### Chen Wei
He woke up to the sound of dripping water and the smell of wet stone.
His body screamed at him. Every muscle felt like it had been stretched and twisted. His right hand was still sore from yesterday, the skin red and warm. But when he looked at his palm, the golden mark was there, glowing soft and steady.
And his cuts were gone. The scratches on his arms from squeezing through the boulders, the burn on his fingers from the light bursts, even the bruise on his ribs from when Gunter punched him. All of it healed overnight.
Lin Yue sat by the pool, eating a piece of dried meat. She looked at him with those hard dark eyes.
"Get up," she said. "We have work to do."
Chen Wei pushed himself off the stone floor. His legs almost buckled, but he caught himself on the wall.
"I feel like I got hit by a cart," he said.
"You look worse. Now stand in the center of the cave."
He limped to the middle of the open space. Lin Yue stood in front of him, arms crossed.
"Yesterday you learned to push the mark outward. Light. Attack. Today you learn to push it inward."
"Inward?"
"Into your body. Your legs. Your arms. Your blood." She pointed at his feet. "The Dawn mark can make you faster. Much faster than any normal human. But it costs energy. Use too much and you pass out. Use too little and you waste your chance."
Chen Wei looked down at his legs. "How do I do it?"
"Same as yesterday. Anger. Focus. But this time, push the heat down instead of out."
He closed his eyes. He thought about the slap. The fire. The anger. The golden mark flared, and he felt heat spread from his palm into his wrist, then his arm, then his chest.
"Now run," Lin Yue said.
He opened his eyes and ran.
The cave wall rushed at him too fast. He tried to stop but his feet moved quicker than his brain. He slammed into the stone shoulder first, pain shooting through his arm. He bounced off and fell on his back.
Lin Yue walked over and looked down at him. "Too much. Try again. Less anger this time."
He stood up, rubbing his shoulder. He focused again, but softer. The heat spread slower. He took a breath and ran.
This time he stopped before hitting the wall. His feet skidded on the stone, but he caught himself. He was faster. Not superhuman, but close. His legs felt light, like they weighed nothing.
"Better," Lin Yue said. "Now outside. Open ground."
She led him out of the cave. The forest was gray and quiet. No birds. No wind. Just trees and shadows.
"Run to that fallen log and come back," she said, pointing at a dead tree fifty yards away.
Chen Wei pushed the heat into his legs and ran.
The world blurred. His feet barely touched the ground. He reached the log in three seconds, maybe four. He turned and ran back. Lin Yue stood with her arms crossed, her face unreadable.
"Good," she said. "Now do it again. Faster."
He ran again. Faster. The trees became smears of brown and green. His heart pounded in his ears. He reached the log and returned before he could count to five.
"Again."
He ran. His legs burned. The mark pulsed hot against his palm.
"Again."
He ran until his vision started to darken at the edges. His breath came in ragged gasps. He stumbled on a root and almost fell, but caught himself on a low branch.
"Stop," Lin Yue said. "You are using too much energy. Your body is running out of fuel."
Chen Wei bent over, hands on his knees. Sweat dripped from his chin onto the dead leaves.
"How do I know when to stop?" he asked.
"Your mark will tell you. When it starts to fade, you stop. If you ignore it, you collapse."
He looked at his palm. The glow was weaker now, dim and flickering.
"I need to rest," he said.
"No. You need to learn control." She walked over to a pile of rocks. "Now jump."
"Jump where?"
She pointed at a flat rock jutting out from the cave wall, about eight feet off the ground. "There."
Chen Wei pushed the heat into his legs again. The mark flared, then dimmed. He jumped. His feet left the ground, and for a moment he felt like he was flying. His hands grabbed the edge of the rock, and he pulled himself up.
Lin Yue nodded. "Good. Now punch that tree."
She pointed at a thick oak with a trunk as wide as a barrel. Chen Wei dropped down from the rock and walked to the tree. He pushed heat into his right arm. The mark blazed. He punched.
Bark exploded. His fist sank two inches into the wood. Splinters stuck to his knuckles. He pulled his hand back and shook it. The pain was sharp, but the mark was already glowing, already healing.
"The Dawn mark can enhance any part of your body," Lin Yue said. "But every action costs energy. Punching. Running. Jumping. Healing. You have a limited pool. Use it wisely."
Chen Wei looked at his palm. The glow was weaker now, barely visible in the daylight.
"I feel tired," he said.
