The beast disappeared again.
Kael's eyes followed the last place it had stood.
Nothing.
The chamber was silent.
Then—
SHING!
A claw tore across his chest.
Kael staggered backward.
The wound was already beginning to close, but the pain remained.
He turned toward the beast.
It was gone again.
Kael's eyes moved rapidly across the chamber.
Nothing.
A blur appeared at his side.
He raised his sword.
Too late.
CLANG!
The claw struck his blade at an angle and knocked it aside before the second claw caught him across the abdomen.
SHING!
Kael was thrown backward.
He landed hard and rolled across the stone.
The beast didn't give him time to recover.
It vanished.
Kael forced himself up.
His eyes searched the chamber.
Left.
Nothing.
Right.
Nothing.
Above—
The beast appeared.
Kael raised his sword.
Too slow.
The claw tore across his upper arm.
Blood spilled.
Kael gritted his teeth.
The beast disappeared again.
Kael stood still for a moment.
His wounds were healing.
But that wasn't the problem.
He couldn't see it.
Every time he tried to follow its movements with his eyes, he was already too late.
The creature wasn't simply faster than him.
Its movement was beyond what his eyes could properly track.
Kael tightened his grip.
The beast appeared again.
He swung.
Nothing.
The creature had already moved.
A claw struck his side.
SHING!
Kael stumbled.
Another attack.
He barely turned.
The claw grazed his back.
Another.
His thigh.
Another.
His ribs.
Kael's breathing became heavier.
"This isn't working."
The beast disappeared again.
Kael lowered his sword.
For a moment, he stopped trying to look for it.
His mind went back to something Darius had told him.
Don't rely only on your eyes.
Kael remembered standing in the training room while Darius explained how hunters gradually learned to sense mana.
Sight could be deceived.
Speed could overwhelm the eyes.
But mana was different.
A living creature constantly released it.
A hunter who learned to sense that presence didn't need to see an attack coming.
They could feel it.
Kael closed his eyes.
The chamber disappeared into darkness.
He breathed slowly.
Nothing.
He couldn't feel the beast.
Only his own mana.
The surrounding stone.
The faint traces of mana left behind by the earlier techniques.
Kael frowned.
The beast was moving too quickly.
He opened his eyes again.
The creature appeared.
Kael tried to react.
Too slow.
CLANG!
His sword barely stopped the claw.
The impact still forced him backward.
The second attack struck his side.
SHING!
Kael stumbled away.
He gritted his teeth.
"Again."
He closed his eyes.
This time, he didn't search for the beast.
He listened.
Not to sound.
To mana.
A faint sensation brushed against his awareness.
Kael's eyes opened.
The beast appeared behind him.
He turned.
Too late.
The claw cut across his shoulder.
Kael jumped away.
His eyes narrowed.
He had felt something.
But not soon enough.
The beast vanished again.
Kael breathed slowly.
So he could sense it.
Barely.
But he was still relying on his eyes to confirm what he felt.
He closed them again.
The beast moved.
Kael sensed a faint disturbance.
Left.
He turned.
Nothing.
A claw struck him from the right.
SHING!
Kael was thrown sideways.
He hit the ground and rolled.
Blood dripped from his side.
He stared at the ceiling.
A frustrated laugh escaped him.
"Wrong."
He had sensed the beast.
But he had interpreted it incorrectly.
Kael slowly stood.
The beast disappeared once more.
This time, Kael didn't move.
He closed his eyes.
He ignored the urge to search.
The chamber became quiet.
His breathing slowed.
Mana.
He could feel his own.
The stone.
The lingering traces of Blood Fang.
Then—
Something changed.
A faint pressure appeared behind him.
Kael's fingers tightened around his sword.
He waited.
The pressure grew stronger.
Closer.
Closer.
Kael still didn't move.
Then the sensation shifted.
The beast was attacking.
Kael turned toward the pressure and raised his sword.
CLANG!
The claw collided with his blade.
Kael's eyes opened.
The beast was right in front of him.
For the first time, he had blocked the attack before it reached him.
The force still drove him backward.
But he had stopped it.
Kael stared at the creature.
The beast stared back.
Neither moved.
Kael slowly smiled.
"So that's it."
He wasn't seeing the beast.
He was feeling it.
But the sensation was still faint.
And the creature was far too fast for him to rely on it completely.
Kael tightened his grip.
He had finally found the path.
Now he just had to learn how to walk it.
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