Henry's eyes snapped open to the blinding glare of the desert sun. The heat was unbearable, the air thick with dust, and the weight of the sand pressing down on him made it feel like he was walking in slow motion. His mouth was dry, his clothes stuck to his skin, and as he stood up, the oppressive silence of the desert settled in.
"Oh, Leo," he groaned, looking around at the vast, barren landscape. "The bastard really gave me a desert... What'd I do to deserve this? I've gotta fight in this place now?"
Henry shook his head, holding his staff tightly in one hand. He knew he had to get moving, but the dry wind seemed to drain his energy with every breath. He glanced around, squinting against the horizon.
The sound of movement broke the silence. At first, it was just a low rumble, but then, there they were—massive creatures charging from the sand dunes. There were five of them, grotesque, with sinewy, thick limbs and ferocious eyes glowing beneath their heavy, scaled armor. They were headed straight for him, and Henry's stomach dropped.
"No way, five of these things? Leo's really out to get me."
He had no time to waste. The first creature reached him in a flash, and he was forced to react. Henry swung his staff, meeting the beast's charge head-on. The impact sent him skidding backward, but the creature didn't stop. It roared, its massive claws aimed at him, and Henry barely managed to dodge.
But there was no time to recover. The second beast was already closing in from the side, its teeth bared and ready to tear into him. Henry's heart pounded.
"Okay, okay, focus, Henry. Get it together," he muttered under his breath.
The wind... he could feel it, swirling around him, brushing against his skin. Henry could manipulate the air, he knew that. But right now, that wasn't enough. He wasn't skilled enough to take on these beasts with just his instincts and control over the wind. Not when they were relentless, closing in from all sides. He needed something more.
His eyes flicked to his staff, and a thought hit him like a bolt of lightning. His soul skill. The thing he'd learned to master just recently, but hadn't yet fully realized its power. It was time to summon it.
But Henry hesitated. The beasts were too close. He needed something to buy himself time, something strong enough to stop them.
Suddenly, he remembered Leo's words from earlier: "Focus. Your soul skill is within you. It's about intent. Visualize it. Pull it out."
"Right, right… visualize," Henry mumbled, closing his eyes for a split second. He pictured the wind around him—how it swirled, how it moved. He wasn't just manipulating it anymore; he was becoming part of it. The gusts were his to command.
He took a deep breath, pulling the energy from his surroundings. Then, his mind flashed to what he truly needed: defense. He needed to create a barrier strong enough to stop the beasts and push them back, a barrier that would give him time to regroup.
Suddenly, his staff hummed in his hand, and Henry opened his eyes. A gust of wind roared as it rose from the ground, forming a barrier around him. The air around him thickened, compressing like a vortex. The first beast that attacked was stopped dead in its tracks, the impact pushing the creature back as if it had run into an invisible wall.
"Okay, this is it!" Henry shouted, a grin forming despite the danger. "This is my soul skill!"
But the beasts weren't stopping. Two more charged at him, their jaws snapping. Henry gritted his teeth, desperate to hold the barrier in place. The wind, though strong, was pushing back harder than he could manage.
"Focus!" he yelled at himself. "You can't give up now. I'm not some wind-blown coward."
He slammed his staff into the ground, forcing the wind around him to intensify, swirling faster and more violently. The vortex barrier expanded, sending out a shockwave that pushed the two beasts back. But still, there were more, and they were closing in on him.
He could feel the pressure mounting, the weight of the creatures' attacks crashing against the barrier, threatening to break through. Henry's focus was wavering. He was too tired, his strength running low, and his barrier was starting to falter. He needed to finish this.
That's when it hit him. The solution was simple: the wind wasn't just for defense. He could turn it into an offense.
"Time to blow you guys away!" Henry shouted, his voice filled with renewed confidence.
With a deep breath, he focused all his energy into his staff, visualizing the wind rushing forward. The barrier cracked and transformed into a powerful gust of wind that shot out from the vortex, slicing through the desert air like a blade. The first beast was caught off-guard, its body lifted off the ground by the sheer force of the wind. It was sent tumbling across the sand, and the others didn't stand a chance. The wind struck them all, knocking them back, sending them sprawling across the desert.
Henry lowered his staff, breathing heavily as the dust settled. The remaining beasts struggled to get back on their feet, but they were no match for the gale he had summoned.
"Hell yeah. That's what I'm talking about," he said, wiping the sweat from his brow. The wind still buzzed around him, his staff humming with energy.
With the final beast knocked out, Henry stood tall, his chest heaving with exhaustion and triumph. "That was close," he muttered to himself, a wry smile on his face. "But I did it. I really did it."
The winds that had once felt so chaotic now felt like a part of him, his soul skill that had formed in the heat of the battle. He could control them, shape them, use them as both offense and defense
After the beasts died off Henry made a smirk and said that is my wind dance
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