The atmosphere inside the Sacred Forge was a suffocating, living hell. Sweat evaporated into hissing steam before a single drop could hit the scorched stone floor. The air tasted of sulfur, iron, and desperation.
“WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!”
The Forge Master’s voice tore through the roaring furnace flames like a whip, cracking against the stone walls. He stepped into the light, his eyes burning with an unforgiving glare as he loomed over the battered forms of Ren and Kael.
“You two are the weakest links of the entire Commandments!” the Forge Master snarled, saliva flying from his lips as he struck his heavy iron staff onto the ground. “Look at yourselves! Pathetic! Do you think the enemy will wait for you to catch your breath? When the Septem Peccata arrive, the world will bleed! You will either be a weapon forged in this fire, or you will be a corpse rotting beneath their boots!”
Ren pushed himself up from the ground, his muscles trembling, his vision blurring from exhaustion.
“Ren!” the Forge Master barked, pointing a scarred finger at the boy’s chest. “You walk like a shadow of Silarias! You hide in his reflection! But a shadow cannot survive the darkness ahead! You must become your own sun! Ignite your own light or burn to ash!”
He spun on his heel, his furious gaze locking onto Kael, who was panting heavily, his arms hanging like lead weights.
“And Kael! Your technique is slow! Slow as thick, stagnant syrup! Faster! Harder! Force your internal mana output to go beyond! Do not just manipulate it, force it to explode! Change your mode from build to destroy!”
“Ahhhhhhh!” Kael roared, a primal scream tearing from his throat. He forced his mana past its safety limits, and suddenly, his arms began to glow with blinding, white hot intensity. The sheer pressure cracked the stone beneath his feet as he fought to stabilize the volatile energy, locking himself into a terrifying new Overdrive Mode.
Beside him, Ren closed his eyes, tapping into the deepest, wildest corners of his soul. He stopped trying to mimic the light and embraced the raw, untamed fury within. His shadow began to warp, stretching and twisting into something monstrous, clawed, and savage. The darkness crept up his skin, a brutal transformation tearing through his veins, his first agonizing step toward the Beast Shift Mode.
In the deep background, the rest of the forge was a symphony of chaos. Beat was screaming into the void, throwing his entire body directly into the raging furnace flames. He wasn’t hiding from the heat, he was using it to harden his copper gears. Blue white lightning bolts suddenly sliced through the crimson forge fire, shattering the air with deafening thuds. This was the overwhelming, volatile tension of Beat’s Raijin’s Volt Anting. In this fully Awakened Form, the neon blue light pulsing from his gears was blinding.
“OHW YEAH! FEEL THE TENSION!” Beat roared, his voice completely distorting with harsh, mechanical static. “Zzz t… Zzz t! WATCH ME BREAK THE RESTRAINT!”
Using the chaotic surge of the electricity, Beat forced his body past its absolute limits, shattering the barrier to his 2nd form. He synchronized his very heartbeat with the lightning, rewriting his physical structure on the fly.
“Thunder God Overdrive!”
With a deafening crack, Beat transformed into a living bolt of pure, localized lightning, moving through the forge faster than sound, leaving trails of melted stone in his wake.
Meanwhile, at the absolute center of the inferno, Silarias and Nyx remained in a deep, terrifyingly quiet meditative state. They didn’t move an inch, yet the air around them was warping. Their spiritual auras were clashing in midair, grinding against each other with the force of colliding continents as they perfected their combination attacks. Silarias tapped into the ancient, royal mythos. He summoned the power of the Bansaday’s Flying Lion. He didn’t just roar distortion, he channeled his absolute presence into a single, focused point.
“BEGONE!” Silarias roared. The shout wasn’t just loud, it was a hyper focused sonic beam that tore through the space ahead, shattering illusions and fracturing reality itself. Nyx moved in perfect symmetry with his destruction. She glided through the flames like liquid moonlight, her movements silent but lethal. With a flicker of her eyes, she switched seamlessly between the absolute, piercing sharpness of the New Moon and the explosive, radiant bursts of the Full Moon, complementing Silarias’s raw power with lethal grace.
Away from the brutal heat of the forge, in a quiet, shadowy corner of the sanctuary, a different kind of tension was brewing. Luna stood over Nyx’s bag, her small hands trembling as she pulled out a heavy, mysterious book bound in ancient leather. She stared light dancing across the glowing runes on the cover, her jaw set with a stubborn expression.
