When Magic Bleeds: Rise of the Mana Champion

The silence remained, but it was no longer the same. It was thicker. Watchful.

They followed the path that had opened after the shadows vanished — a path Kael didn't remember seeing before, but that seemed to know exactly where it led. The mark on his arm had stopped glowing, but still pulsed as if each throb echoed through the forest.

The feeling of being watched didn't fade. If something had retreated, it was only to observe from afar.

It was only a few minutes' walk before the trail ended.

But not in roots, or leaves, or stones.

It ended in space.

An open field unfolded before them, as if the forest had carefully pulled its trees back — not cut or broken, but as if they had willingly leaned away, revealing a circular void at its heart.

And at the center of that void rose a mound of stones — some ancient and moss-covered, others freshly broken, marked with signs Kael couldn't read.

He stopped beside Elion, eyes locked on the center.

There was no wind there. No animal sounds. Only the raw sensation of being judged.

"Do you feel it?" Kael murmured.

Elion nodded slowly, eyes never leaving the center. "All of them. Watching."

Kael looked around.

The trees didn't end in a wall — they stretched out as far as the eye could see, forming a ring. And in the shadows between the trunks, figures began to reveal themselves.

Not bodies. Not shadows like before.

But presences.

Faint lights, shapeless eyes, outlines that seemed to ripple with the air itself. They were silent, but intensely focused. Watching.

The mound of stones seemed to call to them.

But nothing forced them to approach.

Not yet.

Kael took a deep breath, tasting the metallic tang of anticipation.

"Is this the test?"

"No," Elion said, his voice steady but calm. "This is the threshold."

And together, they took the first step toward the center.

The air felt suspended as they stepped forward.

But the second step… the second was not met with silence.

The ground beneath the mound trembled. A low sound, like a mountain's growl, rippled across the field — and the stones began to move.

Not fall. Not roll.

Rise.

Elion stopped immediately, eyes narrowing.

Kael stepped back, his hand already reaching for the dagger at his waist.

The mound came apart — blocks sliding over each other, spinning, locking into place. Dust surged violently, cutting off their vision. From the center of the stone maelstrom, a sound echoed: not a roar, but the weight of time awakening.

And then, it stood.

Three meters tall. Shoulders as wide as temple doors. A torso made of layered stone and dry moss. Heavy arms, with cracks glowing pale orange, like dormant magma. No visible eyes — only a slit on its "head," where spirals identical to the one on Kael's arm burned silently.

Kael's mouth fell open in surprise.

"Oh shi—"

A chunk of earth — the size of a barrel — flew at him before he could finish.

Both dove to opposite sides, the rock exploding where they had just been. Dirt and dust rained down on them. The horse neighed loudly, spun in panic, and bolted into the forest, vanishing among the twisted trunks.

Kael got up with a grunt, his arm throbbing.

Elion was already on his feet, sword in hand, eyes locked on the golem.

"Test, huh?" Kael growled. "I thought it was gonna be like… a riddle or something. Not rock-throwing."

Elion didn't reply. He just stepped forward.

The golem moved — slow, but each step made the ground vibrate like a war drum.

The trial had begun.

The earth still trembled with the golem's heavy steps, each movement stirring ancient dust and shards of stone. The heat from the mark on Kael's arm began to intensify — as if reacting to the creature's presence. But that didn't mean he knew what to do with it.

Elion rolled aside, dodging a crushing blow that left a crater in the ground.

"Circle him!" he shouted. His voice steady, but tense. "If we stay on the same side, he'll hit us both!"

Kael obeyed, instinctively running in a wide arc around the monster, while Elion did the same on the opposite side. The golem turned, slow, trying to follow them — but the weight of its own attacks made it too slow to respond accurately to both at once.

And it was in that turn, in that brief moment of exposure, that Elion saw it.

There, embedded in the golem's chest, among deep cracks and dry moss, was the symbol.

A spiral.

Identical to the one glowing on Kael's arm.

Elion's eyes narrowed.

"Kael!" he shouted, his voice slicing through the open field. "On its chest! It's the same symbol! Try using something with your mark!"

"I don't know how to use any magic!" Kael shouted back, panting as he kept running in a semicircle. "I never learned any of that!"

"Then use what you have!" Elion yelled, dodging another attack. "The mana's leaking from your arm! Infuse it into the dagger! Channel it!"

Kael's chest tightened.

And then… something gave.

The sound of the forest vanished.

The world turned to shadow.

Kael stood small — maybe eight years old — staring at a figure in front of him.

The man had his back to him, the golden light of late afternoon tracing the outline of broad shoulders and a worn shirt.

And there, on the upper right of his back, the spiral.

Smaller. More contained.

But alive.

The man was saying something. His voice was soft, firm… but the words didn't come through.

As if time had been stripped from the sound.

Kael tried to understand. Tried to remember.

But what remained… was the spiral.

Burning gently. As if breathing.

The world returned.

The field.

The dust.

The golem rising for another strike.

Kael now held the dagger in his left hand. The blade trembled — maybe from fear, maybe something else.

He clenched his teeth and pulled.

He didn't know what "channeling" meant. He knew no spells.

But the heat inside his arm… it was looking for a way out.

So he let it out.

The blade lit up — a raw, unstable glow, like light being forced through a narrow crack. Spiral lines began to crawl across the metal, like illuminated fractures on hot stone.

Kael didn't know what he was doing.

But the forest, the marks, and the golem…

They seemed to know.