A flower. Or rather, what was left of one.

  I stood on the very same spot where my team had finally come together for good. Further north lay the collapsed mines, where my target waited. My revenge.

  Revenge isn't right. You should move on. But not this time. Three times now, I can't just walk away and pretend it didn't happen. I'm not strong enough. Not yet. But this is the first step toward the justice I've been hiding inside myself for so long.

  "And how exactly do you picture this working?"

  "Well, I know someone who can slip past even reinforced patrols."

  This conversation was happening in the academy library at night, between me, Mira, and Val.

  "Luten, this is insane and suicidal! We agreed to stick together," Mira snapped.

  While we argued, the second-loudest thing in the room was the projector built around a crystal. Spinning that glass trinket inside itself, it cast the image from the very card Selena had given me.

  Red dots flickered across the projection like wounds on a map. Clusters near the eastern forts, growing by the day. And one bright mark to the north. The mines.

  "See for yourselves," I said, pointing at the northern dot. "A big group means more noise. The otherworlders will pick us up on their drones. Remember how fast they sealed the exit after we left?"

  Mira crossed her arms but said nothing. Val studied the data with a stone face.

  "Besides, someone needs to stay here. Study the data, warn the academy if something goes wrong."

  "And if you don't come back?" Mira asked.

  "Then you'll know for sure there's something down there."

  Val finally looked up from the screen.

  "Is this about Aris?"

  "Partly."

  I didn't lie. They deserved honesty.

  "But the main thing is: I'm the only one who feels those symbols. I'm the only one who managed to do anything down there last time."

  Mira sighed. She knew there was no point arguing.

  I spent the rest of the night going over memories. Dawn crept in from the east, painting the snow pink. Time to go.

  Stepping into the field before the mines, I saw something I hadn't expected. The mines were buried under rubble, and not a single soul in sight. I had maps of the area with me, and if they were right, a second tunnel should've been nearby.

  The second passage was narrow, barely shoulder-width. The walls were coated in the same slime I remembered from the first time. But now it glowed with a faint greenish light. That was new.

  As I descended deeper, the familiar warmth spread through my chest. The scythe shard hanging from my neck began to pulse in time with my heartbeat.

  I met the first demon about five hundred meters in. Small creature, the size of a dog. These things used to scatter at the sight of a human. This one attacked. And it was faster than it should've been.

  The dog-like thing lunged at me. No room to draw the scythe in a space this tight, and no desire to try. I settled into a fighting stance and punched straight between its eyes.

  It popped like a balloon, and I moved on. More of them appeared along the way, growing in number and strength. Lucky for me, I reached an open chamber before an entire pack could swarm me.

  "Alright. Show me what these months were worth."

  The first three rushed me from the left. I hopped slightly and shifted the scythe from one hand to the other behind my back. Without the hop, the blade would've cracked against the stone floor.

  A smooth diagonal upswing cut them apart. Momentum sent their insides flying in every direction. Some of it landed on me.

  "I look like a damn clown..."

  A strange playfulness sat right beside the bitter memories of this place. I really am strange.

  The next wave was bigger. Five creatures, each wolf-sized. They didn't rush. They circled, sniffing. As if they sensed something had changed in me. Good. Let them.

  The first one lunged from the right. I met it with the blade, but the swing was too hard. The scythe passed clean through the demon and bit into the stone wall behind it. Sparks scattered across the floor.

  "Goddammit!"

  I yanked the blade free, dodged the second one's attack. Sweat beaded on my forehead. Not from exhaustion. From anger. They weren't Aris. They didn't even deserve a clean death.

  The third and fourth attacked together. I spun, swung the scythe in a wide arc. The blade split one in half, but the shaft cracked against my own back. Painful.

  "Son of a bitch!"

  I needed to get used to this new strength. To how easily the blade passed through bone now.

  The last two were smarter: they didn't come head-on, tried to circle behind me instead. I turned, but the scythe swept too wide, and they managed to duck. The first one's claws raked across my ribs. Shallow, but my shirt tore open, exposing a red line on skin.

  "There we go."

  I gripped the scythe closer to the blade and swung the shaft like a club. Connected with its face. The demon slammed into the wall with a crack of broken jaw. Got the second one with a reverse slash.

  Silence. Just my breathing and black sludge dripping from the blade. The scythe shard on my chest pulsed warmer. The whisper in my head grew louder. Good... But the real test lay ahead.