“I’m not staying behind anymore,” she muttered to herself, her voice shaking with a mix of fear and rebellion. “I don’t want to be the little girl who just sits and waits while everyone else fights.”
She turned around, waving her hands urgently to call Ren and Miki over to the corner. The two children approached cautiously, looking over their shoulders to ensure the elders were still occupied.
“Look,” Luna whispered, her eyes wide as she opened the book to a marked page. “I’ve seen Nyx do it a hundred times. It’s easy. If we can use magic to teleport into this forge, we can definitely use it to go to the Bazaar for some treats! We’ll be back before they even notice we’re gone. Watch me…”
“Luna, wait, maybe we shouldn’t touch Nyx’s stuff,” Ren warned, reaching out a hand.
“Don’t be a chicken, Ren! Watch!”
Luna began to recite the incantation, but she lacked the discipline, the training, and the control. The moment the words left her lips, the ancient magic didn’t obey her, it reacted violently to her untamed, volatile bloodline. The air turned freezing cold. The book began to shake violently in her hands, emitting a sickening, deep purple glow.
“Luna! Stop it!” Miki cried out, taking a step back.
“I… I can’t let go! It’s stuck!” Luna screamed.
Instead of a simple, clean spatial jump to the Ward, reality itself groaned. A horrific sound of tearing fabric echoed through the corner as a jagged, chaotic portal ripped open in the middle of the air. It wasn’t a gateway, it was a gaping maw, surrounded by shifting, shadowy shapes that looked like razor sharp claws and snapping teeth. Before any of them could scream for help, a violent, gravitational pull dragged them forward. The portal swallowed Luna, Ren, Miki, and Koda whole, snapping shut behind them with a heavy thud.
In the center of the forge, the absolute focus of the meditation shattered. Nyx’s eyes snapped open, glowing with a pure, silver light of absolute, mortal terror. She clutched her chest, feeling the spiritual tether to Luna snap like a frayed rope.
“LUNA!” Nyx shrieked, her voice echoing across the mountains.
The fall through the void felt like an eternity of spinning darkness, ending in a brutal, bone jarring crash. The three children and Koda tumbled out onto damp, mossy ground, gasping for air as they took in their new surroundings. The transition was an absolute shock to the senses. The air was thick, heavy with the smell of rotting vegetation, iron, and wild, unwashed beasts. This was the Beast-human Realm, a world governed by brutal, unforgiving nature.
Because the realm was shrouded in absolute night for three quarters of the day, the ecosystem had evolved into a nightmare. In the shadows of the massive, towering trees, predators slinked through the brush. They possessed massive, bio luminescent eyes that glowed with eerie greens and purples, and their oversized ears could pick up the faint flutter of a bird’s heart from miles away.
But the darkness wasn’t the only danger. When the sun finally rose for that brief, single quarter of the day, it wasn’t a gentle dawn. It was a fierce, blood red flash that exploded across the sky, a violent glare that completely blinded any creature accustomed to the deep dark. This was the land of the Beast-humans, beings who were half human and half wild animal, living under a strict, unyielding hierarchy where only the strongest had the right to speak, and the weak were merely food.
Luna scrambled to her knees, her eyes frantic as she searched the grass. “The book… where is the book? I dropped it! I lost the Grimoire!”
Ren scrambled to feet, pulling his sword from its scabbard. The metal clinked loudly in the quiet jungle. He tried to stand tall, but his hands were shaking so violently he could barely maintain his grip.
“Miki… stay behind me,” Ren whispered, his voice cracking.
The jungle around them began to wake up. The sounds echoing through the brush weren’t the gentle songs of birds, they were the low, guttural growls of hungry hunters who had just caught the unmistakable, sweet scent of human flesh. Crimson and yellow eyes began to blink open in the dark foliage, circling them. Suddenly, a massive, echoing cracking sound boomed from a large cave nearby, completely overpowering the terrifying noises of the jungle. The predators in the bushes whimpered, momentarily backing away from the sound.
Trembling in the deep purple shadows of the gargantuan cave entrance, the children and Koda huddled together, staring into the darkness. Then, he emerged.
The way the creature stumbled out of the cave was an absolute assault on the senses. He didn’t walk, he swayed violently from side to side. One of his legs was significantly shorter than the other, turned completely outward at an unnatural angle. His spine didn’t run straight, it coiled like a thick, twisted snake beneath his scarred skin. His arms were thin and frail, looking like brittle tree branches, but they ended in absolutely enormous, heavy, work worn hands that dangled asymmetrically at his sides.
