The Ruler's Stone

Secret behind some powers

He could feel the some bit pain in his back. The place where the magic hit was hot. He felt insulted. He had just defeated Beasts with his bare hands, in a raw, physical fight. And now they were playing tricks. They were not brave enough to come close.

His heart started beating faster. Not from fear — from smile and fun.

He looked at his own hands.

He had to answer them in their own language. Long range.

He slowly raised his right hand. His left hand stayed down, holding his chest where the pain was.

He aimed his hand at the Beast that had attacked him from behind. The Beast far away was still charging another red magic ball.

Afe blinked his eyes for half a second. He took a deep breath. He could feel his heavy mana moving inside his body, from his chest, to his shoulder, to his arm, to his palm. It was heavy. This attack was not light. It consumed a lot of mana. He could feel his energy dropping. His veins glowed brighter. His hand started to shake from the weight of the mana.

Then, in his palm, it appeared.

A needle. But not a small sewing needle. A black-colored needle, long, thin, shining like black metal. It was floating just above his palm, spinning slowly. At its end, there was a small black ring. The ring was spinning too, making a low humming sound.

The air around the needle became cold. The dust around his hand stopped floating and fell down. The needle was sucking in all the light near it.

He felt cold sweat on his forehead. This was a dangerous attack. But he had no choice.

He opened his eyes. His eyes were at high point now, sharp, focused.

He shot it.

He just pushed his hand forward slightly.

The black needle went.

It did not fly like a normal bullet. It was silent. No sound. No fire. Just a black line in the air. So fast that even Afe's own eyes could barely follow it.

The Beast that was far away did not even have time to finish its red magic. The black needle went straight into its chest. Straight into its heart.

At first, nothing happened.

In some seconds black ring at the end of the needle, which was now inside the Beast's body, started to grow.

At first, it was very slow. So slow that the Beast didn't even feel it. It was just a small black dot spinning inside its chest, near its heart. A faint humming sound came from inside its body. _Hmmmm._

The Beast looked down, confused. It touched its chest with its own claws. It thought it was nothing. Just a small needle.

But inside, the ring started to spin faster.

One spin. Two spins. Ten spins. A hundred spins in one second.

Afe could see it with his high-point eyes. He could see the black ring cutting the blood vessels inside the Beast, cutting the muscles, cutting the bones from inside. The Beast still didn't understand what was happening.

Then the Beast felt it.

A sharp, deep pain from inside. Not on the skin — from deep inside its heart. Its eyes went wide. Its mouth opened. It wanted to scream, but its voice stopped. The pain was too much to even make a sound.

The ring got bigger. From the size of a coin, to the size of an apple, to the size of a football — all inside its chest. The black metal of the ring was now glowing. It was spinning so fast it was making the air around the Beast's body vibrates.

And then with a silent burst of black light - the ring tore through everything. A perfect, round hole opened through his chest.

Then to the third Beast. Then the fourth. The every single beast he aim end.

Afe had aimed at five Beasts in a line without them knowing. He had marked them with his high vision eyes.

In just a few seconds, one single needle, one single attack, made a hole through all the Beasts that he had aimed at.

Then they all fell at the same time. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

On the railway track.

Afe's hand was still raised. His whole arm was going back normal now . The black needle had taken some mana from him. He felt his mana become some low. But his face was calm. His eyes were still glowing.

Behind him, the dust settled again.

Audio voice in background while he fighting,

_"We know our limits... but we still choose to fight. To let our people be safe. Because that is our duty."_)

He jumped.

He landed hard in the middle of the open area - a spot where he could fight both ways. Close range with his fists, long range with his needles. The perfect ground.

The beasts rushed him instantly.

He didn't wait. He grabbed the first beast by its head and crushed it with his bare arm. Bones cracked. At the same time, his other hand flickered - _shing!_ - a black needle shot out and pierced through two more beasts behind it. Close and long, together.

He was dominating.

Then he pushed to the middle.

That's when it happened.

Three beasts that were hiding in the middle didn't shoot from far. They waited until he was close. They fired their red blasts at point-blank range.

BOOM!

The blasts hit him directly. Not like the long-range trick from before. This was near. Hot. Heavy.

The pressure of the blast threw him far back, his feet dragging on the railway track.

But Afe was fast. In that half-second, he pulled his arm up in front of his chest and face. His forearm took the full hit.

Fire waves were coming out from his arm, like his skin was burning. Red light crawling over his muscles. His arm was scratched badly on the side he used to cover - deep red marks, blood coming out, skin torn from the blast pressure.

He landed, knees bent, breathing hard. Pain in his back and now burning on his arm.

Before he could recover, a group of smaller, weaker beasts saw their chance and attacked together from all sides.

He spun. Some punches - one beast's chest caved in. Elbow - broke. He grabbed one by the leg and swung it like a weapon into the others. Fast, brutal, raw.

In five seconds, the group was dead on the ground.

He used that moment to jump back again, creating distance. He wiped the blood from his arm, his eyes still glowing, and raised his hand again for the needle attack.

He was hurt, but now he had the distance again.