  The tunnel widened. The next chamber was the size of a classroom. And there were enough demons in it for a full anatomy lesson, if their anatomy made any kind of sense.

  About fifteen. Various sizes, all larger than the ones before. In the center loomed a particularly ugly specimen: four arms, a misshapen head, far too many teeth. They were waiting for me. Not circling, not growling. Just standing there. Watching.

  "You remember me, don't you?"

  A drop of sweat rolled down my temple. Adrenaline dulled the pain from the scratch on my ribs, but my heart was hammering.

  "Remember how I killed your pal last time?"

  The four-armed one tilted its head. An almost human gesture.

  "Good. Then you remember Aris."

  I took a step forward, and the smaller demons finally moved. Not all at once. In twos and threes. Smart creatures.

  The first pair tried to flank me. I went for the left one, forced the right to reposition. A downward chop, and the left demon dropped headless. Spun, blocked the right one's attack with the shaft, then slashed the blade across its belly. Guts spilled onto the floor with a sickening squelching sound.

  The next three were more aggressive. They rushed simultaneously, giving me no time to breathe. I had to fall back, covering myself with spinning sweeps of the scythe. The blade whistled through the air, but they managed to dodge. One slipped under my swing, sank its teeth into my left arm. Pain exploded from wrist to shoulder. I screamed and cracked the shaft against its skull. Once, twice, three times, until the bone split.

  Blood. My blood. Dripping onto the floor. The demons reacted to the smell. Became more active, more aggressive.

  "Now we're having fun."

  My shirt stuck to my back with sweat. Breathing quickened. Not tired yet, but my body was starting to feel the strain. The bigger demons decided it was time to join the fun. But when the dust from the last scuffle settled, I realized: they were retreating. Not running. Retreating. Organized.

  "Where are you going?"

  No answer. The creatures dissolved into the darkness of the tunnels, as if something had called them back. Just me left, puddles of black sludge on the floor, and the echo of my own breathing.

  The scythe shard on my chest was pulsing so hard it was almost hot. The whisper in my head returned, louder now, sounding like a call: "Come... he waits..." I wiped blood from the scratch on my arm and pushed deeper.

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  The tunnel led me into a massive hall. The ceiling vanished into darkness. The walls were covered in those same symbols that had haunted my dreams. But here they glowed faintly blue, pulsing in a barely perceptible rhythm.

  In the center of the hall, something enormous stirred in the shadows.

  "You've returned."

  The voice was almost human. Too human for what was slowly rising to its full height.

  "The one who killed my children."

  Four meters tall. Four arms: two normal, two with elongated fingers ending in claws. Its body was covered in seams, as though stitched together from different pieces. Behind its back, a ring of dim energy slowly rotated.

  This was the same demon. The one that killed Aris.

  "Remember me, creature?"

  I raised the scythe. The blade reflected the blue glow of the symbols.

  "Good."

  The demon tilted its head, studying me with open curiosity.

  "You've changed. Grown... stronger. But still not strong enough."

  It took a step forward. The ground trembled under its weight.

  "Show me what you've learned."

  The symbols on the walls pulsed brighter, reacting to our standoff. With each beat, the blue glow intensified, as if the ancient runes were waking from a long sleep.

  The first attack was a test. The demon moved at half power: one arm, a wide sweeping blow. Easy to read. I stepped back, let the claws pass my face, and countered. The scythe traced a crescent moon, the blade entering below the ribs and exiting at the collarbone. The motion was fluid, like I'd been dancing with this weapon my whole life. Black blood sprayed onto the floor.

  "Not bad."

  But the wound was already closing.

  Second attack: two arms at once. I ducked, passed under the blow, and slashed the blade across its left thigh. A deep cut, but again, regeneration.

  "Better. But not enough."

  The demon smiled far too wide. Three rows of teeth gleaming in the blue light.

  "Your friend fought braver."

  The mention of Aris detonated something inside me. I surged forward with a furious scream, swinging the scythe with no technique at all. Strike after strike, not letting it recover. The blade carved flesh, left deep gashes across its arms, chest, neck. The demon didn't even try to dodge. Just stood there and took the hits. Then it laughed.

  "Now this is interesting."

  The demon stopped taking hits. One of its hands caught the scythe's shaft, halting my swing. The second struck me in the chest. Not full force, but enough to knock me back a few steps.

  "Rage makes you faster. But also dumber."

  Now it attacked for real. Two arms at once, coordinated. I barely managed to jump back, but a claw caught my shoulder, tearing through fabric and skin. Shallow, but it burned.