“Hel.. looooo haha.. Play.. hahhaa,” the figure babbled. He lifted one giant, calloused hand, trying to wave at them, but his limited motor skills made the gesture look like a frantic, jerky spasm. He tilted his head, a wide, distorted smile stretching across his face.
Miki held her breath, her eyes welling with tears of pure terror. She squeezed her eyes shut, bravely forcing herself to quote the lessons of her mentors just to keep from breaking down.
“Silarias says… a warrior sees beyond the exterior!” Miki whimpered, her voice trembling but determined. “Be the flame, not the smoke!”
Ren swallowed hard, his knuckles white around his sword hilt as he remembered the words of their first mentor. “And Juro… Juro says the strongest souls are found in the most broken vessels! What would the heroes do right now? We don’t run.”
As they stared at the deformed man, the initial paralyzing fear began to melt away, replaced by a heavy, crushing realization of the absolute, agonizing loneliness this man must live in. He wasn’t a monster, he was completely isolated from the world. Without a word, instinct took over. The children reached into their pockets, pulling out the candy they had brought for their trip to the Bazaar, and gently extended their hands. Miki looked at the man’s nearly naked, scarred body, and without hesitation, she tore pieces of her own outer clothing, stepping forward to gently wrap them around his shoulders to cover him.
“COME hahha,” the man laughed, his eyes suddenly glowing with a bright, childlike joy at the sudden, unexpected attention. He reached out, his massive hands surprisingly gentle as he pulled the children into the deeper depths of the cavern. Koda stepped forward, positioning his body as a small beast wall between the children and the unknown, shifting shadows of the cave. But to show the children everything was truly okay, the wolf gently leaned down and sniffed the man’s hand, letting out a soft whine.
“Everyone.. I.. make.. this.. masterpiece..,” the man muttered, guiding them into a massive chamber filled with jagged rocks, dust, and heavy, dirt covered cloths. “Ha-haha MAKE I.. pretty..” He waved his oversized hands at empty spots in the air, bowing low and smiling as if an invisible, grand audience were standing there cheering for him.
“I.. Bogo the Ugly.. P…P…Pleased to meet you,” he said, stuttering over the words, trying his absolute best to be polite. Wanting to help him clean his home, the children immediately ran to the covered walls, rubbing at the dirt and dust like madmen, trying to clear the debris.
A click echoed as Bogo struck a flint, and a massive, bioluminescent crystal hanging from the ceiling ignited. The sudden burst of light revealed that the cave wasn’t just a tunnel, it was a gargantuan, breathtaking dome. And then, the children fell completely silent.
Beneath the dirty, heavy cloths were not piles of random stones. They were the most magnificent, breathtaking statues humanity had ever produced. Bogo ran forward, excitedly ripping the heavy covers away one by one, revealing masterpieces so intricately carved, so perfect in their anatomy and emotion, that Luna and Koda spontaneously burst into tears just looking at them. It was a level of raw, sublime beauty that the greatest artists in the entire realm only dared to dream of creating.
But as the children marveled at his art, mikis eyes began to sparkle ,with an newly gained respect,she began to ask :“your mom must be proud !? “ Bogo’s expression changed. A terrible, tragic laughing expression twisted his face, and he began to quote the words of his mother, his voice a mocking echo of the past.
“You are a disgrace to our name.. stay here.. haha! I don’t want to see you anymore.. ha ha..” Heavy, warm tears rolled down his deformed, twisted cheeks, even as his mouth kept laughing hysterically. “Yes, mama forgot me, I think, hahha…”
Bogo turned around, his gaze falling upon the very center of the gargantuan dome. There stood a two meter high, flawlessly carved statue of his mother. It was created with a level of obsession, love, and passion that cut straight to the bone. The absolute silence in the cave was no longer one of fear, it was a profound, mournful tribute to the man the world had thrown away, who had chosen to make the world more beautiful all on his own in the dark.
Hours inside the deep cavern flew by, regulated entirely by the strange, rhythmic cadence of Bogo’s wooden laughter. Despite his broken speech, the deformed artist possessed a profound, instinctual understanding of energy, and he began to teach the children about their own hidden strength in the simplest ways possible.
“You… fire,” Bogo said one afternoon, stepping up to Miki and pointing a massive, calloused finger directly over her heart. “Don’t blow… let grow… like sun.” Miki closed her eyes, realization dawning on her as she stopped trying to force her mana outward, instead letting it pool deep within her chest like a growing star.
