Ruith said that but he knew that it wasn’t the Abilities fault, he simply wasn’t able to hold enough mana in his Core.

He sat up and closed his eyes. Ruith felt the mana in the air and began to ‘pull’ it. A stream of mana flowed to his spinal cord, where it went up to his Core.

After a few minutes of this, his Mana Core was once again filled. When that happened, he used his mana to manipulate the root again. Ruith could tell that if he became proficient enough at this, he could use roots as a powerful attack.

Ruith lost himself in the cycle of exhausting his mana and absorbing more. Before he knew it, the sun began to set.

He stood up and started the walk back to the Bastion, reflecting on his day.

Thanks to his effort, he felt his mana capacity nearly triple. However the progress was much slower than he would have liked, and his attempts to attack with the root were pitiful. He had not even managed to make it break out from the ground yet.

Ruith didn’t feel it much while he was training, but he was genuinely exhausted. Using mana for that many hours straight was very taxing on his mind.

It wasn’t long before he was inside the protective walls of the Bastion, however, he wasn’t done with his day yet. 

Living near the North wall of the Bastion, the one most frequently assaulted by the Voidborne, he often snuck on top of the wall at night. He loved watching the Sanctum Knights battle the monsters although it was bloody and gruesome. 

Ruith made his way toward a ruined building built right next to the wall. It was covered in vines and had likely not been touched for decades.

The boy went around to the side of the building that was right next to the wall. There, a large rusted door was built into the wall. Ruith pushed against it with all of his strength, and it slowly started moving inwards. Soon it had opened enough to where he could slip inside.

Inside was a staircase that wrapped around the room until it reached the top of the wall. Dust covered everything. This place was long forgotten.

Closing the door, Ruith was plunged into darkness. However, he had memorized everything so it didn’t matter.

Reaching the top of the stairs, there was a short ladder that seemed to go nowhere. Ruith pressed his ear against the ceiling and heard nothing. Then he pushed, and the small wooden board lifted up. 

The cold night air hit Ruith’s face, and he climbed up onto the wall. There was not a person in sight.

He stood, and walked to the edge facing the wilderness. The wall was very thick, at least 50 feet.

Ruith looked over the edge, spotting a group of 15 Sanctum Knights and two others who were not Knights, likely the healers. He laid down on his stomach, it would be bad for him if he was spotted.

The Knight's grey armor shone in the fading light, and they all turned to face the forest a few hundred meters away.

The Voidborne also appeared in the day, but in the evening and night, more powerful ones appeared.

A tremor shook the ground. A few trees swayed in the forest.

The Sanctum Knights tensed.

Ruith watched with interest and a bit of fear, it seemed something more powerful would attack tonight.

BOOM!

A Voidborne shot out from the trees, so fast that Ruith could not hope to follow it. 

The men below yelled, barely able to react before the creature was upon them. 

Once it slowed, Ruith could make out its features. 

It had a humanoid build and was extremely muscular. Instead of two arms, it had six. One pair was in the place that a normal human's arms would be, but the others sprouted from its back. The fingers of its hands were more like claws.

Straight pitch-black hair came from its head, flowing down to the small of the creature’s back. It had two human-like eyes with no mouth. 

The monster towered over the Sanctum Knights, standing at least eight feet tall.

It had paused just for a moment but then moved with blinding speed. 

Its claws tore deep into a Knight, instantly killing him. They could not even defend themselves, the creature was simply too fast and strong. 

One of the men rose his shield and swung his sword, which was now covered in blue flames. 

These men were the best warriors the Bastion had to offer, even in the face of this thing they would fight. 

But it was for nothing. All six of the creature's arms curled their hands into fists and slammed into the shield, crumpling it like paper. Before the burning blade could reach the monster, the man was thrown back, his bones shattered.

The two healers made a move, but the Voidborne would not allow them. 

It passed around the Knights like they weren’t there, reaching the backline in less than a second. 

The healers found themselves turned into several pieces.

Without pause, the monster twisted around and slammed its foot into the chest of another Knight, blasting him back and leaving a massive dent in the armor. 

The battle, more like a slaughter, did not get any better from that point.

In less than a minute since it started, it was over. The Sanctum Knight's dead bodies lay on the grass. Some turned into meat paste, some crushed, and others simply bisected. Their eyes were filled with fear even in death.

Ruith had watched this all with horror, unable to take his eyes off the scene before him. And the way the creature moved was strangely…beautiful in Ruith’s eyes. The movements flowed into each other perfectly.

‘What am I thinking…”

Ruith looked at the Voidborne and saw something horrifying.

It stared back at him.