Situated under a perpetually gray sky, the barren field was a desolate stretch of cracked earth. Dead, rotting trees stood like twisted skeletons, their branches reaching out in eerie silence.

Dust hung heavy in the air, and there was almost zero sign of life, except for one new variable.

Amidst the dreadful environment, a blue portal appeared, and from it emerged Edgar Pearce, crashing straight to the ground.

“Ungh, what’s going on?” Edgar grunted, his hand clutching tightly at his heart, which seemed to have been shot earlier, trying to stop the blood from bleeding out. Yet to his astonishment, he didn’t feel the bloody liquid that should have been staining his hand.

Confused, Edgar slowly got up, surprised that he still had the strength to move. He had nearly lost consciousness and was on the brink of death just moments before.

‘Could it be that they didn’t silence me?’ Edgar’s mind raced, trying to make sense of the situation.

Why would his enemies suddenly heal him and not just finish the job?

Maybe he was already dead, and this was the afterlife people talked about. Or perhaps they wanted to use him as a test subject, like those hostages who had disintegrated into nothing but slimy mud.

Recalling that horrific scene sent a shiver down Edgar’s spine, and he shook his head to clear the unsettling thoughts.

As Edgar pushed himself up, he began to notice his surroundings. “Where am I?” he wondered, finding the scenario grim and unfamiliar. This was unlike anything in New York.

Just as he was pondering his location, he heard numerous growls.

‘Did I get placed in some dark arena gambling type of event?’ Edgar speculated, not afraid of the growling sounds. He suspected he might have been kidnapped for a grim event featuring real people battling against dangerous creatures.

He readied himself, assuming an alert battle stance. Such an incident might have terrified others, but Edgar had faced far worse.

Besides, these creatures couldn’t be any more frightening than the scene of disintegrating hostages.

Shortly after a few seconds, within the shadows of the rotting trees, emerged a pack of hyena-like monsters.

They were unlike ordinary beasts; their fur shimmered with an otherworldly glow, and their eyes burned with an eerie, magical fire. These creatures exuded an aura of dark magic, their growls laced with the promise of deadly magical attacks.

The air around them crackled with latent energy, making it clear that these creatures were anything but ordinary. Each growl seemed to resonate with a spell’s power, and their movements were unnaturally swift and fluid.

Alarmed, Edgar’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief. ‘How are these creatures trained?’

Despite the distance between them, a dreadful pressure weighed down on him, amplified by their piercing gazes.

Edgar’s first instinct was to flee, but with little terrain to use as cover, he knew it was only a matter of time before the hyena-like monsters caught up.

Human speed was negligible compared to these beasts.

Still, humans had triumphed through civilization and ingenuity. Determined not to go down without a fight, Edgar assumed a battle stance, hoping his confidence would deter them from attacking.

One of the hyena-like monsters shifted its stance, and Edgar braced himself to dodge its pouncing attack.

However, instead of charging, the creature began to conjure a spell, its jaws opening to channel dark energy.

“What the hell?” Edgar’s jaw dropped as he gaped in disbelief. “Are we filming a magical movie with CGI? This can’t be real, right?”

Shaken but quick to adapt, Edgar abandoned his previous plan. Realizing the gravity of the situation, he spun around and bolted, knowing he couldn’t afford to remain a stationary target.

The monsters’ terrifying appearance and their ability to cast spells made it clear that staying put would be a grave mistake.

Unfortunately, Edgar’s speed was relatively slow compared to the monstrous creatures. As the dark energy completed its channeling, the monster’s eyes locked onto Edgar’s fleeing form. With a guttural snarl, it unleashed a bolt of shadowy magic that streaked through the air.

The spell shot forth with a menacing hiss, trailing wisps of dark energy.

Edgar’s heart raced as he felt the wave of force bearing down on him. He veered sharply, but the spell was swift and unrelenting, closing in with deadly accuracy.

The bolt struck the ground mere inches from Edgar, erupting in a burst of dark energy and sending debris flying. The explosion threw him off balance, and he stumbled, barely managing to stay on his feet as he continued to run.

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Edgar panted heavily, narrowly avoiding taking a fatal strike. His eyes were glued to the ground that had received the hit of the monster’s spell. It was dented with a mini crater form.

‘Just a little bit and that crater would have been my body.’ Edgar thought, swallowing a mouthful of saliva. This time, he was truly frightened, and no longer had the confidence he previously had.

He wished to believe everything was CGI and someone was playing a major prank on him, but his mind seemed to be screeching that everything was real.

While Edgar became distracted, the hyena-like monsters had caught up to him, their mouth drooling at the mere sight of his flesh.

With his palm touching the ground, Edgar mustered whatever strength he had and attempted to stand up, only to realize his legs were no longer listening to his command.

‘Move it!’ He shouted inwardly, trying to lift his legs up. The situation was extremely terrible, and remaining on the ground would only make him an easier prey.

However, his command was left on deaf ears as Edgar could only watch helplessly the previous monster conjuring the same spell, almost as if it was trying to play it safe and using that deadly spell to kill him.

Soon, the channeling was completed, and the spell was launched directly at him this time. Edgar could only shut his eyes, his fist clenching tightly as he accepted his miserable fate.

BOOM!

As a loud collision erupted, Edgar was certain he had been struck down by the spell. But after a few seconds, he could faintly hear his heart still beating.

