A shiver caught in his throat as the dark mana moved in the air.

  The figure didn’t stir, but his presence weighed upon him like an invisible force, which caused his circuits to fsh in a reaction; his instincts were screaming and telling him to fight or run. But his body didn’t move from there even a bit. He was stunned and froze; the dark mana twisted inside him, and it responded to the shadow figure in ways that he could not fathom

  “Who are you?” he insisted on asking and kept his voice steady

  The figure stepped forward slowly. The shadows around it seem to twist and writhe as if the darkness itself—as if the darkness was attracted to its presence

  “You bear the mark,” the figure states, and its voice inscrutable, “and yet you are unfinished.”

  Saaransh’s eyes narrowed “The mark. That cursed mark again? What even is that mark? First, it was that shadowed hand, and now it was his stranger. What did it signify?”

  Fir's fingers quivered, dark mana forming on his fingers “I am going to ask you one final time. Who are you?”

  The sound of a low, menacing chuckle travelled through the darkness.

  “I am a long-time observer” The figure’s eyes were deep; they were old, and they were fixed on Saaransh “And I am the judge to check if you are worthy or not”

  Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the figure disappeared

  There were no steps, no movements, but it was gone like it was never there in the first pce

  Saaransh’s body strained; his dark mana was radiating outward in the defensive burst. His eyes fshed around, they searched the darkness for any hint of the stranger

  But there was not nothing

  Save the rustle of the wind and the lingering sense that this was but the start.

  “What the hell was that? Was it a stranger? And after seven years? Why now? Why didn’t it appear before? And the presence of that person or whatever it was, why it felt so familiar. It felt like I had met him somewhere before”

  His brain was filled with multiple questions of who that shadow figure was. Why does that entity give off such a wicked vibe, and why does its presence feel so familiar?

  Let’s leave this as it is for now, and I should work on increasing my powers and abilities. At present, I have to reach my past level as quickly as possible or at least half of that strength, and I need loyal friends and companions as well. I don’t want to get stabbed again in the heart” he grabs the left part of the chest where the heart of humans is located. “Damn it, I still vividly remember that day. Those bastards. I will make sure to get to know the whole truth about that goddamn betrayal.

  He returns to his room. Allow me to attempt to channel this dark mana once more”

  He closed his eyes and started reguting his breathing as he concentrated inwardly, going for the sinister energy that had been within him for years now.

  The instant he attempted to stir it, a bzing agony coursed through his veins as though molten steel had filled his blood. His mana circuits convulsed wildly in rebellion; they defied him. A choking pressure bore down on his core, smothering him from the inside out.t

  “Tch… What the hell?”

  He clenched his teeth, his knees trembling under the pressure of the resistance. It was not pain; it was something else. Something was holding him back, it was confining him.

  A heavy guttural pressure bore down on his very essence, as if unseen bonds encircled tighter the harder he struggled. The dark mana beat wildly, filing about like a beast that was unyielding the control.

  His sweat started trickling from his forehead “Why are you not listening to me? Why are you pushing me back? Let me flow the dark mana into my mana circuits. Just give up and surrender to me and let me utilize this mana”

  A whisper crawled through his mind, it was icy and taunting

  “Not yet”

  And just like that, the dark mana withdrew aggressively, disappearing into his core's farthest reaches as though it had never existed. The pressure was removed, but Saaransh fell to the floor, wheezing for air.

  He pressed his chest” shit. What the heck are you? What kind of being are you? Why do you evoke such a familiar feeling? Why does it sound like you were somebody I came across before? Before in my past life? Who even could you be? And why have you come along with me?

  One more, his brain was full of questions.

  But there were no answers. Only quiet. And just a small echo of something far more than he was able to understand

  He struggled to sit back up, he grasped for the air, his body was protesting against him “No one, however, how great or powerful they may feel. I will get you to submit to me.

  His hands curled into fists, the nails biting deep into his palms as he anchored himself. The dark man had pushed back; the mana denied him, and it mocked his fragility. But he would not yield.

  His voice was low yet filled with determination: “ I will get you to submit to me, I will make you give me your power, and I will utilize it for my cause.

  A very strong gust of wind blew through the training grounds, but Saaransh was resolute; his bck eyes bzed with an unrelenting fire, his heart was thumping, but it was not because of fear but because of defiance.

  For my vengeance, to know the truth behind my betrayal. And to return to the top once more. I will use this mana for myself and my legacy

  His mana agitatedly answered through his belief. Though the evil within him held its silence, something altered slightly a mere acceptance, as if the hunter gazed at its prey in the pain, amused but interested.

  He smiled through the agony. “You will obey me one day, and when you do”

  He raised his hand; the dark mana faintly wavered at his fingertips. , he looked at the man, his face unchanging

  “I will use your power to annihite all the evil, beginning with those who have betrayed me long ago”

  The night wore on, the air was heavy with unspoken challenges. The presence lingering deep within him said nothing, but Saaransh knew that this was just the start of his fight.