to revolt against him. The ground exploded as five massive boulders erupted upward, their jagged surfaces gleaming with deadly intent as they hung suspended above Sera's head like executioner's axes.
Every ogre in the clearing gasped and stepped back. Grimbold's eyes blazed with protective fury—one wrong move and he'd crush Ragna's skull like an eggshell.
But Sera? Sera simply raised one hand with infuriating casualness, a smile playing at his lips like he was greeting an old friend. "It's fine, Grimbold. I've been looking forward to making my debut anyway."
The tension crackled like lightning as Grimbold reluctantly lowered the boulders, each one crashing to the forest floor with bone-shaking thuds that made the earth tremble. But his muscles remained coiled springs, ready to unleash hell if Sera so much as stumbled.
Gia and Nokka exchanged worried glances before calling out in unison, their voices tight with concern, "Don't kill him, Sera!"
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. Here stood scrawny little Sera, looking like a twig next to Ragna's towering frame, and his friends were worried about him being too merciful? The absurdity sent murmurs of confusion through the watching ogres.
Sera's wink back at the girls was pure arrogance wrapped in boyish charm, causing them to shake their heads in exasperated affection despite their fear.
A sinister smile stretched across Ragna's face as crimson light began to bleed from his pores like liquid fire. The transformation was grotesque and beautiful—his skin turned the color of fresh blood as raw power coursed through his veins. His bones cracked and lengthened, muscles swelling until his shirt tore away in shreds. When the light faded, a true oni stood before them, 6'1" of pure predatory menace.
The temperature in the clearing seemed to drop ten degrees. Several of the younger ogres whimpered and took involuntary steps backward.
"Behold, little prince," Ragna's voice had deepened to a rumbling growl that seemed to come from the depths of hell itself. "This is my spirit gift—Forced Evolution. I can ascend beyond my limits, become what others only dream of being. This is why I will lead our generation, why I will claim the chieftain's throne that your weak bloodline doesn't deserve."
His transformed presence radiated menace like heat from a forge. Even Nokka and Gia felt ice crawl up their spines as doubt crept into their hearts. Could Sera really handle this monster? But Sera remained utterly unmoved, as if facing down a transformed oni was as mundane as watching grass grow. Without a word, he knelt and pressed his palm flat against the forest floor. When he spoke, his voice carried an otherworldly chill that made everyone's blood run cold.
"Black Field."
Darkness erupted from his touch like a plague spreading across the land. The shadow wasn't mere absence of light—it writhed and pulsed with malevolent life, consuming every inch of ground until the entire clearing looked like the surface of a nightmare. Ancient trees seemed to recoil from its touch.
The watching ogres stumbled backward in terror, some crying out in primal fear. What unholy power was this? What kind of demon had they awakened?
Ragna's confident laughter died in his throat, but he forced it out anyway, the sound brittle and hollow. "Parlor tricks? Shadow puppets? Is this supposed to impress me, you pathetic—"
Sera's voice cut through Ragna's bravado like a blade through silk. One word, spoken with the finality of a judge pronouncing a death sentence.
"Converge."
The shadow responded like a living thing, flowing and writhing as it abandoned the outer reaches of the clearing. It rushed inward like a black tide, forming a perfect circle around Ragna's feet—a prison of pure darkness. Sera spoke another one word striking the deal.
"Down!"
Then the pressure hit.
Ragna's eyes bulged as an invisible mountain slammed down on his shoulders. His knees buckled instantly, the transformed oni's mighty frame trembling like a leaf in a hurricane. He roared in defiance, every muscle straining against the crushing force, but the darkness only squeezed tighter in response.
"What—" he gasped, sweat beading on his crimson skin, "—what is this?"
Sera tilted his head with mock curiosity, his voice dripping with venomous amusement. "What's wrong, Ragna? Having trouble standing? Don't tell me the great future chieftain is struggling to stay on his feet."
The crowd watched in stunned silence as their supposed strongest was brought to his knees by a boy they'd dismissed as weak. The impossible was happening before their very eyes.
Ragna's defiance shattered like glass. His massive oni form collapsed face-first into the earth with a sickening crack that echoed through the forest. The ground beneath him began to splinter and cave inward as the relentless pressure drove him deeper into the soil like a nail being hammered into wood.
His breathing became ragged gasps, then desperate wheezes. Blood trickled from his nose and mouth as his consciousness flickered like a dying flame. The crater around his body grew wider and deeper until finally, mercifully, his eyes rolled back and darkness claimed him.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Sera straightened slowly, casually brushing dirt from his palm as the malevolent shadow vanished without a trace. He turned toward his group with the same serene smile he'd worn throughout the entire encounter, as if he'd just finished a pleasant conversation rather than nearly killing someone.
When he spoke, his voice carried across the clearing with absolute authority, branding his words into every soul present.
"Listen carefully." Each word dropped like a stone into still water. "If any of you have a problem with the Yin bloodline, you're welcome to come and discuss it with me personally—if you can find the courage. Consider what you've witnessed today your only warning."
The threat hung in the air like smoke. Ragna's followers scrambled to drag their unconscious leader from the crater, their hands shaking as they avoided meeting Sera's gaze. Not one ogre in the clearing would ever forget this moment—or dare to test the chieftain's son again.