‘No way the monster whiffed his spell at point-blank range, right?’ The thought raced through his mind, leaving him baffled that he was still alive.

Slowly, he opened his eyes to see what was happening. As his vision cleared, Edgar was stunned by the sight before him.

A transparent, shimmering barrier of golden light had formed around him.

The barrier pulsed with a soft, protective glow, and in a charred area nearby, it was clear that the spell launched by the monster had been deflected.

“Where did this barrier come from?” Edgar’s eyes widened in surprise. He wasn’t complaining about being saved somehow but was curious as to where it came from.

Suddenly, he sensed the necklace around his neck seemed to be pulling away from him.

As Edgar glanced down, he noticed the dull necklace was glowing. Before he could fully grasp what was happening, a short, azure beam of light shot from the necklace and entered his body.

Startled, Edgar quickly brushed his hands around his chest, but no matter how vigorously he tried, the azure beam of light seemed to have vanished as if it had never been there.

“Did I imagine it?” he wondered, thinking he might have been seeing things in his panic.

Just then, he felt a sudden, intense pulsation in his chest. His eyes widened as he clutched his hand over his heart, trying to control the erratic beat.

“UNGH!” he grunted in pain as his heart felt like it was spiraling out of control. Inside his body, the azure beam of light was gradually integrating into every organ and vein.

The pain was excruciating, and several times, Edgar was on the brink of losing consciousness, only to be jolted awake by the relentless throbbing of his heart. The sensation was akin to the jarring shock of an automatic external defibrillator, intensifying with each pulse.

While Edgar was caught in the throes of an extraordinary and painful transformation, the hyena-like monsters were far from idle. They relentlessly unleashed their spells, and some even resorted to physical assaults on the shimmering barrier protecting Edgar.

Their eyes glinted with bloodlust, reveling in the sight of their prey’s apparent suffering and eagerly anticipating their impending feast. The only thing standing between them and their prey was the barrier of golden light.

As Edgar endured the intense pain of the unknown process unfolding within him, he could feel the barrier shuddering under the onslaught of the monsters' attacks.

‘What kind of crime did I commit to deserve this?’ Edgar thought bitterly, feeling as though life was playing a cruel joke on him. All he had done was attempt to catch an adulterous couple, yet he now found himself in this perilous situation.

A few minutes later, the shimmering barrier began to show signs of cracking.

As the light of the barrier dimmed, Edgar’s body underwent a profound transformation. The intense pain that had plagued him dissipated, replaced by a powerful surge of energy coursing through every fiber of his being.

He extended one hand, and to his astonishment, a small but intensely bright swirling storm of blue light appeared before his palm.

“This is…” Edgar’s eyes widened in amazement as he realized that the sight before him resembled the very spells cast by the hyena-like monsters.

Before he could fully grasp the situation, the barrier finally shattered under a forceful attack from one of the creatures.

GROWL!

The monsters’ growls echoed with excitement, their anticipation palpable as drool dripped from their mouths. Some even licked their lips in eager delight, readying themselves for what they hoped would be a satisfying feast.

Edgar gnashed his teeth as he observed the approaching monsters and the swirling storm of blue light hovering before his palm. Determined, he shouted, “To hell with it!” and thrust his hand forward, as if casting an object.

Thankfully, the method worked and the swirling storm shot forward, charging menacingly at the advancing monsters.

Alarmed, the monsters noticed the danger of the spell. On instinct alone, these monsters started to scatter away from the direction that the attack was being launched.

“Crap!” Edgar was stupefied and wondered if this was the end.

He never thought the method would work so he failed to calculate the variable of the monsters potentially dodging his so-called attack.

The monsters snorted dismissively, believing they had successfully evaded the dangerous spell. Edgar’s expression darkened as he realized that despite his efforts, the threat of the monsters had not diminished.

However, his concern was short-lived. The spell that appeared to have missed began to expand rapidly, growing in size and engulfing a larger area. It spread out like a burgeoning storm until, with a sudden, thunderous detonation, it exploded across the field.

KABOOM!

The impact was devastating. The blast wave rippled through the air, sending shockwaves that knocked the hyena-like monsters off their feet.

The monsters were thrown back, some tumbling violently across the cracked earth. The force of the explosion scorched the ground and ignited a swirling cloud of debris and dust.

The monsters writhed in agony, their howls of pain echoing through the field. Several of them ere visibly scorched, their fur singed and their bodies battered. The spell’s intense energy had not only disrupted their formation but also inflicted severe burns and deep wounds.

The most startled of the bunch in regard to the devastating effect was none other than Edgar.

“I just did that?” He stared in disbelief, his expression reflecting sheer bewilderment at the immense power he had wielded. His dazed look made him seem like a hapless fool, overwhelmed by the magnitude of his own abilities.

As Edgar stood there, still in shock, the surviving monsters, now terrified, began to retreat. Their once fierce eyes were wide with fear as they fled the battlefield, unwilling to remain in the now perilous field.

Meanwhile, Edgar felt extremely exhausted after launching such a devastating spell.

His vision blurred, and he saw multiple distorted images of the scattered corpses. His strength waned, and despite his efforts to remain upright, he collapsed onto the ground, succumbing to the overwhelming fatigue.

Amidst the eerie silence, a soft, ethereal voice echoed, “Congrats on awakening, Master Edgar…”