"Because you are almost empty. Sit down. Rest. When the mark glows bright again, we continue."
He sat on the ground, leaning against the oak tree. His whole body felt heavy. His eyes wanted to close.
Lin Yue sat across from him, watching. She didn't speak. She just waited.
After ten minutes, the mark glowed brighter. Chen Wei stood up.
"Again," he said.
She nodded. "Run. Jump. Punch. Until you cannot stand."
He ran. He jumped. He punched. He fell. He got up. He ran again.
Each time the mark glowed brighter. Each time his body moved faster. Each time he lasted longer before collapsing.
By midday, he could run from the cave to the fallen log and back ten times without stopping. He could jump onto the eight foot rock with both feet. He could punch the oak tree and leave a dent the size of his fist.
But his energy was gone. The mark flickered like a dying candle.
"That is enough for today," Lin Yue said.
Chen Wei dropped to his knees. His chest heaved. His arms hung limp at his sides.
"Tomorrow," she said, "we try running through the forest. Real terrain. Dodging trees. Jumping roots. If you fail, you break your face."
Chen Wei laughed. A tired, breathless laugh. "You have a nice way of encouraging people."
"I am not here to encourage you. I am here to keep you alive."
She turned and walked back into the cave.
Chen Wei stayed outside for a moment, catching his breath. The forest was quiet. Too quiet.
He stopped breathing.
Something was watching him.
He could feel it. A weight on his skin. A pressure at the back of his neck. He turned his head slowly, scanning the trees.
No one there. Just shadows and leaves and gray light.
But a cold wind passed by, raising the hairs on his arms.
And a single crow sat on a low branch, twenty feet away. Its eyes were red. Bright red. Like drops of blood in the gray forest.
Chen Wei stared at the crow. The crow stared back.
Then the bird opened its beak. No sound came out. But Chen Wei felt something slither into his head. A voice. Cold. Quiet.
*Run.*
Chen Wei scrambled to his feet. He backed away from the crow. His hand went to his palm. The mark flared weakly.
The crow tilted its head. Then it flew away, disappearing into the trees.
Chen Wei stood there, heart pounding, breath ragged. The cold wind died. The forest went still again.
He walked back to the cave, looking over his shoulder the whole way.
### Huang Zhen
The throne room was silent.
Huang Zhen sat in his black stone chair, one leg crossed over the other. His eyes were closed, but his fingers tapped the armrest. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Left Hand stepped out from the shadows. He held a folded piece of paper in his pale fingers.
"A report from Right Hand, my king."
Huang opened his eyes. "Read it."
Left Hand unfolded the paper. "The insect is learning fast. He can now run at twice the speed of a normal man. He can jump eight feet into the air. He can punch through an inch of wood. The girl pushes him hard. He collapses every few hours, but the mark heals him and he continues."
Huang's tapping stopped. "How long has he been training?"
"Two days, my king."
"Two days." Huang stood up from the throne. "And he has already learned to enhance his body."
"The girl is a capable teacher."
"She is a dead woman walking." Huang walked down the steps, his boots echoing on the black stone. "But she is useful. For now."
Left Hand folded the paper and tucked it into his sleeve. "What are your orders, my king?"
Huang reached the bottom of the steps and stopped. He looked at the torchlight flickering on the walls.
"I will go myself."
Left Hand's yellow eyes widened. "That is beneath you, my king. You are Step 3. The insect is nothing. A scout can watch him. You do not need to—"
Huang backhanded him across the face.
The crack echoed through the throne room. Left Hand stumbled, caught himself on a pillar. Blood dripped from his split lip. He touched his mouth, then looked at the red on his fingers. He bowed his head.
"Nothing is beneath me," Huang said. His voice was quiet, calm, cold. "I want to see this mark with my own eyes. I want to feel its heat. I want to know if it is worth keeping alive or if I should crush it now."
Left Hand wiped the blood from his lip. "As you command, my king."
Huang walked toward the doors. He did not look back.
"Stay here. Manage the kingdom. If anyone asks where I am, tell them I am hunting."
He pushed open the heavy iron doors and walked out into the gray morning.
The sky was low and heavy. The ground was wet from last night's rain. Huang walked through the gates of Ashfall and headed toward the forest. His boots sank into the mud, but he did not slow down.
Somewhere out there, a boy with a golden mark was learning to run. A girl with scars was teaching him to fight.
Huang smiled. A thin, cold smile.
He walked faster.