Life and Death

To the familiar thuds of ballista bolts singing true and arrows flying through, Damon awoke.

He planned to begin his training because he needed to be able to fight so that he could understand and properly govern a people who fought for their lives every day. He did, however, value his life and safety. This is why he was going to drag some enemies towards the manor for his fight. In this way he would be also able to practice some fighting while being able to retreat to safety if need be.

It took about an hour of cruising in the skies before he could find some creatures. It was a single very large eagle that was patrolling the skies. The beast was certainly larger than the quetzalcoatlus who had attacked his base earlier.

Using a bit of energy, Damon created a javelin, a bow, and a bundle of arrows.

Without hesitation, Damon hurled the javelin towards the eagle. Although he had never gone pro, Damon was an expert javelineer on his college team.

WHOOSH

BOOM

Without even being able to react, the eagle was speared through the chest and began plummeting towards the ground.

"Huh!" Damon exclaimed in shock.

He was certainly not strong enough in the past to be able to throw with such force and speed.

"Am I really meant to be that strong, James?" Damon asked in shock.

'Don't overestimate yourself, Damon. That eagle was merely an Animal. The lowest of the seven realms of beasts. It can't even use universal energy consciously. I'd be disappointed if a God couldn't kill a mere Animal.' James explained.

"I was just curious." Damon said with annoyance.

'You need to adapt to your new reality soon. Life doesn't wait for you.' James lectured.

"I understand. Just let me know what level the creature is next time." Damon said as he activated cruising speed.

His thrusters of blue fire were very efficient in energy use because, at hovering speed, they cost very little, while at cruising speed he could still fly for hours.

While he was thinking, Damon quickly came across his next prey. A giant mutated seagull with three large heads and a massive neck. Its body was also proportionally larger in size and could even rival the giant eagle in mass. Its feathers were serrated and layered upon its wings.

'That's probably one of its weapons.' Damon sighed as he prepared for some intensive dodging.

'Be careful, Damon. This is a Fiend. It is two realms above the beast you fought earlier.'

"After all of those enhancements, I'm sure that I can kill this beast." Damon declared.

This time, Damon decided to use his bow and arrow to hunt the beast. He had minor training in archery due to classes at school but was by no means an expert.

Drawing an arrow, Damon coated it in a slow-acting poison for essence. As he aimed for center mass, Damon drew a breath and...

THUM

Hearing the sound, the beast attempted to dodge.

CAW

Unfortunately, the arrow sang true and buried itself deep inside the left wing of the seagull.

"Yes!" Damon cheered as he began his flight. He was certainly not going to stay close to the enraged creature.

Drawing and loosing arrows with speed, Damon began cruising backward.

In a flash of blood and feathers, however, the seagull rapidly flapped its wings as it darted after him.

Damon's eyes widened as he quickly went full throttle towards the mansion. While fleeing, Damon inspected his essence reserve and found a disconcerting truth.

He only had a bit of essence left Thinking fast, Damon summoned a massive pike. He then turned around and pushed his thrusters to their absolute limit.

The seagull also prepared for the clash as it extended its three heads.

BOOM

Damon's pike pierced the chest of the seagull and he quickly used the force of impact to disengage.

CLACK

The three heads closed in and completely destroyed his previous position.

'That was way too close for comfort.' Damon thought as he began to further distance himself.

SHEER

The sound of arrows cutting wind filled his ears as Damon turned around in horror. Hundreds of sharp feathers tore through him and continued on unimpeded. He noticed that the seagull watched on in dark amusement as he fell further to the ground.

He quickly tried to repair his body but his measly amount of essence failed to even reconnect his head and his chest.

'No, No, NO!' He thought as he desperately tried to convert more essence from the surrounding universal energy. He channeled his broken body in order to draw in as much universal energy as possible.

Pain filled his disjointed form as he channeled all of the surrounding energy into it. At first, this pain was horribly sharp and constant, but soon the pain began to become mind-breaking. It felt like his brain itself was tearing apart.

Clinging to his only hope of survival, Damon tried to use the universal energy to heal himself. As the energy began trying to rebuild tissue, however, it suddenly stopped and surged towards his core. The energy left the scattered parts of his body from an array of directions.

As the energy built up near his core, Damon felt the pain lessen. Quickly, however, the pain was replaced by an intense variety of hallucinations that plagued his mind.

He felt the seagull tear him apart, saw the eagle rip open his stomach with its sharp claws, and was torn apart by the horde of beasts that previously assaulted his manor. As the pain and suffering reached a crescendo, Damon's hope for survival flickered like a candle on its last bit of wax.

But before Damon gave up, his soul stirred.

The awakening of the ability to control one's soul was either a great accomplishment or great disaster. For anyone who was cognizant during its awakening, they would be driven mad by the overwhelming changes that occurred to the fundamental way they viewed the world. Most went insane while only a few were able to survive.

The best way to awaken the soul was to immediately use the energy generated. This would lessen the immediate mind-bending changes in perception and allowed someone to survive the ordeal intact. Most also awakened the soul late in their growth and were thus had great mental endurance. Damon's soul awoke because of his extreme peril and because his divine spark connected all of his being together.

With his soul awakening, Damon felt an extreme amount of bliss as the energy healed every part of his body. Using the last bit of remaining consciousness he had left, Damon formed a shield around himself as he drifted into the abyss.