Then, Bogo turned his attention to Ren, gently tapping the boy’s heel with his foot. “Foot.. firm.. like rock.. then sword.. fly.” Ren adjusted his stance, planting his weight deep into the earth, and felt an immediate shift in his balance, his blade slicing through the air with newfound, effortless speed.
As they spent more time together, Luna noticed something peculiar. Embedded deep into the side of Bogo’s neck was a small, brilliantly shining Anting. It was a rare, ancient core, pulsing with the immense, heavy power of a primal bull. This man wasn’t just a discarded exile, he was of royal blood.
“We have to take you to the Beast-human city,” Luna declared, looking at the statues. “They need to see who you are. They need to see what you’ve made.”
Bogo panicked at the thought, shaking his head violently. He scrambled across the floor, grabbing a large, coarse jute sack and pulling it entirely over his head, cutting two small eyeholes into the fabric.
“Sack is good… sack is shield… then Bogo only artist,” he muttered from beneath the cloth, his voice muffled but calm.
With Bogo hidden beneath the sack, his true identity completely concealed, the group packed their few belongings and began the long journey toward Oak-hart City. But they carried an even greater weight deep within their baggage. Among Bogo’s things, they had uncovered a grand, ancient war shield emblazoned with the crest of a mighty Bull. Per Bogo’s frantic, trembling wishes, the shield remained completely covered, wrapped tightly in heavy canvas to hide it from the world.
As the children, Koda, and the sack-covered Bogo finally crossed the threshold into Oak-hart City, they didn’t find the peace or answers they were seeking. Instead, they walked directly into a nation in the throes of total, violent revolt. The grand stone streets were filled with furious Bull Beast-humans screaming for justice. The air was thick, black smoke billowing into the sky as half the city burned to the ground around them.
“The new prince is corrupt!” a warrior roared from atop a crumbling wall. “He is a tyrant! We don’t want him! Down with the throne!”
The children gripped each other’s hands, Koda growling low as they moved through the absolute destruction in total horror. They navigated the burning streets, witnessing the bloody downfall of a great city while keeping Bogo’s true identity and the royal bull shield strictly under wraps.
Meanwhile, far away from the burning streets of the city, high up in the brutal, icy mountain pass leading toward the sacred lands of Oak-hart, a completely different confrontation was taking place.
Two figures trudged through the blinding, heavy snow. Jane and Aurelius kept their heads low against the biting wind, but their path was suddenly blocked. A dozen fierce warriors, the Hunters of the Benale Tribe, materialized from the whiteout, their primitive spears pointed directly at the travelers’ throats.
“I AM THE BLOOD OF BENALE!” Jane shouted, her voice ringing out across the frozen peaks as she threw back her hood, revealing her heritage. “LET ME PASS!”
The fierce hunters paused, recognizing the ultimate authority in her voice. Slowly, the crowd of warriors parted, stepping back into the mounting snow drifts. Out of the central temple of the mountain pass stepped a stately, powerful Beast woman clad in deep blue, embroidered silk. In her hand, she held a massive, heavy crystal scepter that hummed with ancient energy. She walked with absolute grace, stopping right in front of Jane and Aurelius, her cold eyes scanning them with intense scrutiny.
The high-ranking Beast woman in deep blue silk stood absolutely rigid, her expression turning into a mask of pure, unadulterated disdain. When she spoke, her voice didn’t just carry across the wind, it sounded like the horrific cracking of ancient ice, echoing with a chilling authority that made the very air freeze around them.
“The Blood of Benale?” she echoed, her eyes narrowing as her gaze shifted from Jane to Aurelius, piercing right through him. “You dare return to these sacred lands with a human Nobody at your side? If Jane seeks the Sovereign Beast form, she must face the Trial of the Frozen Heart. It is a trial born of absolute torment, it will either break her spirit entirely, or make her a queen. There is no middle ground. Only death, or the throne.”
She stepped forward, the heavy crystal scepter in her hand slamming against the frozen ground with a deafening thud that sent a shockwave through the snow. She leaned in close, her piercing eyes locking onto Aurelius, filling the space between them with cold, mocking amusement.
“And you… you are nothing but smoke clinging to her light. If you truly intend to stay by her side through the agony of that trial, perhaps you will finally learn your place in this world. Stay, human. Step into the frost. Try to survive, and prove our entire lineage wrong.”