  "See the difference?"

  It gave me no rest. The next attack came from below, aimed at my stomach. I leaned away but not fast enough. Claws raked across my ribs, leaving three red lines.

  "Before, you were thinking. Now you're just swinging a piece of metal."

  I tried to counter, but it blocked the strike with two hands easily, and a third fist cracked against my jaw. My head snapped back, mouth filling with the taste of blood.

  "Feel that? I could have killed you in the first five seconds. But I wanted to see how you fight."

  It was telling the truth. Every hit was precise but not lethal. It was playing with me.

  "Your shadow-friend at least tried to think. But you..."

  Another lunge. This time I tried to analyze its movements. The upper arms moved slightly faster than the lower ones. And after attacking with all four, it lost its balance for a split second.

  I waited for its four-arm combination, dodged, and countered immediately. The scythe carved along its flank, leaving a deep gash.

  "Good. Starting to use your head."

  But the wound was already sealing. And my blood was dripping from my shoulder and ribs.

  "But playtime is over."

  Something changed in its eyes. No more condescension. Only cold fury.

  It moved so fast I barely got the scythe up to block. The impact was so powerful the shaft cracked. I was launched several meters back.

  "You slaughtered my children. Destroyed everything I built."

  The next attack: all four arms at once. I tried to dodge, but one clawed hand caught me by the chest and hurled me into the wall. My back met stone with a wet smack. Something cracked inside my chest. Breathing turned ragged.

  "And now you think you can just walk in here and get your revenge?"

  It grabbed me by the throat and lifted me off the ground. Fingers tightened, cutting off air.

  "I'll show you what your friend felt when he died."

  The world started darkening at the edges. My legs dangled uselessly.

  "Fear. Pain. The understanding that no one is coming to save you."

  Air was running out. Consciousness drifting. Aris. He died here. Because I was too weak... And now I'd share his fate. No. Not today.

  "But first, I want to understand what makes you so special."

  Its free hand pressed against my chest, right above the heart. Claws pierced the skin.

  "What do my children feel when you kill them? What do you take from them?"

  The claws dug into the skin above my heart. Sharp pain, but shallow. It was studying me like a specimen. Air was almost gone. But I noticed something important. The energy ring behind its back flickered unevenly. When it dimmed, the grip weakened for a fraction of a second. I waited for the moment. The ring dimmed. I drove my knee into its wrist. The grip loosened, I tore free and crashed to the floor, gulping air.

  "Crafty little runt!"

  The demon lunged to grab me again. But I'd already rolled to the fallen scythe. Seized it and thrust upward, aiming for the throat.

  The blade entered under the jaw and drove through to the base of the skull. Black blood sprayed across my hands.

  "How...?"

  "You're too full of yourself."

  But it didn't fall. It grabbed the scythe's shaft, trying to wrench it free. I held firm. Blood was pooling in a crack on the blade, metal fractured from the countless strikes, forming a small groove.

  Strange. Demon blood usually just ran off. This blood clung to the crack like it belonged there.

  "Let go!"

  The demon yanked the scythe toward itself. But the blade only sank deeper into the wound. More blood flowed into the fractured metal. I felt something shifting. Exhaustion receding. The wound on my shoulder stopped hurting. As if strength was flowing in. Probably just adrenaline.

  "The Master... he warned... of this..."

  The demon was weakening. The ring behind its back dimmed further and further.

  I pulled the scythe back and delivered the final blow. Straight into the base of the neck. Crunch. The blade passed through the vertebrae like rotten wood. The demon collapsed face-first. The energy ring behind its back flickered once and went dark.

  Silence. Just my breathing and the pounding of my heart in my ears. I stood over the body, gripping the handle. Blood dripped from the blade onto the stone floor. Black, thick, reeking of rot.

  Aris. Now we're even. Strange, but there was no relief. Just emptiness inside and a dull ache in my ribs. The first drops landed on the symbols beneath my feet.

  The hall erupted in light. Runes ignited one after another, like a chain reaction. Blue radiance raced up the walls, climbing toward the invisible ceiling. The ancient writings pulsed in time with my heartbeat.

  "What the..."

  The floor shook beneath me. The air smelled of ozone, and something else. Something old. I backed away from the demon's body, but the light grew brighter. Too bright to look at. I had to shield my eyes with my hand.

  When I opened them, the world had changed. The symbols weren't just glowing anymore. They were moving. Slowly flowing across the walls like living things. Forming new patterns, then scattering and reassembling. And in my chest... Something warm. Spreading from my heart through my entire body. Not pain. Something else.

