The moment the last rune completed its glow, the cave fell deathly silent.
Then—movement.
The runes on the ground shimmered once more and began to lift.
They twisted, bent, and morphed into orbs of pure shadow. Each one pulsed like a heartbeat, humming with arcane might. They began circling Zane, slowly at first, like vultures orbiting a corpse.
Then they moved faster.
Faster.
Faster still—until they blurred into a solid ring of obsidian light, spinning so fast they were invisible to the human eye.
Outside the cave, the sky answered the power building below.
Thunder rolled across the heavens like a war drum. The wind howled, trees bowed, and clouds coiled together in a violent spiral above the mountain where the cave rested. Lightning stabbed the earth in rapid succession, each bolt striking the exact same spot—again and again—atop the sealed cave.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Inside, Zane's body began to shift.
His muscles tightened, more defined with every passing second. Veins of pulsing Void energy traced up his arms and down his back. His skin, once fair and wounded from countless battles, now shimmered with a faint ethereal sheen — like tempered steel layered with shadow.
The air thickened. Denser. Heavier. It grew hard to breathe, even for those just outside the sealed chamber.
Mana surged in waves.
An unbearable pressure radiated outward, so powerful it cracked the cave walls. Stalactites shattered and dust poured down in choking clouds.
Zane's body hovered, trembling.
His eyes were shut, locked in a deep, primal trance. His chest rose and fell slowly, calmly, like a god at rest.
But time passed.
Hours turned to days.
Days… into a full week.
Zane remained suspended in the center of the chamber, locked in the crucible of transformation. The spinning orbs of shadow never slowed, never faltered, releasing more and more power into his body.
Outside, word had spread. The tremors, the unnatural storm, the thrum of otherworldly energy had not gone unnoticed.
Humans—explorers, soldiers, even a few rogue mages—who had once sheltered in the cave sent signals, flares, desperate calls for reinforcements.
Now, an entire battalion stood just beyond the wall of shadow Zane had once raised. They waited in silence, blades drawn, eyes narrowed.
Some believed a monster would emerge.
Others thought a god.
Then—without warning—everything stopped.
The storm froze.
The orbs halted.
The wall of shadow that had guarded the cave crumbled like ash.
And in that silence—a beam.
A single, piercing beam of pure shadow erupted from the center of the cave, cutting through the rock above like paper and launching into the sky. It tore the clouds apart, silencing the heavens.
From within the beam… he rose.
Zane's eyes snapped open — blazing with swirling black and violet light.
He floated upward, weightless, arms at his side.
Shadow curled around his legs like smoke. His hair billowed in the windless air. His body radiated raw power, heat, and Void essence so thick it suffocated lesser minds even thinking about it.
Below him, the ground cracked.
The cave floor was scorched with rings of shadowfire, runes now etched permanently into the stone beneath.
The soldiers outside took a collective step back.
Some dropped their weapons.
One fell to his knees and whispered, "He's not human…"
Zane said nothing.
He hovered in the center of the ruined cave, power rolling off him in invisible waves that bent the air and silenced all sound.
Then, with a slow exhale, he descended. His bare feet touched the stone with the lightness of a whisper.
A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"…Now that," he said, voice deeper, darker, "was worth the wait."