The world was a scene of white. Snow rained down from the sky, a freezing gust blowing through the streets. Windows and doors trembled under the howling wind.
The wooden roof creaked and groaned. Ice cold water slowly dripping through its cracks. Droplets fell straight onto his raven black hair, smoothly sliding down and seeping into the pillow.
Corin jolted awake, springing upright.
His gaze immediately sharpened as he looked around.
The room stood bare. The door closed, the window sealed tight.
Nothing seemed out of place. But the unease lingered.
He rose from the bed, feet touching the cold floorboards.
The air felt occupied.
He sensed something was wrong. That feeling swiftly sharpened into certainty. His posture straightened, fists lifting on instinct, shoulders tightening as if bracing for impact.
He felt something watching him.
He spoke calmly.
"Show yourself."
Within the clouded window, two yellow eyes slowly opened.
Bang!
Corin moved without hesitation, his fist crashing through the glass.
Shards burst outward, then dissolved midair into a drifting red mist. It curled and coiled like smoke.
A single beat of silence.
The mist surged.
Corin raised his arms, shielding his face as it rushed him.
It wrapped around him, tightening, condensing into thin strands. They pressed against his skin, then sank in.
He watched the red seep into him. A faint tingling spread through his body.
He ignored it.
His gaze swept the room once more.
"Show yourself."
The cabin shuddered.
A low groan rippled through the walls.
The wood split apart with a violent crack. The rupture widened into a jagged mouth. Inside it lay nothing but a black void lined with rows of uneven teeth.
Corin stared at it, curiosity nestling in his eyes.
"You're getting tired," he said.
He stepped back toward the bed and seized his pickaxe. His grip tightened around the handle.
"You aren't killing me as fast anymore."
A deep growl vibrated from within the wall. Teeth shot forward like spears.
Corin raised his arms, shielding his head. The projectiles pierced into flesh. Blood ran freely, but he did not recoil.
"Every time I hit you," he continued, "you release that red mist."
He stepped forward.
Muscles coiled.
"I do not know what it is."
He swung.
The pickaxe slammed into the gaping mouth.
"…but it is making me stronger."
A shriek tore through the cabin.
The wall split vertically, taring open.
Outside, the world revealed itself. An endless grey plain as far as the eye could see.
Red mist started pouring out in violent spirals, seeping into his skin. Strength surged through his limbs.
He looked outside.
"You're domain is getting smaller."
The cabin convulsed.
The wall sealed shut in an instant. Wood regenerated and knit together, trapping him once more.
The planks beneath his feet bulged and split. Branches burst outward, twisting around his ankles. The ceiling and walls followed, sprouting warped limbs of wood that lashed toward him.
They wrapped around his arms, his torso, his throat.
The pressure built instantly.
"Reveal yourself!" Corin shouted.
The words echoed.
The branches froze mid coil.
On the wall before him, the yellow eyes opened again.
"You have to," Corin said, gasping for breath. "As long as I acknowledge you, you have to show yourself. Right?"
For a heartbeat, nothing moved.
Then the branches surged again, forcing toward his mouth. He resisted fiercely, taring one arm free with brute force.
"Is that why?" he pressed. "Why you try to make me forget? Why you keep wiping my memories?"
Red mist spilled everywhere.
The eyes stared at him in silence.
The branches coiled tighter, pulling his limbs in opposite directions. Wood groaned under the strain, fibers stretching, splintering.
He resisted, his muscles trembling.
"I know you can talk."
The branches responded by constricting further. Bark bit into his skin. Splinters drove deeper. The wood twisted violently.
Crunch.
Bone split beneath the pressure, tearing through flesh. Blood poured down his side in heavy strands, pattering against the warped floorboards below.
The branches did not stop.
They pulled again.
His left arm tore free from its socket with a wet rupture. Flesh stretched to its limit before ripping apart. Bone scraped against bone. Blood cascaded down in thick streams.
His legs lasted only seconds longer.
Wood twisted around them like tightening serpents. Muscle fibers strained, then split. Tendons snapped one by one. Bone fractured under the torque.
Unbearable pain lanced through him, burning along every nerve.
He felt it.
He registered it.
But the instinct to scream never came.
It never did.
Suspended in a lattice of writhing wood, reduced piece by piece, Corin lifted his head and met the yellow eyes staring from the wall.
His expression remained steady.
"See you next time."
The branches tightened once more.
A sharp crack echoed through the cabin.
…
The cabin stood still.
…
He died.
For the Ninety seventh time.
--------------------
A single bed stood alone in an endless grey plain.
Corin opened his eyes.
A black cat was seated atop his chest.
He immediately recognized it. It was the same cat he previously met in the alleyway.
The corners of its mouth cracked, opening wider than should be possible. Rows of uneven fangs revealed themselves.
It spoke.
"What are you?"
Corin tilted his head, looking confused.
"What do you mean?"
The cat's eyes began to glow.
"You fear." Its mouth twitched, "You don't fear."
"Why?"
Its voice rung out all around him.
"How?"
"Why?"
The voice started to multiply, repeating itself like a broken record.
"You fear."
"What are you?"
"How?"
"Why?"
"You don't fear."
Corin calmly reached up and grabbed its head.
Crunch.
He twisted it one hundred eighty degrees without effort.
The voices did not stop.
"WHy? How!"
"You fear. You fear! you don't fear?"
The cat's head slowly turned back into place.
Before it could continue speaking, Corin grabbed it by the tail and swung full force. It was send flying through the air.
He scrambled straight, quickly rising from the bed.
The cat had already landed, balanced neatly on all four paws. Its glowing eyes locked onto him.
Its body began to shiver.
With each tremor, it grew rapidly.
Corin glanced around. Nothing but the bed and the endless expanse of grey.
He let out a quiet snicker. "Not giving me any weapons this time, huh."
The cat growled in response. In those seconds, it had already grown to the size of a tiger and started rushing towards him.
Corin barely raised his arms before it struck.
Claws tore into his forearms, slicing skin and drawing blood. He did not pull back. He stepped forward.
With a short uppercut, his fist drove up into its jaw.
The impact snapped its head back. He followed with a sharp kick to the side of its skull.
The beast staggered.
Corin did not let it recover.
The moment his foot touched the ground, his left hand came around striking the beast. Then his right. Then a knee.
He stayed close, relentless. Punches, kicks, knees. No space. No pause. No chance for the creature to think, let alone retaliate.
Corin knew how to fight.
Life on the streets had taught him that much. Normally, he used anything he could. Tricks. Cheap shots. Whatever he had available.
But now, he had nothing.
Just himself.
And the beast.
No tricks. No tactics.
Only strength against strength.
Luckily for him, he felt stronger than ever before.