  Power.

  The scratches on my shoulder and ribs didn't hurt anymore. I touched them with my fingers: under the torn fabric, clean skin. Not even scars.

  "What the hell is this?"

  My voice sounded different. Deeper. I didn't recognize it. I raised my hand in front of my face. My fingers were shaking, but not from fear. From the energy sparking under my skin.

  The demon lay motionless. Dead. But the blood on the floor kept smoking, as though something in it still lived. Somewhere in the tunnel's darkness, a shadow flickered. Quick, almost invisible. Maybe a trick of the light. Maybe not.

  I tensed, peered into the dark. Nothing. Just the echo of my own breath. But the feeling of another presence wouldn't go away. Someone was watching. Studying.

  "Anyone there?"

  Silence.

  The symbols gradually dimmed, returning to their faint blue glow. But the new energy still pulsed through my body. Like another heart pounding inside me. I bent down and wiped the scythe blade on the demon's clothing. The metal gleamed like it had just been forged. The crack that had formed during the fight was gone. That wasn't right. Metal doesn't repair itself. Neither do people.

  Time to leave. Other demons could be lurking in the tunnels. And explaining to the academy what I was doing here alone...

  I turned toward the exit, but glanced back for a moment. The demon's body lay in a pool of its own blood. But now it looked... smaller. As though something had left it along with its life. At the edge of my vision, the shadow flickered again. This time I didn't turn. Didn't need to know. Not yet.

  The way back took less time. Small demons scattered at my approach. They sensed the change. So did I. But when I reached the fork in the tunnels, something stopped me. Not fear, not exhaustion.

  A call.

  The new energy pulsed in my chest, pulling me not toward the exit. Deeper. Somewhere I hadn't been.

  I looked back. In the far tunnel, familiar symbols glowed faintly. The same ones that had lit up in the demon's chamber. But here they formed a clear pattern. Almost like... an arrow.

  "Someone wants me to go that way."

  My voice sounded more confident than I actually felt. The shadow at the edge of my vision shifted. No longer hiding.

  "Or something."

  Logic told me to leave. Go back to the academy, tell the team what had happened. But the energy in my chest hummed louder, demanding movement. And the symbols glowed brighter, as if waiting impatiently.

  I gripped the scythe handle and walked into the new tunnel. Behind me, a barely audible laugh. Or maybe I imagined it.

  I stood at the fork. Scythe in hand. Energy humming in my chest. The symbols led deeper. Flickering. I should go back. To the academy. My legs wouldn't move. Throat tight. Hands clenched around the handle. Wood creaked.

  The shadow at the edge of my vision twitched. Retreated into the dark.

  "Wait."

  My voice came out quieter than I wanted. Shaking slightly.

  The shadow froze. I swallowed. Heart hammering.

  "Is that... Is that you, Gart?"

  Silence.

  The shadow shifted. Materialized slowly. A long dark cloak. Gray hair. Face lost in shadow. Gart.

  He stood motionless. Watching. Studying. I gripped the scythe with both hands. So they wouldn't shake.

  "Let's... talk."

  A heavy pause.

  "I'm ready."

  Two words. Barely audible. Every instinct screamed to run. Knees buckling. But I didn't move. Gart tilted his head to the side. Curious.

  "Interesting."

  His voice was calm. Cold.

  "Why aren't you running?"

  I opened my mouth. Closed it. Didn't know what to say. He waited.

  "Because..."

  My voice gave out. Tried again.

  "Sick of it."

  Gart smirked. No warmth in it. Just acknowledgment.

  "Fair enough."

  He turned toward the dark tunnel.

  "Come. I'll show you something."

  End of Volume 2.

  I didn't know if anyone would read this story when I started. The genre is a bit niche, and I'll be honest… I rewrote more chapters than I care to admit, constantly torn between the plot I'd planned and the story that wanted to happen.

  But you're here. You read 50+ chapters. You cared enough to see what happened next.

  That's everything to a writer.

  If you've enjoyed the journey so far: the fights, the friendships, the slow unraveling of what Luten really is. I'd be incredibly grateful if you left a rating or review. It helps other readers find the story. And it helps me know this weird, dark fantasy world I've been building actually resonates with people.

  Volume 3 is ready and starts next week. The pieces are finally coming together. Or falling apart, depending on how you look at it.

  Thank you for reading.

  — Kefirr